Guest erakepio Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 hey all, just got my 1st scope today, skywatcher 200pds and HEQ5 synscan mount today and set everything up no problems at all. Was more straight forward then i expected. I've put the stock eye piece in along with the viewfinder just above, However, 2 things have me stumped. 1st thing, I cannot see nothing out the main eye piece. Literally, set my latitude and longitude and picked a subject from the menu. Telescope buzzed and rotated till it was in place. Upon looking through the eye piece I could not see nothing, no stars, no planets or no nebulae. no matter what i moved it to, nothing would appear. Tried the 2 focusing dials just below but no luck. Do i need to let the scope warm up for a duration? 2nd, I have to power the scope off the cigarette socket in the car, so i don't know how long i can use that before the battery goes flat. some folk suggested a generator, however cannot find any specific for skywatcher. Any ideas on these 2 issues? bound to be something utterly simple and I'm being a bit blunt! Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red dwalf Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 (edited) hi and welcome to the forum, a fine first set up you have there, firstly all scopes work best when they are cooler and not warm, warm currents are not good for the best views. can i ask did you polar align the mount first ? as for the power, you can use a 17 amp car jump starter set up as sold by maplins or the better but more expensive ones from halfords, or buy a proper leisure battery as sold buy caravan shops, these can be heavy but last alot longer and are better designed for lots of re charging the group is holding a sort of beginners get together and help session at Belper this Saturday, your nmore than welcome to come along if you can make it. Edited January 27, 2012 by red dwalf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red dwalf Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 heres a link to the power packs from maplins, http://www.maplin.co.uk/search?criteria=jump+starters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 Hi welcome to EMS It's a simple mistake to make but did you remove the dust cover on the front of the scope? If so I bet it's because you are way out of focus. Try these steps: 1. Align your finder on a distant object during the day 2. Then with an eyepiece attached get the same object in your eyepiece 3. Match the view you get in both the eyepiece and finder, when this done your finder is aligned 4. At night select a star or moon in your finder it should now be visible in your eyepiece 5. Insert a low power eyepiece say 25mm and slowly rack the focused in and out until you achieve focus Also as Rob says you will have to learn how to polar align Or that object will not stay in your vision for long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 Hi Erakepio and welcome to EMS Very nice setup you have there - these are just teething problems that we all had with our first scopes. Follow the advice above you will be having fun looking at objects in no time. Enjoy the forum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest erakepio Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 thank you for the advice/help. I've not polar aligned so i will attempt to find somewhere which explains how to do this on my mount and try to understand it. I'm on holiday at the moment so it'll need to wait till I get back but i'll use this time to do some "light" reading i think! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 thank you for the advice/help. I've not polar aligned so i will attempt to find somewhere which explains how to do this on my mount and try to understand it. I'm on holiday at the moment so it'll need to wait till I get back but i'll use this time to do some "light" reading i think! Nice pun at the end there-subtle but funny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+RonC Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 I've also got a 200PDS so give me a shout if you need any more help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 To polar align the mount - point the mount north using a compass. Then look up your lattitude on Earth and set your alt scale to that number. When you put the scope on the mount you should be able to see the pole star in the finder. Use the alt/az bolts to adjust and lock in place. Now you are polar aligned enough for observing. Keep the mount where it is and only use the RA/Dec clutches to move to an object. If the finder winds up under the tube or at an uncomfy position - loosen the tube rings just enough to turn the tube right way up - and retighten. You will now only need the RA to track - with the odd tweak in Dec. For imaging though it will need to be much more accurately polar aligned http://www.satsig.ne...long-finder.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Strings Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 Hi and welcome from me too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now