This channel has served as my astronomer's bible, everything is explained clearly and useful tips are always provided that aren't really apparent to me as a beginner
Very good straight advice. Aperture shroud of posterboard, check Adding weight to tripod (pail of sand) off center hub and bags of shot taped to the legs, check Painting or taping the locking knobs and adjustment wheels white or glow in the dark, check Buying plossl eyepieces, check Shimming loose fittings, check Adjusting all tensions, check Did all that my first year of adult astronomy...and I'm still with it for many years now.
14:48 In camera terms we call that cardboard tube extension as "HOOD", same hood we place in front of our lenses to reduce if not, totally remove glare from creeping in our photos. Glare is the number one cause of low contrasts in images because stray light overpowers the details of an image. Nice tip!
You deserve more subs and support from yt (monetization) and I watch the whole vid, so you can have 4k watch hours for monetization and cause their interesting and useful and keep up the great work 👍
I've been fascinated by stars and planets since I was little. Always wanted a telescope but never bought one. Just got a used one yesterday and trying to put it together. Can't wait for clear skies. Maybe if I can master this one I can save for a better one. Thank you for explaining the basics.
Good tips, glad I found your channel. Totally agree on the 15mm plossl w/2x Barlow. You need nothing else. A few years ago I found I using 8-24mm zoom eyepiece beneficial. While not the best quality, it got me to what I wanted to see quicker, and used to what size eyepieces I should be upgrading to when $ allows. I also found making hardware adjustments to "lock in" my spotting scope (eliminating the need to constantly calibrate it) a must. Cheers
I've been rewatching some of your videos. Made the light shield, works great. The tension screw adjustment was also a big help as mine was pretty hard to turn. Still wasn't happy with the how tough it was to fine tune the view, (adjust wait for shake to stop, repeat...) Found an Orion battery powered "Accufocus" for $92 online, for my Nexstar 130SLT. What a difference that makes.
Really looking forward to trying that light shield/shroud tip! Will be very interested to see what it does in my Bortle 6 local skies. Thanks for the video! I found it helpful.
Hello Brandon, your welcome buddy, great to hear you found my video helpful. Have fun with the light shield, it does make a difference if you have a lot of localised light pollution.
Great video Jason..... As always & really great tips especially upgrading your eye piece, gradually upgrading mine with celestron omni eye pieces, like you say good upgrades without taking out a loan. 👍 Thank you Jason for the time you take for us beginners. 🔭 🌗
Hi Jason, thank you very much for these videos. I really like your practical, simple and understandable tips and hints. I bought my first telescope last week and I'm going to see the moon with my 5yo son today for the first time.
Hello Martin, your more than welcome .. That's fantastic to hear, hope you and your son have a good clear night for it.. Enjoy your new telescope my friend😀
I loved the idea of glow in the dark paint and customisation. If any astronomer is brave there is a cute "astronomy nail polish" in claires. (Yes the shop for teenage girls haha). It's really easy to apply since it comes with a very small brush and if you pick up a clear coat to varnish. Anyone looking at your telescope will see the cute little glow in the dark stars you painted on it
Yes your tips helped me greatly. They supplied a 26mm, a 9mm and a 6.3mm with my beginner Meade 127mm. All Kellners. First two are good to go, but the third one has a small FOV as have all the Kellners but even worse for a 6.3mm. Even looking at moon is painful to the eyes and much straining. Guess high powered ones just have to be plossles.
Painting the locking nuts is the best advice I’ve heard. No matter how much I use my telescope, the min it gets dark I can never find those locking nuts, and end up feeling around where I think they should be, but aren’t. Thanks for the tip!
Another great video full of useful tips for beginners like me. My wife very recently bought an Orion Starblast 4.5 inexpensively ($100) from a friend who is moving, and I'm trying to sort out some issues with it (including that the 10mm eyepiece and collimating cap are missing). I'll either get a cap or make one as you described in another video so I can check mirror alignment. Since the longer eyepiece was missing, I've ordered a set of Plossl eyepieces with filters including moon filter, and a Barlow, all in a nice looking aluminum case. One thing I hadn't checked is the eyepiece tube and play. Sure enough, it has a slight "wobble" to it. I'll see if the towel tube will fit. Something will. While further checking it while your video was playing, I found that the Right ascension slow-motion control screw was barely engaging the geared ring, allowing it to be moved while everything is locked down. It was simply adjusted with a 8mm open ended wrench (spanner). The tripod is a bit flimsy as you mentioned, and I'll be noodling around with ways to stiffen it up. Thank you again for sharing valuable knowledge with newbies. I subscribed yesterday, and will continue viewing your videos.
You're a 10/10 dude. Every time I see one of your videos I feel welcomed to the hobby. 100% chill dude, 100% informative, Youre fuckin awesome dude thank you.
Thanks for your videos mate, just turned 50 and got my first telescope a Celestron Astromaster. When I was little I used to look up at the starts for hours with my grandad (wish he was here to look through it now) I saw Jupiter last night and 3 of its moon and couldnt believe it was amazing seeing something so far away, I love looking through it and seeing things I cant see or didnt expect to see with my eye. Thanks again :-)
So glad I found this channel. All other YT astronomy channels focus on astro photography, which I have no desire for, and are no use to me personally. Thanks for content for those of us that enjoy visual astronomy.
Thank you so much for your videos - I learned so much from you already. I got the first views with my 150/1400 reflector telescope and I was blown away when I saw the rings of Saturn. The oculars of my telescope-set are not very good (25mm and 10mm) and I just ordered a 15mm Plossel before I saw your video, and I was so happy when I heard your advice to get a 15mm plossel. I am looking forward to look at Jupiter and Saturn with my new 15mm ocular. Thanks for your content!
I was recently given a free 600mm focal length and 50mm aperture telescope on a lark, your videos have been a gold mine. Got me great views of the moon, way better then I expected.
The best mod to do for those slomo cables is to throw them away. First thing I do is replace them with some kind of knob or wheel, directly on the shaft. No searching for them in the dark, no flopping around, no coming loose and very accurate. The Celestron 'Super' eyepieces are actually pretty good, if you do some internal blackening. Of course disassembling eyepieces isnt recommended for noobs.
I got one of those Super 10 eyepieces with my new Mak....and I've already "donated" it to the dustbin (a replacement 12.5mm better-specs one is on the way from FLO). The 25mm eyepiece that came with the telescope is quite good so I'll be keeping that one.
Hi Jason. Another incredibly useful video. I have an entry level skywatcher 70mm refractor which belonged to my late father in law and had been sitting for the last few years. It needed some tlc and some tightening up etc. I thought I'd pretty much gotten to grips with it but there are so many great tips in this video that I hadn't thought of or knew about. In reality I'm still studying and learning the constellations through binoculars but it gets out now and then 👍
Hello Karl. Thank you my friend. Using binoculars to learn your way around the night sky is a great practise to do, I use binoculars a lot for astronomy, there are many great things you can see with them and also with your 70mm, you don't big optics to see amazing sites. Have fun. Clear skies.
Just got an entry level telescope for my kid and me to play with, and the 10mm stock eyepiece is almost useless. More detail on the 25, even if it's less magnified. A good 15mm sounds like the best upgrade for his next birthday :) Great vid, thanks.
HI! As a beginner in skywatching I knew 🌰🌰 about telescopes and how to use them... recently I bought my first tele and due to your magnificent vids, I'm enjoying learing about the usage of it! Thanks for the effort Jason👍👍
Love your simple and down to earth explanations and ideas for improvement. As far as the weight for the tripod, I love the idea of using a 4 pack of beer! We don't have 4 packs here in the States but I can figure out what to do with the 2 extra beers.
Hello Ray. Hahaha.. It's a great idea but like somebody else commented when they use beer for weight the problem is the tripod get lighter throughout the evening.. For obvious reasons XD
Very Helpful.! Thank you for sharing.! My Telescope is Similar to this and I have really gotten Some Use and Enjoyment out of it. I recently purchased a motor Drive to Start Tracking, and a Neximage 10MP Camera that is arriving Tuesday. Can’t wait to Start using it.! - Clear Sky’s - BWN
Some good tips im definitely going to try the tripod ideas iv got a very cheap meade 76az (not what I wanted but for £49 new wasn't going to let go) iv upgraded a couple of things the best thing i got is a zoom eyepiece its so much better then the standard eyepiece and its made really hard scope to keep in position so much easier to use i got the celestron 8/24mm on the back of ur review of it and I must say I'm not disappointed. I recommend anyone with a AZ mount to get one so ur not swapping eyepiece over..iv spent 3x more on exercises than the scope cost me 🤣 😬
Hello Andrew, you can't go wrong £49 for a telescope, I would have done the same thing...In fact I did, the telescope in my videos the black Skywatcher, I paid £70 for it, like you it wasn't the one I wanted, but I couldn't let it go for that price... Eyepieces costing more than your telescope is common, somtimes even when you've bought the telescope new...But worth it. Stay safe buddy, clear skies.
@@smalloptics753 my plan is to keep the eyepieces i also got the celestron barlow after watching ur review iv found ur video's very helpful in helping me choose what to go for as what ur reviewing is not massively expensive and its very easy to get carried away and spend ££££ especially for someone new who doesn't have anything to compare it to 👍
@@andrewpattie358 Geat to hear you are finding my videos useful.... I am hoping to do a lot more on quality buget astro stuff, your right you don't need to pay a fortune to get quality... :)
Your videos really are a great help for me as a beginner. Just watching your videos helped me understand and see the big picture. That's why I subscribe to this channel. Please make more informational videos.
For these EQ1 and EQ2 mounts, the Right Ascension slow motion control often interferes with the scope tube in certain orientations. This requires to swap the control rod to the other side of the mount. Instead of suffering that annoying inconvenience, attach 'stereo knobs' on each side of the R.A. gear shaft. Those made for a standard 1/4" shaft, and having a set screw to securely lock into place, make for a very significant upgrade. Refractor scopes in the beginner class which are provided with an Amici prism a.k.a. RACI (Right Angle Correct Image) diagonal often suffer a poor image due to the low tolerance on the 90 angle formed by the two reflecting surfaces. This can be so bad that a double image will result. Even if not that bad, an error on that 90 degree angle will cause a point source to be slightly elongated horizontally, and it will wreck fine detail resolution for planet observation particularly.
Great advice here. Another mentionable upgrade would be the finder scope. Having a good finder will help immensely in locating your target, especially when star hopping. Living in Las Vegas I deal with heavy light pollution, I’m gonna try the light shroud. Cheers
Hello Lou. Great point, those little stock optical finders are not much use and as you say upgrading is definitely something people should consider...It's funny you made that point my next video is all about finders :)..Take care buddy, clear skies.
I have a craptastic finder but it is attached to the main tube with 2 small hex screws, have yet to find any way to replace it. If you want to see what it looks like it's a B&L Criterion 4000, 4" 1200mm f/12 SCT. Scope is good, finder is terrible.
The biggest advantage to upgrading your eyepiece to a Plossel is "eye relief". It not unusual for the cheap eyepiece that comes with the telescope to have a smaller and smaller opening with the higher magnification. Along with that is a smaller and smaller window so that you pupil has to be in the exact right spot over the eye piece or you will see nothing. Half a MM left or right in or out, and nothing. So while a beginner scope is likely to come with more than one eyepiece, the higher mag eyepieces are far less comfortable to use. A Plossel gives you a higher mag and a bigger area within which you can see your target, that can make using a higher magnification more practical and more comfortable.
Once again great video however most of your good advice related to an EQ rather than an AZ mount AND a reflector…..hmmm. Look great advice however you don’t need addition weight to make the tripod more balanced if you are using an AZ. Love your videos. Kind regards as always.
The years of decent observing I lost out on as a kid (long before the net was a thing) because there was no mention in the instructions on the focuser tension screws 😥.
Thank you very much for all that info. I'm brand new to this and have loads of questions but I find that I am ticking off the answers as I watch your videos. Cheers Diolch yn fawr Mal in North Wales
The homemade cardboard dew shield isn't silly, it's just what we do. Why spend money on fancy plastic when you can do it for nearly free and get the same result? And great job talking about Plossl ep's. They are super and very inexpensive anymore.
Hi Jason, I think it would be a great idea on a short video on how you actually made that 'magic wand ' cover. Its a brilliant idea because so many viewers are living in light polluted areas. Just a thought. James. 🤓👍
Hey Jason! I've just got my first 150 mm newtonian, first time using an EQ mount. only problem I'm having is that its very hard to actually point it at what I want to point at. It feels like I want to move it around the x axis, while it cant. I have not experimented with using the internal scope to alight it with polaris yet. do you think that might be the problem?
Hello TheZabbiemaster, (great name) Probably yes....The thing is with EQ mounts is you have to use them correctly otherwise they will work against you ... I don't know if you have seen it or not but I have made a video on using an EQ mount I'll leave a link to it and hopefully it will clear things up for you... Enjoy your new telescope :) th-cam.com/video/RFCreX1x4_s/w-d-xo.html
If your EQ mount goes to 90 or 0 degrees you should be able to use it the same as an Alt-Az. That's what I've done. Just be careful of balance and your scope falling out of the saddle. ☺
Hello s b, I don't actually use is as a finder, but, it will work as one, if you mount any small refractor on top of the tube rings (via the camera mount screw on tube rings) it will be pretty much be in sync with the main telescope and needs minor adjustments to get it right. It's not really the correct way to use as a 100% accurate finder, but like say, I don't use it as a finder, it's on there for photography and wide field views. If you are looking into upgrading your finder, when it comes to optical finders in my experience you don't want anything smaller than a 9 x 50.
Hello Jason I want to thank you for the good tip and tricks. I am newbie with telescopes and I just bought a Celestron 130eq and all this tips are very useful, and I would like to ask you something , my telescope dont came with a Barlow, you know wich is Better Celestron Omni Barlow 2x or Svbony 2x Barlow? they cost almost the same. Greeting from Chile.
