First night out with Nexstar 6SE

[N6GQ]

Hey all, I bought a used Nexstar 6SE to get my feet wet after about a 25 year hiatus from playing with telescopes - I had a 10" Newtonian/dobsonian years ago but haven't done anything since. I'm in Texas, and its been cloudy and such the past few days but this afternoon the sky opened up to a clear night (albeit with my backyard not being very dark). I have a 25mm plossl and a 2x barlow. The finder is a 9x30.

I did a 1-star align and found that it was off by a bit when I let it find stuff.

I had a heck of a time trying to find anything - I think I found Orion but really don't know. I have a lot of work to do to be able to start finding stuff. I did order a Telrad Finder that I think should make finding stuff easier. With the 25mm plossl I didn't have a lot of magnification and the barlow didn't look that great. I have a Baader zoom eyepiece coming this week so hoping that will help some too. I could find Venus and Betelgeuse but they just looked like dots. Tried to find Andromeda but couldn't find it. I'm in a bortle zone 6.

The temperature dropped down to about 60F and dewpoint was about 59F, and I noticed the objective was all fogged up. Things were dewing up all over so I called it.

A few questions if I may...

1. I accidentally moved the scope with my hand a few degrees when I was setting things up - I imagine that's not good for tracking motors and such - did I cause a problem?

2. Does the dew wrap thing really help much? What's the way folks deal with dewpoint?

3. Is there a shutdown procedure to get the scope/mount to go back to "Home", or do you just manually bring it back to some assemblence of flat?

Its fun, should be more fun when I have a clue

Thanks for any thoughts/ideas.

[BigKahuna]

I have a 8SE so it's basically the same.

1) All movement of the scope is done with the hand controller. Don't muscle the scope. Besides possibly damaging the scope you also throw off your alignment. I recommend either doing the 2 Star or SkyAlign alignments to help you be on target.

2) I haven't had dew issues like yours but I do use the Celestron Dew Shield as a precaution.

3) No turn off procedure. I usually turn off then turn on and use the hand controller in full speed to level the scopd then turn it off.

Congrats on the 6SE. Your GOTOs will improve and I hope you thoroughly enjoy yourself. Clear Skies.

Remember, YouTube IS your friend and there are plenty of tutorials on setting up the 6/8SE

[Bigzmey]

Congrats on 6SE! It is a fun scope. Dew shield is a must. You don't have to buy one. You can make one yourself from 3-5mm black crafting foam sheet. Just wrap it around and fix with staples or tape.

[Refractordude]

Hey all, I bought a used Nexstar 6SE to get my feet wet after about a 25 year hiatus from playing with telescopes - I had a 10" Newtonian/dobsonian years ago but haven't done anything since. I'm in Texas, and its been cloudy and such the past few days but this afternoon the sky opened up to a clear night (albeit with my backyard not being very dark). I have a 25mm plossl and a 2x barlow. The finder is a 9x30.

I did a 1-star align and found that it was off by a bit when I let it find stuff.

I had a heck of a time trying to find anything - I think I found Orion but really don't know. I have a lot of work to do to be able to start finding stuff. I did order a Telrad Finder that I think should make finding stuff easier. With the 25mm plossl I didn't have a lot of magnification and the barlow didn't look that great. I have a Baader zoom eyepiece coming this week so hoping that will help some too. I could find Venus and Betelgeuse but they just looked like dots. Tried to find Andromeda but couldn't find it. I'm in a bortle zone 6.

The temperature dropped down to about 60F and dewpoint was about 59F, and I noticed the objective was all fogged up. Things were dewing up all over so I called it.

A few questions if I may...

1. I accidentally moved the scope with my hand a few degrees when I was setting things up - I imagine that's not good for tracking motors and such - did I cause a problem?

2. Does the dew wrap thing really help much? What's the way folks deal with dewpoint?

3. Is there a shutdown procedure to get the scope/mount to go back to "Home", or do you just manually bring it back to some assemblence of flat?

Its fun, should be more fun when I have a clue

Thanks for any thoughts/ideas.

