(I feel really, really stupid about this.)
Hi guys,
Recently my 6" Newtonian Reflector I received as a Christmas gift last year has been playing up lately. It refuses to focus properly, and when it does, the colour is terrible and it's impossible to resolve any detail in anything at all. When I first got the scope it wasn't like this. I've checked that everything is aligned and as far as I can see, it should be working. I've tried a number of different eyepieces (very little change), swearing at it (helped me feel better but didn't do anything else) and finally researching it online.
I'm now deeply disturbed and worried that it is a junk scope. I'm a binocular observer myself, I love wide views with a bright nebula and milky way, however I got the scope for a bit of planetary viewing and for increased apeture for other DSOs. Lately it's been impossible to use.
(I'm not great with astronomy terminology, I'm a IT hardware services technician so please bare with my basic terms)
The scope is an Optisan (alarm bells already ringing!) 150mm Newtonian Reflector, with Focal Length: 1400mm. I've done some research online (there isn't much, the Optisan site is Polish, I'm entering panic mode...) and from what I've gathered, the scope has some serious problems. Most notably, apparently the scope has a spherical mirror, and the tube is too short?
I don't know how to test this so any information on what to look for would really assist me. My parents (who gave me the scope) took me to the store to talk to the guy about it, who went on with a lot of rubbish and threw Tasco into the conversation claiming that it was a good brand for astronomy (I'm really, REALLY in panic mode here) and also saying all the mirrors for every scope (he even mentioned Meade) are produced by the same people, and they're all the same quality (I almost walked out of the store).
Making matters worse, the equitorial mount doesn't seem to be of good quality either, it has a lot of slack in the controls and even when secured can move around a lot. The finderscope is definately rubbish (plastic! I can see better without it!) but I didn't expect much from it anyway.
What else can I look for to determine if the scope is junk? If it is... ouch, I'll go back to my good ol' trusty 10x50 binoculars (still the best bit of optics I've ever owned). The guy has offered to take a look at it and try to fix it, and then call Optisan (they speak English?) to find out how to fix it. My confidence isn't high after all the things he said in the shop.
Please advise me on this. If it is junk I'm going to be on 10x50's for a while until I can afford another scope, at which point I'm going to buy it myself instead of asking for one as a gift. I don't blame my parents for the gift (the guy seemed to be versed in social engineering when it comes to people who know little about scopes, probably used the ol' magnification line) since they're not well versed on telescopes. Either way, I need to know if it's rubbish and I can turn it into a pointless fishtank (don't laugh, I might actually do this) or do something else with it.