What sort of magnification do i need on the meade lx200...
Discussion
My dad recently got himself a meade lx200 10" scope which is quite clearly a supurb piece of kit.
Unfortunatley my dad still hasn't read the instructions meaning we have not set up the goto aspect of the scope.
The first thing i need to know in laymans terms is roughly what do i have to do to set it up? The manuel is for a scientist and i am not one
if i knew some basics i reckon i could work it out.
Secondly.
I have seen the moon, what an incredible sight! Really amazing and makes the mind boggle at how big those craters i'm looking at in huge detal really are, are they the size of London? a car? or europe?
Anyway we got it out (read i carried the whole thing out about 40meters and nearly died carrying it) and we saw jupiter and 4 moons.
Again what a sight, it was very good, able to see the 2 pinky orangey rings. However after looking on google it seems some are getting better images, much more detail and generally larger.
Iirc its a 25mm eyepiece.
What would be better? its a minefield to me right now but an interesting one.
We also have another eyepiece of 6mm and a barlow lense (3x). No matter what combination i try these in i dont seem to be able to get any results at all. Whats going wrong?
Unfortunatley my dad still hasn't read the instructions meaning we have not set up the goto aspect of the scope.
The first thing i need to know in laymans terms is roughly what do i have to do to set it up? The manuel is for a scientist and i am not one
if i knew some basics i reckon i could work it out.Secondly.
I have seen the moon, what an incredible sight! Really amazing and makes the mind boggle at how big those craters i'm looking at in huge detal really are, are they the size of London? a car? or europe?
Anyway we got it out (read i carried the whole thing out about 40meters and nearly died carrying it) and we saw jupiter and 4 moons.
Again what a sight, it was very good, able to see the 2 pinky orangey rings. However after looking on google it seems some are getting better images, much more detail and generally larger.
Iirc its a 25mm eyepiece.
What would be better? its a minefield to me right now but an interesting one.
We also have another eyepiece of 6mm and a barlow lense (3x). No matter what combination i try these in i dont seem to be able to get any results at all. Whats going wrong?
Your scope is an f10, so your focal length is 2500, which is a fair bit longer than my 1500. I get my best views of Saturn / Jupiter using an 8mm eyepiece which gives 188x (focal length divided by eyepiece).
Due to your longer focal length, you get the roughly the same with a 14mm eyepiece. I try to use widefield eyepieces, they give a much 'richer' view as you're viewing more of the sky. Williams Optics do a widefield 15mm eyepiece for £60 which would work well, they do ultra widefiled too, which are a bit more pricey!
As far as barlow lenses go, not a massive fan. I take the view that the more glass you put between your eye and the primary lens / mirror, the worse the image gets, it certainly gets dimmer!
The 6mm eyepiece you have is way too powerful, giving you over 400x, this is really pushing things and I wouldn't expect to use that eyepiece apart from very rare use....perfect conditions....on the moon.
Due to your longer focal length, you get the roughly the same with a 14mm eyepiece. I try to use widefield eyepieces, they give a much 'richer' view as you're viewing more of the sky. Williams Optics do a widefield 15mm eyepiece for £60 which would work well, they do ultra widefiled too, which are a bit more pricey!
As far as barlow lenses go, not a massive fan. I take the view that the more glass you put between your eye and the primary lens / mirror, the worse the image gets, it certainly gets dimmer!
The 6mm eyepiece you have is way too powerful, giving you over 400x, this is really pushing things and I wouldn't expect to use that eyepiece apart from very rare use....perfect conditions....on the moon.
m3jappa said:
My dad recently got himself a meade lx200 10" scope which is quite clearly a supurb piece of kit.
Unfortunatley my dad still hasn't read the instructions meaning we have not set up the goto aspect of the scope.
The first thing i need to know in laymans terms is roughly what do i have to do to set it up? The manuel is for a scientist and i am not one if i knew some basics i reckon i could work it out.
Secondly.
I have seen the moon, what an incredible sight! Really amazing and makes the mind boggle at how big those craters i'm looking at in huge detal really are, are they the size of London? a car? or europe?
Anyway we got it out (read i carried the whole thing out about 40meters and nearly died carrying it) and we saw jupiter and 4 moons.
Again what a sight, it was very good, able to see the 2 pinky orangey rings. However after looking on google it seems some are getting better images, much more detail and generally larger.
Iirc its a 25mm eyepiece.
What would be better? its a minefield to me right now but an interesting one.
We also have another eyepiece of 6mm and a barlow lense (3x). No matter what combination i try these in i dont seem to be able to get any results at all. Whats going wrong?
