I posted before about ordering my new Meade Lightbridge telescope. Well it arrived last Monday and I put it all together. I tried it out for the first time on Friday night and I saw some fantastic images of the full moon. It was a bit cloudy so I couldn't really look at anything else, apart from the jewel box in the Southern Cross. I couldn't get the red dot finderscope to work. Does anyone know how to align it with the scope? I read the instructions and they seem a bit vague, although I got the general idea, I wanted to check here first.

I don't know about the finder scope, but you might consider buying a telrad finder, which would be much better than any stock red dot finder. Just a suggestion, because they're perfect for dobs. http://www.adorama.com/ATTFS.html?se...lrad&item_no=3

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i just got my lightbridge 8" yesterday and put it together. i also found all of the instructions to be a bit vague.

as for the finder scope if you notice there are two knobs on the side of it. well there are two for the mounting and then there are another two on the other side of it. those two are for moving the finder up and down and side to side.

i hope that is a little helpful.

i am glad you have been able to use it at least. i have the bad luck of not only receiving the tube with out the base, so i had to wait another 5 days to get the base but on top of it, the base gets here i put the scope together and boom i have cloudy skies and rain.

just my luck. i hope tonight is better.

Im not even sure if Ive got my finderscope on the right way around, is it meant to have the square shaped clear glass part facing towards the sky at the front or does it go the other way around? I couldn't find a clear picture in the instruction manual, of the finderscope actually attached to the telescope. It doesn't really explain which way it goes either. I found that I couldn't see any red dot at all but when I played around with it, it appeared but I could only see it if I looked down the scope, towards the mirror end of it (if that makes any sense at all). I couldn't get the red dot to appear 'in the sky' as such and I played around with all of the knobs on the finder aswell but that didn't do anything. Do I need to play around with the screws at the bottom aswell? For collimation? However, I will try it out again over the weekend and hopefully, I will have more luck.

Everything else about the Meade Lightbridge is great, I love the smooth movement of the scope and its easy to put together and take apart. I found its very stable aswell, not like my other 6 inch dob which has slippage and shakes in the wind. The base is good too, once the bottom part (where the mirror is) and the top part are put together with the trusses, it fits very nicely onto the base. There are no handles or sharp bits poking out either. I can even carry the scope without taking it apart (not with the base attached, its way too heavy). Did you get 1 or 2 eye pieces with yours? I only got 1 but it works really well. The moon looked fantastic and my friend that was staying with me at the time (she had never looked through a scope before) was really impressed. Ive got other eye pieces (and coloured filters) that fit into the Lightbridge so I don't really need anymore.

That is bad luck having to wait another 5 days for the base. I can't wait to take it to the next astro camp, where the skies are darker. Ive got lots of light pollution where I live, too many street lights but not too bad when the moon isn't out. Saying that, I do love looking at the moon too.

The glass bit of finder should be at the top of the scope. I do apologise, I dont know how I missed this post.

I find the red dot finder easier to use than any normal finder scope but I am having problems with my one. So heres a little word of warning to both of you.

When setting up your scope ensure that the truss rods are seated properly and make sure that the seam on both top and bottom parts of the scope are lined up before you mess around with the little screws on the side.

I hadnt set the truss rods properly, found that the finder was way out and in trying to set the finder I screwed out the "up" screw too far and now it wont come back. Basically I've broken it. That said I just allow for the error and I can still find anything I want but its not ideal.

Final warning: If observing something low on the horizon ensure there are no cats nearby. Cats love to crawl into the scope. I nearly had a heart attack/accident when instead of a rising moon I saw a big hairy face looking back at me.

Any other problems from either if you feel free to PM me and I'll try to help all I can and please let me know how you get on. Between the 3 of us I reckon we have the whole sky covered.

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I didn't even think that a cat would crawl into a scope, I was more worried about spiders lol. I can see how a view of a cat would scare the crap out of you, especially if you were expecting to look at the moon! I actually found that quite funny, I mean I would jump out of my skin if a cat actually got into my scope - but its funny in hindsight.

I took my scope out tonight and had another go with the finderscope. I figured out how to get the red dot but I couldn't get it aligned properly - it seemed to veer off to one side or it was too low down. Also, the dot was blurry, even the bullseye, diamond and circle were blurry too. I tried screwing the knobs around several times but that didn't help to make the dot clearer. Im guessing that once I get the primary and seconday mirrors aligned properly, the finder will be easier to align with the scope. Its a big change to my other scope but Im ready for a new challenge! The instructions seem vague to me too, I read them a few times and I get the general idea but they arn't very specific.