[N6GQ]

Hey all, I bought a used Nexstar 6SE to get my feet wet after about a 25 year hiatus from playing with telescopes - I had a 10" Newtonian/dobsonian years ago but haven't done anything since. I'm in Texas, and its been cloudy and such the past few days but this afternoon the sky opened up to a clear night (albeit with my backyard not being very dark). I have a 25mm plossl and a 2x barlow. The finder is a 9x30.

I did a 1-star align and found that it was off by a bit when I let it find stuff.

I had a heck of a time trying to find anything - I think I found Orion but really don't know. I have a lot of work to do to be able to start finding stuff. I did order a Telrad Finder that I think should make finding stuff easier. With the 25mm plossl I didn't have a lot of magnification and the barlow didn't look that great. I have a Baader zoom eyepiece coming this week so hoping that will help some too. I could find Venus and Betelgeuse but they just looked like dots. Tried to find Andromeda but couldn't find it. I'm in a bortle zone 6.

The temperature dropped down to about 60F and dewpoint was about 59F, and I noticed the objective was all fogged up. Things were dewing up all over so I called it.

A few questions if I may...

1. I accidentally moved the scope with my hand a few degrees when I was setting things up - I imagine that's not good for tracking motors and such - did I cause a problem?

2. Does the dew wrap thing really help much? What's the way folks deal with dewpoint?

3. Is there a shutdown procedure to get the scope/mount to go back to "Home", or do you just manually bring it back to some assemblence of flat?

Its fun, should be more fun when I have a clue

Thanks for any thoughts/ideas.

Already on the way!

[Refractordude]

Hey all, I bought a used Nexstar 6SE to get my feet wet after about a 25 year hiatus from playing with telescopes - I had a 10" Newtonian/dobsonian years ago but haven't done anything since. I'm in Texas, and its been cloudy and such the past few days but this afternoon the sky opened up to a clear night (albeit with my backyard not being very dark). I have a 25mm plossl and a 2x barlow. The finder is a 9x30.

I did a 1-star align and found that it was off by a bit when I let it find stuff.

I had a heck of a time trying to find anything - I think I found Orion but really don't know. I have a lot of work to do to be able to start finding stuff. I did order a Telrad Finder that I think should make finding stuff easier. With the 25mm plossl I didn't have a lot of magnification and the barlow didn't look that great. I have a Baader zoom eyepiece coming this week so hoping that will help some too. I could find Venus and Betelgeuse but they just looked like dots. Tried to find Andromeda but couldn't find it. I'm in a bortle zone 6.

The temperature dropped down to about 60F and dewpoint was about 59F, and I noticed the objective was all fogged up. Things were dewing up all over so I called it.

A few questions if I may...

1. I accidentally moved the scope with my hand a few degrees when I was setting things up - I imagine that's not good for tracking motors and such - did I cause a problem?

2. Does the dew wrap thing really help much? What's the way folks deal with dewpoint?

3. Is there a shutdown procedure to get the scope/mount to go back to "Home", or do you just manually bring it back to some assemblence of flat?

Its fun, should be more fun when I have a clue

Thanks for any thoughts/ideas.

Already on the way!

cool

[russmax]

Congrats! I really like my Celestron SCT, too.

If you bump the mount or scope too hard, you should be fine if you simply realign it. I'd always use a 2-star alignment, at minimum.
I recently got a dew shield, the one from Celestron. I know I could have made one, but they're cheap. I was able to keep observing until the scope and mount were literally dripping wet, just before a fog rose up and ended my viewing. This time of year in Texas, the dew can be really heavy. In the summer, it's not worth putting on the dew shield, most nights.

You should be able to find the Orion Nebula in Bortle 6. Point at the 2nd star from the bottom of Orion's sword. I was able to see it with a 4" refractor in Bortle 7/8. The problem may be that you need a longer f/l eyepiece. It's actually pretty big, and you may have had trouble recognizing it, or centering it. Also, with the objective dewing up, everything begins to look nebulous. Find it with binoculars, first, perhaps. Do you have some 8 or 10 x 50mm binos? I recommend binos.

