Getting more out of a "low end" telescope?

[austinstkong (Austin)]

Hi there,

I've currently own a 60x700 Tasco Novice refractor (see here: http://www.tasco.com.au/Products/Cat...uctID/100.aspx) that has been gathering dust for a couple of years now. I recently took it out and partially succedded in observing the luna eclipse.

It has a stubborn mount that is won't let me see anything pass the moon. It takes a lot of effort to just get it pointed in the right direction, then it will move if I breathe on it.

I don't intend to buy a better telescope until after my HSC as I know I would rather spend the night outside then in. (Unless you guys convince me otherewise )
So I would like to know if there is anything I can do to the telescope and/or advice you could give me to try and improve the viewing experience for the time being.

Also, what do you think I should be able to observe with my current telescope? I've so far failed at Venus as I couldn't keep it pointing in the right direction (closest I've got was getting a blurry something in the scope and didn't notive any phases) and haven't bothered with anything other objects yet.

Thanks

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

Hi Austin,

My first scope was a 50mm Tasco refractor. It was my only scope for some 12 years. In that time I flogged it mercilessly, pushing its capabilies, and my eyes to squeeze as much out of it as I could. This ment that once I got my first 'big' scope, all the hard work had been done in understanding how scopes work, how to use them effectively, and had trained my eyes really well.

That is what I suggest you do.

Fine tune your use of the finder and align it well to your scope. You will struggle to find anything otherwise. Use both your eyes with it, as once the object you are chasing is centred in the finder, and its image combines with that seen in the 'naked' eye, the object should be in the field of view of your scope, if the finder is aligned.

You have five planets easily within your grasp with your scope. Saturn still being available to you in the early evening, with Jupiter coming into view around midnight.

There are dozens of open clusters, globular clusters and nebulas available to you too.

If you can, try to get to a star party organised by a club or one of the several ones held by IIS members. Around Sydney you have The Pony Club at Mangrove Mountain, and Katoomba Airfield, both by IIS members. Check the 'Star Parties' forum for details. Take your scope too. You'll benifit from the experience from the older hats, and you may be able to borrow an eyepiece to try out in your scope.

[michaellxv (Michael)]

Hi Austin,

You may want to check out http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/60mmtelescopeclub/ they are passionate about their small scopes.

Look for ways to improve your mount. Or even build/buy a replacement. Some simple suggestions, don't extend the legs fully, place some weights on the tray - as much as you think it will support.

[seeker372011 (Narayan)]

check

http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...mm.html?cat=15


also
http://www.davetrott.com/FixACheapTelescope.html


if you have a few hand tools, and can spend a few dollars on mdf and some timber, the wooden tripod and mount described by Dave Trott is easy to build and works well...

I built one years ago to salvage a 60mm I bought from Aldi's

you can certainly get a lot more out of your scope besides being a dust magnet

[multiweb (Marc)]

A good place to start from it to secure and shim everything that's loose. Then align and collimate. Also flock if you can and it will make a world of diference. I still image to date with a 5" newt that I bought at a time I wasn't even sure what I was doing or where I was going.

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Some have even hung milk bottles of gravel to the spreader bar/accessory tray to make it more stable.

I used my wobbletronic 60mm I bought off ebay for a year before upgrading. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

[austinstkong (Austin)]

I placed some weights on the mount and yeah, it helped stabalise it a fair bit. Still abit fidgety but much better then before and I dont think I can ask for more.

I also hooked the telescope up to a CCTV camera to view which acutally made it a bit easier to try and point the telescope and made what I was viewing larger.

Venus is still a blur but it had a distinctive egg shape (Is Venus' current phase is somewhere between half and full?). Mars and Saturn were too faint for my camera to detect I think (I'm going to try a better camera later). Would the ice caps of Mars be visible and rings of Saturn differentiable and bands on Jupiter or is that asking for a bit too much?

Well anyway, thanks guys