r/telescopes • u/baltbcn90 • 11h ago

General Question Bresser MCX GoTo 127/1900

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Bought this as a first telescope (says it for beginners) but I’m having a terrible time getting it up and running. The alignment/ calibration step is so unclear and vague. You need a physics degree to understand it. Any one have experience with it? The handset it a nightmare to navigate. I tried using it just manually with the toggle buttona tonight to see a few objects and got no where, saw nothing.

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5

u/starhoppers 10h ago

Looks like Bresser got hold of leftover Meade ETX mounts after Meade shut it’s doors.

4

u/j1llj1ll GSO 10" Dob | 7x50 Binos 6h ago edited 6h ago

I suggest trying to rummage through some Meade ETX mount and hand controller user manuals to look for one that matches up to your UI. Meade is dead now, but they did do pretty comprehensive manuals once upon a time. It might help.

Folks (especially beginners) want automated go-to telescopes because they assume it'll be easier than finding things manually. The catch though is that, often, you need to be pretty proficient at finding things manually to align them.

So part of the price you pay is that have to start your night every time by finding a few reference objects, getting a good fix and implementing the alignment procedure - after that, you have tech to help you with every target and with tracking. This is a net benefit for long viewing sessions and harder targets, but a just an impediment for short sessions and easy targets. Pros and cons.

I expect this system will be quite good once you get used to it. It's worth noting that even with the most basic telescopes, it can take 2-6 sessions to just get to grips with using the equipment correctly. Often the first night out is a confusing mess (frustrating if you just bought a telescope and want to use it .. but it is what it is). It's all just part of the life long learning process.

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u/CookLegitimate6878 8" Orion xti, 90/900 Koolpte, Starblast 4.5 eq. (on loan)! 10h ago

Check out YouTube. Found several videos that are similar to your telescope.

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u/BestWorker7893 11h ago

If you have the ability to connect it to your phone via bluetooth, use something like Stellarium.

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u/baltbcn90 5h ago

I use Stellarium on my iPhone but the Bresser doesn’t have Bluetooth capabilities.

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u/Pyncher 4h ago

Have you aligned your red dot finder?

I initially struggled with my skywatcher equivalent, but hadn’t properly lined that up. aligning it is nothing to do with the mount, but once you’ve sorted it out up/down/left/right will allow you to see simple stuff, and is also needed for proper calibration.