As nelly said too much magnification mate, the higher the magnification the more it pushes your optics, the seeing, motor drive accuracy & polar alignment [it helps as it gives the mount less work to do whilst tracking].Unfortunatley my dad still hasn't read the instructions meaning we have not set up the goto aspect of the scope.
The first thing i need to know in laymans terms is roughly what do i have to do to set it up? The manuel is for a scientist and i am not one
if i knew some basics i reckon i could work it out.Secondly.
I have seen the moon, what an incredible sight! Really amazing and makes the mind boggle at how big those craters i'm looking at in huge detal really are, are they the size of London? a car? or europe?
Anyway we got it out (read i carried the whole thing out about 40meters and nearly died carrying it) and we saw jupiter and 4 moons.
Again what a sight, it was very good, able to see the 2 pinky orangey rings. However after looking on google it seems some are getting better images, much more detail and generally larger.
Iirc its a 25mm eyepiece.
What would be better? its a minefield to me right now but an interesting one.
We also have another eyepiece of 6mm and a barlow lense (3x). No matter what combination i try these in i dont seem to be able to get any results at all. Whats going wrong?
Thanks for the replies. I didn't reply earlier as i wanted to get the scope out again to have something to refer to iykwim.
I can clearly now appreciate how the 6mm gives was too much magnification, it makes jupiter huge but with no focus at all.
The 25mm on the other hand is very clear but lacks the incredible detail i have seen in pictures taken using the same or similar scopes.
I was having a look with my dad and this seems like perhaps a good begginers kit, any opinion? I'm assuming ours is a 1.25" focuser? Not sure how to determine that tbh.
http://www.telescopehouse.com/acatalog/Revelation_...
I can clearly now appreciate how the 6mm gives was too much magnification, it makes jupiter huge but with no focus at all.
The 25mm on the other hand is very clear but lacks the incredible detail i have seen in pictures taken using the same or similar scopes.
I was having a look with my dad and this seems like perhaps a good begginers kit, any opinion? I'm assuming ours is a 1.25" focuser? Not sure how to determine that tbh.
http://www.telescopehouse.com/acatalog/Revelation_...
You won't see the same detail through the eyepiece as you get in a photo. They are usually taken with a webcam taking hundreds of photos over a few seconds.
You then use software to sift through the images to pick out the best, align them, then overlay them so that detail that you wouldn't otherwise see is brought out.
Our society has a similar scope to yours, but it's a 16" version, even through that I wouldn't expect to see photographic quality.
You then use software to sift through the images to pick out the best, align them, then overlay them so that detail that you wouldn't otherwise see is brought out.
Our society has a similar scope to yours, but it's a 16" version, even through that I wouldn't expect to see photographic quality.
nellyleelephant said:
You won't see the same detail through the eyepiece as you get in a photo. They are usually taken with a webcam taking hundreds of photos over a few seconds.
You then use software to sift through the images to pick out the best, align them, then overlay them so that detail that you wouldn't otherwise see is brought out.
Our society has a similar scope to yours, but it's a 16" version, even through that I wouldn't expect to see photographic quality.
Best bet is to get yourself comfortable with the operation of scope tracking motors etc,etc. one option, which for some reason seems to be overlooked, is set it up in a room in daylight and go through the alignments menus until you get familiar with them. You then use software to sift through the images to pick out the best, align them, then overlay them so that detail that you wouldn't otherwise see is brought out.
Our society has a similar scope to yours, but it's a 16" version, even through that I wouldn't expect to see photographic quality.
What with work and the crappy weather so far this season my sct has sat in the dining room set up, and is starting to collect dust but I run through the menus to keep my hand in.
m3jappa said:
Yes we still need to work out how to align it. I just do not understand the instructions 
my dad who has a degree in physics probably should but has as much common sense as a fish
In laymans terms can someone explain it? The instructions are technical i'll say...
Any joy last night, it was clear for me. my dad who has a degree in physics probably should but has as much common sense as a fish In laymans terms can someone explain it? The instructions are technical i'll say...
Have you looked for any online tutorials? Youtube?
m3jappa said:
Yes we still need to work out how to align it. I just do not understand the instructions my dad who has a degree in physics probably should but has as much common sense as a fish
In laymans terms can someone explain it? The instructions are technical i'll say...
This seems reasonably good:- [ur]http://nfsi-server.yerkes.uchicago.edu/LX200_setup.html[/url] my dad who has a degree in physics probably should but has as much common sense as a fish In laymans terms can someone explain it? The instructions are technical i'll say...
Before setting up the Goto, I would make sure that the finder scope is perfectly aligned with the main tube. Do a rough alignment with the 25mm eyepiece first, and then fine tune with the 6mm.
Don
--
Gassing Station | Boats, Planes & Trains | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff