Anything else I'm missing?

Howdy folks.

Total newb here.

Was looking at spotting scopes, found out the best are actually telescopes. I got interested in the possibility of going "Both ways"

Read Phil Harrington's "Star Ware". I'm still reading "Seeing in the dark".

Good stuff.

Bought a Televue 76, 3 months old, with fine focus, and everbrite diagonal, clamshell ring. Got a Vixen Porta mount, and a TV 32mm Plossl. All off astromart, at decent prices. Bought a 3-6 Nagler zoom brand new.

I thought I was good to go.

Then read the Vixen Porta mount manual in a PDF, discovered I'd need an adaptor plate to mount the telescope on the mount. With help, found and ordered the adaptor dovetail plate.

I'm thinking a finder scope may be usefull, a few books, maybe another eyepiece.

What else do I need?

I've got the scope set up on a photography tripod in the backyard. Got the 3-6 zoom today. Be a couple more to get the Plossl and plate.

Waiting for dark. Don't know where I'll get to with tonight's set up, but I sure am eager to find out.

Any further suggestions?

Thanks,

Mark

You need to hang around with some people who can guide you. Get to a star party. Just announce where you live. Somebody will find you and tell you where you can meet other observers.

Alex

Mark,
With no finder, a photo tripod, and only the 3-6 zoom you may be a bit frustrated tonight but please don't get discouraged. The 32mm plössl and Porta mount will make a world of difference.

"What else do I need?"

I would recommend a simple red dot finder and some star charts.
You have the high power covered with the 3-6 zoom and the wide field milky way sweeping will be covered when the 32mm arrives. If the scope is to serve double duty you will probably want somthing between that 15-80 power range. I think the soon to be released TV 13mm Ethos would be a very nice fit......it's fun spending someone elses money.

Bob

>>I'm thinking a finder scope may be usefull, a few books, maybe another eyepiece.

What else do I need?
------

Hello Mark and welcome to Astromart...

I think you are on the money, an eyepiece or three, a finder and some books would get you on the road.

-Eyepieces- Eventually you will want to have a range of eyepieces so you can get a good view of a variety of objects. As you may know, as you zoom in with higher magnifications, the image become dimmer and the field of view smaller so one needs both low power and several medium power and high power options. The 3mm-6mm zoom has the 80x-160x high power covered.

The 32mm Plossl does a good job at 15x but if you have a 2 inch diagonal, then at some point you will want to take advantage of the widefield possible with something like a 35mm Panoptic. The widefield views are amazing in these scopes, the 32mm Plossl provides a respectable 3.2 degrees but the Panoptics is a nice 4.8 degree field of view.

Besides the nice view, these will act as a finder for you, with a 4.8 degree field of view, a magnifying finder is not necessary.

And then you will want some eyepieces in that cover the range between 15x and 80x, eventually you will want at least 3 in this range. Eyepieces are a lifetime investment, if you add on another telescope in the future, you will be using those same eyepieces.

-Finder- The TV-76 is pretty much limited to either a Qwikpoint or a Starbeam, both are unit magnification finders of the red dot type. I have a Qwikpoint for my TV Pronto (very similar to the TV76 but with less optics), it works but with a widefield eyepiece, I don't use it a great deal.

- Books etc- If you don't already have some planetarium software and have a Windows PC, I suggest downloading the great freeware program Cartes du Ciel. With CdC, you see the night sky as it looks from your backyard, roam about, zoom in, look into the future, the past, print star charts...

www.astrosurf.com/astropc

But for now, the most important thing is just to get out there and have some fun looking around.

Take a look at Venus, bright in the western sky at sunset. Find it first with the 32mm eyepiece and then zoom in with the 6mm-3mm. Venus is a "half-moon" right now and is slowly changing into a crescent.

When it dark, you will see a pair of stars to the north-west of Venus (right and down), the Gemini Twins, Castor and Pollux. Castor is the more northerly of the pair and it is a nice double (binary) star that will split nicely at 80x into a pair.

High overhead, Saturn is bright to the west of Leo. A very bright Jupiter is rising in the Southeast not far from Scorpius and the many wonders of the summer Milky Way.

There is always more to be bought but with an eyepiece or two, you have nice equipment to learn and enjoy the night sky...

jon

What the others have said is correct but 'll give two more bits of advice:

1. Your eye's - After you get a "good" beginners book - learn the basics - Constellations, Brighter stars, reading star maps "upside down", visible objects, etc.

2. Get a decent set of Binoculars - 7x50's - as the next step - two eye's and two hands to hold are infinitely easier to "locate" things - and will feel more natural.

I'm not saying stop using the TV - by all means keep looking up - but these other "tools" will make your learning curve faster...

Hi again folks.

Last night with just the 3-6 was frutrating. Should be better with the 32mm Plossl and the proper mount.

I've got 10x50 Steiners, and another set of Nikons, so that's covered. I've been messing with the star maps in "Astronomy" and "Sky And Telescope" magazines.

Great suggestions on eye pieces and other resources. Sounds like I should buy a Panoptic instead of a finder scope. And a powermate/barlow, a 20mm, 10mm.........

Seriously, thanks for the suggestions. Making good choices early will save me money and frustration in the long run.




Thanks again

Mark
Hastings, MN

Hi folks.

Finally got all the pieces in hand.

It's raining, of course. Further evidence that the curse is alive, and well.

I did try it out in daylight, scoped the downtown area 1/2 mile away. The 32mm Plossl was damn sharp.

The 3-6mm nagler wouldn't resolve anything. Nothing but blur. I understand this is a much higher magnification, but I thought I would be able to focus it at distant objects in daylight.I didn't have much time to fool with it, so we will see.

The Vixen Porta mount seems like a good match for the scope. With the dovetail, locks in solid. My day time viewing was with gusty winds to about 30mph, with no shake.

The Alt/Az adjustment is good. Slow motion control seems good. My problem is with the levers. They may outlast me, but my impression is that they are cheap, likely to break.

Is there a replacement for the levers?

Thanks again for all the responses.

Mark Mattoon

Ok, ordered a few books tonight.

I'm thinking I need an eye piece in the mid range, as it seems going from the 32mm Plossl to the 3-6mm nagler is not going to work.

Maybe a Powermate 2X? That, and something in the 20-22mm range?