Telescope woes... Again!

[BilliGoatsGruff (Billi)]

Harold and I haven't been getting along lately. First, the red dot finder went flat, so I replace the battery. Then it wasn't aligned properly, so I re-adjusted it.
Tonight, after deciding that I could sacrifice sleep for a bit of ogling, I set up in the backyard. Everything was fine. The conditions were great, the temperature was comfortable and the grass was dry enough to sit on. I popped a 40mm ep in and lined Harold up with Jupiter. Then I started turning the focuser... no focus...I turned it some more, still no good... then all of a sudden the ep and focusing wheel came loose in my hand! With that, I still hadn't managed to get past the donut stage. No pinpoint stars, no tiny Jupiter. This has never happened before. I tried two other eps, a 32mm and 9mm, with the same result.
Is it the universe telling me to give up, or is it something I've done wrong?
Help please!

[CJ (Chris)]

Is the scope fully extended? That might account for it. I hope so, as it's easy to fix!

[raymo]

Any chance of a pic of the offending part, which I assume is part of the
focuser assembly. I expect its probably only a screw come out, or something like that.
raymo

[BilliGoatsGruff (Billi)]

I'll have another look tomorrow (it's overcast tonight) to see if it happens again. I may have been distracted and only half extended the tube. If it's still not working then I'll take a few photos and post them to see if the problem can be found

[Allan_L (Allan)]

From your description it sounds like maybe the focus tensioner screw on the underside of the focuser may need tightening if it hasn't fallen out completely.

[Constant (David)]

Telescopes are a little like boats, there is always something going wrong. Having activity fished (boating) for around 35 years there is a trick with maintance.The trick to having a boat that works perfectly is use the boat at least three times a week!
If you can manage to get your scope outside and under starlight at least three times a week (weather caveat) not only will your skills as an Astronomer improve quickly, you will in short order have zero issues with your equipment.
The other massive advantage in this approach is that your never confronted with "sticker shock" as your gear will run smoothly and you will enjoy the absolute pleasure of having taken your first steps in becoming a profficent astronomer.
By the way.... I am a crap astronomer! Though I was an excellent Angler!

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Yep ! like boats , cars , motobikes , jet skies , computers ,,,,,woman ,,, oops . Did I just say that ??? .

But you get my drift , 'Murphy' has just raised his head so what you need to do is set the scope up during daylight and see what is going on down there , a few photos will help us , help you sort this problem out and as Raymo said it's probably a loose or lost screw .

Your scope is more than capable but like all scopes they are , as they say a 'Work in progress' sorry to say .

Best you can do is keep at it and you will be rewarded with a scope that performs really well . Fixed to your standard and there is nothing better .

Photos , photos , photos .... please as we love this sort of stuff .

Brian.

Originally Posted by BilliGoatsGruff

I'll have another look tomorrow (it's overcast tonight) to see if it happens again. I may have been distracted and only half extended the tube. If it's still not working then I'll take a few photos and post them to see if the problem can be found

[inertia8 (Australia)]

The 130p has a plastic helical focuser, unscrewing it to achieve focus can lead to the whole box'n'dice coming undone as Billi has found out.

I would guess that the scope was not extended fully and thus unable to achieve focus.

[Somnium (Aidan)]

The universe never tells us to give up, just to learn more

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

The universe is asking for a better focusser, or for you to learn to make the most of what you have. That should be a good enough scope and easy to work up to 100x (and capable of up to 200x with care).

Play with and learn during the day how the focusser works and how to tell when it reached the ends of its travel. If you cannot reach focus within its designed range of travel then you may need an extension tube (or just pull the EP out of the focuser a little bit before locking it in place). But the included eyepieces should work fine.

You also need to learn how to collimate the scope to make the most of it. With a 130mm you should be able to see considerable detail on Jupiter: at the very least several cloud belts, great red spot (when facing us). Note however that all the detail is in pretty subtle variations shades of colour/brightness that at first takes some practice to pick up. But first thing is to get a well-defined sharp disk of the planet as well as its moons.

[inertia8 (Australia)]

Amen to the 130p.. I've got the Orion goto 10" dob as well but the convenience of the 130p wins out at times, even though the 10" is not difficult to setup.

[BilliGoatsGruff (Billi)]

Thanks for all the replies

I've used this scope about ten times before with the aforementioned eps, collimated it etc so I am beginning to think that the tube wasn't fully extended (possibly unnoticed due to lack of sleep!). It's been a flat out week and I haven't had time to check again.
I aligned the red dot finder with a 40mm ep two days before and the view was fine. Also the focusser has never been a problem before this. It was loose (a common trait with these scopes) but I tightened it with plumbing tape as someone suggested in a seperate thread.
I'll just have to keep my wits about me next time and make sure that I get it right!

Steve H; I've seen Jupiter before with my scope. It sure is an impressive planet. Saturn is great too! I'm on the search for an app that is easy to use so that I might be able to tell which of Jupiter's moons is where. My favourite object though would have to be the Orion Nebula. I find myself going back to it everytime.

Originally Posted by inertia8

Amen to the 130p.. I've got the Orion goto 10" dob as well but the convenience of the 130p wins out at times, even though the 10" is not difficult to setup.

I do love the mobility of the scope. I'm glad that I came to this forum for advice first, instead of going in blind! I might have ended up with a cassegrain and a massive headache

[BilliGoatsGruff (Billi)]

Originally Posted by Constant

Telescopes are a little like boats, there is always something going wrong. Having activity fished (boating) for around 35 years there is a trick with maintance.The trick to having a boat that works perfectly is use the boat at least three times a week!
If you can manage to get your scope outside and under starlight at least three times a week (weather caveat) not only will your skills as an Astronomer improve quickly, you will in short order have zero issues with your equipment.
The other massive advantage in this approach is that your never confronted with "sticker shock" as your gear will run smoothly and you will enjoy the absolute pleasure of having taken your first steps in becoming a profficent astronomer.
By the way.... I am a crap astronomer! Though I was an excellent Angler!

Hahaha I just saw your reply. I doubt you are that bad of an astronomer! The main thing for me is to just to enjoy the peace and quiet that comes with this hobby. It's a nice break from the chaos of young children and crazy animals I do lack motivation for three times a week because it seems my pillow can scream louder than my telescope!

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

Originally Posted by BilliGoatsGruff

Steve H; I've seen Jupiter before with my scope. It sure is an impressive planet. Saturn is great too! I'm on the search for an app that is easy to use so that I might be able to tell which of Jupiter's moons is where.

I believe Stellarium will do that for you. It also shows moon shadow transits as well, and even live surface detail (for GRS transits e.g.).

[BilliGoatsGruff (Billi)]

Hurrah! I have solved the problem! The tube wasn't extended fully. It was such a simple rookie mistake.

Originally Posted by janoskiss

I believe Stellarium will do that for you. It also shows moon shadow transits as well, and even live surface detail (for GRS transits e.g.).

I never thought to look on stellarium. I already have that on my laptop

[CJ (Chris)]

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

Sweet! SW scopes are generally very well made. When I have the spare cash I might grab one of these 130mm Dobs. They're just so nifty go-anywhere looking and weigh only a few kilos. Party scope for sure! (not star party, but regular party, where you can knock people's socks off with something like that - give'm the Moon, Jup & Saturn, and they'll be putty in your hands ).