Help needed...New User

:x
Hubby bought me Altas Explorer ....70mm 900mm I hope that makes sense to somebody out there!!!with 3 thingymajigs 4mm, 12.5mm& 20mm
Haven't the foggiest how it works :x
Absolutley love the night sky hence the pressie, but all this techno jarg getting me know where!!
Not Blonde!!.. but know how they feel!!
Sorry for being pain in bum,
Love the web site spend most of the day nipping in and out when supposed to be working
Thanx in advance
BusyIzzy

Hi Rosy,
Welcome to the boards. I'm just a beginner as well, got my first scope in mid-December, but have learned a lot by pestering everyone here with my mad questions. Any problems, post it here and there will be plenty response. Then of course, there is Cosmos next week. A chance to bleed them all dry of info in person :lol: and put faces to names.
Welcome.
Bill H.

Welcome aboard!

Remember, there is no such thing as a stupid question so ask away!

To get the ball rolling, the "thingymajigs" are eye pieces, the difference between them is the magnification they will give you. The bigger the number the lower the magnification, the smaller the higher! One thing to bear in mind is that more magnification is often a BAD thing, it reduces the area yo uare looking at and reducesthe clarity and brightness of your image. Always start at the lowest magnification (eye piece with the biggest number) and then depending on how big and bright the target object is you can consider trying a higher magnification.

Bart.

Hubby bought me Altas Explorer ....70mm 900mm I hope that makes sense to somebody out there!!!with 3 thingymajigs 4mm, 12.5mm& 20mm

I assume this is a refractor (lens at the front) and not a reflector (mirror at the back)?

the 70mm is the width of the lens at the front, and the 900mm is the length of the telescope (really the distance between the lens and its focus, but practically thats about the length of the scope).

As Bart mentioned the 3 things are eyepieces, which should fit easily into the back of the scope. The 20mm gives the least magnification, and thats the one to use first until you get used to how it works. That will give you a magnification of x45 (900/20).

To start off point the scope, during daytime at something a couple of miles away, tree, mountaintop, lamp post. Then pop in the 20mm eyepiece and try to get it to focus on what you are looking at. You can then change the syspieces and see the difference in the brightness and magnification.

hth,
~Al

Hi Rosie - have you managed to take a look at anything through the scope yet?

The best thing to do, especially with the weather being what it is and so you can see what you are doing, is try some terrestrial viewing during the day as Al suggests.

But I'm sure you are aware that you must NEVER point the scope in the vicinity of the sun and view it through the scope - it will blind you.

Try out the different eyepieces, get used to focusing and get a feel for looking at images that are upside-down. Its not so bad looking at them but when you want to move the scope whilst viewing, its a little confusing to know which way to move...

You'll soon be familiar enough to confidently point it at the moon and enjoy the view!

Good luck and keep us posted with your progress - and of course, we all started just like you so ask as many questions as you like.

Dave McD

Thanx everybody for your words of wisdom!.. sincerely!!
Managed to get to the moon... very chuffed with myself!
Can't manage yo lock onto the stars or planets though .. is my telescope capable of such extremities??? :