I agree, red dot finders are easier to use than other finders. I have used scopes at my astronomy club with red dot finders and they are great! My 6 inch dob has a cross hairs finder and I could never get it aligned properly. I found that I had to also allow for the error. Plus it had too much slippage so even if the finder was almost aligned, the amount of slippage made it very difficult to find small objects. It was impossible to get it aligned perfectly. However, I got used to that and I managed to find many deep sky objects.

Thanks for the info about the trusses. Im sure mine are lined up properly with the top and bottom parts of the scope but I will check next time I take it out. Also, I was reading on another astronomy forum that some people suggested to number each truss, so they go in the same place every time when assembling the scope. Apparently, this helps with collimation and someone even said they didn't have to collimate at all because they numbered their trusses. Others basically said it didn't make any difference at all. At my last astro camp, I spoke to a few people who had Lightbridges and one guy said he had trouble with collimation. He said it was better to collimate from the top rather than from the bottom. The other guy said he had no trouble collimating his. Maybe its just a personal thing, Im not sure. I think with all big scopes, they need to be collimated each time they are assembled.

Just another question, how do you align the primary and seconday mirror?? Or do I need to do this at all? How do I collimate it properly??

I got two eyepieces. i really like the 26mm wide angle that comes with the scope but i also wanted to have something with a high magnification so i bought a meade series 5000 14mm plossl. that eyepiece is great. the clarity is amazing. i dont have a lot of experience with this so i couldnt tell you how good it is compared to other brands or styles but i have really enjoyed it the two nights i have been able to use it since i got the scope.

as for the red dot finder, mine lasted two days and the battery is out. unfreakn belivable. i hadnt gotten a chance to align it with the scope but u use the two screws labled up (behind or infront depends which way you are looking at the finder, of the intensity dial) and theres one on the side as well. these two alan screws will allow you to adjust the alignment of the finder.

as for the collimation i didnt have to do anything to collimate the scope. it came from the factory adjusted already. ( i think, i mean im not really sure how to tell if it isnt properly collimated) i must say that i am not looking forward to the day i have to collimate it. The manual is insanely vague and not very helpful at all. the diagrams they put on there dont help all that much either.

If your sight is veering off to one side then I suspect that one of your truss rods wasnt properly seated. Its a mistake I made a few times when I first got this scope.

As for the sight being blurry. Hmmmm thats a new one on me. The only thing I can suggest is it needs cleaning or had dew on it. A simple wipe off with a bit of toilet paper should be ok.

As for the mirror set up, I use a laser coliminator (Probably the best £40 I spent) Theres a small circle on the main mirror which the beam has to hit. If its missing this (as it often is by a small amount) I use the 3 small screws on the secondary mirror until the beam is in the circle. Im fairly new to this too so Im sorry I dont know how to do it without the laser. The good news is faint fuzzies dont need perfect colimination. Mars most certianly does though.

Apad: The battery is out on the finder already? Im still using the same battery that came with the scope nine months later despite leaving it on accidently for 2 days. Must have been a duff battery.

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Where is the battery on the finderscope?? Do you have the deluxe Lightbridge? Ive got the deluxe model. I can't find any indication of a battery on my finder at all. Im guessing that it has to have a battery on it somewhere. When I first set up my scope, I looked through the eyepiece holder WITHOUT putting the eyepiece in. I read in the instructions somewhere that if you can see your eye reflected in the mirror, then it doesn't need collimating. I could see my eye looking back at me so Im guessing its ok. I just don't know how to collimate scopes, I never collimated my 6 inch dob.

I will try again with the trusses, maybe they moved out slightly when I carried the scope outside. Im a bit confused though because the red dot finder had the blurry dot even when it wasn't attached to the scope. Not sure if its meant to look clear when its off the scope but it definitely was blurry attached to the scope aswell. I guess its all trial and error at the moment because I get even more confused when I double check the instructions.

i have the deluxe model. on the finder where the intensity knob is, right in front of the screen. You'll notice that the top of the dial has a grove. if you unscrew it you'll find the battery. looks like a typical watch battery. i thought it was weird that the red dot finder would stop working like that but i cant think of anything else it could be but the battery.

How do you turn off the red dot finder when you arent using it? put the dial at 0?

Ok, I actually unscrewed that dial by accident the other night but I screwed it back on. I realise now that I was looking at the battery underneath. I left the finder on 7 on Friday night after having a quick observing session outside (I was getting attacked by mossies and had to come back inside) Yesterday, I noticed that the red dot was still on!! I turned it back to 0 so I guess thats the way to turn it off.

Just another question: Do you have a light shroud on your scope? I searched the net for black light shrouds to buy but they are all way too expensive. They are only made out of cotton with elastic at each end to hold the shroud in place on the telescope. So I bought a black sheet and made my own. Ive read that some people think light shrouds don't make any difference, whereas other people say they do. I would say that they do make a difference but its hard to tell as there is lots of light pollution in my area (I do lots of observing from my backyard).

