Focusing the 53ED scope

Consider this information as a work in progress. Once tested, this discussion can be promoted to a best practice. This was just something that worked for me the other night, and I invite you to help me improve the process.

The most recent app (see FAQ for links to latest) has a new mode: if you are not actively invoking any of the celestial finders, the app screen shows a green [Scene] tab. Clicking this tab takes you into the camera view but without invoking any GoTo controls. So either you are in a finder mode, or you are in a scene mode. 

To focus the scope for terrestrial objects, click into the scene mode and then use the navigation widget to move the scope to your object of interest. Twist the focus collar for best focus. 

To focus the scope for astrophotography objects, first follow the terrestrial method to set the focus for the most distant terrestrial object in your locale. Down the street is okay, but across town or to a distant mountain is better. 

Now wait for nighttime. Still in Scene mode, navigate to peer around in the sky until you can see stars sweep into view. You have two choices for focusing:

  • Casual: just twist the focus ring until the stars appear sharp. The downside is that it is hard to judge the sharpness of objects that move as you touch the focusing ring.
  • Fastidious: Set the camera settings for two seconds and make a photograph. When it appears, note the size of the star images. Twist the ring in one direction for 1/4 turn. Take another photo and assess whether the images are less focused or more focused. If more focused, keep turning the ring in the same direction and reassess each new photograph. If less focused, turn the ring the other direction, and follow the same regimen. What we are trying to get at is watching the quality of the star images until we have obtained the best focus possible.

If the Moon is overhead at daytime, that is the best object for this step. Use the Goto finder to move the scope near to the Moon, and use your eyepiece with the navigation widget to center it. Then switch into camera mode and follow the same idea for improving the focus.

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