Thanks for answering my question! The finder scope dovetail bracket was drilled off-center left to right! (Dobsonian) Wasn't sure how to repair it. Now I know!
That's a temporal fix. Would be a lot better if these red dot finders are having some metal parts where plastics wear out. eBay and Amazon are flooded with cheap copies and none is good enough.
Hi Jason, a mate had the same problem and didn’t understand why. A quick fix BUT don't tell her in door's a wooden clothing peg just the job and cut to size 👌
Hello Marco. Thank you my friend, great to hear I've been some help to you, that's my main aim for my channel purely to help people get started in this amazing hobby we all share.. All the best buddy, clear skies :)
Hi. Just recently found your channel and I have learned a lot with your videos! And I'm glad to find this video cuz I was having problems with my finder scope. Thanks 😊
My hack for a red dot finder is to locate the vertical seam at the back of the finder case where the right and left halves are glued together. Next, paint a thin line of White Out correction fluid narrowly on this up and down seam. Your reward will be to quickly locate the center line and look straight into the finder and see the red dot when it is turned on. No more will you have to bother with trying to locate the red dot because your eye is not in alignment with the light path.
On a reflector, collimation (specifically main mirror adjustment), will change your point of aim with your finder scopes. With a big shift like that without anything obvious on the finder itself, i would check the main mirror cell, to make sure everything is tight and secured like it should be. I had this issue with a large sky view scope 16”. The mirror is so large and heavy that it would shift just enough in the mirror cell, that the point of aim of the finder would change as the altitude of the scope would change. More then an annoyance then anything else, but still an issue. The shift was considerably less mounting the finder scope closer to the tube tho. But there was still some.
Hey Jason, this is such a common problem I'm glad you've touched upon it :) I've personally had this happen a number of times more often than not for the up and down movement. I've shimmed my way out of it by placing a shim between the finder and and shoe rather then the shoe and the telescope as it's a bit less risky with your nuts lol. I guess if you're brave plus very sure which side to do it! you could carefully sand down the rear of the finder foot to raise the RDF up, or sand down the front to bring the RDF down. It's a thought, but maybe sanding a tiny bit at a time to avoid a costly mistake would be best with that method even if you're feeling brave :D
Hey Chris, I had this happen only once before but not to this extreme....It was so high it was unbelievable, just can't work out whats happened...Total mystery...Yeah you make some good points there Chris, I think sanding down the foot would work in normal situations, but not in my case ...The dot's that high by the time I'd finished sanding all would be left with is a stump XD
Hey Jason I really enjoy your videos and your tips helped me a lot to get me started in Astronomy. I would really like to have some kind of platform like Discord or Reddit to discuss and share tips and tricks, is there any? For example I found a awesome picture were someone baffles the tube with cardboard were he cut out small barriers to stop stray light.
Hello RP Lore, great to hear you are getting use out of my videos, that's my main aim for the channel to help people new to this amazing hobby, so it's great to read comments like this...Makes it all the more worthwhile...When it comes to chat rooms, one of my subscribers has set a Small Optics Facebook group, feel free to come and join the chat on there, it's still pretty young so we don't have loads of members yet but it grows a little each day....If you are not a Facebook fan another option is "Stargazers Lounge" which is a really great chat room for astronomers of all levels.....If you got a question, you will find the answer on there. I will give you a link for both rooms....Thank you for your kind words, take care friend, clear skies :) Small Optics : facebook.com/groups/223807419299994/?ref=share Stargazers Lounge : stargazerslounge.com/
Enjoying your vids as a new user. I have my new scope and keep reading about people having these issues and having to shim.. Fortunately I have aligned mine ok but I would be pretty unimpressed if I had this issue with a £700 scope new out of the box. At least I know what to do if needed. Thank you
Hello Simon, Your welcome my friend....Yes, you would be surprised, a lot of the high end telescopes seem to have more problems occurring with them than cheaper entry level telescopes. I've even heard of people having problems with Takahashi telescopes, I don't think it was a finder issue but still, considering how much you pay for one of those things....
Had the same issue, But I was able to get away with using a piece I cut frim a butter bowl lid.. I also use lids to take out some of the slop of the up and down axis.. Thank you for the video...✌
Interesting video Jason! I had some problems with a guide scope that i moved from one telescope to another, when i use it on my RC6 telescope is very hard to align with the telescope
To make it more clear, either the circuit board or the reflective lense (cell) are loose, and will probably shift again. No biggie. The lense I'd use a cotton bud ( qtip ) to pop it back or I'd open the battery compartment and find the circuit board loose. I like my red dot finder. I have the Sky Watcher Skyhawk 1145PS and your famous SvBony Red Bands 6, 9,and 20....and a Zhumell 3
Hi Jason. Great little tip in this video! I've got one of those cheap skywatcher finder scopes and ok it's but you never know when this tip is going to be so useful! I've bought a better one the skysurfer 3 for my 72ed ds pro refractor and any problems happen then I know what to do. Thinking of getting skysurfer 3 again for my vixen custom 80m refractor as I need new finder scope. Have you ever thought of making your own finder scopes? It be so good making them! I bet you have seen a lot of deep sky objects through this scope and one of the greatest objects you'll see Saturn and it's rings!!!!! Sad Orion is now disappearing and seeing Orion nebula is wonderful and I think it looks a light green in colour through telescope. Hope you get another chance before it's lost till end of September. Thanks for the video and stay safe buddy!!!
Hey Bushcraft, Thanks buddy. I have kind of made my own finders before out of old refractors also you can make them out of old binoculars by removing the objective lens and eyepiece and mounting them in a suitable tube, the image is upside down but you still have a wide F.O.V that binoculars give you. Yes unfortunately we a losing Orion in the south-West now but at least we've got the gas giants more visible soon, and as you say, " nothing beats viewing the rings of Saturn." Stay safe buddy, clear skies :)
Mine was way off, wouldn’t adjust and was wobbly. Bought another ($18) which came with a set of mounts. Unscrewed the original bracket and double sided taped one of the brackets right on the tube.
These red dot finder scope really suck. One bump and they are completely out of adjustment. I’m shopping for a traditional cross haired finder scope. Possibly an illuminated if price is right.
I upgraded from the finder I got with my Powerseeker 80EQ to a Celestron Red Dot....I seemed to have overtightened the adjusters because the laser bar wobbles and you can't adjust. Maybe it came from the supplier that way ....ugh now I gotta wait for a new one lol
I don't know if you can help me, Jason. Mine has attached some kind of white circular disk and I never understood what it is for. Thanks for your video!
Hello Spaces. Your welcome my friend. Not quite sure buddy, what make is your telescope? I might have a better idea then, there are so many different flavours out there :)
Hi mate, I can't get my new skywatcher 200p telescope into focus at a distance of anything over 100 meters, it's always blurry whatever strength of eyepiece I use. Any ideas what going wrong? Thanks.
This is a good video and will help a lot of people. But, as someone who acquired a telescope and has never got the finder to work and now given up altogether, I'm wondering why this finderscope thing is such a cheap piece of crap plastic in the first place. It must be putting a lot ofpeople off astronomy before they get started. Seems like a massive and very avoidable mistake by the manufacturers.
I love your videos. Precise, straight to the point. Without much fluff. Being new to telescopes, I really appreciate your advice. Keep up the good work
Hi Jason, I've decided to get a new Finderscope as I can't use my new erecting eyepiece on my skywatcher 200p one. Could you recommend one or two for me? Greatly appreciated. James.
![Eminem - Tobey (feat. Big Sean & Babytron) [Official Audio]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/9xn0OHEZZ8Q/mqdefault.jpg)
Thanks for answering my question! The finder scope dovetail bracket was drilled off-center left to right! (Dobsonian) Wasn't sure how to repair it. Now I know!
I've watched several of your videos and appreciate how genuine you are. Keep up the good work!
That's a temporal fix. Would be a lot better if these red dot finders are having some metal parts where plastics wear out. eBay and Amazon are flooded with cheap copies and none is good enough.
Hi Jason, a mate had the same problem and didn’t understand why. A quick fix BUT don't tell her in door's a wooden clothing peg just the job and cut to size 👌
Hello Mike, Lol.. She has plastic ones, but yeah, wooden pegs would be just the job :)
Great content as always, with your channel on hand i feel nothing but confident to make my first steps in this hobby… cheers and thank you mate.
