Finally got my nexstar 6 se

[tobot]

So after a few months of waiting I finally found a fantastic deal on a nexstar 6 se and I grabbed it with both hands

It's a second hand one but it's in fantastic condition , even still has some of the protective plastic coating on it . Also got a box of celestron lenses and filters chucked in for free. £500 the lot :-) so just waiting for a break in the weather now

Any suggestions of things I can do with it while the weather clears?

[mdstuart]

Start getting a list of targets together. Some double stars, clusters etc.

Mark

[mark7331]

I have a 6SE - it was my first "real" scope. I still love it.

I would recomment getting a camping mat(£6 ish) and making a dew shield out of it. Also get an ambubble from FLO. You level the scope when it's on the mount and it makes alignment an awful lot easier.

Don't use batteries - they make the scope unreliable and it's impossible to get them in the compartment properly - get a power supply.

Have fun & let me know if you need any help with it.

Mark

[davy999]

I too started with that setup, great bit of kit.

You will get many hours of enjoyment out of it, and a great price too!

[tobot]

I have a power cable and power tank on order so first few nights will have to be on batteries , luckily the local shop are doing 2-1 on aa batteries atm.

As for a list of targets those that have experience with my scope could you point me in the direction of some nice sights :-)

[Demonperformer]

Well, at the risk of being boring, why not start with Jupiter ... always worth a look

[tobot]

This might seem like a silly question but when fixing the tube to the mount , where should the tube sit? I can't tell if I have it too far forward or back? There doesn't seem to be any mention in the instructions

[mark7331]

Not a silly question - you need to site the tube so that the dovetail, near the back of the tube, sticks out by about 1cm from the arm. If that's not clear I'll take a pic of mine in the morning and post it here.

One other thing, while I remember. After you do an alignment the hand set says "STAR POINTER OFF" - it doesn't say in the manual what this means but it's actually a reminder to switch off the red dot finder scope.

EDIT: DP is dead right - have a look at Jupiter and I dare you not to say "Wow!!" Also the moon is amazing. When you've got the hang of those you could go after some double stars (Albireo in Cygnus), maybe M57 & M27 (nebula) there's so much.

Mark

[tobot]

had a bit of a break in the clouds last night so i popped it out in the garden , bit of a disspointing start if im honest as i found it tricky to to align properly.

also bit of a restricted view need to pop up the feild a couple of mins from my house where ive got 360 views, then i think ill have a more satisfying night at it ;-)

[Midpoint]

You've already been given the advice about buying a power tank, so I'll suggest using auto two star align instead of SkyAlign instead.

For a number of people (myself included), SkyAlign never seems to quite work correctly. However, auto two star does work and is quicker. As a bonus, it also forces you to learn a hand full of stars in the sky as well!

[Demonperformer]

I presume you are using the red-dot finder to align? If so, have you ensured it is actually aligned with the scope. A good idea is to do an initial alignment of the rdf during daylight (using a distant object - spire, pylon, etc) and then tweak it under the night sky.

[tobot]

i've got it now , just about, still a little bit off but useable

could any one explain to me why when im slewing to a new object that the scope insists on doing a full revolution to get to it, rather than just moving the inch or so the other way that it needs to? seems like a waste of battery power to me?

and also how do you cope with your power leads getting tangled? mine seemd to be going the same way all the time last night?

[Demonperformer]

I think it is to stop cables getting tangled that it does it ... it sees everything as being within 180 degrees one side or the other of the starting position ... if you are moving from 179 to 181, it will move through a whole circle (nearly) ... otherwise you could keep going round and round and the cables inside would jam.

If you are using a power tank, now, store it underneath the tripod, with the cable running around the legs ... how long is your power cable, if it is too short, you will run into problems with that, as it will ride higher off the ground.

[tobot]

sorry what i meant was the scope seemd ot be only turning in the same direction all the time, i'll keep an eye on it tonight.

as for setup what do i enter under daylight savings at the moment?

[mark7331]

As DP said the scope won't make a full circle because of feature called "cord wrap". This prevents your power/handset cord "wrapping" around the mount (and being pulled out).

If it doesn't do this and it only turns in the same direction that means that cord wrap is turned off - it can be turned back on in the setup menu (last option).

[Demonperformer]

as for setup what do i enter under daylight savings at the moment?

If you enter the time as BST, then you need to say yes to daylight savings.

Personally, I find it easier to cheat (as my GPS unit always gives me GMT) and enter the time it states and say 'no' to daylight savings.