My first scope. Celestron powerseeker 114AZ

[oipunk99]

Hey guys im totally new here so bear with me. I just bought a Celestron powerseeker 114AZ and i took it out to the back yard. Its pretty clear tonight and there is no light pollution. I live in a very rural area. This scope came with 5 eye pieces, i am using the 25mm to view the moon. It looked awesome, and focused very well. i could see the craters in great detail. The only problem im having is it seems to be very flimsy. I try to lock the altitude bar and it moves off center. Its being a royal pain considering this scope looks awesome. I just cant seem to make it stay still!!!! Is there better altitude bars i can buy or am i just messing this all up? thanks guys -kody

[WWPierre]

Welcome to the Forum, 99. Those mounts are pretty flimsy. I can't give you much advice on what to do, because I don't have one. (too flimsy) I do know, however, that there are ways of steadying up the mount and tuning the controls.

Is this it?

[sxinias]

Hey guys im totally new here so bear with me. I just bought a Celestron powerseeker 114AZ and i took it out to the back yard. Its pretty clear tonight and there is no light pollution. I live in a very rural area. This scope came with 5 eye pieces, i am using the 25mm to view the moon. It looked awesome, and focused very well. i could see the craters in great detail. The only problem im having is it seems to be very flimsy. I try to lock the altitude bar and it moves off center. Its being a royal pain considering this scope looks awesome. I just cant seem to make it stay still!!!! Is there better altitude bars i can buy or am i just messing this all up? thanks guys -kody

Welcome to astronomy and to the astronomy forum. Congratulations on your new telescope. Its bigger than the my first two scopes and also bigger than my favorite one. Enjoy it.

I can't answer your question about the altitude axis lock shift that you are experiencing. It could be linked to the tripod that your azimuth mount is attached to; e.g. the mount moves slightly when you tighten the azimuth clutch.

The tripod on your mount is the same one used on many Celestron and Skywatcher telescopes. I've given it the name "Ole Shaky." Fortunately, there are two, simple, no-cost things you can to the tripod to improve its stability without voiding your warrantee. The very first thing is simply to tighten all the nuts and bolts on your tripod (remember it was made in China so don't twist off any nuts.) The second thing is to always have the accessory tray installed and locked in place. For most people these two things greatly improve the rigidity of the tripod and usually solve their problems.

Clear skies

[oipunk99]

thanks guys. and WW the actual telescope looks exactly like that.. BUT the mount is different!!! lol. It looks a hell of a lot more stable. Thats the EQ model, i have the AZ model, i seen somewhere that the AZ (what i have) was discontinued. Probably because of the mount

[oipunk99]

i gotta say the moon looks beautiful in this thing. I tightened everything i could down and it seems to be more stable. my scope came with a x3 barlow lens ( believe thats what it is.) Should i buy some better lenses? Also, looking through the lense while fine tuning it to hit the moon, before i get the moon i see alot of light distortion. It goes away when i get the moon centered. is this normal?

[dmbryan]

Tightening the screws does help quite a bit. On the eq mount I had to pop off a cover to find the main nuts and bolts to tighten. that really helped. Also, I don't extend the legs. That seems to help. Although it is still shaky, it's not as bad as it was. Enjoy the skies.

[sxinias]

Light glow from the moon. Often you will see a glow as you get near the moon.

[oipunk99]

went out again tonight and did some moon gazing. Pretty nice views it was very clear, and not as cold. i focused in on what i thought was mars. i used all my eyepieces and focused in and out and all i could get it to look like was a small red dot. im thinking about getting a new scope. i want to see at least see some detail in planets. maybe jupiders moons. and a wider field of view. could anyone recommend me a scope? under $500

[WWPierre]

You can definitely see Jupiter's moons with your scope. As to your next scope, you can get at least a 6" dobsonian for that budget, maybe even an 8". My 5" gives very pleasing views and was only $250.

[oipunk99]

what about m42 and m43? Im guessing i will need some new lenses to go with my scope to get some good views of it and the planets? could you guys point me in the direction of some afordable quality scopes?