5. Using Your Telescope
Focusing the Telescope
With the 25mm eyepiece inserted in the focuser, move the telescope so the front (open) end is pointing in the general direction of an object at least
NOTE:The image in the telescope will appear rotated 180° (upside down and reversed
View through finder scope and telescope
Figure 6. The view through a standard finder scope and reflector telescope is rotated 180°. This is true for the SkyView Pro 8 EQ and its finder scope as well.
If you have trouble focusing, rotate the focusing knob so the drawtube is in as far as it will go. Now look through the eye- piece while slowly rotating the focusing knob in the opposite direction. You should soon see the point at which focus is reached.
The black nylon thumb screw on the top of the body of the focuser (see Figure 4) will lock the focuser drawtube in place once the telescope is properly focused. Before focusing, remember to first loosen this thumb screw.
Viewing with Eyeglasses
If you wear eyeglasses, you may able to keep them on while you observe, if the eyepiece has enough “eye relief” to allow you to see the whole field of view. You can try this by look- ing through the eyepiece first with your glasses on, and then with them off, and see if the glasses restrict the view to only a portion of the full field. If they do, you can easily observe with your glasses off by just
Aligning the Finder Scope
The SkyView Pro 8 EQ Deluxe comes with a 8x40 achromatic finder scope (Figure 3a). The number 8 means
nification and the 40 indicates a 40mm diameter front lens. The finder scope makes it easier to locate the subject you want to observe in the telescope, because the finder scope has a much wider
The SkyView Pro 8 EQ’s finder scope uses a
The finder scope must be aligned accurately with the telescope for proper use. To align it, first aim the main telescope in the general direction of an object at least a 1/4 mile away - the top of a telephone pole, a chimney, etc. To aim the telescope, loosen the R.A. and Dec. lock levers and move it until it is pointing at the desired object. Then sight along the tube to aim the telescope. Turn the focus knob until the object is properly focused. Make sure to position the object in the center of the telescope’s eye- piece by turning the R.A. and Dec.
Now look in the finder scope. Is the object visible? Ideally it will be somewhere in the field of view. If not, some coarse adjust- ment to the finder scope bracket’s alignment thumbscrews will be needed until the object comes into the finder scope’s field of view.
With the image in the finder scope’s field of view, you now need to
The finder scope alignment needs to be checked before every observing session. This can easily be done at night, before viewing through the telescope. Choose any bright star or planet, center the object in telescope eyepiece, and then adjust the finder scope bracket’s alignment thumbscrews until the star or planet is centered on the finder’s crosshairs.
Focusing the finder scope
If, when you look through the finder scope, the images appear somewhat out of focus, you will need to refocus the finder scope for your eyes. Loosen the lock ring located behind the objective lens cell on the body of the finder scope (see Figure 3a). Back the lock ring off by a few turns, for now. Refocus the finder scope on a distant object by threading the objective lens cell in or out of the finderscope body. Precise focusing will be achieved by focusing the finder scope on a bright star. Once the image appears sharp, retighten the locking ring behind the objective lens cell. The finder scope’s focus should not need to be adjusted again.
Magnification & Eyepieces
Magnification, or power, is determined by the focal length of the telescope and the focal length of the eyepiece. Therefore, by using eyepieces of different focal lengths, the resultant magnification can be varied.
Magnification is calculated as follows:
Telescope Focal Length (mm)= Magnification
Eyepiece Focal Length (mm)
6