Hello Jean, your welcome my friend. The Celestron 130eq is a great starter telescope..Good choice. To be honest they are both good barlows for the money so I don't think you would be disappointed with either. You are doing the right thing buying branded products and not one of those very cheap unbranded ones....Trust me, they are garbage. I would have to say the celestron because I have one tried and tested and they are great for the money, I don't have a Svbony but have only heard good things said about it. So whichever you choose I'm sure you are going to be pleased. Stay safe, clear skies :)
Hello jaser, your welcome friend. For good budget diagonals you can't go wrong with any of these. The Skywatcher and Celestron are also available on Amazon. Hope this helps. Clear skies:) Skywatcher: www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/skywatcher-90-star-diagonal-125.html Celestron: www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/celestron-90-degree-star-diagonal-125.html Antares: www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/antares-90-star-diagonal-125.html
Just about to get a 15mm Plossl - will I lose the right side up I get from the Included celestron 20 mm erecting eyepiece? And, what would you get - budget about $100
Hello randallpatrickc. Great choice 15mm plossls are great eyepieces. As for the losing the right side up if you are using a correctional diagonal then no but if you are going straight into the focuser with the eyepiece then yes.. For £100 budget you can't go wrong with the Celestron X-Cel LX range they are round about £90..... Enjoy your new eyepiece :)
I liked the video the only problem I see with the tip for the focuser is the cardboard tube it will actually get soggy and can clog the focuser so please don't shout at me for correcting you but you will be better using Material: Brass sheet Size: 0.02×100×1000mm witch can be cut to size Suitable For: Manufacture of precision instruments you can find this on eBay
Hello billy, you would think that would be the case but mine has been on for 3 year's and still going strong. Bu if you can find metal sheeting to do the job than all the better. Take care buddy, clear skies :)
Do you have a vid on focusing? I have a Celestron AZ 102 ( thanks for the math in a previous video). I have trouble with fine focus adjustment. I’m not ruling out user error. Would it be worth replacing it with a better ficus assembly?
Hi Jason, bit of a noob question mate, so I got my Explorer 130 today..so much clearer than my bird Jones celestron 👍.just wondering, I'd there something similar to a star diagonal, but for reflectors to "right" the image ?
Hey Rob, Yes, you can get a erecting prism adaptor that looks a bit like a barlow and you use them just like a barlow, I would recommend to use them only for terrestrial viewing though, as you will lose some light, but they are available.
Only problem with hanging the beer under for Weight is that it will get lighter as the night goes on AND your steadiness will get proportionally less. 😅😅
Jason! Thank you so much for these videos! Your “light shroud” is called a matte box by us cinematographers. How about calling it a matte tube? 😅 Greetings from Mexico!
I’ve been looking into buying a telescope for a few days now, currently I am considering purchasing either a Celestron 130EQ or a Celestron Powerseeker 127EQ, I have watched and read a few things about what my first telescope should be including yours. Do you think I should choose one over the other, or even if these are appropriate and if not what else can I look at? Thanks in advance!
Hello Pikachu. At the end of the day Celestron and Skywatcher are the same telescopes both made in the same factory just dressed in different clothes and I would recommend either. I've used both of the telescopes you mentioned and apart for cosmetic differences the visual performance was negligible. But, if someone was to twist my arm I would choose the Celestron purely because the Celestron has a slightly larger mirror and when it comes to aperture every mm counts.
@@smalloptics753 Thank you, I also wanted to ask about the motor drives, do I need one? How much of a difference does it make? I do not plan to get the “go to” motor as it simply seems like no fun or the dual axis motors which seem overkill for a beginner.
Hi. I am new to this hobby. And your chanel has encouraged me a lot about stargazing to the point that I am considering buying my First telescope for myself and my 2 sons aged 8 and 6. Where I live in Dhaka, Bangladesh telescopes are hard to come by and pretty expensive because of shipping and duty. Most of them are high/intermediate ones and very pricy or toys. Very rarely we come across good beginner telescopes. After much searching I found 2. If you or anyone here could give me advice it'll super helpful. My 2 options are Celestron Starsense 114LT and another is 70×700 mm refractor. I gather from my limited knowledge is the 114LT is better but here it is about $120 more than the 70×700mm Refractor which is coming in about $220 as it is. I'm not sure if 114LT at $340 will be worth for me as a beginner or not. Or is it better to go for the simpler $220 70×700mm refractor. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Hello Sahdin. Both the telescopes you mentioned are great starter telescopes but if you are a total beginner or never had experience with a telescope I would say the refractor because refractor's are good to go straight out the box. With reflectors they will need collimating from time to time. Collimation is not difficult but you will have to learn how to do it and keep the telescope in good collimation. Visually there won't be a great deal of difference between the two telescopes but the reflector will give you a slightly brighter image. With both telescopes you will be able to see, craters on the moon detail on Jupiter and it's moon's, the rings of Saturn and even some of the brighter galaxy's, nebula and star clusters. Hope this helps you to make your choice.. I'll leave you a couple of links to some of my videos on the subject of buying your first telescope to hopefully help you further in your choice.. Happy telescope shopping and welcome to the hobby :) th-cam.com/video/bBtGgy_2wfs/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/ZzMrHWNAuQc/w-d-xo.html
Thank you so much 🙏 for your valuable advice sir. Yes, i am a total beginner. My plan to learn as i go and teach the kids along with me. I will surely update you. Best regards to you and family.
Hello!! Not sure if you will see this comment but I have a question…. I have a Bushnell Voyager 78-9570 refractor telescope and it’s my first telescope ever! But I’m having trouble finding any videos to help me learn about it basically. Do you have any suggestions for seeing Saturn because that is my current obsession LOL I also have a phone mount accessory and I have an iPhone 11 but I can’t seem to see as clearly through my phone what I’m looking at through the actual eyepiece of the telescope. I think I saw the rings Last night but once I hook my phone up to the telescope it’s very difficult. Any suggestions on how to best get it dialed in to see a clear view of Saturn?
Hello Sami.. Same here, Saturn after over 30 years is still my favourite night time object to observe, so I'm with you on that one... When it comes to viewing the to get the best views there are a few things you can do, I will leave you some links to some of my videos that will hopefully help you with all of your questions.. If you have a good look on my home page you will find loads of videos covering a lot of your issues.. Sorry for not giving you a straight answer in writing, it's hard to put everything in a nutshell here and not miss out something important .. Hopefully these will help.. Hope you enjoy your new telescope, have fun.. Clear skies :) How to get the best views of the planets: th-cam.com/video/wGGaPHwbWq8/w-d-xo.html phone astronomy: th-cam.com/video/ePM5pf0X53s/w-d-xo.html Astronomy tips for beginners : th-cam.com/video/bo6QjszhPiw/w-d-xo.html
Hello Sharon, Sorry for the late reply, TH-cam doesn't always notify me on comments so I have to keep checking. This is quite normal in astronomical telescopes the image will be upside down and back to front, you can get image correctors that will turn everything the right way, but they are only really suitable for day time use. Hope this helps :)
Hi Guptazzz, sorry no, the reason why, it's a bit of a specialized process and I have never tried because you can make things worse if you don't no exactly what you are doing, and I don't, so it wouldn't be fair for me to make a video on something I'm not 100% confident with...Sorry I can't meet your request...This one's for a binocular technician.
I noticed that my thumbs up was number 666. I would like to say that in reference to your comparison of a telescope without an eyepiece being like a guitar without strings, that the guitar would be no use to anybody. I can think of a few "guitarists" who such a guitar would be of use to, for example U2's guitarist.
