finderscope issues ?

[rory]

okay,heres the deal. ive had an astromaster 90mm refractor for about 10 weeks now.

as some will know the glass is pretty nice for a budget telescope.

however that moulded on plastic so called finders theyve attached to both refractors and reflectors of late are just utter garbage.

so far ive upgraded one eyepiece to give me a wider field of view. its a meade4000 26mm plossl and i use it as a finder for now.

it's not ideal i know but it was a cheap deal,therefore a cheap solution.

so to my main issue(sorry for waffling on,but just want to put people in the picture)

im sure my next purchase should be a finderscope. now money is tight so i'll not be spending 100's of ££££.

i think a telrad is what i really want,and 99% sure im going to get one soon. BUT....if i find i need a optical finder,say 6x30. where or how do i attach the thing to the body of the telescope ? theres no existing brackets ,because the only current finder is that moulded on thing.

im guessing i need to drill holes ? in which case,is there special screws to use ? will shards of metal end up inside the scope ?

is this to much hassle,and should just stick to the telrad and a wide fov e/p ?

okay there ive finished my questions,

thankyou to anyone outthere with advice

[NGC 1502]

i think a telrad is what i really want,and 99% sure im going to get one soon. BUT....if i find i need a optical finder,say 6x30. where or how do i attach the thing to the body of the telescope ? theres no existing brackets ,because the only current finder is that moulded on thing.

im guessing i need to drill holes ? in which case,is there special screws to use ? will shards of metal end up inside the scope ?

is this to much hassle,and should just stick to the telrad and a wide fov e/p ?

Hi, I think you have two options.

Sounds like you are keen on a Telrad, that plus a low power

wide field eyepiece could be your best option. Plenty of people

use that to find objects.

Drilling holes through the tube is likely to put debris inside, you

could remove the focuser first, to allow them to be removed, if

you are confident doing that.

Regards, Ed.

[cyborg421]

I've got a Skywatcher Dob and since getting the Telrad I've decided just to use that and dispensed with the finder altogether.

I found it useful to have a riser with the telrad to make it easier to look through. If you check the post here, it shows you the best riser deal I've found., and no, I don't have any interest in the company. I have the 4" riser.

http://stargazerslounge.com/equipment-help/138944-telrad-riser-base.html

Simon

[MissMessier]

Get an Orion 9x50. I have one, and they rock!

[rory]

mmm, yep i think the telrad is the way to go then. are they difficult to use when light pollution is an issue ?

as for the orion 9x50 . thanks for advice but that really wasnt my question .

thanks again...

[JamesM]

The Telrad is a great tool to use in finding stuff as it allows you the benefit of keeping one eye on the sky (as it would appear on a star map) whilst holding focus on the red circle which represents the movement of your scope. I would attach the base of this to the scope using double sided carpet tape, which then allows you to attach or remove the main body of the finder when the scope is not in use. The idea of Telrad is to place you very near the location of the desired object and you are correct, light pollution might have some impact there but I live in a big city with LP and the Terad gets me close enough on most objects. The disadvantage with a scope like finder for beginners is that it will show an image that is at least back to front and if it is not a right angled version, also an inverted as well which in itself can make finding objects a little tricky. I would certainly recommend the Telrad (not too expensive) and there are charts that you can freely download that have the Telrad circles marked on them to assist you in star hoping.

Clear skies

James

[cyborg421]

I live in a city and find it useful but obviously the darker the better.

I can drive for 20 mins and find a reasonably dark site but that depend on where you live.

I used this map + Google maps to find my dark sites. It may be useful to you.

UK Light pollution Map

Simon

[rory]

thanks guys. nice link to he pollution maps. according to the map, i can get to a blue area in around 15 mins.

clear skies all...