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Is my scope setup wrong?

pss53

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pss53

pss53

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Past few nights i've been looking at bits and pieces but it's taken me a while to get them bang on centre in my scope..

I find them easily enough with the finder scope but when I look through the main eye piece I struggle to find what I want to look at in the sky?

What am I doing wrong? :)

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pss53

pss53

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This is my scope...

Startravel - Skywatcher Startravel 80 (EQ1)

Probably not the greatest but didn't want our lass splashing out at xmas in-case I didn't get into it... although after a wk of viewing i'm hooked?

I've focused on things through the day in the distance and they come up fine in the scope? Although the finderscope image is upside down? is that normal?

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Carbon Brush

Carbon Brush

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Hi again. ST80 is a nice enough little scope. I have the '102' version that I sometimes use for photos. Good value for money.

Can I suggest that you go from finder to low power eyepiece first, then change up eyepiece when you are happy with the view.

I have had the situation on other scopes where an object is obvious in the finder, but not so in the main scope, if there is a big step between finder & scope magnification.

I don't know if your finder has cross hairs. If not it can be difficult to properly centre a target, making a main scope alignment less likely.

If you omit the erector prism, or fit a 90deg adapter, then the main scope & finder will be in agreement. Alternatively you can buy a low cost red dot finder.

Just a few thoughts. David.

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John

John

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...If you omit the erector prism, or fit a 90deg adapter, then the main scope & finder will be in agreement.... .

Just a quick point on David's helpful post - I don't think the ST80's will come to focus without a 90 degree diagonal in place.

You will also get a cricked neck when trying to view things above 45 degrees or so !.

My advice is to align your finder scope with the main scope, using your lowest power eyepiece in the main scope, in daytime using a distant object such as a church spire, telegraph pole etc - it needs to be half a mile or so or more away really.

If you do this accurately then objects in the finder should be in the field of view of at least the low power eyepiece at night.

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Parus major

Parus major

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I'm fairly new to this game but do to my surroundings where I set up I can't see any ground objects suitably far away to set my finder correctly so I do the best I can. I then use it to locate an object such as Jupiter which I can see and find it in a 20mm, then 15mm eyepiece, center, then readjust the finder and recheck it's all as good as you can get it.

Likely causing the veteran astronomers to roll their eyes but hey.

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John

John

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'm fairly new to this game but do to my surroundings where I set up I can't see any ground objects suitably far away to set my finder correctly so I do the best I can. i then use it to locate an object which I can see and find it in a 20mm eyepiece, center, then readjust the finder and recheck it's all as good as you can get it.

Likely causing the veteran astronomers to roll their eyes but hey.

You can do it at night when there is a convenient bright object like the moon around of course - but the moon is not there always of course (thank goodness !).

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Parus major

Parus major

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Cheers for the support, John!

The other week I used the tube rings as a crude sight and aimed at Jupiter, took the brakes off the mount and then looked down the empty focuser. I then wiggled the tube around and when I saw the reflection of the light on the mirror, I hook the brakes back on and did the above.

I suppose it was fairly effective since it took a few moments so I dare say it wasn't too silly.

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brantuk

brantuk

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Nice scope - did you polar align it? Try using a 20mm or 25mm eye piece to do the centering - it'll be much easier than a 10mm. And do ensure the tube and finder are aligned with each other - this can be done at night, or in the day with a distant object - it's just easier by day cos you can see what you're doing lol :)

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Skybrowser

Skybrowser

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I struggled at first as there was no distant object to align the finderscope and main scope to. So, I waited for the moon and "found it" in the main scope after centring in the finderscope. This obviously knocked it out a little in the finderscope. I soon realised it needs to be a low mag eyepiece and the 25mm was fine. Always start off viewing with low power and gradually move up. You'll need to adjust the finderscope of course and the two small screws on the top allow you to move it a little. Get the moon in the middle of your main scope eyepiece and align your finderscope to that. Not massively accurate, I grant you, but at least it's a start.

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Carbon Brush

Carbon Brush

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If you can store your scope with the finder attched, this will avoid alignment problems in use. Also, the ST80 is very portable. If you buy/make a padded rucksack, or ali tool case with sponge, you will have a good 'chuck in the car boot' set. It will also protect the kit when stuffed into the under stairs cupboard with the hoover on top! There are ready made solutions for quite a few scopes. I use a mix of 'off the shelf' and DIY scope/accessory storage solutions. Keeping a scope & bits in one place, and easy to unpack, has proved worthwhile. Hope this helps. David.

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pss53

pss53

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If you can store your scope with the finder attched, this will avoid alignment problems in use. Also, the ST80 is very portable. If you buy/make a padded rucksack, or ali tool case with sponge, you will have a good 'chuck in the car boot' set. It will also protect the kit when stuffed into the under stairs cupboard with the hoover on top! There are ready made solutions for quite a few scopes. I use a mix of 'off the shelf' and DIY scope/accessory storage solutions. Keeping a scope & bits in one place, and easy to unpack, has proved worthwhile. Hope this helps. David.

I've been looking for a case actually to take it out with me etc?

I was thinking of a bag of some sort but will take a look at ali tool cases?

I had a play with the scope last night trying to focus on some flats TV Ariel over half a mile away, and found that when centring with the scope I found the image in the finder scope was a little off centre but pretty much as close as...

Taking the large cap off the end helped also instead of just the centre piece....:)

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