No view I just got this scope and I can't see anything in it; not even light. I think something is broke but I don't know enough about it to be sure. I hope you can help me. Thanks. Carey

You simply need to choose if you prefer a better image quality or a smaller and lighter spotting scope. A spotting scope with a larger lens (60mm to 100mm) will have better light-gathering capability than a smaller 50mm lens spotting scope. This means that the image you see will be brighter and clearer. You will also enjoy a wider field of view. On the other hand the bigger the lens is, the larger and heavier your spotting scope will be. Larger spotting scopes are also more expensive.
Think about where you will be using the spotting scope the most. If you normally stay at a fixed location for a long period or don't need to worry about extra weight then opt for an 80mm to 100mm scope (if you can afford it of course). If you like to travel light or move around more than a 50mm to 60mm scope will suit you better. Some 50mm scopes can even be used without a tripod when needed.

With the setup you have, you are attempting a magnification of x 750, which is way beyond the capabilities of your scope. A realistic limit to usable magnification is x 250, or about what you will get if you take the barlow off and just use the 4mm lens.The 127mm aperture on that scope does not gather enough light to do more.

Even that depends on good seeing, that is, clear air and no light pollution. It is a great shame that scopes are marketed with outlandish claims as to magnification. You certainly will see a magnification of x 750 in daylight, when there is lots of light, but they don't tell you that trick.

I have a 200 mm scope, with a practical limiting magnification of x 400, and I find that almost impossible to use. The viewing object is hard to find and keep centred in the eyepiece, it wobbles around, it soon disappears due to the rotation of the heavens, and is dim and blurry. I keep to magnifications of about x 250 max.
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Make sure that the wires are in and to make sure the button is on, if it is then wait a while. That doesn\'t work, then its just broke!

you dont know where the dimmer is? on the left, on the headlamp switch or a small knob.

I don't know why you are trying to collimate the scope. This is a complicated procedure and is probably not the first thing a newcomer should be doing. If it is a new scope, the collimation ought to be OK anyway. Are you having trouble with coma? If you don't know, or don't know what that is, then collimation is probably not the problem.

If the problem is that you are not able to see what you expect in the telescope, then that is likely to be something other than the collimation being out. New telescope users are taken by surprise at the difficulty of just pointing the telescope in the right direction to see anything. The field of view is quite limited, especially if you are using a high power eyepiece. The higher the power of eyepiece on a telescope, the dimmer the image, the more difficult to aim it at any chosen object, and the more difficult to focus. When the scope is not focussed, even if there are stars in the field of view, they will only be faint blurs.

I suggest that you try the telescope first in daylight (NOT pointed at or near the Sun), using the least powerful eyepiece (the one with the largest number). Try it on objects on the horizon, remembering that they will appear upside down. This is a good time to get the accessory finder scope lined up with the main scope, too. When you have become familiar with the low power eyepiece, try a higher power, which will focus at a different point (and be harder to find objects with). Then try it out at night, on a bright, easily found object like the moon.

Poor collimation will affect the quality of the image, but any other problem will be due to something else. I suggest that you visit THIS WEBSITE for a beginners guide.

The bit you are missing is the finder scope, which is a small low-power scope that is used to line up the main scope on an object that you want to view. Without this it can be quite hard to get the scope pointed at anything, as the field of view is quite limited, and more so at higher powers.

It can be quite expensive to buy useful eyepieces for a scope, but they are readily available if the eyepiece mount tube is 1.25 inch inside diameter. The eyepieces that originally came with this scope probably were not very good, and in fact this scope is not up to much. It is rather small for a reflector at three inches diameter. You certainly won't be able to use it at the advertised 600 power, or even at 200. It has neither the resolution nor the light gathering ability with that small an aperture.

I would recommend that you explore the web page at THIS LINK for a lot of good advice about first telescopes, before you spend any money.

Hi, this is a real handy scope. You need to remove the disk like cover for the high polished mirror located at the but end of the scope. Then insert one of the two ocular lenses provided into the viewing aperture. Next, aim the polished mirror end at something obvious like a street light. Use the range finder located opposite the viewing aperture, (switch red button on) and align the circles with the red dot. Happy viewing!

Did you ever see any "light" how about something that looks like a donut with a hole in it?

The focus know could have come loose from the "rod" inside that moves the mirror. OR the finder scope really is NOT lined up exactly with the main tube.

Take the telescope out during the day and see if you can focus on a distant object like the top of a telephone pole. If you can focus just fine, then the finder scope is NOT lined up with the view in the eyepiece. Also try using a lower power eyepiece -- anything over about 22mm to get a wider field of view.

It won't increase viewing power by hundreds of time but it should be able to show you a close up view of the moon and planets where they look closer (or with the moon, parts of it look closer). When you say it looks further away, something is quite wrong as you know. It sounds like the eye piece is backwards in the mount? Can't imagine what else would make it smaller. Also can't imagine you could even get it in backwards. I have a scope by Meade that is essentially the same Newtonian design. Best of luck.

The moon is big so use the 25mm. The Barlow will have a multiplication marking on it 2x 3x etc. A 2x Barlow lens will effectively double the power of the eyepiece you are using. Do not use the erecting eyepiece for anything other than land viewing. Erecting eyepieces generally reduce the amount of light reaching your eye and thus reduce brightness of the faint objects in the sky.
So basically just place the 25 mm lens in the focuser and point the scope at the moon and you will be amazed at what you can see and how bright it is.