Forums / General Discussion Forums / Citizen Sky in General / My first viewing and plenty of questions!!
My first viewing and plenty of questions!!
Firstly, hello to everyone. Now...been out for the first time ever with my telescope and have plenty of question's, probably very basic question's but hopefully somebody can answer some of them. Not the best condition's for viewing tonight but had excellent view of the moon, was so bright could not really see anything else but my question's.
1: getting to grip's with the EQ mount. Pointing north but tried to view west and the scope was pretty much upside down and and balancing the scope was tricky, thought i had it nailed in the house but a few positions outside and it swayed(is this normal).
2:The finderscope, could not get it properly alligned to the main scope, when i did it was loose and flimsy in the holder, read a few articles and it stated to locate the object first through main scope then adjust the finder to that by rotating the screw's in the holder to allign the object but the only way could achieve this was the forementioned result in a loose fitting!!
3: Viewing the moon was excellent but after 20 second's it started to irritate my eye a little and a few times it seemed my eyelid or lash was obstructing the eyepiece but was trying my damnist to keep my eye open fully.
4: I mentioned about the mount and it seemed a lot easier just to pick the whole lot up and move it round to get a better view, i know it's not recomended i do this but seemed the only solution to my problem as i cant twist my body in two different directions!!
Sorry it was so longwinded but are these newbie problems or is this common, thanx 4 listening.
P.S. enjoyed my little excursion out though.
Ian,Glad you got to use your new telescope. A couple of things come to mind. Did your new scope come with a moon filter (neutral density)? I find that when the moon is brighter than quarter phase, a moon filter is very helpful. It will cut down on most of the glare, and give better contrast.It takes a bit of practice to get used to the EQ mount. Don't forget, you can slide your counter weight up or down, or slide the telescope optical tube within its rings. I assume you can also rotate the tube.Here's what I would do with the finder. During the daytime, point the scope with low power eyepiece at the top of a utility pole a fair distance away. Move the scope around until you have the pole in the main scope. Then, adjust your finder until it lines up with what is in the telescope eyepiece. Your finder probably has crosshairs. You can then go back and forth just slightly nudging the telescope and finely adjusting the finder until the top of the pole is in center of eyepiece and in the crosshairs of the finder.How were the star images? They should be nice pin points of light if your mirrors are in alignment. Often, when you get a new scope, the optics will not be nicely aligned due to shipping from factory to store or customer. Good observing.Chris StephanRobert Clyde ObservatorySebring, Florida USA