Red dot and laser finder sights

[hunterz]

I have been looking at getting a red dot finder sight and have also seen people using lasers how do these work do you put a pice of glass in front for the laser to hit so you can see it?

[Carbon Brush]

Don't try this at home is the answer.

Just get a decent RDF and you will be fine.

[vulcan]

Red dot and laser finders are two different things.

A red dot finder is like a miniature head-up display with a piece of clear glass refleting a red dot from a small LED. Whe it is properly aligned with the scope, it is just a matter of placing the virtual red dot on the object you want to view and it should then be in the field of view of your telescope.

A laser finder is just like one you would use in a presentation to point at items on a screen - except they tend to be green and a bit more poweful. If mounted on your scope and aligned, it should sent a shaft of green light in the direction of the object you want to view. In practice, they are a bit iffy. Cold operating conditions reduce the brightness of the light making them useless. When they are working, they are a danger to pilots flying in the vicinity and you could get the proverbial 'knock at the door' from the men in blue.

A red dot finder is much better - and cheaper too!

[hunterz]

Thanks for the explanation dont worry I was not intending buying one of the lasers just was curious how you used them.

cheers

[hunterz]

I have another question about mounts this time what is this used for that I have marked in the photo

[ollypenrice]

Attaching a camera. The thread is the standard (and annoying!) thread found on cameras for tripod mounting and the nylon finger nut is just a locknut. Very useful, these.

On your previous points, lasers are great for those like me who sometimes teach astronomy. They also save my neck when there are not too many people around. I fire it through the finder to see where I am pointing. I do initial slews using this method and since I have a problem neck I do like the trick. Once the GoTos are initialized it goes back in my pocket.

The Telrad sight is my favourite because it generates red rings which give a reference for scale on the sky, more helpful than just a dot. But they are bulky.

Olly

[hunterz]

Attaching a camera. The thread is the standard (and annoying!) thread found on cameras for tripod mounting and the nylon finger nut is just a locknut. Very useful, these.

On your previous points, lasers are great for those like me who sometimes teach astronomy. They also save my neck when there are not too many people around. I fire it through the finder to see where I am pointing. I do initial slews using this method and since I have a problem neck I do like the trick. Once the GoTos are initialized it goes back in my pocket.

The Telrad sight is my favourite because it generates red rings which give a reference for scale on the sky, more helpful than just a dot. But they are bulky.

Olly

Thanks for that I did'nt think about it being for a camera that might be usefull in the future.

I dont have much space so have to dimantle the telescoe after useing it is there somthing you can get to make the mount quick relese instead of useing a spanner on the bolts every time