help - meade 8X50 finder scope

rowena · #1 03-06-2005, 10:47 PM

Hi guys, i need some help...

My finderscope (8x50) from the Meade lx200 has gone wacky!...

basically the centre of field of view is in focus with the image at the edges blurring. is there any way to correct this problem?

i swear i havent dropped it, kicked it, thrown it, or drowned it!

thanks

rowena

h0ughy (David) · #2 03-06-2005, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rowena

Hi guys, i need some help...

My finderscope (8x50) from the Meade lx200 has gone wacky!...

basically the centre of field of view is in focus with the image at the edges blurring. is there any way to correct this problem?

i swear i havent dropped it, kicked it, thrown it, or drowned it!

thanks

rowena

mine did the same thing, I screwed the eyepiece out and put it back and it improved it by half, but it is like the burmuda triangle, the problem exists but when you go to find it, it is not there.

acropolite (Phil) · #3 03-06-2005, 10:57 PM

Tony Broke it...... There is a focus adjustment by loosening the black ribbed ring thats around 50mm or so from the front of the scope, then rotating the front portion of the guidescope to adjust focus. It's a fine screw thread so it may take a few turns to see any effect. When you're happy with the focus re-tighten the black ring. If the centre is already in focus this may not improve matters, but it may be worth a try.

rowena · #4 03-06-2005, 11:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by acropolite

Tony Broke it...... There is a focus adjustment by loosening the black ribbed ring thats around 50mm or so from the front of the scope, then rotating the front portion of the guidescope to adjust focus. It's a fine screw thread so it may take a few turns to see any effect. When you're happy with the focus re-tighten the black ring. If the centre is already in focus this may not improve matters, but it may be worth a try.

yeah I'll blame tony too.. sounds good! lol

ahuh.. just learned something new.... i was turning the black ring thinking that would do the focusing, not realising the front part actually turns itself. will try and see hoow it goes tomorrow, during daylight! taah

beren · #5 04-06-2005, 03:14 AM

Mine had issues as well but the centre focus was out , did what Phil wrote and everythings fine

rowena · #6 08-06-2005, 08:20 PM

well no luck after trying phils suggestion. can kind of make it slightly better, but only slightly. i might take it apart if i get bored this long weekend!.

asimov (John) · #7 08-06-2005, 10:13 PM

I have 2 of these finders...1 on a newt & 1 on a refractor. They both give me fits trying to get a good focus...I just put it down to being a crappy finder, full-stop.

gbeal · #8 09-06-2005, 09:31 AM

Rowena,
from your description I assume the centre of the crosshair is in focus, but not the edges of the crosshair? If so then we are stuck, as either the hair has buckled, or the eyepiece has changed markedly. Both I doubt though.
The finders "normally" have an adjustment on the eyepiece, this is to focus the eyepiece on the crosshair, and needs to be set for your eyes, or for whoever is using the finder. THEN.. adjust the overall view focus via the objective which should turn/screwing/unscrewing until the view is sharp. During this last adjustment, the crosshair focus should not change.
Make sense?
Gary

[1ponders] (Paul) · #9 09-06-2005, 09:44 AM

Unfortunately Gary the meade finder eyepiece doesn't turn. Stupid setup really.

ving (David) · #10 09-06-2005, 09:48 AM

sounds rather silly. take it apart, clean it and put it back together... focus it... if symptoms persist see your family doctor.
or but a GSO one second hand off ebay cheap or a new one for about $100

Striker (Tony) · #11 09-06-2005, 01:20 PM

Yeah yeah Blame me.....I never used it.....lol

Rowena what do you need to use your finder for when you have a very accurate and fully motorised GOTO system?....

rowena · #12 09-06-2005, 06:22 PM

gary, its not the crosshairs out of focus, it is the entire edge of the field of view that is out of focus, with the centre of the FOV in focus. hope it makes sense!

tony... the scope has its days where it decides to play nice, other times its totally off... just need to train it, but problem being is i use it at two different sites... so i need to decide which will be my main site before training it.

rowena · #13 09-06-2005, 06:37 PM

perhaps i should rephrase blurring to out of focus. the view is blurry because it is out of focus at the edges but in focus at the centre.

asimov (John) · #14 09-06-2005, 07:04 PM

You could try stopping the objective down, but that defeats the purpose of having a 50mm finder. There's no way to solve the problem as far as I can see, apart from get a high end finder. Unfortunately, they seem to have a bad case of Spherical aberration...?

acropolite (Phil) · #15 09-06-2005, 07:39 PM

Rowena, training takes only a minute or so, once trained there should be no need to retrain at another site. I took a peek through my finderscope last night and mine is a little fuzzy at the edges also, but I only use mine to line up stars during initialisation.

asimov (John) · #16 09-06-2005, 07:46 PM

Actually when you think about it, does it matter if it's blurry towards the edge, seeing the aim is to get the object you want to view in the centre of the cross-hairs?