Celestron Optics - Page 7 - Recent Questions, Troubleshooting & Support

I'm having the same problem with my Astromaster 114 EQ . I can see better than the scope , but it is clear when I focus on images about 35 40 away in the daylight. I am now ready to trash this thing. For I had a Meade many years ago and it was great ,but I gave it to a friend to use, but he broke it. Next time Meade.

Hi David I would try calling and leave a call back number with them.

This is a well documented problem with that scopehttp://www.celestron.com/c3/support3/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=2434http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbarchive/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/60724/page/72/view/collapsed/sb/9/o/all

Astronomical telescopes are made this way. (There are RACI-right angle correct image) finders on the market. It just takes some getting used to.

A possibility is that the batteries are low or if you have a power supply, that the connection is loose/faulty. Be careful about running it off power supplies as A) not all plugs are the proper size and more importantly B) not all plugs are wired the same way. If you take any random plug that 'fits' you run a 50/50 chance of frying the electronics. If in doubt, buy the Celestron cable.I had this happen a month or two back while running on AAs and it was due to the batteries being almost drained. They don't last very long.

What eye piece (EP) are you using? It is much better to start off with a low power eyepiece (say a 25mm - the higher the mm on the EP the lower the power) as a high power EP (say a 10mm) will give a very narrow field of view and will be much more difficult to get things into focus. Try focusing on a terrestrial object, like a tree top, to get the hang of the focuser and then try the moon. I have an 8SE and it can be fairly finicky on the focus until used to it.Most of the stars and planets will be little more than dots. You should be able to make out the phases of Venus, the bands on Jupiter and some of its moons and the rings of Saturn, but if you are expecting Hubble type images then sorry to disappoint you. There are also times when the skies appear clear but due to "seeing" conditions, sharp focus is not possible. Remember we are looking through a few kilometres of moving air. Try joining http://www.astronomyforum.net They are a friendly and helpful group.

During the day, point the telescope at a part of the landscape about 100 yards away. Use the lowest power eyepiece (highest number) in the focal tube. Center the landscape object in the telescope. Align the finder scope so that it points exactly where the main telescope is. At night, leave the scope out to reach thermal equilibrium (about an hour). Point the finder at the moon. The moon should be in the main scope also. Practice finding the moon before you start on the planets Once you are comfortable with the moon and planets, you can go for the deep sky objects