howard929
Member
Reged: 01/02/11
Loc: Low End of High Ground
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Newb Mistakes, What NOT To Do, Telescope Broken??
#5270928 - 06/14/12 10:22 AM
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I don't know if this topic will fly, maybe it will. We'll see. Anyway, I'll start it off.
Examples:
Newb Mistake -
Knowing NOTHING about a telescope, I was completely blind sided by the fact they don't come with a zoom knob. Got to buy eye pieces? Really? And they can be expensive... Ouch.
What NOT To Do -
Don't do as I did in the winter of 2010/11... carrying an 8" reflector, fully assembled out onto my deck onto 2" of ice and sliding around with it for a foot or 2... hoping to not go down or fall off the 3 foot drop... I was just lucky I didn't break my neck.
Telescope Broken?? -
Yep. On occasion, I know now that due to horrendous mistakes in collimation combined with seeing akin to thick soup I'd just conclude it's broken and quickly pack it up. I'm getting better...
Have similar stories that might help out someone who's just starting out?
Howard
Edited by howard929 (06/14/12 10:23 AM)
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Maverick199
Postmaster
Reged: 02/27/11
Loc: India
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Re: Newb Mistakes, What NOT To Do, Telescope Broken??
[Re: howard929]
#5270942 - 06/14/12 10:28 AM
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Most common mistake I experienced as a newb was trying to figure out why the focuser isn't moving, only to realize later I needed to loosen the bottom screws.
Second being, without knowing much about focus, seeing a defocused star and telling my wife and kids this is how a star looked though sub consciously I knew something was not right.
Trying to pull out batteries out of the laser collimator in a way that one got stuck and it took me forever to pry it out.
Forgotten to remove the dust cover and kept wondering why everything looked dark.
Thinking the RACI was useless as I didn't knew how to align it. Now I know better and find the RACI to be indispensable.
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howard929
Member
Reged: 01/02/11
Loc: Low End of High Ground
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Re: Newb Mistakes, What NOT To Do, Telescope Broken??
[Re: Maverick199]
#5270967 - 06/14/12 10:38 AM
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It can be frustrating at first, can't it? The rush to observe anything with a new telescope is so strong that common sense and a little reading firsthand can too easily be forgotten. Without a clue that the RACI needed to be focused I also thought mine was useless....broken.
Howard
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MrMartin
sage
Reged: 01/07/10
Loc: Roanoke, Va
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Re: Newb Mistakes, What NOT To Do, Telescope Broken??
[Re: howard929]
#5271186 - 06/14/12 12:37 PM
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When I got my first telescope around the age of 12, I used nothing but the highest power magnification looking for everything from galaxies to nebula, because I assumed that if they were so far away, I needed that much power to see them. This led to me seeing almost nothing with my telescope except the blur of some stars I would pass.
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JasonBurry
sage
Reged: 04/27/12
Loc: Cape Spencer, NB, Canada
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Re: Newb Mistakes, What NOT To Do, Telescope Broken??
[Re: MrMartin]
#5271219 - 06/14/12 12:53 PM
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One of the first telescopes I got (flea market) was a little 40 or 50mm newt. The mirror was dusty. Paper towel and windex ruined it.
If you feel the need to clean your optics (AND YOU SHOULD!), learn to do it right first.
J
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la200o
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 09/09/08
Loc: SE Michigan, USA
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Re: Newb Mistakes, What NOT To Do, Telescope Broken??
[Re: Maverick199]
#5271303 - 06/14/12 01:44 PM
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Quote:
Second being, without knowing much about focus, seeing a defocused star and telling my wife and kids this is how a star looked though sub consciously I knew something was not right.
"Subconsciously I knew something was not right. . . " 
Bill
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jfaust75
sage
Reged: 10/04/11
Loc: Central Florida
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Re: Newb Mistakes, What NOT To Do, Telescope Broken??
[Re: Maverick199]
#5271305 - 06/14/12 01:44 PM
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Quote:
Most common mistake I experienced as a newb was trying to figure out why the focuser isn't moving, only to realize later I needed to loosen the bottom screws.
Second being, without knowing much about focus, seeing a defocused star and telling my wife and kids this is how a star looked though sub consciously I knew something was not right.
Trying to pull out batteries out of the laser collimator in a way that one got stuck and it took me forever to pry it out.
Forgotten to remove the dust cover and kept wondering why everything looked dark.
Thinking the RACI was useless as I didn't knew how to align it. Now I know better and find the RACI to be indispensable.
The focus thing was same for me....lol. I had jupiter in the scope and was way out of focus........we kept wondering why jupiter looked like abig blob with an x through the whole planet......
