hat am i doing wrong

[sinbad1]

i have tryed three times now to use my skyhawk 1145p with no luck first time i rushed into and set up with out reading up on it second same again then the third time i got some great advice from a member of stargazer in which i followed to the letter but for 2 hours all i could see was light coloured grey blur focused in and out it never changed swaped my 3 lenes around and still the same what the hell do i do i am getting fed up with this telescope i even ask the place i got it from with no reply some did say if you can see a star with your eyes then you can see it with a telescope

[Kai]

Can you bring the scope to focus in daylight ?

Try it on say a tree or Lamppost a few hundred yards away , if you can then there is nothing wrong with your scope.

[NGC 1502]

How about contacting Leeds Astronomical Society

Most folk in the astronomy community are very willing to help,

if they could see your scope up close, it's likely they could

tell you what the problem is.

Best regards, Ed.

[yeti monster]

Are you moving the focuser slowly? It is so easy to scoot past the focal point, going from blurry extra focus to blurry intra focus without noticing.

The best thing to do, after trying it in daylight, aimed at a tree or pylon (at which point you can set your finder accurately), is to remain calm and collected.

If you cannot gain a focus on a terrestrial object, then perhaps there's more to the problem, perhaps the collimation is well out. This is an easy fix, but again, you have to approach the task calmly and methodically.

see how you get on mate.

[sinbad1]

i have tryed all sorts with no joy i did collimation on it the other day

[sinbad1]

thanks guys for your advice

[Peter Drew]

I'm not familiar with this particular scope but some models need an extension piece to get enough backfocus for visual use.

[yeti monster]

What collimation tool did you use?

Can you tell us any more about the problem? Can you show us any photos, maybe one taken down the focuser tube (eyepiece removed).

These 114mm newts are quite forgiving re: collimation, unless it is miles out.

Have you been able to see anything through it?

[sinbad1]

with the eyepiece removed i can see the crossaim and the small circle and the middle ring and the reflection of my eye which are all inline what i was aiming to do was set up in the morning when the moon was still out but it hasnt happened yet not been able to see any thing with the three times i have tryed the lenes i have used is a 10mm and the 2x barlow together and the 10mm on its own i will try and post a picture ty again every one

[Kai]

So can you confirm that you can / cannot focus on a daytime target please ?

[sinbad1]

no i have not tryed day time yet

[Capricorn]

I assume that you have not set the finder up to the main scope. So the finder is doing nothing. You have not focussed it during the day so cannot have aligned the two.

The focal length is 500, so the 10mm gives 50x and a field of view of 1 deg, with the barlow it gives 100x and a field of view of 1/2 deg.

Suggest that you put the 10mm and the barlow out of reach. You may simply be aiming at a patch of sky with not a lot in it and without any bright stars in the field of view.

Dim stars when out of focus do not show up well. Easy to simply start adjusting everything and get nowhere.

Probably been told but put the 25mm eyepiece in, only 20x mag but a field of view of 2.5 deg.

Sight along the tube and aim at Casseiopia. Preferably the bit in the milky way. Then adjust the focus SLOWLY. Hopefully at some point one of the Cass stars will appear or the milky way will sharpen up.

I am working on the idea that you simply don't have anything bright in the field of view (1 degree is actually pretty small) and so have nothing on which to focus. Add in that the 10mm and the barlow could both be improved on and you could have been aiming at nothing with a barlow and eyepiece that wouldn't give a good image no matter what you were pointing at.

With the cloud we are having the next clear night may be when there is a moon. Bigger, brighter and easy(ish) to find. It still does not appear in the field of view automatically and takes finding.

Set up the finder.

[Astro_Baby]

All good advice a 10mm with a Barlow will be pretty hopeless to see much with with a small scope.

Put the 25mm eyepiece in and try and focus in daylight on some diatant object as has been suggested. My concern would be that given you say you dont know much then what did you use to collimate with ?

Even if the scope is way out of collimation you should be able to get focus on some land based object.

[sinbad1]

i have the finder on the telescope which i have used and thanks i will take your advice and try your words of wisdom on the next clear sky or moon which ever comes first but thanks to every one that has tryed to help me ( a very gratefull noob )

[Capricorn]

OK, found the instructuions and it seems to have something in it to work out where North and Level should be. Is this correct?

You can do the 2 star set up as you describe, but it says to pick 2 stars well apart and not to pick polaris.

My advice is to minimise the errors and have the scope base as level as possible, then level the scope tube and have it pointing North (use Polaris). It just gives the scope a better start.

To do the 2 star align you have to know a couple of reasonably well separated stars.

If you do the easy align it will pick a couple, actually seems little difference.

For the 2 star the unit should work out Level and North for itself, it will not move to that position just work out where it should be. For the other alignmnet options you have to do it yourself. So basically do it anyway. Good practise.

During daylight point the scope at something distant, and just get that in focus. If you can set up the finder at the same time then great. Don't alter the focus after that as that will be a close to infinity as you will get until one night.

If you have the time before observing, take the scope outside and do the level, north and whatever during the early evening, then leave it switched off until you want to use it. Lot easier to do the setup in a bit of daylight. (I do).

After that it will be down to the data in the thing, and that is where most problems occur.

If it gets no better then try the one star alignment. Again the scope has to start level and North but you need only choose one star, Betelguese seems fair. Then goto another if way off then suspect the information that was added.

[sinbad1]

sweet i will give it a go on the next clear day /nite and i will keep you informed thanks again

[Kai]

With respect , your problem is getting a focused view isnt it ?

If it is then i would concentrate on making sure you solve this first before getting into setting the mount up because no matter how well your alignment if you cant focus onto a star and view it what is the point ???

Set your finder up in daylight , focus first in daylight it is 100% easier than atttempting it at night if your unfamiliar with a new scope.

Why make it harder if your having problems than it needs to be ??

[sinbad1]

havent been able to try yet with work and family life but as soon as i get a chance i will try and keep you informed try all

[Andyfx]

Hi.

I have this scope on the synscan goto mount and am very impressed with it considering its compact size. As others have already mentioned, use the 25mm during the daytime and try to obtain focus on something about 100m away, then set your finder to match what you see in the eyepiece.

If this has been successful and if you have the goto mount, then you should be able to align your scope on a clear night using brightest star or 2 star.