Problems with a red dot finder

[nakisawame]

Hi everyone,

I posted sometime before Christmas asking for advice on what entry-level telescope to buy and got great feedback and so was hoping to find some information on my current issue!

I eventually went for the SkyWatcher Explorer-130/900 EQ2 Telescope and we finally got around to setting it up yesterday (after the arrival of our first baby, thing's got a little delayed to say the least!).
The problem we are having is correctly aligning the red dot finder. We manually located the moon and then moved over to the red dot finder and started adjusting using the 2 wheels - but the wheels don't seem to go far enough? They eventually get too tight to move any further but the red dot is still way off (needs to go further right).
Are we doing something wrong or is our red dot finder faulty? Very frustrating as it was a struggle to find a large moon, no chance looking at anything else! Also - the image is upside down and rotated slightly? More like it's at 225 degrees. Is this normal/does it affect our night time viewing?

Thanks for reading!

Hannah

[nakisawame]

Typical in that after I post, we figure it out!
Turns out the bit of plastic that the red dot finder mounts onto was slightly off to one side (must have been knocked in transit or something), luckily it had screws so we were able to loosen and readjust - hopefully that's us good to go!

As for the upside-down (225 degree) viewing, if anyone could shed light on why/if it's a problem that'd be great!

Many thanks,

Hannah

[sil]

With the red dot finders its common to have to realign it periodically (use a star/planet and go back and forth between the eyepiece and finder to hone it in...only takes a few seconds and you're set for the night). Also don't forget to turn it off! Since they don't have an external light or anything to remind you its turned on its easy to forget and pack it away still on and find a flat battery the next time you get the scope out.

The viewing image will be upside down and/or left to right depending if you are using a diagonal, the type of eyepiece you are using, the type of scope/mount you have and where you stand to look through the eyepiece. It's not a problem, its how optics work you have to get used to it yourself.

A useful tip is to put a small piece of masking tape on the scope near the eyepiece you would normally use, set everything up during the day and look at something through the scope and figure out which way is Up Down Left Right and write little U D L R letters on the tape. Comparing whats in the eyepiece with what you see in a star chart though isn't as simple as that, as things could be at any angle but it can help when you start star hopping around.

[doppler]

One of the most surprising discoveries first-time telescope users will find is that images may appear upside-down or backwards depending on the type of telescope. The first thought is the telescope is broken when in fact it is working perfectly normal. Depending on the type of telescope images may appear correct, upside-down, rotated, or inversed from left to right.
For astronomical viewing, it is not important whether an object is shown correctly. In space there is no up or down. Besides, Saturn is not something you see everyday and you would not know if it was upside-down or not. A tree, building a car for example would be important to see correctly. When you view a car upside-down, you recognize that this is not correct. Refractor and cassigrain telescopes will produce an image that is upside down when used without a diagonal. When a diagonal is used the image will be corrected right side up, but backwards from left to right. It will look like trying to read a sign in a mirror. There are special diagonals called Erect Image Prism diagonals that can correct the backwards image for land use. Newtonian reflectors will produce an image that is upside down and are not recommended for land use. There are no ways to correct this with a Newtonian Reflector.
Rick

[nakisawame]

Thanks for the information - the tip about the masking tape could come in handy, I'll definitely keep that in mind, Sil.

Doppler - the indepth explanation of the diagonals and an Erect Image Prism diagonal definitely clears some things up, good to know that we have options if things get a little too confusing!

Many thanks,

Hannah