Thanks to this site and the help from maverick and astronomore I had the "real jupiter" focused that same night.......just ask questions no matter how stupid you think it sounds.....likely one of these smart people can answer it quickly  
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Raginar
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/19/10
Loc: Rapid CIty, SD
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Re: Newb Mistakes, What NOT To Do, Telescope Broken??
[Re: howard929]
#5271349 - 06/14/12 02:13 PM
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What not to do:
Similar story. I'm young, healthy, and fairly strong. Being lazy one day after work and wanting to take pictures, I tried to carry my fully assembled scope (8" newt, guide scope, CGEM w/ tripod) out. Keep in mind it was October, so we were starting to get frost... I slipped on the frost, the scope landed luckily on me and not the mount. I had some awesome bruising from the stars/scope, but otherwise no damage.... scared the snot out of me though!
Other what not to do: Don't be lazy with tear down. I had a good run of leaving my scope setup in the backyard over the winter. Some snow, even heavy snow, but no wind really. When it started to get windy, I was cocky and left the scope up; I'd had some previous 35 knot gusty nights... no issues. This was the day it was worse... and my scope blew over. Luckily, no damage that I could tell, but yikes that was scary too! If your scope isn't protected... take it inside!! Don't be lazy.
I could probably keep going, but respect your investment. These things are VERY expensive and probably not easily replaceable for the majority of us. Setting up and tear down usually isn't THAT long. Take the time to do it properly.
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Robert70
sage
Reged: 02/11/11
Loc: The Garden State: NJ
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Re: Newb Mistakes, What NOT To Do, Telescope Broken??
[Re: Raginar]
#5271374 - 06/14/12 02:36 PM
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I keep my scope's under ceiling fans in my downstairs. Make sure the ceiling fan is off before you lift the lightweight set ups. very scary noise. And this just happened a few months ago!
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desertstars
Reged: 11/05/03
Loc: Tucson, AZ
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Re: Newb Mistakes, What NOT To Do, Telescope Broken??
[Re: Robert70]
#5271445 - 06/14/12 03:14 PM
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Remembering to loosen the locking levers on my EQ mount before moving the scope to a new target. Closely related - remembering to disengage the clutch on the drives under the same circumstances. Took me an embarrassingly long time to keep those two things in mind all of the time. It's surely a testemony to the robustness of the SVP mount that it still works just fine, even so.
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CosmoSat
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 07/24/09
Loc: India
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Re: Newb Mistakes, What NOT To Do, Telescope Broken??
[Re: desertstars]
#5271538 - 06/14/12 04:19 PM
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At an outreach program, there was this lady who wanted to try her hand at a telescope..(a 5" newt on a alt-az mount). What she did was..she had the focuser end of the tele towards the ground and the mirror end pointed at the sky..
Wouldnt blame her tho...as thats what the idea of a telescope is to most laypeople..like that of a refractor..
Clear Skies!
Sat.
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rdandrea
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 06/13/10
Loc: Colorado, USA DM59ra
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Re: Newb Mistakes, What NOT To Do, Telescope Broken??
[Re: CosmoSat]
#5271566 - 06/14/12 04:31 PM
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she had the focuser end of the tele towards the ground and the mirror end pointed at the sky...
You see lots of "carpet inspector" scopes on Craigslist.
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SteveNH
professor emeritus
Reged: 07/10/11
Loc: Millbrae, CA
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Re: Newb Mistakes, What NOT To Do, Telescope Broken??
[Re: howard929]
#5271604 - 06/14/12 04:54 PM
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Unlikely to happen anymore, now with all the warnings around - but this is back in 1966 when quality refractors were still packaged with the infamous eyepiece solar filters. I was one of those unsuspecting poor souls who almost lost an eye.
Extremely excited about just having completed my home made 6" f/10 pipe-mount Newtonian, with its freshly aluminized mirror - - - Yes, I pointed it right at the sun with my shiny new Royal Astro solar eyepiece filter that came with my new refractor of two years prior. If a 60mm refractor showed the sun that well, just think of how good it would look in a 6"! And it's an f/10, so it shouldn't get too hot ...
As my head drew near the eyepiece, I started to see smoke slowly steaming from the tube cutout where the focuser was mounted (it was the flocking paper starting to burn). By the time my eye reached the eyepiece, "POP!" - and a blinding flash of light which, thanks to my youthful 14 year old reaction time, made me throw my head back away from the tube.
I later examined the filter - all it had was a hairline fracture down the middle, which let no light through that I could see. And THAT was enough to allow a blinding flash of light in the telescope. I was very lucky.
After that I had a newly refined respect for the power of sunlight in a telescope. Ironically, for a completely unrelated reason, I am now blind in my other eye.
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Jmax
sage
Reged: 09/28/10
Loc: Alabama
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Re: Newb Mistakes, What NOT To Do, Telescope Broken??
