help with sw 127 mak

[jurassicreps]

im a little dissapointed with my 127 mak, after days of tinking about eyepieces i chose a 8mm x-cell and i cant get a clear view of jupiter.

so then i thought 8mm is too powerfull for my scope and tried the std 10mm. that was better but still not sharp and couldent really see colour or much definition.

am i asking a bit too much of the scope?

i dint think anything is wrong with the focuser or mirrors etc because i can get great views of the craters on the moon around the edges.

im seriously thinking of getting rid of it and getting a 8" or 10" dob.

[CGolder]

I think you need to wait and see.. at the weekend i looked at jupiter and it was rubbish in all my scopes.. the moon is not helping your view as its polluting the air.

Are you giving the scope time to cool outside? this scope has a fairly long cool down time also make sure your ep's are not fogged up, if you breath on it you can fuzz up the view.

I find that 6mm is great in this scope so 8mm should be fine too.

[jurassicreps]

it is outside now and has been for 2 hours lenses not fogged up.

[CGolder]

what exactly can you see?

[jurassicreps]

just has a look with a 32mm celestron omni and i can get a good sharp image of jupiter.

if i put my 2x celestron ultima barlow onto the 32mm then quality is still good but wont focus as good.

put in my 8mm celestron x-cell and cant focus very well and can see no detail.

[Mr George]

I've got a sw 127 mak too and I'm very impressed with the amount of detail I've seen on Jupiter recently. The other night I easily saw Io's shadow in transit and could also make out some detail in the NEB.

It does usually take a good hour or so for the scope to cool down but once it has the images I get with a 9mm eyepiece are usually pretty clear.

[Merlin999]

I'm just about to order the 127 MAK tomorrow, so i was glad to hear you have had good views of Jupiter Mr George.I hope you sort out the issue jurassicreps. I'll be reading with interest how you get on.

[Arushin]

Hi,

Unless there is something very wrong with the collimation of your Mak 127, you should be getting some great views of Jupiter.

I doubt that it is a collimation problem if you bought it new so my guess is that the moon and light cloud are causing the issue. I am having problems as well at the moment and don't forget that the more you magnify the image, the more you magnify the problems with seeing etc. I was using my Mak 2 weeks ago and was getting some fairly good detail even when imaging... this week has been pants so far because of the light from the moon and also thin cloud. Take a look at the moon with the naked eye and you may be able to see how fuzzy it is at the edges.

Stick with it... you won't be dissapointed.

[KevG]

Don't lose faith with your gear, as others have stated, its most likely bad atmospherics. Tried to get some AVI's of Jupiter last Friday to no avail, could not even resolve it via an EP, it was just a boiling mush.

p.s. is that an R6 in your avatar?

[AztecastroMcJ]

i remember thinking same when i first bought scope although i was impressed with views in 10mm and 25mm

esp detail and contrast i did think image was too small,

and i didn't enjoy higher mag views at all, at 1st

but i now view with 10mm with barlow so about 300x mag and while detail is not sharp, the details viewed at larger scale is easier for me to see even with average seeing

[eddy]

It is amazing at how much difference atmospherics can make, for me on a little 80mm frac' its the difference between a beach ball and a 'Jupiter' with bands and all

Its a case of patience, practice and trusting your gear! if i can resolve detail on an 80mm 'frac surely the MAK will out perform on jupiter!

Stick with it, dont blaim the equipment blaim the atmosphere lol

Eddy

[ezza123]

How dark is your viewing area?

I find that if I have any light pollution around it makes the view poor, Front of my house has street lights, I can see very well with a 32 - 25 and 12, but lower its blurry almost like Jupiter is a morphing ball.

In the back garden the street lights are out of view and the difference is amazing 2 x barlow with a 9mm revelation eye piece, after lots of fine focusing she looks a beaut!