How about laser aiming devices, my viewfinder was absolutely awful. I can't see anything but the moon thru the viewfinder, so I mounted a small cheapo laser aiming device for firearms (from amazon) and now the laser points exactly at whatever star/object/etc im aiming at... just crank the knobs till the laser points at what you're looking at, then turn off the laser and enjoy the view... no cranking your neck onto a viewfinder while trying to point the scope... I think these should be on all scopes!
Your welcome buddy, pleased to hear you found the tips helpful. Congratulations on choosing this great hobby, welcome to the community. All the best, clear skies.
You can also buy Flocking material which is a black velvet that keeps light from bouncing around in the tube or you could say it absorbs light. When placed in the right areas it improves contrast a lot....Cheers!
Do you recommend the celestron eyepiece and filter kit? I have a cheap starter telescope, the celestron travelscope 70 off Amazon. Recently upgraded the tripod and got a red dot finder, but still using everything else it came with. Would the 2x Barlow lens in the celestron kit and plossl eyepieces/filters it come with be a good upgrade?
There is also a £45 90 degree celestron star diagonal on Amazon, so you think this is also worth buying instead of using the 45 degree one that came with the travelscope ?
Hello Calbel, the Celestron eyepiece range are great for the money and will work well with your telescope. The diagnol you mentioned will be a great upgrade and definitely will be of better quality than the one originally provided with your telescope 😀
@@smalloptics753 Thank you, gone ahead and ordered the 90 degree star diagonal, found it a bit cheaper on eBay. I also ended up ordering the Celestron omni 2x Barlow and Celestron plossl 15mm eyepiece, instead of the Celestron eyepiece range (also got filters already) - wonder if that was the right decision? Appreciate your help and videos, thanks
I’ve just bought a 15mm plossl from a dealer.it was 16.99 plus 3 pounds postage from eBay.usually they are 30-40 quid so I’m thinking it’s got to be cheap for a reason!or was I lucky?
I got a Celestron 114AZ -SR Reflector telescope and right out of the box the secondary mirror is out of alignment!! The circles looking into the empty eyepiece are not near concentric. Nothing in the manual on how to fix it but you-tube shows how yay!
Thanks so much. So useful. Didn't know about the screw adjustment on the rack and pinion focuser. Need a new diagonal as mine is all cheap plastic and can't even take a filter. I replaced the cheap Barlow with a Celestron Onmi and wow what a difference and I like that you can use the bottom part for a 1.5 Barlow. I love a Barlow. I did buy a cheap zoom and it is darker than the Kellner lens that came with the scope but still I like the convenience. But I will try a Plossel 15mm. Great stuff you have provided. I have a Bresser 90500 - not bad tube, focuser and lens but the rest of the stuff is cheap plastic garbage.
I got a telescope for my 30th birthday a month ago. I've been out on 3 clear nights so far (last night was my first outside of town with no moon...wow!). Been great fun and watching some of your videos have helped temper expectations. Excited to try out some of these tips and do some simple upgrades in the future! Thanks a lot!
Are you fimilar with lock-tite threadlocker liquids? Should I prevent the bolts from ever coming loose again by using some of that on the tripod? I use a cinder block and ratchet strap tho anchor my tripod down.
Well done and I will be trying every tip provided. I completed most of the tips while watching the video and noticed a significant difference with my mount already! I have been thinking about purchasing a single upgraded eye piece but couldn't decide what I wanted to try and thanks to your video I will be looking for a 15mm quality eyepiece.
Top-heavy? Don't talk to me about top-heavy! I'm 5'6" and 10 stone, but when I left school my nickname was Eleanor 'WatermEleanor'. Don't ask why. 😲Things got much, much worse after that. Nobody ever takes me seriously. I'm a joke. I like astronomy because it happens in the dark. Top-heavy? If I'm not wearing 35lbs of cast-iron wellington boot, I bloomin' well fall over.🤭
Hello Elli. Don't speak so harshly about yourself I'm sure you are a lovely person, who cares about weight what matters is whats inside. Come and join our facebook group and share your astronomy experiences it doesn't matter what level your at anyone is welcome who has a interest in astronomy. Hope to see you there. Take care :) facebook.com/groups/223807419299994/?ref=share
The 'super 10mm' gets a lot of bad press but to be honest I've used it to split many doubles in the past. It doesn't really make that much difference if your light pollution is terrible anyway. Yes - you can improve the FOV and eye relief but the little 10mm isn't that bad.
My own experience as a beginner. When we got a PowerSeeker 114EQ telescope for my son as a present. I ordered a laser collimator and managed to check and align the laser itself. Then I collimated the telescope using a laser collimator. The telescope's main mirror and reflector were off from a factory, I found out while collimating the telescope.
This channel has served as my astronomer's bible, everything is explained clearly and useful tips are always provided that aren't really apparent to me as a beginner
Very good straight advice.
Aperture shroud of posterboard, check
Adding weight to tripod (pail of sand) off center hub and bags of shot taped to the legs, check
Painting or taping the locking knobs and adjustment wheels white or glow in the dark, check
Buying plossl eyepieces, check
Shimming loose fittings, check
Adjusting all tensions, check
Did all that my first year of adult astronomy...and I'm still with it for many years now.
I am a newbie ...I learned more practical info in 3 videos from small optics than all the other videos i have ever watched. GREAT JOB !!!!!!
Hello Chris, Thank my friend.. Great to hear :)
14:48 In camera terms we call that cardboard tube extension as "HOOD", same hood we place in front of our lenses to reduce if not, totally remove glare from creeping in our photos. Glare is the number one cause of low contrasts in images because stray light overpowers the details of an image. Nice tip!
Hello Manny.... Of course a HUD lol, I just couldn't think what they were called...Thanks for the info buddy. Stay safe, clear skies :)
You deserve more subs and support from yt (monetization) and I watch the whole vid, so you can have 4k watch hours for monetization and cause their interesting and useful and keep up the great work 👍
Thanks buddy, really appreciate that. Comments like yours make it all the more worthwhile.
I've been fascinated by stars and planets since I was little. Always wanted a telescope but never bought one. Just got a used one yesterday and trying to put it together. Can't wait for clear skies. Maybe if I can master this one I can save for a better one. Thank you for explaining the basics.
Hello Kathleen, Your more than welcome. Enjoy your new telescope hope the clear skies come soon for you. :)
Good tips, glad I found your channel. Totally agree on the 15mm plossl w/2x Barlow. You need nothing else. A few years ago I found I using 8-24mm zoom eyepiece beneficial. While not the best quality, it got me to what I wanted to see quicker, and used to what size eyepieces I should be upgrading to when $ allows. I also found making hardware adjustments to "lock in" my spotting scope (eliminating the need to constantly calibrate it) a must. Cheers
Damn, I literally just ordered a 20mm plössl. Should have looked at these comments more. Hopefully it's good enough.
I've been rewatching some of your videos. Made the light shield, works great. The tension screw adjustment was also a big help as mine was pretty hard to turn. Still wasn't happy with the how tough it was to fine tune the view, (adjust wait for shake to stop, repeat...) Found an Orion battery powered "Accufocus" for $92 online, for my Nexstar 130SLT. What a difference that makes.
Really looking forward to trying that light shield/shroud tip! Will be very interested to see what it does in my Bortle 6 local skies. Thanks for the video! I found it helpful.
Hello Brandon, your welcome buddy, great to hear you found my video helpful. Have fun with the light shield, it does make a difference if you have a lot of localised light pollution.
