Alignment Help

[atticus808]

hi<br />so i have a reflector<br />but i have problems aligning my finder scope<br />so i do it in the daylight or find a bright star to align my finder scope with my main scope<br />and it's good<br />BUT when i start to tighten up the screws that hold the finder scope it place, it moves it<br />am i supposed to tighten the screws first, then pull that pullable screw time thing and adjust it?<br />any tricks?<br />thanks

 

[tfwthom]

It's always a pain aligning the finder scope. <br /><br />Do it in daylight, find the top of a telephone pole or something. (they don't move stars do)<br /><br />I usually bring a the screws in against the finder in about the middle, tight enough to hold the finder in place. Then adjust the screws to center the crosshairs on the pole. Tighten. and check till you get it right.<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1" color="#3366ff">www.siriuslookers.org</font> </div>

 

[atticus808]

you're supposed to righten the screws completely right?<br />cause it's so annoying when the scope starts to wobble<br />so i'm supposed to tighten/untighten each screw until it matches?<br />cause then once i pick up the scope it'll move<br />thank you

 

[bobw]

I have had two kinds of finder scopes. One kind has one set of three screws, the other has two sets of three screws.<br /><br />If you have the kind with one set of screws you will probably find it to be very touchy, hard to align and easy to knock out of alignment. I was always worried that if I tightened the screws enough to hold it tight it would break the finder scope. If I knocked it out of alignment in the dark I would try to align it with a distant street light. In the end I don't use it, I just get down by the back end of the telescope and use the edge of the whole tube like a sight. Then, looking through the eyepiece, I move the scope around looking for something bright and star-hop to the target from there.<br /><br />I don't know how long it will take for the picture to get approved, but the finder on the left is pretty worthless. The kind on the right works pretty good. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[bbk1]

The one I have is similar to the one on the right of your image. Still it takes me at least half an hour to get it to line up close to the center. I never was able to line it exactly to the center but I learned to lvie with it being off exact center. <br /><br />I use distant redlight at the top of a tall building for my alighnment.

 

[bobw]

Same with me. If the target shows up anywhere in the field of view of a low power eyepiece then the finder is close enough. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[atticus808]

thank you for your help<br />i have the one with 3 screws but only 2 are screwable<br />the other one is the type that you pull and let go<br />i also end up using the edge of my scope<br />so i guess the finder is pretty much useless eh?<br />cause when i do align it, i pick it up to move it, then it moves