Getting the most out of my scope HELP please

[Shep]

I finally finished reading the manual for my scope yesterday and fooling around with the settings on it.

I have a Celestron Astromaster 130

It came with a 10mm eyepiece and a 20mm erecting eyepiece.

What things can you recommend to get to spiff it up and enhance viewing power.

Also how can I better find stars and planets with it, it has a star finder which just seems useless, I get better luck just pointing in the general direction which is pretty unlucky sometimes lol. I got up at 5 am this morning to try look at Venus and I could easily see it with my naked eye but trying to view it in the scope just wasnt happening.

So on my immediate shopping list so far is a good reference book and what else?

A barlow lens?????

Moon filters etc????

Whats the essentials I should get to spiff it up?

[alfi]

hi
the first thing to do is to adjust the starfinder in daylight, aim your scope at a point far away, and then adjust the finder so it show you the same as your scope.

alfi

[sheeny]

G'Day Sarah,

Before you go out spending more money, it sounds like you need to get your finderscope aligned:

Set it up during the daytime and focus the main scope on some identifiable feature a long way away and lock the scope in that position. Then adjust the finderscope until the cross hairs are on the same object as the main scope.

Was it you that has the back/neck problems? If so, you might need to change the type of finderscope you have (say a right angle/laser/red dot finder), or even add a second one, to help you find what you want.

Once you get the finderscope sorted, the next most important thing is learning how to collimate the scope. It needs to be collimated to give you the best views it can.

A moon filter will simply dim the view through the scope to make looking at bright objects like the moon more comfortable, it won't improve the view;).

Al.

[Shep]

Righto, yeah it was me with the neck probs. I have tried to align my star pointer but im still having probs with it, i'll try again today though. It doesnt have cross hairs, it is a red dot in between 2 circles, the instructions say to line it up with both eyes open but doing that I just see double the image not a target, maybe i'm just doing it wrong.

[Octane]

Sarah,

Just use one eye. I usually point the telescope at a fixed point such as a powerpole or the headlights of a parked car. Then just adjust the finder until its also on the above object.

Regards,
Humayun

[Paddy]

Hi Sarah,

As Al says, I wouldn't rush in to buying more gear for a while. Once you've got our finderscope working, one of the best things to do is just point the scope at some of the fuzzy bits you see in the sky. You won't know what they are but you'll be surprised at what you find. If you have a pair of binoculars, browse with them first and then point the scope at anything that looks a bit different.

It is however IMO well worth investing in "Atlas of the Southern Night Sky" by Steve Massey and Steve Quirk. It has maps of each constellation and a list of 5-10 things in each that are visible in small scope. It also has B&W images by the authors that give a reasonable impression of what you will see through the eyepiece.

Its about $45 from myastroshop.com.au

If you're still having problems with finding things a Telrad makes a huge difference. Even if you'r not having problems, a telrad will speed things up enormously. $79 at Bintel www.bintelshop.com.au/welcome.htm, a bit more at myastroshop.com.au

[mithrandir]

The further away the object is the better this works because it reduces the parallax error.

[erick]

How visible will a red dot be outdoors during daytime, guys? I recall I can see it indoors, but I don't think I've ever tried to see it in full sunlight. Might make aligning during the day a bit tricky?

Sarah, with the red dot finders, you might have to move your head around to be sure you have your eye directly behind the "screen" to see the dot. I recall that sometimes I lose it at night and have to move around to pick up the dot again.

[Shep]

Ok i've got a question and I feel really silly asking this outloud but.....where should I have my head to look through it, I've been standing at the back end of the scope and trying to do it that way but then i thought well maybe im suppose to have my head right up behind it? I'm still talking about the finder scope btw ;)

[renormalised]

With your neck problems, Sarah, your best bet is to replace the red dot finderscope with one that has a right angle ep' so you're not craning your neck or getting into awkward positions trying to look through it. Then, once you've aligned the finder so that what you see through it is what you roughly see through your main scope, you should be alright:D

Remember, your own comfort takes precedent here. You'll never enjoy using your scope if it's a pain (literally) to use.

[erick]

Best if we be clear here, Sarah. Is this your scope:-

http://www.teleskopy.net/index.php?idg=detal&make=celestron&seria=16&model=7

[Shep]

Yep, thats my scope, sorry, i should have put a pic up to start with. I am hunching up my neck to look through the star pointer, when I was viewing Jupiter I just had a yoga mat down on the ground behind it and just layed on that to aim it mehehehe but it does hurt my neck. I'd been pointing the scope at the general direction and just seeing how I went because I hadnt gotten through all of the instructions manual yet. I just figured it would all be cool once i read the manual and lined it up but it still seems off. I do remember reading in customer reviews before i bought this one though that the star pointer was really bad, so I wonder if its just me or if its the pointer - maybe alot of newbies have trouble lining it up?

[erick]

Thanks for confirming. I have not seen that pointer up close. It doesn't look as though it can easily be replaced with something else, which is the essence of some of the suggestions below (Well, anything is possible with one's trusty drill, screws, bolts, double-sided tape etc!)

First step is to try and get it working as it should. Is the manual's guidance on setting up and using the Star finder clear enough?

Red dot finders are pretty good - some things are better than a finderscope (a small refracting telescope of 6 or 8 magnification), some things are worse. It's a matter of preference. Certainly they are good at getting a bright (naked eye) object into the field of view of your widest field eyepiece (the 20mm in your case). And as you come to know the sky and look at star charts, you can also point the scope at where something fainter should be and get it into your field of view (Eg. point you scope "half way between that bright star and that other bright star and up a bit and to the left". It can be done.

Yes, you should really have you head closer to it. Right down behind the scope is a bit to far in my view. If the finder was on top of the OTA (it moves as the OTA rotates as you point to different parts of the sky - see http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?p=506900#post506900 ), having your head on its side in the upper half of the OTA - just above the upper ring?

[multiweb]

Hey, that looks like a 130SLT on steroids :lol:. Much better looking than what I've been imaging with for the past few years. I find it ok with a 32mm/25mm eyepiece. Anything shorter becomes a bit dark. It's not a big aperture but the optics are up to it if you decide one day to do a bit of astrophoto. :thumbsup: If you flock it you will get a lot more light and contrast in there too. Very easy to do. :) I canned the little red dot finder early and got a 8x50 GSO finder for $30.00. Works perfect and will fit in the same shoe on top of your scope.