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I might as well be a newbie

kens

By kens
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kens

kens

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It's been over 25 years since I last peered down the eyepiece. Kids, work and other interests all got in the way. I've still got the old gear: Vixen 150mm Newtonian, Super Polaris mount etc... Back then I was right into astrophotography using my Minolta X500 and developing my own film. Notable targets were of course Halley's comet and the 1987A supernova. Now I'm approaching retirement and the prospect of being able to build a dome into our renovations has rekindled my interest. For now I'm putting the old gear back together but I'm seeing how far things have moved on. As a retirement gift I'm getting an Atik 420 CCD camera and I figured I'd better get a collimator as the scope has lain dormant in storage all that time. A few bits have gone missing like the toe saver and one clutch for the motor drive. Then while setting up the Vixen DMD-1 controller I forgot to check the polarity of the power source and fried the declination drive electronics. Luckily the RA electronics still work so I now have a spare motor and the missing clutch is a moot point. I'm hoping to get hold of an adapter to convert the 36.4mm eyepiece to the more standard 1.25".

That should tide me over till I can get come to grips with the latest technologies before embarking on the inevitable n+1. I'm new to this community but I'm assuming that like bikes and fishing rods, that's the ideal number of scopes.

Looking forward to getting to know others in the community

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Scott

Scott

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Hi Kens,

Welcome back :). Oz is a big place mate. which part are you in? I'm from Wollongong origionally but I'm now in the uk. Don't forget to post the impending images of the southern skies when it all comes together,

Enjoy your time at SGL :)

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kens

kens

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Hi Kens,

Welcome back :). Oz is a big place mate. which part are you in? I'm from Wollongong origionally but I'm now in the uk. Don't forget to post the impending images of the southern skies when it all comes together,

Enjoy your time at SGL :)

I'm in Melbourne. Lived in the UK for 6 years not so long ago in Woking.

Thanks everyone for all the welcomes :)

One thing I'm finding is that it's so much easier to find out how to do stuff these days with the interwebs - like how to use the polar alignment scope I've had lying around.

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Scott

Scott

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what is it they say about the weather in Melbourne? If you don't like it, wait an hour and it'll change :).  We are so lucky in the north when it comes to polar alignment. I think I'd be drift aligning if I were back in Oz. you're right about the interweb, youtube is a boon to any astronomer. And of course sgl.

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kens

kens

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Welcome to SGL, Kens. You can still get motor drive electronics for the Vixen Great Polaris mount, which I think is compatible with the Super Polaris as well. 

Not sure if they are compatible with the MD5SP motor. But flicking through this and other sites I'm thinking an Arduino project might be worth a try to make a replacement controller. So much to learn....

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glowjet

glowjet

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Hi Kens and welcome to SGL, if you want a refresher on digital AP you could do no better than obtain a copy of the book that is probably in the library of most of our digital AP enthusiasts. "Making Every Photon Count" http://www.firstligh...e-richards.html  Hope you get all your hardware problems sorted and you can once again enjoy your Astro Photography :)

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kens

kens

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Hi and welcome to SGL. I am fairly new to this imaging malarky, only started 4 odd years ago. I bet you can see a massive shift in available equipment.

Look forward to seeing you around :)

I certainly have. In a way its a shame that the old gear is now obsolete as it gave pretty good results and is still serviceable. And there is a certain satisfaction in seeing the results of a hands-on activity. From working out where to look from "The Field Guide to the Stars and Planets", manually guiding and then developing the film in the darkroom. But the new technology does open up a whole new set of possibilities with fairly modest equipment - or so I am hoping.

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stoffe

stoffe

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Hello and welcome!

Interesting scope you had there, I hope you can post some pictures of it somewhere here in the forum. Its good to have standards on the eyepiece holder, but do your self a favour. Do not install a 1,25" focuser, do install a 2" focuser instead so you can use your scope without vignetting with a DLSR or a CCD camera. And also accept great 2" eyepieces in the future.

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