Hello Marco. Thank you my friend, great to hear I've been some help to you, that's my main aim for my channel purely to help people get started in this amazing hobby we all share.. All the best buddy, clear skies :)
Hi. Just recently found your channel and I have learned a lot with your videos! And I'm glad to find this video cuz I was having problems with my finder scope. Thanks 😊
Video idea:how to know when to trash your red dot finder.
My hack for a red dot finder is to locate the vertical seam at the back of the finder case where the right and left halves are glued together. Next, paint a thin line of White Out correction fluid narrowly on this up and down seam. Your reward will be to quickly locate the center line and look straight into the finder and see the red dot when it is turned on. No more will you have to bother with trying to locate the red dot because your eye is not in alignment with the light path.
On a reflector, collimation (specifically main mirror adjustment), will change your point of aim with your finder scopes. With a big shift like that without anything obvious on the finder itself, i would check the main mirror cell, to make sure everything is tight and secured like it should be.
I had this issue with a large sky view scope 16”. The mirror is so large and heavy that it would shift just enough in the mirror cell, that the point of aim of the finder would change as the altitude of the scope would change. More then an annoyance then anything else, but still an issue. The shift was considerably less mounting the finder scope closer to the tube tho. But there was still some.
Hey Jason, this is such a common problem I'm glad you've touched upon it :) I've personally had this happen a number of times more often than not for the up and down movement. I've shimmed my way out of it by placing a shim between the finder and and shoe rather then the shoe and the telescope as it's a bit less risky with your nuts lol. I guess if you're brave plus very sure which side to do it! you could carefully sand down the rear of the finder foot to raise the RDF up, or sand down the front to bring the RDF down. It's a thought, but maybe sanding a tiny bit at a time to avoid a costly mistake would be best with that method even if you're feeling brave :D
Hey Chris, I had this happen only once before but not to this extreme....It was so high it was unbelievable, just can't work out whats happened...Total mystery...Yeah you make some good points there Chris, I think sanding down the foot would work in normal situations, but not in my case ...The dot's that high by the time I'd finished sanding all would be left with is a stump XD
@@smalloptics753 haha maybe not in that case then :D
Hey Jason I really enjoy your videos and your tips helped me a lot to get me started in Astronomy. I would really like to have some kind of platform like Discord or Reddit to discuss and share tips and tricks, is there any? For example I found a awesome picture were someone baffles the tube with cardboard were he cut out small barriers to stop stray light.
Hello RP Lore, great to hear you are getting use out of my videos, that's my main aim for the channel to help people new to this amazing hobby, so it's great to read comments like this...Makes it all the more worthwhile...When it comes to chat rooms, one of my subscribers has set a Small Optics Facebook group, feel free to come and join the chat on there, it's still pretty young so we don't have loads of members yet but it grows a little each day....If you are not a Facebook fan another option is "Stargazers Lounge" which is a really great chat room for astronomers of all levels.....If you got a question, you will find the answer on there. I will give you a link for both rooms....Thank you for your kind words, take care friend, clear skies :)
Small Optics : facebook.com/groups/223807419299994/?ref=share
Stargazers Lounge : stargazerslounge.com/
@@smalloptics753 Thank you for pointing me in the right direction, I just posted the pictures in the Facebook group.
Enjoying your vids as a new user. I have my new scope and keep reading about people having these issues and having to shim.. Fortunately I have aligned mine ok but I would be pretty unimpressed if I had this issue with a £700 scope new out of the box. At least I know what to do if needed. Thank you
Hello Simon, Your welcome my friend....Yes, you would be surprised, a lot of the high end telescopes seem to have more problems occurring with them than cheaper entry level telescopes. I've even heard of people having problems with Takahashi telescopes, I don't think it was a finder issue but still, considering how much you pay for one of those things....
Thanks a lot Jason, I have to align my finder in the next days.
Had the same issue, But I was able to get away with using a piece I cut frim a butter bowl lid.. I also use lids to take out some of the slop of the up and down axis.. Thank you for the video...✌
Interesting video Jason! I had some problems with a guide scope that i moved from one telescope to another, when i use it on my RC6 telescope is very hard to align with the telescope
Hey GAM. Yes guide scopes can be quite temperamental at times, but I've never had one behave as bad as this one.
