I dont know if Im using the telescope right....

Melisa · Guest

Hey.. ok I have a couple of questions.. when I look at the moon threw the finderscope I can see it perfectly and then when I take a look at it from the telescope I have no idea what to do with it.. I cant get anything clear on it .. I might not be doing it properly but ive tried so many ways and i cant get anything to come up ... I have a #860R refractor telescope

Another question is ... is that with this telescope i have 3 different mags and 3 different pieces to place inside the regular hole and I dont know what pieses to go in which...

Thanks so much... for a site to put comments..
Melisa

melisa · Guest

Hey that isnt what I have... my telescope is a Swift 60mm Refractor Telescope Sf-Ts 860R

AstroBoy · Guest

The first thing to do is determine if your finderscope is out of alignment.

In *daylight*, using the lowest magnification (insert only the eyepiece with the highest number printed on it--24mm, for example) focus the scope on a distant object. If you can't do this, then something is wrong with the optical patch in your scope and you can stop here. Depending on where the focus control starts out, you may need to turn the focus knob for a while depending on how fine a focus adjustment your scope has.

One you have the object nicely centered and focused, look through the finderscope. If the object isn't centered in the finderscope, then you need to align it by adjusting the screws on the finderscope. Keep going back and forth between the telescope and finderscope, recentering the telescope as necessary, as it is inevtiable that you will move the centering when adjusting the finderscope screws.

You are finished the alignment when you see the same object centered in both the telescope and finderscope. Make sure you are using a distant object or the finderscope may still be out of aligment for celestial viewing.

With the finderscope properly aligned, go out at night and, once again using the lowest magnification, center the moon in the finderscope and you should see it centered in the telescope. Adjust the focus carefully and slowly so you don't pass right through the point of focus.

If this works, you are ready to sight anything in the sky but there are a few things to keep in mind:

1) As magnification increases, brightness decreases, so you should always start looking for objects at lowest magnification. Once you've centered your object in the scope, you can increase magnification by switching to a lower-numbered eyepiece.

2) At some point, the magnification you select may be too much for your scope. The image will be too dim or blurred for viewing.

let us know how it goes.