help i cannot see anything

[angelus316]

hi all.i have bought a sw680 dobs and received it today.(first scope).boy is it huge!
anyway i set it up and waiting for night and then tried it.
not working for me!!
i tried pointing at stars everywhere and even used starry night pro but all i can see is bigger and more dots.
i used a 10mm /25mm and a 2x barlow seperately and joined and still nothing.please help.

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Might be an odd question, but did you try focusing the image?

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

It's a good idea to practice in the daytime so you can see where the nobs are on the scope.
Aim the scope at a hilltop or tree in the distance and focus it in. Try it with only the 25mm EP, then add the barlow to the EP. You'll soon get an idea of how the focuser feels. Once you've got it down pat, using it at night will be loads easier.

[angelus316]

hi yes i have focused but to now avail.the blur just becomes a bright dot and nothing else.

[asimov (John)]

Use the 25mm without the barlow & focus until the stars are the smallest points of light you can get..

[bird (Anthony Wesley)]

Stars will only ever look like bright points of light, if you want to see something like nebulae then I'd say try the Orion nebula while it's nice and high in the sky at the moment.

cheers, Bird

[Omaroo (Chris Malikoff)]

Collimation...... ?

Dod you pick it up yourself, or was it couriered to you? You'd expect it to be pretty-well OK on delivery but you never know how the transport company treated it.

[ving (David)]

when you have your dot at its brightest and smallest you have reached focus
as bird stated, stars will only look like bright dots... you wont actually see any other detail. planets are another thing all together. try the moon when its out too

[Dujon]

Originally Posted by angelus316

hi yes i have focused but to now avail.the blur just becomes a bright dot and nothing else.

I suspect that angelus316 is having a laugh. Onya, mate. Enjoy the new machine.

[dugnsuz (Doug)]

Have you plugged it in?

Just kiddin'!
Have a look down the tube to check if the mirror is sitting correctly or to see if the secondary mirror has been knocked out of whack!
Good luck
Doug

[angelus316]

honestly everyone,i have no idea what to look for or where.all i can see is more stars and i don,t know where to look for nebula or anything else.

[ving (David)]

i figured you were...

do you know any of the constellations? best to get yourself a printed skychart or planisphere and learn where the stars and constellations are i think. just sit down whereever you do your observing without your telescope and learn the sky a bit. once you have done that and you know where to find specific stars use a skychart to hop from star to star to find other objects. thats how i did it. it take patience but if you persist it pays off

to use a planisphere hold it over your head and align the stars on it to teh stars in the sky

hope this helps.
if you dont get it the first time then dont give up just keep trying... also if you can get to your local astro clubs observing night theres nothing quite like an expert by your side helping out

[Calin]

It would also help to know what you are expecting to see when pointing ... anywhere ... as you will see ... more stars.

Assuming you have ruled out any mechanical problems with your gear.

I'd recommend waiting till the moon is up again and practice locating and focusing on it's terrain. Then move to the more well known constellations like the Southern Cross or Orion and try getting Sirius in the field of view (FOV) as an easy star to practice locating. Start with your largest EP (25mm) then once you've got something you want to have a closer look at, move to a smaller FOV (smaller EP - 10mm), without moving the scope.

Not sure what your expectations are but if you are thinking you might see the kind of pics posted on the Net of DSOs (Deep Sky Objects) or detail on other planets then you might be a tad disappointed. Stars will not look like firey balls of orange light with flames visible at the edges, planets will give some details as well as their moons (Saturn and Jupiter). All this will be subtle and very much discernable with more practice and patience. Open clusters and globular clusters as well as the brighter nebulae are within your reach but may look like faint smudges. Also helps to be in a dark spot without too much light pollution and allow your eyes to adjust to dark conditions.

A planetarium will also help to recognise the night sky if it's setup for your loaction. Keep at it, as the scope is just begging to be used and the weather will conspire against you, especially when your really keen.

[casstony]

When the moon is again available to view in the evening you will be greatly rewarded by your telescope. The moon provides a wealth of detail through any telescope. With regard to stars looking like points of light, imagine pushing the Sun away from us at 300,000 km per second every second for 10 years; this gives you some idea of how far away the other stars are.

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

check out Saturn.

[angelus316]

thanks again everyone,i will wait for the moon and try starting with that.