[Re: howard929]
#5271634 - 06/14/12 05:16 PM
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I got my first reflector and decided to check collimation. I had read to use a canister from an old 35mm roll of film. I did find a canister, but it had no top. I punched the small hole in the middle, loosened up the thumb screws on the eyepiece holder and inserted my freshly made cheshire (canister). And... you guessed it... 'plop' it fell straight through the focuser and straight onto the primary mirror. I almost stroked, but luckily it did no damage that I could see. If the film canister had had a top, this could not have happened. I'm just glad it was lightweight plastic.
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GeneT
Ely Kid
Reged: 11/07/08
Loc: South Texas
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Re: Newb Mistakes, What NOT To Do, Telescope Broken??
[Re: howard929]
#5271676 - 06/14/12 05:48 PM
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We all have done stupid things. I once drove 55 miles to a viewing site only to discover I had forgotten my truss poles for my telescope. Must have the poles to view. I learned to be very careful during set up and take down. I stop all conversation and focus on what I am doing. I don't want an eyepiece to fall onto my primary, or to drive off, leaving an important piece of equipment behind. Also, most of the time I don't leave my telescope out all night unattended while I sleep. I did that once. A thunderstorm with high winds ascended on our viewing area. I barely got my telescope put safely inside my SUV. A few in my group did not, and their telescopes suffered.
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engchris
super member
Reged: 05/17/12
Loc: Florida
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Re: Newb Mistakes, What NOT To Do, Telescope Broken??
[Re: GeneT]
#5271718 - 06/14/12 06:22 PM
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I'm still pretty new to this but having too many adult beverages and trying to do alignment for a goto can be interesting to say the least. Not to mention constantly forgetting where I put my eyepiece caps. 
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binarysunrise
member
Reged: 12/30/11
Loc: VA
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Re: Newb Mistakes, What NOT To Do, Telescope Broken??
[Re: engchris]
#5271791 - 06/14/12 07:22 PM
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Great tips!
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howard929
Member
Reged: 01/02/11
Loc: Low End of High Ground
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Re: Newb Mistakes, What NOT To Do, Telescope Broken??
[Re: SteveNH]
#5271799 - 06/14/12 07:26 PM
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Unlikely to happen anymore, now with all the warnings around - but this is back in 1966 when quality refractors were still packaged with the infamous eyepiece solar filters. I was one of those unsuspecting poor souls who almost lost an eye.
Extremely excited about just having completed my home made 6" f/10 pipe-mount Newtonian, with its freshly aluminized mirror - - - Yes, I pointed it right at the sun with my shiny new Royal Astro solar eyepiece filter that came with my new refractor of two years prior. If a 60mm refractor showed the sun that well, just think of how good it would look in a 6"! And it's an f/10, so it shouldn't get too hot ...
As my head drew near the eyepiece, I started to see smoke slowly steaming from the tube cutout where the focuser was mounted (it was the flocking paper starting to burn). By the time my eye reached the eyepiece, "POP!" - and a blinding flash of light which, thanks to my youthful 14 year old reaction time, made me throw my head back away from the tube.
I later examined the filter - all it had was a hairline fracture down the middle, which let no light through that I could see. And THAT was enough to allow a blinding flash of light in the telescope. I was very lucky.
After that I had a newly refined respect for the power of sunlight in a telescope. Ironically, for a completely unrelated reason, I am now blind in my other eye.
Ouch Steve. Sorry to hear abut that blind eye. Solar viewing scares the heck out of me. Not so much for my own concern but more for any poor soul who would see me looking at the sun with a telescope without knowing it has a solar filter. Specially kids.
Howard
Edited by howard929 (06/14/12 07:27 PM)
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Phil Sherman
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 12/07/10
Loc: Cleveland, Ohio
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Re: Newb Mistakes, What NOT To Do, Telescope Broken??
[Re: howard929]
#5272005 - 06/14/12 10:08 PM
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A few years ago, I was one of the presenters at a star party held around an hour's drive from home. I arrived early enough to set up the scope and discovered that the counterweights for the GEM were still sitting in the corner of the basement.
I have an observing site in SW New Mexico that will hopefully someday have an observatory. When I'm visiting that site, I leave my scope set up with a homemade waterproof cover on it. Daytime wind gusts frequently reach 50mph, a potential tip over scenario. I prevent this by adding guy ropes to the tripod legs and anchoring the ropes to 12" stakes.
Phil
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DavidC
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 11/24/05
Loc: Mesa, Arizona
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Re: Newb Mistakes, What NOT To Do, Telescope Broken??
[Re: howard929]
#5272147 - 06/14/12 11:58 PM
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Batteries, batteries! Don't go anywhere with out extra batteries! The batteries died in my telrad, and I was by myself, and the closest store was about 10 miles away. I had a red light with good C batteries, but that did me no good. Now I carry an assortment of sizes, you never know when you might need 'em.
David
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