Also, do you use the cooling fan? I haven't used it yet because the scope stays in my house for now and I haven't transpoted it long distances (where it could heat up in my car). Do you use the battery pack provided? Or have you purchased a bigger battery? At my last astro camp, one guy who had a Lightbridge had a big battery attached to it. Where do I get those bigger batteries and how would I attach it to the scope? Is it even necessary to get a bigger battery, or is the provided one sufficient?

I do have the light shroud. Like you I do my observing from the back yard and it does keep out stray light. It was highly overpriced but there is a cheaper version on the go now. Making your own will work just as well.

http://www.astrozap.com/pages/shrouds.html

Ive never used the cooling fan. My normal set up routine is after I coliminate I go make myself a cup of tea and have a ciggy by which time the mirror is cooled. But TBH I havent noticed any difference when observing right away.

APOD: Yeah dial to zero is off

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i also have the light shroud and i think it helps a good deal. i do all of my observing from my backyard as well and the shroud really keeps out the street light.

As for the cooling fan i havent had to use it yet. i have the scope in my house and have a similar routine to casus.

i wouldnt worry too much about the battery thing. id keep the one you have now.

Do you guys keep your Lightbridge set up or do you pull it apart after you use it? I have kept mine set up and I just carry it outside when I want to use it (I carry the base out separately to the telescope). Is it better to pull it apart after use? Or is it ok to leave it set up all the time?

I keep mine set up in my living room away from any windows that the sun might hit it so it doesnt heat up. i cant imagine there being anything bad about leaving the scope assembled.

i just carry it outside when im going to use it.

I'm not the strongest of people so I too take my scope out in two parts. When I take it in I set it up again. It takes up less space that way.

I finally got out for the first time in a month (Weather has been awful here lately) and got a good nights observing in. Bagged about 30 galaxies which include 6 I had'nt seen before. Highlights of the night was running along a chain of galaxies at the tail of Leo, M57 the ring nebule and the best view I've ever had of saturn

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wow thats amazing. so many galaxies. you must live in a pretty dark area to see so much. what apparent magnitude are the galaxies and other objects you are looking at?

i think there might be too much light pollution around here where im doing my observing from.

Most of these galaxies are round about 10th mag. A lot depends on conditions. Some nights I'm tripping over galaxies, other nights I can hardly see anything and to the naked eye the sky looks the same. Also the more you use your scope the easier it becomes.

The magnitude of a galaxy can be a little misleading as magnitude is measured over the whole object. So a spread out 10th mag galaxy might be invisible while a compact 12th mag galaxy might be easily seen.

Also remember that I have a 10" main mirror which has a lot more light gathering capabilities than an 8". I use the 26mm ep that came with the scope for my fuzzy hunts.

Light pollution is a huge factor. I observe from my backyard which is shielded from direct light (most of the time) If there is any direct light your eyes wont get dark adapted and you'll struggle to see much. Even lighting a cigarette (bad habit!) means a 10 minute wait before your eyes adjust. If my wife turns on the kitchen light even with the curtains closed then that’s my night vision ruined for a while.

Experience helps too. I’ve only had this scope for 9 months so really I’m a newbie at this. Every time I go out I learn a little bit more. Knowing where things are is a must. Ok, occasionally I stumble across a galaxy but that’s a rare event. Mostly these galaxies are faint fuzzy blobs and it’s easy to miss them.

And finally the 3 “P’s”. Perseverance, perseverance and perseverance. Don’t give up. I’ve learned that if I don’t find my target at first, go back to it. Even 20 minutes can make a difference in conditions

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Beer, the cause of and solution to, all lifes problems

The concept of surface brightness is important in deep-sky observing. One must take into account both the integrated magnitude and the surface brightness of an object and sometimes even that isn't enough, since the brightness gradients and morphologies of DSOs vary.

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze55p46/id18.html

http://www.astrobuysell.com/paul/sb.htm

Dave Mitsky

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Ive managed to get my finderscope working, after three separate attempts. A few nights ago, I almost had it lined up with the scope but the clouds set in and I couldn't see anything in the sky. Then last night, I took my scope out again and got the finder lined up almost perfectly. However, its still a tiny bit out and I can't seem to get it absolutely spot on. The knob on top of the finder (for moving it up and down) let me align it to almost spot on and then it wouldn't go any further. I tried moving the knob around in the opposite direction but that made the finder go down instead of up (I needed it to go up slightly). If I have the finder on the 'cross' mode, its not too bad, as the star I was focusing on was touching the top of the vertical part of the cross. I tried moving the knob on the side of the finder aswell but this only made it move down towards the left or right.

Anyone got any ideas on how to align the finder perfectly? I will give it another try