SingAstro

hi all, new here.. been to mersing with Remus this March and it was an eye opener .

Just got a celestron powerseeker 127 two days ago from science centre. All is fine, Jupiter and 4 moons, 2 bands seen. M7 is spectacular and for a beginner, I'm quite satisfied. Viewfinder as many mentioned can be improved.

However, I'm not really familiar with the polar alignment thing and though I've played around a bit, realised that cos Singapore's near the equator, latitude is 1 so the scope is parallel to the ground, the COUNTERWEIGHTS actually hit the TRIPOD when moving in right ascension?!

can someone enlighten me on this esp pple who have used this scope before. am I missing anything?

thanks and clear skies.

Hi,
Most equatorial mount had this issue when use in equator, that's why some of those equatorial mount have a half-pier to raise the height of the mount head, so that the counter-weight will clear the tripod leg.

Anyway, not a serious issue for visual... just increase the latitude until it can clear the tripod leg.

By the way, welcome to SingAstro!

Have a nice day and happy obbing!

that is why I avoid equatorial mounts like the plague.
they are useful for astrophotgraphy because of their potential tracking accuracy but for visual, a forkmount or alt-azimuth mount is more practical, lighter and cheaper too!

Hi,
IMHO, it's best for beginner to start off with equatorial mount:
1) When learning how to use an equatorial mount, he'll have a good understanding of the equatorial coordinate system which is the most widely used celestial coordinate system.

2) Star hopping using star chart with equatorial mount is easier than using an Alt-Az mount... you can follow the RA or DEC axis to your target.

3) An equatorial mount is usually better built and more usable than Alt-Az mount in those low cost telescope package.

4) Manual tracking is also easier than those low cost Alt-Az mount.

5) Easier and lower cost to motorized it than Alt-Az mount.

Have a nice day.

thanks for your opinions:)

indeed i've better understood the coordinate system though i have yet to try it out. as this is my first scope, couldnt ask for too much i guess.

is it practical to do astrophotog with such a scope(5 insch)? wasnt what i intended to do with the scope but realising the camera sees more than our eyes got me excited haha.

btw spotted m22 ytd as a very vague blur patch. a personal achievement! still waiting for a clear evening.

Welcome to Singastro and have fun!