you should have 2 adjustment screws on your finders scope one for up and down and the other for left and right
There are 2 screws on the finderscope to hold it down only. pic of it below. I use the two mount screws to adjust horizontally only but can't do it vertically.
Quote:
Originally Posted by matt
Sounds like you've got the 8" f5 fl 1000mm.
You'll more than likely get it wrong the first few times and think you're ruined your scope. Don't worry.
Also make sure you were in fact pointing at Jupiter and not a star!
just rechecked my scope. its a 8" f4 800mm. i was scared if i collimate the scope, might wreck it. Never done it before
lol, naw im quite certain it was jupiter otherwise it was quite big for a star. i use stellarium for my star proggy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by janoskiss
Whereabouts in Melbourne are you?
I'm in Glen Waverley, right next to you
Quote:
Originally Posted by matt
You'll also be blown away by the Orion Nebula.
That should be plenty to bring out at least the 2 major equatorial bands and certainly the 4 main moons, if all are visible?
Pointed it tonight at the Orion Neb, looks really nice but abit blurry. I'm thinking of getting some colour filters?
With Jupiter, i can only see 1 moon tonight at 4.00am . Still a blurry white image and can't see the red cloud storm nor any clouds at all on jupiter. Just a plain white circular dot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by davidpretorius
At 4am, these were the worst and the best frames from a movie i could get.
? Those are nice pics!!! i wish my scope can do that.
I've gotta bow to you all
Many thanks for the help. Hope i don't frustrate anyone asking silly questions. I notice that when trying to focus on something, the image shakes around from the eyepiece making it really hard to focus?
oh with colour filters, will it make nebula's more visible?
What eye piece(s)/brands would you recommend to see DSO's/Planets?
That "shaking around" when you're focusing is probably the mount not being stable enough.
You'll always get a little bumping when you manually focus because you're making contact with the scope through the focuser so you cause vibration. A better (smoother) focuser will help, as will a more sturdy mount. An electronic focuser will do away with the wobbles altogether but that's getting costly and unnecessary for your purposes.
F4's even shorter than my Skywatcher (F5), so collimation will prove even more critical and harder to keep. You'll need to learn how to do it. I dare say it's causing your jupiter probs. That and maybe some poor seeing?
Hi ezy. Welcome to IIS. There are no silly questions, just..........etc..
1. Coloured fiters are useless on nebula. Only for planets.
2. Your finder can easily be collimated to the t'scope using the 6 screws in/on the holder. Nip the 2 screws up that hold the finder bracket to the t'scope tube. Take it outside during the day, (DO NOT POINT ANYWHERE NEAR THE SUN), & as per starcrazzy's post, with the largest E/Pc you have, eg; the biggest number, 25 mm, find an stationary object, (TV antenna, pole etc ), at least 500 to 1000 mtrs away. With it centred in the E/Pc, adjust the finders 6 screws so that the SAME object is in the centre of the finderscope. Just 'nip' the screws. Do not overtighten. Now, put the 9 mm E/Pc in & check the collimation. Gives you a magnified view for more precise adjustments.
3. For the moment, don't worry about new E/Pcs. Get to know your t'scope first.
4. Movement whilst focusing is inevitable. Is there any 'side play' in the focuser tube? If yes, can be fixed, but later...
5. For your t'scope collimation I can only say, see Steve's links & try these also> http://skyandtelescope.com/printable...rticle_790.asp http://www.andysshotglass.com/Collimating.html
6. If you have any more q's, just ask. O.K.
Regards, L.
It still sounds like focus problems to me..The orion neb is a large gasseous cloud so its not going to resolve to show you hubble detail, try getting the stars in the middle as sharp as you can, they should resolve to tiny pinpoints of light..Jupiter even if the scope is out of collimation should show you lots of detail..ie at lest some banding...has anyone told you how to star test the collimation??if not, its pretty easy,,just get a bright star(or planet) in the view and defocus it a bit, you should see a dark circle sarrouned by some donuts type rings...if the rings aren't perfectly semetrical, then ur out of collimation..if so, don't worry, this really isn't a big problem...you will want to learn how to do it anyway..you won't wreck your scope...just don't for any reason take the mirror out, or touch it with your fingers at all..don't touch any of the optics, not even the eyepieces(the lenses anyway)..good luck...
if you slide your hand down the side of the tube nearest the focusser and then find the larger collimation screw, then i would turn then clockwise 1 full turn as you look at the bottom.
do you have 3 or 6 screws on the bottom, 3 are the collimation screws, 3 usually are locking scews(i have taken mine out!)
have another look, and you should start to see it lign up better.
it is hard to see if you secondary is ok, but it should be ok.
Thanks, im currently collimating it right now. From the pics i have attached, i label it right? what mirror is "??" To adjust the primary mirror, do i adjust the screw with the spring or without the spring?
pic1:
with the springs are the collimation screws!.. i would lossen the other ones right out, so they do not interfere (like i said, i have taken mine away)
pic2:
lets leave the secondary for the moment, as you will need a sight tibe to line it up. the centre screw moves the mirror up and down, the others help stabilize it
pic 3:
???? is a reflection of you and your camera. we want to align the big dot with the little dot to the right of it. i assume the little dot is a centre spot on the big primary mirror.
everything looks left to me, so we want centralise all the circles etc by moving it right. give the collimation screw closest to you a full turn clockwise and then hae another look.
It is best with a cheshire, or a photo film cannister with a hole in it, as you can then make sure you are looking from dead centre of the focusser tube
Oh the small black dot isnt' the centre spot. It's part of my camera.
I grabbed an old black cap lense from my 50mm telescope and pinch a hole in the middle, then placed it in the eye piece for alignment. Fiddled around with the collimation screw at the back. From the pic, is this good enough?
It sure looks a lot better than your first pic. Whether it is "good enough" depends on how clear and sharp your want your images. For looking at planets with high magnifications through such a fast scope you need to be spot on. Still if the photos you posted don't lie then you should find the views would have improved considerably. Tonight is looking like it's going to be a clear night (the first one for nearly a week).
can you take one more shot from thru the focus tube?
you want that sort of look being reflected off the secondary and thru the focusser.
it is lookinig better.
do a star test tonight, pick any bright star and then defocus until the image fills up the view, you want the black central circle to be exactly in the centre. you then slowly focus - all the way making sure the black circle in the middle stays perfectly in the middle until finally you have the focussed star!
I have no idea why so expensive, but MyAstroShop sells what appears to be the exact same scope+mount for $1200. (Other places are selling it for even more.) The people running the shop are reputedly very knowledgeable about all things astronomical and honest about what they are selling, so it might be worth contacting them to find out more about the scope. Such a fast scope may be designed for deep sky astrophotography.
Don't forget Saturn! It's up well before Jupiter and it's always an impressive sight.
You will really need a good collimation tool (cheshire sighttube with crosshairs) and a centre spot on your mirror to get such a fast scope properly collimated. Start test at this stage may be futile if your secondary is not precisely aligned. But I guess it can't hurt. At least with the short tube you should be able to reach the primary adjustment screws while looking through the focuser.
Ezy, Have you been looking at Saturn tonight? If you have, it should have looked pretty darn good! It looked great in my 8" Dob at 180-260x, with Cassini + more detail in the rings and banding on the surface easily visible.
There are no silly questions, just..........etc..
(Other places are selling it for even more.) The people running the shop are reputedly very knowledgeable about all things astronomical and honest about what they are selling, so it might be worth contacting them to find out more about the scope. Such a fast scope may be designed for deep sky astrophotography. 
just had a quick check at the sky, very cloudy and can hardy see the moon. did i miss heaps?