[jurassicreps]

thanks for the advice all. i am putting it down to light pollution from the moon as i stayed up quite late last night and when the light from the moon got a little less the views were improving. and also if i used my light pollution filter was better again.

i really want the sw 250px dob though and mabee im trying to find an excuse to buy it

[jurassicreps]

Don't lose faith with your gear, as others have stated, its most likely bad atmospherics. Tried to get some AVI's of Jupiter last Friday to no avail, could not even resolve it via an EP, it was just a boiling mush.

p.s. is that an R6 in your avatar?

hey kev, yep it is a r6 2000 model. my favorite toy

[BazMark]

A Kson 16.8mm ortho gives good sharp views of Jupiter with my 127mak.

Barlowed to 8.4mm with SW deluxe barlow it gives very good views.

My 6mm TS planetary takes my scope to it's limit. A good view but difficult to focus and definitely not pin sharp.

Of course as noted by others atmospherics play a big part in how good the views are.

[CGolder]

Buy the Dob, The 10" dob is great grab and go scope

[brantuk]

If you look at Jupiter when it gets some height on it (currently between 11pm and 1am) then you should get clearer views as you're looking through less atmosphere.

The "seeing" makes a big difference and closer to the horizon the worse it is. The "boiling" effect is common in all scopes in poor seeing and low elevation. When it's crispy cold and clear pay attention to dewing - check all visual surfaces regularly if you're getting poor views in otherwise good conditions

[Ogri]

Poor seeing can have you thinking all the coatings have fallen off the lenses in the 'scope and off all the eyepieces all at once, that the mirror in the diagonal has somehow turned inside out after turning into a pizza (with far too much pepperoni on it and nowhere near enough cheese), and the focusser has somehow suffered an attack of metal eating fuzzy weevils.

A couple of nights later, and the astronomy elves have put in some serious overtime, and everything is fixed and working again.

It's a bit frustrating but when you realise the elves are going to sort it all out as soon as they get a bit of decent weather, all the doubts disappear.

PS since the Peace Treaty with the Dwarves, the elves are ok with people getting Dwarf Observation Buckets . . . .

But get the 200p Dwarf Observation Bucket first, as if you get the 250px Dwarf Observation Bucket, you will then have to get the 350mm or 400mm Dwarf Observation Bucket as an upgrade instead of the 300mm Dwarf Observation Bucket - them's the Rules, apparently.

PPS Nice R6!

[Revs]

In the couple of months I've had mine, there have been very few points where I have been wow'd looking at Jupiter with the mag right up, but there has been the odd time where it's been really clear for short periods and the detail increased a lot. I keep seeing images on these forums taken with 127's which are far more detailed than I've been able to see, though. Although they've been taken with webcams and I've not had a go at that yet, just the 1000D. I'm hoping when winter comes and the seeing is better I'll be able to make better use of the 8mm for visual use, but for now my 12.5mm ortho is giving me the best detail, I just wish it wasn't such a PITA with glasses on. For now the 17mm Hyperion my fave tho. The ER and FOV are superb for using with specs on

The shots in my profile show about the same detail as I can see visually.

EDIT: Saying that, it's a real pain getting the focus bang on with the lower FL EP's. I'm going to be having a go at modding a SW elec. focuser to fit the mak soon. I'll let you know how it goes.

[Capricorn]

The 8mm is probably pushing your luck with the present conditions and is as small as makes sense on the 127.

The 10mm that comes with the 127 is generally described as poor.

A 12mm of decent quality should be a lot better. remember that from about 12mm down there is a trade off between magnification and quality.

[OldBigNose]

I agree with all the advice given by other venerable 127 mak owners on this thread;the 127 is a great scope but I too suffer from overmagnifying fever and start cursing the scope sometimes but when i look through the 10" and the view is just as bad i know its the atmosphere and just a little traditional British weather;I tend not to use my higher power lenses (those above 9mm) as a rule on most sessions as I have found that high mag does not necessarily mean a better view...for me,that is...even though i now live in farming country and can often get good dark skies.