Quote:
Originally Posted by xnomad
Hi,
A bit of a beginner question here as to what finder scopes people use. I'm using the straight through 6x30 that came with my Skywatcher 127mm Mak Cas.
What do you do?
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Hi,
After weeks of getting a sore neck I bought a Bintel right-angle correct image finder. With that I use a Telrad finder, it is an ideal combination for me.
Enough skiting, what I mean is that I start by eye with a star chart to make sure I have the Constellations identified and the right way up (no flannel, many star charts are printed for the Northern Hemisphere, which is upside down) and align the Dob roughly with the Telrad. Then the field of view in this RA finder is wide enough (it is 8 x 50 like a monocular) to keep myself oriented enough to get the desired star in the crosshairs. After that a small nudge gets it in the eyepiece too. Star hopping is only a matter of repeating this. I find it helps also if you can get really distinctive stars in the finderscope like Betelgeuse or Acrux.
What is a pain is those times when I have had the Telrad or the finderscope unmounted (I do that sometimes for perverse reasons) and I have to line everything up again. There have been occasions when I had one star centred in the finderscope and another in the eyepiece! And then I drop the little screws in the long grass
If you ever get the very popular Argo Navis it will make you lazy, after aligning all you do is dial in the desired destination and push-to it.
Cheers