Great video Jason..... As always & really great tips especially upgrading your eye piece, gradually upgrading mine with celestron omni eye pieces, like you say good upgrades without taking out a loan. 👍 Thank you Jason for the time you take for us beginners. 🔭 🌗
Hello Rob, your welcome my friend. The Celestron Omni range are great eyepieces for the price, Stay safe buddy, clear skies :)
Hello do you still recommend the Celestron Omni pieces ? Or have you made an upgrade to other line up ?
Hi Jason, thank you very much for these videos. I really like your practical, simple and understandable tips and hints. I bought my first telescope last week and I'm going to see the moon with my 5yo son today for the first time.
Hello Martin, your more than welcome .. That's fantastic to hear, hope you and your son have a good clear night for it.. Enjoy your new telescope my friend😀
I loved the idea of glow in the dark paint and customisation. If any astronomer is brave there is a cute "astronomy nail polish" in claires. (Yes the shop for teenage girls haha).
It's really easy to apply since it comes with a very small brush and if you pick up a clear coat to varnish. Anyone looking at your telescope will see the cute little glow in the dark stars you painted on it
Yes your tips helped me greatly. They supplied a 26mm, a 9mm and a 6.3mm with my beginner Meade 127mm. All Kellners. First two are good to go, but the third one has a small FOV as have all the Kellners but even worse for a 6.3mm. Even looking at moon is painful to the eyes and much straining. Guess high powered ones just have to be plossles.
Painting the locking nuts is the best advice I’ve heard. No matter how much I use my telescope, the min it gets dark I can never find those locking nuts, and end up feeling around where I think they should be, but aren’t. Thanks for the tip!
Another great video full of useful tips for beginners like me. My wife very recently bought an Orion Starblast 4.5 inexpensively ($100) from a friend who is moving, and I'm trying to sort out some issues with it (including that the 10mm eyepiece and collimating cap are missing). I'll either get a cap or make one as you described in another video so I can check mirror alignment. Since the longer eyepiece was missing, I've ordered a set of Plossl eyepieces with filters including moon filter, and a Barlow, all in a nice looking aluminum case. One thing I hadn't checked is the eyepiece tube and play. Sure enough, it has a slight "wobble" to it. I'll see if the towel tube will fit. Something will. While further checking it while your video was playing, I found that the Right ascension slow-motion control screw was barely engaging the geared ring, allowing it to be moved while everything is locked down. It was simply adjusted with a 8mm open ended wrench (spanner). The tripod is a bit flimsy as you mentioned, and I'll be noodling around with ways to stiffen it up. Thank you again for sharing valuable knowledge with newbies. I subscribed yesterday, and will continue viewing your videos.
...oh, and painting the locking knobs is a great idea. I'll be doing that for sure. Thank you!!
You're a 10/10 dude. Every time I see one of your videos I feel welcomed to the hobby. 100% chill dude, 100% informative, Youre fuckin awesome dude thank you.
As far as I'm concerned, yours is the best astronomy channel on you tube. Thanks for what you do.
Thanks for your videos mate, just turned 50 and got my first telescope a Celestron Astromaster. When I was little I used to look up at the starts for hours with my grandad (wish he was here to look through it now) I saw Jupiter last night and 3 of its moon and couldnt believe it was amazing seeing something so far away, I love looking through it and seeing things I cant see or didnt expect to see with my eye. Thanks again :-)
Thanks I'm a astronomy buff for 20 years and I still learned a couple tricks from you !
So glad I found this channel. All other YT astronomy channels focus on astro photography, which I have no desire for, and are no use to me personally. Thanks for content for those of us that enjoy visual astronomy.
Hello Gregory. That's great to hear my friend, and your more than welcome.. All the best for 2022 :)
Great tips as always Jason!!
Hey The Urban Astronomer, thanks buddy, much appreciated :)
Thank you so much for your videos - I learned so much from you already. I got the first views with my 150/1400 reflector telescope and I was blown away when I saw the rings of Saturn. The oculars of my telescope-set are not very good (25mm and 10mm) and I just ordered a 15mm Plossel before I saw your video, and I was so happy when I heard your advice to get a 15mm plossel. I am looking forward to look at Jupiter and Saturn with my new 15mm ocular. Thanks for your content!
I was recently given a free 600mm focal length and 50mm aperture telescope on a lark, your videos have been a gold mine. Got me great views of the moon, way better then I expected.
The best mod to do for those slomo cables is to throw them away. First thing I do is replace them with some kind of knob or wheel, directly on the shaft. No searching for them in the dark, no flopping around, no coming loose and very accurate. The Celestron 'Super' eyepieces are actually pretty good, if you do some internal blackening. Of course disassembling eyepieces isnt recommended for noobs.
I got one of those Super 10 eyepieces with my new Mak....and I've already "donated" it to the dustbin (a replacement 12.5mm better-specs one is on the way from FLO). The 25mm eyepiece that came with the telescope is quite good so I'll be keeping that one.
Hi Jason. Another incredibly useful video. I have an entry level skywatcher 70mm refractor which belonged to my late father in law and had been sitting for the last few years. It needed some tlc and some tightening up etc. I thought I'd pretty much gotten to grips with it but there are so many great tips in this video that I hadn't thought of or knew about.
In reality I'm still studying and learning the constellations through binoculars but it gets out now and then 👍
Hello Karl. Thank you my friend. Using binoculars to learn your way around the night sky is a great practise to do, I use binoculars a lot for astronomy, there are many great things you can see with them and also with your 70mm, you don't big optics to see amazing sites. Have fun. Clear skies.
Just got an entry level telescope for my kid and me to play with, and the 10mm stock eyepiece is almost useless. More detail on the 25, even if it's less magnified. A good 15mm sounds like the best upgrade for his next birthday :)
Great vid, thanks.
Hello Nino. Thank you my friend and your more than welcome.. :)
Thanks!
You are very good teacher Mr Small Optics.
HI! As a beginner in skywatching I knew 🌰🌰 about telescopes and how to use them... recently I bought my first tele and due to your magnificent vids, I'm enjoying learing about the usage of it! Thanks for the effort Jason👍👍
You're more than welcome JV enjoy your new telescope my friend😀
lol, observation location... i love that... u laughed at ur own words.. very funny :). and the 4 pack of beer lol, self humour best in the world x
I'm definitely stealing some of these tips for personal use. Thank you for the incredibly helpful video for new users!!
Love your simple and down to earth explanations and ideas for improvement. As far as the weight for the tripod, I love the idea of using a 4 pack of beer! We don't have 4 packs here in the States but I can figure out what to do with the 2 extra beers.
Hello Ray. Hahaha.. It's a great idea but like somebody else commented when they use beer for weight the problem is the tripod get lighter throughout the evening.. For obvious reasons XD
Ray, I (hic) totally agree.🔭🌌🍻👍
Very Helpful.! Thank you for sharing.!
My Telescope is Similar to this and I have really gotten Some Use and Enjoyment out of it. I recently purchased a motor Drive to Start Tracking, and a Neximage 10MP Camera that is arriving Tuesday. Can’t wait to Start using it.!
- Clear Sky’s - BWN
Only trouble with using four cans of beer is over the course of the night the weight would reduce
Hahaha... So true XD
You are right but the best part is after the 4th can there's a good chance your going to see double stars an star clusters. What a bonus. haha
All so helpful, thanks so much Jason
Thanks for watching, and you're more than welcome my friend.
