My journey has began

[Clifford60]

For me, I use the original ETX finder holder and mount a about 1" diameter green laser pointer.

[Gary]

by the way, as quick finder goes, I really find the Telrad clumsy look... (sorry, being a himbo here) Gary, what do you use?

Himbo. LOL. Learn a new word today. Thanks.

I have both Telrad and Quikfinder. Telrad is bulkier but more comfortable to use and the parallax error is almost zero. Properly aligned once, I can hit a planet/star dead straight in my c8's fov even with a 6.4mm EP every single time. It dews more quickly without a DIY dewshield. During the last punggai trip with James and Alfred, we had a telrad mounted at the middle of the loooong istar 8-inch OTA (due to balancing issues). We still hit Jupiter dead in the fov ever single time by aiming from the comfortable eyepiece position, i.e. no need to walk near the telrad, aim, and come back to eyepiece.

The Quikfinder is slightly more uncomfortable to use over a long period of observing time, have a higher parallax error, but is much more compact. And you set it to blink on and off at various interval. I dislike red dot finders (sorry zong ). Stop blocking the thing I am trying to aim at already! LOL.

I never care too much about looks, e.g. telrad/quikfinder base stick to scopes using blu-tacks. The visual through-the-telescope view is the most important consideration for me and whatever combo (ugly or otherwise) makes that visual experience more enjoyable, faster and comfortable, I will use it. As long as it is not pink. LOL.

For long sessions where bulk and transportation is not a problem AND under clear skies, I will use the telrad. For such sessions, I usually have a 9x50 hooked up to further speed up the finding process for dimmer DSOs.

For local sidewalk and person quick view sessions, I will almost always use my quikfinder. Because I don't drive and take public transport usually, every inch of space in my bag counts. Using a quikfinder means I can bag some more accessories like a binoviewer which is always the option I will take anytime vs Telrad and no bioviewer in Singapore. Moreover, the quikfinder base is smaller than the telrad's which means I can bring both of my quikfinder bases along and if need be, use it on another telescope and share the quikfinder.

Thanks for the laser holder link. I might consider getting it for my setup also since I usually bring along my laser pointer anyway for sidewalk sessions here. And it's a great setup to pull in the crowds. "OMG! Look at that guy who is trying to shoot the satellite down!" But on the minus side, it may further worsening the misconception that so much accessories are required for the hobby and thus raising the cost factor and further discourages more people from getting started.

[andeelym]

Can I just align the laser pointer along the dovetail bar instead of putting it in a holder on its own? Wouldn't the dovetail bar considered "aligned" in some sense?

[kaomoo]

Can I just align the laser pointer along the dovetail bar instead of putting it in a holder on its own? Wouldn't the dovetail bar considered "aligned" in some sense?

depends on what you using it for. For general direction pointing, u don't need to be spot on.

to answer the question of alignment, i will venture to suggest that nothing is going to be perfectly straight, even the laser lens assembly....

[Gary]

Can I just align the laser pointer along the dovetail bar instead of putting it in a holder on its own? Wouldn't the dovetail bar considered "aligned" in some sense?

Hi Andrew. It is not precise enough. But if you are caught in a situation where all your other finders fail, no harm trying that which will narrow down the trial-and-error search field.

During one of the public sessions at the Science Centre friday observations, there was a telescope volunteer struggling with aligning a CPC800. The straight-through finder was not aligned and the GOTO system seems to be faulty. He brought a laser pointer along and I asked him to switch it on and hold it on top of and at the middle of the OTA. Positioning my left eye directly behind the the middle of the OTA, I used the hand controller to manually point at a bright star (Altair i think). Then, I looked into the eyepiece and slew the scope down until I find the star in the fov and centered it. Then, aligned the finder.

We proceeded to use it like a non-tracking manual scope for the rest of the night. So at least we did manage to get some views for the public.

[kaomoo]

For me, I use the original ETX finder holder and mount a about 1" diameter green laser pointer.

good lord, that's a mighty BIG laser

[cloud_cover]

Do remember though that if anyone is imaging at the party that night, he's not going to be too happy if you use the laser pointer to highlight his current target

[shirox]

haha cloud, its normal with big groups. I get alot of them in my images with one jedi light saber across the image. lol Cannot control or blame them too as the sky is free for all.

[Clifford60]

For me, I use the original ETX finder holder and mount a about 1" diameter green laser pointer.

good lord, that's a mighty BIG laser

It is those gun laser sight. It is slightly more expensive than the handheld when buy in Cn or HK.

[kaomoo]

For me, I use the original ETX finder holder and mount a about 1" diameter green laser pointer.

good lord, that's a mighty BIG laser

It is those gun laser sight. It is slightly more expensive than the handheld when buy in Cn or HK.

do you mind sharing a picture of how it looks like?