In your position, I'd probably get 2 more things for the SCT: 1) an f/6.3 focal length reducer, and 2) a neutral or variable polarizing moon filter. I'd get the focal reducer because it's a good way to make your 25 mm ep an equivalent 40 mm ep. Otherwise, you have to get a 2" ep, and the hole in the mirror is only about 1.1" Also, you'd need a 2" to 1.25" adaptor, or a 2" diagonal. And the hole in the mirror is still only 27 mm, so that's a waste of diameter. The moon filter is required to look at the moon without it hurting. This set looks nice https://agenaastro.com/celestron-moon-f ... 94315.html You may have one left over from your old Dobsonian. Here's the focal reducer: https://agenaastro.com/celestron-f6-3-r ... 94175.html

Unless you're a pre-dawn kind of person, Venus is our only visible planet for awhile. When you get your Baader zoom EP, point at Venus and see if you can tell its phase. Instead of looking like a dot, it should look like a half-dot right now, and get progressively more crescent in the weeks to come. One of those moon filters may help with dimming Venus down so you can see its phase.

--Russmax

[gregl]

Do check that Nexstar site I mentioned in your other thread. Alignment will be easier if you get the backlash correction done and follow the alignment procedure outlined on the site. You need to approach your alignment stars from the correct direction. If you p.m. me your email address I can send you a couple of handouts I found on this.

Also, use a two-star alignment. I usually use Polaris and one star in the east that's about 90 degrees from Polaris and about 45 degrees off the horizon.

The dew shield will help. I made a dew heater from some nichrome wire, duct tape and some PWM dimmer controllers off Ebay. If you're not handy with stuff like that you can get commercial dew heaters from the usual sources.

These scopes take some practice but you'll get the hang of it soon enough.

[JayTee]

When you finally get a good alignment that puts your intended object in the center third of the field of view (FOV) then when you are done you put the scope in "Hibernate" mode. It is under the Utilities section in the hand controller (HC). Now to get that good alignment it is very helpful to use an illuminated reticle eyepiece (EP). Like this one: https://telescopes.net/store/07069-ma-1 ... QqEALw_wcB
You use it for the alignment only, once done you put it back in your EP case.

Cheers,
JT

If you don't already have an observing, that should be one of your very next purchases. Like this one:

[gregl]

One thing about this hobby — it's so easy to spend money!

[helicon]

Congrats on getting the scope!

[N6GQ]

Congrats! I really like my Celestron SCT, too.

If you bump the mount or scope too hard, you should be fine if you simply realign it. I'd always use a 2-star alignment, at minimum.
I recently got a dew shield, the one from Celestron. I know I could have made one, but they're cheap. I was able to keep observing until the scope and mount were literally dripping wet, just before a fog rose up and ended my viewing. This time of year in Texas, the dew can be really heavy. In the summer, it's not worth putting on the dew shield, most nights.

You should be able to find the Orion Nebula in Bortle 6. Point at the 2nd star from the bottom of Orion's sword. I was able to see it with a 4" refractor in Bortle 7/8. The problem may be that you need a longer f/l eyepiece. It's actually pretty big, and you may have had trouble recognizing it, or centering it. Also, with the objective dewing up, everything begins to look nebulous. Find it with binoculars, first, perhaps. Do you have some 8 or 10 x 50mm binos? I recommend binos.

In your position, I'd probably get 2 more things for the SCT: 1) an f/6.3 focal length reducer, and 2) a neutral or variable polarizing moon filter. I'd get the focal reducer because it's a good way to make your 25 mm ep an equivalent 40 mm ep. Otherwise, you have to get a 2" ep, and the hole in the mirror is only about 1.1" Also, you'd need a 2" to 1.25" adaptor, or a 2" diagonal. And the hole in the mirror is still only 27 mm, so that's a waste of diameter. The moon filter is required to look at the moon without it hurting. This set looks nice https://agenaastro.com/celestron-moon-f ... 94315.html You may have one left over from your old Dobsonian. Here's the focal reducer: https://agenaastro.com/celestron-f6-3-r ... 94175.html

Unless you're a pre-dawn kind of person, Venus is our only visible planet for awhile. When you get your Baader zoom EP, point at Venus and see if you can tell its phase. Instead of looking like a dot, it should look like a half-dot right now, and get progressively more crescent in the weeks to come. One of those moon filters may help with dimming Venus down so you can see its phase.

