I've had a Bushnell 115mm (4.5 inch) reflector scope with a f/ratio of 4.5 for about a month now. And for some reason, I can't see planets at all well.
I tried looking at Jupiter last night with my 20mm, 12mm and 4mm eyepieces, and all I got was a bright fuzzy blob, and I couldn't see any moons. With Saturn I can barely glimpse what might be the ring, but I can't see any more with a smaller eyepiece. Nebulae and star clusters look pretty good though.
So what do you think is the problem? Is it simply because the f/ratio is too short for viewing planets, or a defect with the scope?

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"I have been asked, 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."

Can I ask, are you near the ocean? Are you near a city or similar? Have you accounted for pollution or air moisture? I live near the ocean myself, and this is the sort of thing that happens when I try to use a telescope around here.

Whoops, forget I said anything. I can't really see star clusters here, either. Have to go 100 km inland.

Either that or my Mom's telescope is crap.

If it does help in any way, i'm about 29km (18 miles) from the sea and i'm on the outskirts of a small city, with Orion's Sword easily visible with averted vision. Pretty vague, I know, but...

try here and links
http://www.space.com/spacewatch/tele...ps_021227.html

You have to avert your vision to see Orion's sword? Aren't the star combinations mag. four? That's pretty bright.

Anyway, have you collimated your telescope? That would help.

I thought about that, although I've kind of left it as a last resort because i'm afraid of messing the whole thing up. But I suppose it's the best option, so i'll give it a go.

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"I have been asked, 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."

www.bushnell.com/support/manuals/telescopes/Voyager%252078-2010.pdf+Bushnell+collimation&hl=en&start=9&ie=UTF-8]Here is a webpage[/url] that discusses collimation of the Bushnell 4.5in telescopes--but you probably already have some instructions, right? HTH

Thanks for the link - hopefully everything should go well now...

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"I have been asked, 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."

I had the same problem back when I thought windex could be used on eyepieces. It messes them up.

To fix the blur, I carefully disassembled the eyepieces and used a lens pen to clean them.

Now the planets look beautiful.

As the others have said, start with a thorough cleaning and collimation - it isn't as hard as it looks. I have done it and was pretty worried at first - now I just sit down and do it without thinking - and yes, my scope is really junk, so I have to do it often. It has not been set right yet!

Be aware that moving a scope from a warm house to a cold outside area to observe will often cloud things up - that can really mess up your vision! Best to take the scope out, let it sit for a bit.

Jack