Hello, I'd had in mind to get a telescope and we happened to spot a Gaterda 80500 in a charity shop. I managed to home-in on Saturn using an 'app' to locate it but it resolved as a blue disk, so the next step is to work out what's wrong with the optics and is it worth trying to fix such a basic telescope.
We'll take it to the local store when they re-open but it may be cheaper just to start again.
Hi and welcome,,
Sounds the scope is not reaching focus, if so it would easily resolve Saturn's Rings,,
Im not sure if you have the box, instruction booklet or diagrams of how to set up the 'Focal Train' (Circled in Red in the attached Pic)
You can also see if you have all the pieces needed to reach focus,, sometimes some of these are missing from scopes in such shops,,,
Note, the green 'Barlow 2X Magnifier Lens' should still work either side of the yellow 45* degree angle piece, That said if you don't have the Barlow, it should still focus, the important piece here is the 45*degree angle,,,
Hope this helps,,
Bob’s comment regarding the barlow was more that you don’t need to worry about its position in the focus train as this specific barlow should work either before or after the diagonal. That said, not having the barlow will not be an issue. It’s only used to increase magnification which wouldn’t resolve your issue.
Also, I agree with Bob that it could be a focus issue assuming you're new to the hobby. Just to make sure you understand, if you compare your view to a digital screen made out of pixels, when properly focused, stars will take a single pixel each and planets only a few. Personally, I find it easier to reach focus on a close by star before looking at a planet.
As for Saturn itself, your 25mm eyepiece gives you 20x magnification which might make it a bit more difficult to spot the rings. It should be much easier with the 10mm for 50x magnification. When I first started with a 70mm aperture, I could only see an elongated disc with Saturn but it resolved properly once I understood how precise focus is and practiced fine movement. I find it helps to use both focus wheels at the same time. It becomes second nature after a while.
Also, are you able to reach focus on the moon as it crosses the meridian (its highest altitude)? The moon is the easiest object to practice focus on, if you can get a sharp view of craters, your optical train is fine. You may still have issues with Saturn as it's very low on the horizon right now. Jupiter might be an easier target right now as you should definitely be able to see two cloud bands when it's high in the sky.
Another possible cause could be chromatic aberration (the amount of false colour in your telescope) combined with atmospheric disruption (which increases the closest an object is to the horizon). I have a similar telescope (80/400) so will try it out tonight if I get to go out as it should be a little bit worse than yours when it comes to false colour.
Hey Miguel,
I can confirm that if you focus properly you should just about be able to see the rings with your 10mm. If you don’t, this is where combining your 10mm with the barlow might help as it will give you 100x magnification (assuming 2x).
Self-introduction