To make it more clear, either the circuit board or the reflective lense (cell) are loose, and will probably shift again. No biggie. The lense I'd use a cotton bud ( qtip ) to pop it back or I'd open the battery compartment and find the circuit board loose. I like my red dot finder. I have the Sky Watcher Skyhawk 1145PS and your famous SvBony Red Bands 6, 9,and 20....and a Zhumell 3
Hi Jason. Great little tip in this video! I've got one of those cheap skywatcher finder scopes and ok it's but you never know when this tip is going to be so useful!
I've bought a better one the skysurfer 3 for my 72ed ds pro refractor and any problems happen then I know what to do. Thinking of getting skysurfer 3 again for my vixen custom 80m refractor as I need new finder scope.
Have you ever thought of making your own finder scopes? It be so good making them!
I bet you have seen a lot of deep sky objects through this scope and one of the greatest objects you'll see Saturn and it's rings!!!!! Sad Orion is now disappearing and seeing Orion nebula is wonderful and I think it looks a light green in colour through telescope. Hope you get another chance before it's lost till end of September.
Thanks for the video and stay safe buddy!!!
Hey Bushcraft, Thanks buddy. I have kind of made my own finders before out of old refractors also you can make them out of old binoculars by removing the objective lens and eyepiece and mounting them in a suitable tube, the image is upside down but you still have a wide F.O.V that binoculars give you.
Yes unfortunately we a losing Orion in the south-West now but at least we've got the gas giants more visible soon, and as you say, " nothing beats viewing the rings of Saturn." Stay safe buddy, clear skies :)
Mine was way off, wouldn’t adjust and was wobbly. Bought another ($18) which came with a set of mounts. Unscrewed the original bracket and double sided taped one of the brackets right on the tube.
These red dot finder scope really suck. One bump and they are completely out of adjustment. I’m shopping for a traditional cross haired finder scope. Possibly an illuminated if price is right.
I upgraded from the finder I got with my Powerseeker 80EQ to a Celestron Red Dot....I seemed to have overtightened the adjusters because the laser bar wobbles and you can't adjust. Maybe it came from the supplier that way ....ugh now I gotta wait for a new one lol
Great depth Video jason!!🔭🌌
Thank you friend :)
I don't know if you can help me, Jason. Mine has attached some kind of white circular disk and I never understood what it is for. Thanks for your video!
Hello Spaces. Your welcome my friend. Not quite sure buddy, what make is your telescope? I might have a better idea then, there are so many different flavours out there :)
Great video, you feeling any better mate ?
Thanks buddy....yeah, all good now thanks pal :)
Could the front lens..where the red dot is, be loose at an angle maybe?
Hey Rob, that's a good point....I hadn't checked for that but I have now, and all seems good...So it's still a complete mystery.
@@smalloptics753 maybe the laser itself has come loose and lost its original angle..weird one anyway 🤷♂️🤪
@@livelongandprosper70 There is no laser! It’s just a red led
Hi mate,
I can't get my new skywatcher 200p telescope into focus at a distance of anything over 100 meters, it's always blurry whatever strength of eyepiece I use. Any ideas what going wrong?
Thanks.
This is a good video and will help a lot of people.
But, as someone who acquired a telescope and has never got the finder to work and now given up altogether, I'm wondering why this finderscope thing is such a cheap piece of crap plastic in the first place. It must be putting a lot ofpeople off astronomy before they get started. Seems like a massive and very avoidable mistake by the manufacturers.
👏👏👏👏
I love your videos. Precise, straight to the point. Without much fluff. Being new to telescopes, I really appreciate your advice. Keep up the good work
long story short for a refractor get a new finder a more better one
(I have a refractor)
Hey Jason, Are You One Instagram ?? How Can We Connect : D
Hey DSO, not at the moment buddy, thinking of starting one up soon though...I'll keep you posted when I do :)
Hi Jason,
I've decided to get a new Finderscope as I can't use my new erecting eyepiece on my skywatcher 200p one.
Could you recommend one or two for me?
Greatly appreciated.
James.
@@MrJames19676 Throw your erecting eyepiece in the bin! They are totally useless