--Russmax

Thanks @russmax - appreciate the feedback. I did see a cloud-looking thing about where I expected it to be, but in some ways not sure as I don't have a feel yet for the FOV of the finder in relation to the scope, so I was making a guess. Thing is it didn't look like any pictures I've seen of it, but maybe that's because I didn't have any filters in place. Just a white cloud with a few stars in the center.

The f/6.3 reducer is on my list. I have a moon filter already. I think I could see that Venus was slightly crescent-shaped. Didn't think to put the moon filter but now that you mention it, it was pretty bright.

Thanks for the feedback! I'm actually headed to Austin tomorrow

[N6GQ]

Do check that Nexstar site I mentioned in your other thread. Alignment will be easier if you get the backlash correction done and follow the alignment procedure outlined on the site. You need to approach your alignment stars from the correct direction. If you p.m. me your email address I can send you a couple of handouts I found on this.

Also, use a two-star alignment. I usually use Polaris and one star in the east that's about 90 degrees from Polaris and about 45 degrees off the horizon.

The dew shield will help. I made a dew heater from some nichrome wire, duct tape and some PWM dimmer controllers off Ebay. If you're not handy with stuff like that you can get commercial dew heaters from the usual sources.

These scopes take some practice but you'll get the hang of it soon enough.

Yup, I've been looking at that site, thanks again for that. I'll try the 2-star next time. I have a dew shield now, so hope that reduces the problem. Thanks for the help! I'll forward you my email...

[N6GQ]

When you finally get a good alignment that puts your intended object in the center third of the field of view (FOV) then when you are done you put the scope in "Hibernate" mode. It is under the Utilities section in the hand controller (HC). Now to get that good alignment it is very helpful to use an illuminated reticle eyepiece (EP). Like this one: https://telescopes.net/store/07069-ma-1 ... QqEALw_wcB
You use it for the alignment only, once done you put it back in your EP case.

Cheers,
JT

If you don't already have an observing, that should be one of your very next purchases. Like this one:

Thanks [mention]JayTee[/mention], I was noticing last night how achey I was while trying to maneuver around to get my eye under the finder, get my eye just right over the eyepiece (I wear glasses, glasses on, glasses off? Tried both). I was thinking "there must be a good chair I could find for this"

[N6GQ]

I have a 8SE so it's basically the same.

1) All movement of the scope is done with the hand controller. Don't muscle the scope. Besides possibly damaging the scope you also throw off your alignment. I recommend either doing the 2 Star or SkyAlign alignments to help you be on target.

2) I haven't had dew issues like yours but I do use the Celestron Dew Shield as a precaution.

3) No turn off procedure. I usually turn off then turn on and use the hand controller in full speed to level the scopd then turn it off.

Congrats on the 6SE. Your GOTOs will improve and I hope you thoroughly enjoy yourself. Clear Skies.

Remember, YouTube IS your friend and there are plenty of tutorials on setting up the 6/8SE

Awesome, thanks for the great feedback!

[Ylem]

Enjoy, great scope

[prowler75]

Congrats on the new scope and getting in it's first light!

[Smitty]

I always like reading first light reports and I thank you for submitting yours.

On your question about “the dew wrap thing” which I take to mean the heated dew straps, they do indeed work quite well.

I have a Astrozap dew heating system installed on my 8SE along with a Celestron dew shield and these items are a must for observing at my home location. It has a dual channel controller that 4 dew heater straps can be controlled from. I currently run 3 dew heater straps through the controller with one for the corrector plate, one for the objective lens on my 9x50 RACI finder scope and the other for a eyepiece if observing visually.
The 4th channel and dew heater strap could be used to keep an on-deck eyepiece warm while observing visually or to warm the eyepiece of the finder scope.

Congratulations and good hunting with your 6SE”

[russmax]

"Just a white cloud with a few stars in the center. "
That's what the Orion Nebula looks like in my C8. But a distinctly sharp white cloud with a hole in the center. In the hole, a couple of stars. I'm sure you had it in your view. This is where your zoom ep is going to help. Multiple magnifications until you pick the one that frames it best.
--Russmax

[BigKahuna]

This link below will help you with what you should see looking through the telescope. Don't expect seeing Hubble photos looking through the scope. Those pictures are long exposures are are stacked and processed images. Orion should look like a cloud over 4 small stars in a tight square.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI7IPPmu76U&t=94s