Some good tips im definitely going to try the tripod ideas iv got a very cheap meade 76az (not what I wanted but for £49 new wasn't going to let go) iv upgraded a couple of things the best thing i got is a zoom eyepiece its so much better then the standard eyepiece and its made really hard scope to keep in position so much easier to use i got the celestron 8/24mm on the back of ur review of it and I must say I'm not disappointed. I recommend anyone with a AZ mount to get one so ur not swapping eyepiece over..iv spent 3x more on exercises than the scope cost me 🤣 😬
Hello Andrew, you can't go wrong £49 for a telescope, I would have done the same thing...In fact I did, the telescope in my videos the black Skywatcher, I paid £70 for it, like you it wasn't the one I wanted, but I couldn't let it go for that price... Eyepieces costing more than your telescope is common, somtimes even when you've bought the telescope new...But worth it. Stay safe buddy, clear skies.
@@smalloptics753 my plan is to keep the eyepieces i also got the celestron barlow after watching ur review iv found ur video's very helpful in helping me choose what to go for as what ur reviewing is not massively expensive and its very easy to get carried away and spend ££££ especially for someone new who doesn't have anything to compare it to 👍
@@andrewpattie358 Geat to hear you are finding my videos useful.... I am hoping to do a lot more on quality buget astro stuff, your right you don't need to pay a fortune to get quality... :)
Your videos really are a great help for me as a beginner. Just watching your videos helped me understand and see the big picture. That's why I subscribe to this channel. Please make more informational videos.
For these EQ1 and EQ2 mounts, the Right Ascension slow motion control often interferes with the scope tube in certain orientations. This requires to swap the control rod to the other side of the mount. Instead of suffering that annoying inconvenience, attach 'stereo knobs' on each side of the R.A. gear shaft. Those made for a standard 1/4" shaft, and having a set screw to securely lock into place, make for a very significant upgrade.
Refractor scopes in the beginner class which are provided with an Amici prism a.k.a. RACI (Right Angle Correct Image) diagonal often suffer a poor image due to the low tolerance on the 90 angle formed by the two reflecting surfaces. This can be so bad that a double image will result. Even if not that bad, an error on that 90 degree angle will cause a point source to be slightly elongated horizontally, and it will wreck fine detail resolution for planet observation particularly.
Great advice here. Another mentionable upgrade would be the finder scope. Having a good finder will help immensely in locating your target, especially when star hopping. Living in Las Vegas I deal with heavy light pollution, I’m gonna try the light shroud. Cheers
Hello Lou. Great point, those little stock optical finders are not much use and as you say upgrading is definitely something people should consider...It's funny you made that point my next video is all about finders :)..Take care buddy, clear skies.
I have a craptastic finder but it is attached to the main tube with 2 small hex screws, have yet to find any way to replace it. If you want to see what it looks like it's a B&L Criterion 4000, 4" 1200mm f/12 SCT. Scope is good, finder is terrible.
Thank-you for the tips. Getting started ..I have learned a Lot from you
Thanks for these good tips! I think your videos are nice and humble :)
The biggest advantage to upgrading your eyepiece to a Plossel is "eye relief". It not unusual for the cheap eyepiece that comes with the telescope to have a smaller and smaller opening with the higher magnification. Along with that is a smaller and smaller window so that you pupil has to be in the exact right spot over the eye piece or you will see nothing. Half a MM left or right in or out, and nothing. So while a beginner scope is likely to come with more than one eyepiece, the higher mag eyepieces are far less comfortable to use. A Plossel gives you a higher mag and a bigger area within which you can see your target, that can make using a higher magnification more practical and more comfortable.
Another advantage is if you buy a set and they are par-focal. That means that you will not have to refocus when switching from one mag to another.
Once again great video however most of your good advice related to an EQ rather than an AZ mount AND a reflector…..hmmm. Look great advice however you don’t need addition weight to make the tripod more balanced if you are using an AZ. Love your videos. Kind regards as always.
The years of decent observing I lost out on as a kid (long before the net was a thing) because there was no mention in the instructions on the focuser tension screws 😥.
Brilliant video, some fantastic tips for us newbies.👍
Thanks for this. I will take your advise on upgrading the eyepieces. Cheers from Tasmania
Hello Katie, Your more than welcome :)
Upgrading a diagonal and eyepiece really help to match the true value of the telescope
Thank you very much for all that info. I'm brand new to this and have loads of questions but I find that I am ticking off the answers as I watch your videos. Cheers Diolch yn fawr Mal in North Wales
Just got my first telescope. This video is fantastic. Thank you 👍
Hello Cindy.. Your more than welcome.. Enjoy your new telescope :)
Great info, great channel. Thanks for your hard work.
Very helpful video. Thank you for all the thought put into this video.
Great advice. Thank you!
The homemade cardboard dew shield isn't silly, it's just what we do. Why spend money on fancy plastic when you can do it for nearly free and get the same result?
And great job talking about Plossl ep's. They are super and very inexpensive anymore.
Hi Jason,
I think it would be a great idea on a short video on how you actually made that 'magic wand ' cover.
Its a brilliant idea because so many viewers are living in light polluted areas.
Just a thought.
James. 🤓👍
Thanks a lot, that helped me guiding me in a good direction!
Thank very much for the information I found it very informative and clear again thank you.
Hey Jason!
I've just got my first 150 mm newtonian, first time using an EQ mount. only problem I'm having is that its very hard to actually point it at what I want to point at. It feels like I want to move it around the x axis, while it cant. I have not experimented with using the internal scope to alight it with polaris yet. do you think that might be the problem?
Hello TheZabbiemaster, (great name) Probably yes....The thing is with EQ mounts is you have to use them correctly otherwise they will work against you ... I don't know if you have seen it or not but I have made a video on using an EQ mount I'll leave a link to it and hopefully it will clear things up for you... Enjoy your new telescope :) th-cam.com/video/RFCreX1x4_s/w-d-xo.html
If your EQ mount goes to 90 or 0 degrees you should be able to use it the same as an Alt-Az. That's what I've done. Just be careful of balance and your scope falling out of the saddle. ☺
How does that refractor work as a finder? Could you explain as I have a reflector on a eq mount and want to upgrade my finder.
Hello s b, I don't actually use is as a finder, but, it will work as one, if you mount any small refractor on top of the tube rings (via the camera mount screw on tube rings) it will be pretty much be in sync with the main telescope and needs minor adjustments to get it right. It's not really the correct way to use as a 100% accurate finder, but like say, I don't use it as a finder, it's on there for photography and wide field views. If you are looking into upgrading your finder, when it comes to optical finders in my experience you don't want anything smaller than a 9 x 50.
Buy a telrad
Mate if it solves the problem , who cares what it looks like and others think! 😂
That’s always been my philosophy in life. Great video and advice.
Thank you very much
Your more than welcome friend :)
Hello Jason I want to thank you for the good tip and tricks. I am newbie with telescopes and I just bought a Celestron 130eq and all this tips are very useful, and I would like to ask you something , my telescope dont came with a Barlow, you know wich is Better Celestron Omni Barlow 2x or Svbony 2x Barlow? they cost almost the same.
