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beginner telescope question, please!!!! Started by lisa at 01-30-2006 1:20 PM. Topic has 5 replies. TAS Community S... » General » General Informa... » beginner telescope question, please!!!!

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01-30-2006, 1:20 PM lisa Joined on 01-30-2006 Posts 3 beginner telescope question, please!!!! Hi, I just discovered your site, and I really hope someone can help.  Also, I apologize in advance if this is not the correct place to post this question.  I have searched everywhere for a help board for this type of thing, and I can't find a customer service number for Busnell.  That all said... I have a brand new Bushnell reflector telescope (it's new, but no fancy features).  I am completely new to telescopes.  The instructions say to find the object first in the finderscope and center it in the crosshairs.  I did that perfectly.  Next it says that if you do a good job of that, the image will appear in the main telescope eye piece, and it sounds like it's just a matter of focusing at that point.  And I am using the lowest power, 20mm. Well, the image/object does NOT show up in main scope/focus lens.  It is very difficult and frustrating to find an object using that part alone without the help of the finderscope.  I am able to find things (like Saturn last night), but it took so long!  There were so many other things I wanted to see but just couldn't put the scope right on it, no matter how hard I tried. If I did land on something, I would lose it and there was no getting it back again. I have to say...it was wonderful to see Saturn--I prayed that I would, and I did.  It was the thing I wanted to see most.  I am grateful for that, but I want to see more! Thanks for listening, and if you have any idea how I can get the image in the main scope/viewing part to match the image in the finder part, I would really appreciate it! Lisa newbie    Report

01-30-2006, 1:37 PM Starboy Joined on 05-22-2005 Tallahassee, FL Posts 150 Re: beginner telescope question, please!!!! Lisa, do you live in Tallahassee? When men are callin one another names and makin faces and everything is a jangle and ajar I contemplate on interstellar spaces and gaze upon a star - Mark Twain [with a slight change by Starboy]    Report

01-30-2006, 1:44 PM lisa Joined on 01-30-2006 Posts 3 Re: beginner telescope question, please!!!! No, I don't.  Thanks, though.    Report

01-30-2006, 2:12 PM Starboy Joined on 05-22-2005 Tallahassee, FL Posts 150 Re: beginner telescope question, please!!!! I was going to suggest that you bring it to our next general meeting. We just so happen to be running a three part series on how to setup and use your telescope for the general public. I personally do not have much experience with the automated scopes but there are other members here that do and perhaps they can help you. You may have tried this already but you may want to find a local astronomy club. They probably have a monthly public meeting or event where you could make arrangements to bring it on by and they would show you how to use it. When men are callin one another names and makin faces and everything is a jangle and ajar I contemplate on interstellar spaces and gaze upon a star - Mark Twain [with a slight change by Starboy]    Report

01-30-2006, 4:01 PM cdc Joined on 05-23-2005 Posts 10 Re: beginner telescope question, please!!!! Lisa, It sounds like your finderscope is not properly aligned with the optical axis of your telescope. To put it simply, your finder is out of whack. What I would do is to put an eyepiece in the telescope, and focus on a stationary object, like a distant telephone pole, tree, etc. Once you locate the object in your main telescope, look through your finderscope and I'll bet that you will find that the object is not centered in the finder. Using the screws (there should be either 3 or 6, depending on the design) on the tube ring(s) that holds your finderscope, adjust until the object is centered in the crosshairs. This should make things much easier!   BTW, if you have a red dot type of finder, rather than a small telescope type of finder, the same routine will apply, but you will adjust the knobs on this type of finder until the red dot is on the object.   Hope this helps!      Report

01-30-2006, 11:04 PM lisa Joined on 01-30-2006 Posts 3 Re: beginner telescope question, please!!!! Starboy--thank you so much.  I took your advice and I've learned that there is a society here, and they seem to be pretty good.  They even have members into astrophotography, which is my ultimate goal.  It will take a while for me to get to that point, but I will.  Anyway, this is their website:       http://www.bro.lsu.edu/bras/ Thanks to you, I plan to go & learn & really enjoy all of this fully. CDC--you were right about the finderscope.  When I found something in the main telescope, the finderscope was nowhere close.  Now I know something new! And tonight, I found Saturn again with 20mm, then I viewed with 4mm, then with a 30x Barlow lens on top of the 4mm.  So I'm moving right along--ha, ha.  That alone is a milestone for me, for sure. Anyway, thank you so very much for all of your help.  I truly appreciate it, and I'll keep reading your boards to learn new things.    Report

TAS Community S... » General » General Informa... » beginner telescope question, please!!!!

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