Greeting from Chile.
Hello Jean, your welcome my friend. The Celestron 130eq is a great starter telescope..Good choice.
To be honest they are both good barlows for the money so I don't think you would be disappointed with either. You are doing the right thing buying branded products and not one of those very cheap unbranded ones....Trust me, they are garbage. I would have to say the celestron because I have one tried and tested and they are great for the money, I don't have a Svbony but have only heard good things said about it. So whichever you choose I'm sure you are going to be pleased. Stay safe, clear skies :)
Thanks for the video. Can you recommend a good star diagonal
Hello jaser, your welcome friend. For good budget diagonals you can't go wrong with any of these. The Skywatcher and Celestron are also available on Amazon. Hope this helps. Clear skies:)
Skywatcher: www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/skywatcher-90-star-diagonal-125.html
Celestron: www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/celestron-90-degree-star-diagonal-125.html
Antares: www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/antares-90-star-diagonal-125.html
Thank you!
Very nicely done. But what "pun"?
Just about to get a 15mm Plossl - will I lose the right side up I get from the Included celestron 20 mm erecting eyepiece? And, what would you get - budget about $100
Hello randallpatrickc. Great choice 15mm plossls are great eyepieces. As for the losing the right side up if you are using a correctional diagonal then no but if you are going straight into the focuser with the eyepiece then yes..
For £100 budget you can't go wrong with the Celestron X-Cel LX range they are round about £90..... Enjoy your new eyepiece :)
I liked the video the only problem I see with the tip for the focuser is the cardboard tube it will actually get soggy and can clog the focuser so please don't shout at me for correcting you but you will be better using
Material: Brass sheet
Size: 0.02×100×1000mm witch can be cut to size
Suitable For: Manufacture of precision instruments you can find this on eBay
Hello billy, you would think that would be the case but mine has been on for 3 year's and still going strong. Bu if you can find metal sheeting to do the job than all the better. Take care buddy, clear skies :)
@@smalloptics753 i like watching the vidz keep up yhe good work :)
@@billygardiner6924 Thanks billy, will do pal :)
Cool Tips Jason..🌠🔭👍
Thanks buddy :)
Do you have a vid on focusing? I have a Celestron AZ 102 ( thanks for the math in a previous video). I have trouble with fine focus adjustment. I’m not ruling out user error. Would it be worth replacing it with a better ficus assembly?
Hi Jason, bit of a noob question mate, so I got my Explorer 130 today..so much clearer than my bird Jones celestron 👍.just wondering, I'd there something similar to a star diagonal, but for reflectors to "right" the image ?
Hey Rob, Yes, you can get a erecting prism adaptor that looks a bit like a barlow and you use them just like a barlow, I would recommend to use them only for terrestrial viewing though, as you will lose some light, but they are available.
@@smalloptics753 yes, ok m8, I understand..thanks again 👍
I was surprised my star diagonal from my refractor didn't work on my reflector 🤔I mean..it wouldn't even focus..
@@RobBob555 Your welcome buddy :)
Only problem with hanging the beer under for Weight is that it will get lighter as the night goes on AND your steadiness will get proportionally less. 😅😅
Jason! Thank you so much for these videos! Your “light shroud” is called a matte box by us cinematographers. How about calling it a matte tube? 😅 Greetings from Mexico!
Lol! I shall from now on. All the best my friend 😃
I love you sir
Put the tripod on firm ground. If it is not firm, bring a board to put the tripod on.
I’ve been looking into buying a telescope for a few days now, currently I am considering purchasing either a Celestron 130EQ or a Celestron Powerseeker 127EQ, I have watched and read a few things about what my first telescope should be including yours. Do you think I should choose one over the other, or even if these are appropriate and if not what else can I look at? Thanks in advance!
Hello Pikachu. At the end of the day Celestron and Skywatcher are the same telescopes both made in the same factory just dressed in different clothes and I would recommend either. I've used both of the telescopes you mentioned and apart for cosmetic differences the visual performance was negligible. But, if someone was to twist my arm I would choose the Celestron purely because the Celestron has a slightly larger mirror and when it comes to aperture every mm counts.
@@smalloptics753 Thank you, I also wanted to ask about the motor drives, do I need one? How much of a difference does it make? I do not plan to get the “go to” motor as it simply seems like no fun or the dual axis motors which seem overkill for a beginner.
Did you buy a scope yet?
@@STho205 I have, bought the 130 EQ/MD.
@@windify2712 the short Celestron 130 EQmount.
Hi. I am new to this hobby. And your chanel has encouraged me a lot about stargazing to the point that I am considering buying my First telescope for myself and my 2 sons aged 8 and 6. Where I live in Dhaka, Bangladesh telescopes are hard to come by and pretty expensive because of shipping and duty. Most of them are high/intermediate ones and very pricy or toys. Very rarely we come across good beginner telescopes. After much searching I found 2. If you or anyone here could give me advice it'll super helpful. My 2 options are Celestron Starsense 114LT and another is 70×700 mm refractor. I gather from my limited knowledge is the 114LT is better but here it is about $120 more than the 70×700mm Refractor which is coming in about $220 as it is. I'm not sure if 114LT at $340 will be worth for me as a beginner or not. Or is it better to go for the simpler $220 70×700mm refractor. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Hello Sahdin. Both the telescopes you mentioned are great starter telescopes but if you are a total beginner or never had experience with a telescope I would say the refractor because refractor's are good to go straight out the box. With reflectors they will need collimating from time to time. Collimation is not difficult but you will have to learn how to do it and keep the telescope in good collimation. Visually there won't be a great deal of difference between the two telescopes but the reflector will give you a slightly brighter image. With both telescopes you will be able to see, craters on the moon detail on Jupiter and it's moon's, the rings of Saturn and even some of the brighter galaxy's, nebula and star clusters. Hope this helps you to make your choice.. I'll leave you a couple of links to some of my videos on the subject of buying your first telescope to hopefully help you further in your choice.. Happy telescope shopping and welcome to the hobby :)
th-cam.com/video/bBtGgy_2wfs/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/ZzMrHWNAuQc/w-d-xo.html
Thank you so much 🙏 for your valuable advice sir. Yes, i am a total beginner. My plan to learn as i go and teach the kids along with me. I will surely update you. Best regards to you and family.
Hello!! Not sure if you will see this comment but I have a question…. I have a Bushnell Voyager 78-9570 refractor telescope and it’s my first telescope ever! But I’m having trouble finding any videos to help me learn about it basically. Do you have any suggestions for seeing Saturn because that is my current obsession LOL I also have a phone mount accessory and I have an iPhone 11 but I can’t seem to see as clearly through my phone what I’m looking at through the actual eyepiece of the telescope. I think I saw the rings Last night but once I hook my phone up to the telescope it’s very difficult. Any suggestions on how to best get it dialed in to see a clear view of Saturn?
Hello Sami.. Same here, Saturn after over 30 years is still my favourite night time object to observe, so I'm with you on that one... When it comes to viewing the to get the best views there are a few things you can do, I will leave you some links to some of my videos that will hopefully help you with all of your questions.. If you have a good look on my home page you will find loads of videos covering a lot of your issues.. Sorry for not giving you a straight answer in writing, it's hard to put everything in a nutshell here and not miss out something important .. Hopefully these will help.. Hope you enjoy your new telescope, have fun.. Clear skies :)
How to get the best views of the planets: th-cam.com/video/wGGaPHwbWq8/w-d-xo.html
phone astronomy: th-cam.com/video/ePM5pf0X53s/w-d-xo.html
Astronomy tips for beginners : th-cam.com/video/bo6QjszhPiw/w-d-xo.html
@@smalloptics753 You are the best! Thank you so much! Clear skies 😊
Good job.
Many many thanks
Enjoyed your video. I bought my first telescope and my focuser images are upside down. Any suggestions? Thanks
Hello Sharon, Sorry for the late reply, TH-cam doesn't always notify me on comments so I have to keep checking. This is quite normal in astronomical telescopes the image will be upside down and back to front, you can get image correctors that will turn everything the right way, but they are only really suitable for day time use. Hope this helps :)
Hi, can you please make a video on collimating a binocular
Hi Guptazzz, sorry no, the reason why, it's a bit of a specialized process and I have never tried because you can make things worse if you don't no exactly what you are doing, and I don't, so it wouldn't be fair for me to make a video on something I'm not 100% confident with...Sorry I can't meet your request...This one's for a binocular technician.
Okay, I understand
I noticed that my thumbs up was number 666. I would like to say that in reference to your comparison of a telescope without an eyepiece being like a guitar without strings, that the guitar would be no use to anybody. I can think of a few "guitarists" who such a guitar would be of use to, for example U2's guitarist.
Thanks for clicking the like on such a demonic number.. A lot wouldn't lol.. Cheers buddy :)
@@smalloptics753 I am honoured, those who have any knowledge whatsoever about astronomy could hardly take religion seriously!
*an
Apologies.. Typo🙄
Hi. How can I ask you something in private message?
Hello Natalie, Sorry for the late reply. You can email me at smalloptics@gmail.com
How about laser aiming devices, my viewfinder was absolutely awful. I can't see anything but the moon thru the viewfinder, so I mounted a small cheapo laser aiming device for firearms (from amazon) and now the laser points exactly at whatever star/object/etc im aiming at... just crank the knobs till the laser points at what you're looking at, then turn off the laser and enjoy the view... no cranking your neck onto a viewfinder while trying to point the scope... I think these should be on all scopes!
Thanks!
Hello Scott. Thank you so much for the donation my friend very much appreciated.
the magic wand made me chuckle! thanks for the tips I am an absolute beginner and these were very helpful to me, cheers buddy/boyo
Your welcome buddy, pleased to hear you found the tips helpful. Congratulations on choosing this great hobby, welcome to the community. All the best, clear skies.
You can also buy Flocking material which is a black velvet that keeps light from bouncing around in the tube or you could say it absorbs light. When placed in the right areas it improves contrast a lot....Cheers!
Do you recommend the celestron eyepiece and filter kit? I have a cheap starter telescope, the celestron travelscope 70 off Amazon. Recently upgraded the tripod and got a red dot finder, but still using everything else it came with. Would the 2x Barlow lens in the celestron kit and plossl eyepieces/filters it come with be a good upgrade?
There is also a £45 90 degree celestron star diagonal on Amazon, so you think this is also worth buying instead of using the 45 degree one that came with the travelscope ?
Hello Calbel, the Celestron eyepiece range are great for the money and will work well with your telescope. The diagnol you mentioned will be a great upgrade and definitely will be of better quality than the one originally provided with your telescope 😀
@@smalloptics753 Thank you, gone ahead and ordered the 90 degree star diagonal, found it a bit cheaper on eBay. I also ended up ordering the Celestron omni 2x Barlow and Celestron plossl 15mm eyepiece, instead of the Celestron eyepiece range (also got filters already) - wonder if that was the right decision? Appreciate your help and videos, thanks
I’ve just bought a 15mm plossl from a dealer.it was 16.99 plus 3 pounds postage from eBay.usually they are 30-40 quid so I’m thinking it’s got to be cheap for a reason!or was I lucky?
I got a Celestron 114AZ -SR Reflector telescope and right out of the box the secondary mirror is out of alignment!! The circles looking into the empty eyepiece are not near concentric. Nothing in the manual on how to fix it but you-tube shows how yay!
Thanks so much. So useful. Didn't know about the screw adjustment on the rack and pinion focuser. Need a new diagonal as mine is all cheap plastic and can't even take a filter. I replaced the cheap Barlow with a Celestron Onmi and wow what a difference and I like that you can use the bottom part for a 1.5 Barlow. I love a Barlow. I did buy a cheap zoom and it is darker than the Kellner lens that came with the scope but still I like the convenience. But I will try a Plossel 15mm. Great stuff you have provided. I have a Bresser 90500 - not bad tube, focuser and lens but the rest of the stuff is cheap plastic garbage.
I got a telescope for my 30th birthday a month ago. I've been out on 3 clear nights so far (last night was my first outside of town with no moon...wow!). Been great fun and watching some of your videos have helped temper expectations. Excited to try out some of these tips and do some simple upgrades in the future!
Thanks a lot!
Great to hear my friend, your more than welcome :}
Are you fimilar with lock-tite threadlocker liquids? Should I prevent the bolts from ever coming loose again by using some of that on the tripod? I use a cinder block and ratchet strap tho anchor my tripod down.
Hello Scott, No, I haven't , but I have now, I'll definitely look into locking liquids, like the sound of that... Thanks for the tip buddy :)
Well done and I will be trying every tip provided. I completed most of the tips while watching the video and noticed a significant difference with my mount already! I have been thinking about purchasing a single upgraded eye piece but couldn't decide what I wanted to try and thanks to your video I will be looking for a 15mm quality eyepiece.
I got a Plosso 15mm after watching this video. Loads better than the cheap ones I got with the £50 telescope. Have you seen the SVBony cams.
Top-heavy? Don't talk to me about top-heavy! I'm 5'6" and 10 stone, but when I left school my nickname was Eleanor 'WatermEleanor'. Don't ask why. 😲Things got much, much worse after that.
Nobody ever takes me seriously. I'm a joke. I like astronomy because it happens in the dark.
Top-heavy? If I'm not wearing 35lbs of cast-iron wellington boot, I bloomin' well fall over.🤭
Hello Elli. Don't speak so harshly about yourself I'm sure you are a lovely person, who cares about weight what matters is whats inside. Come and join our facebook group and share your astronomy experiences it doesn't matter what level your at anyone is welcome who has a interest in astronomy. Hope to see you there. Take care :)
facebook.com/groups/223807419299994/?ref=share
For your Tip number 1 I have a lump hammer attached to a bit of rope which i depend from the spreader tray.
Great advice. Do not have a Telescope yet. But keeping this bookmarked. Cause all of it made a lot of sense.
I love how easy these tips are. It also helps that they're in the free to very affordable price range.
The 'super 10mm' gets a lot of bad press but to be honest I've used it to split many doubles in the past. It doesn't really make that much difference if your light pollution is terrible anyway. Yes - you can improve the FOV and eye relief but the little 10mm isn't that bad.
My own experience as a beginner. When we got a PowerSeeker 114EQ telescope for my son as a present. I ordered a laser collimator and managed to check and align the laser itself. Then I collimated the telescope using a laser collimator. The telescope's main mirror and reflector were off from a factory, I found out while collimating the telescope.