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Sumerian vamp up.....Part 1...Nexus Push To.


Mike73

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I've had my 16" Sumerian for nearly two years now and a while ago I decided it was time for some upgrades and a bit of a spruce up so this year I've decided to add Nexus Push To from Astro Devices, a new Feather Touch focuser with SIPS and a complete new paint and lacquer job.

Part 1

Nexus

I've never felt any sense of achievement from star hopping, its always just been something you have to do to find the good stuff. The only thing that has stopped me from using anything with a screen at dark sites is the loss of dark adaption even when viewed in 'night mode'.

I've been using my iPad mini with a double sheet of red rubylith covering the screen with the brightness turned down all spring and my eyes feel more comfortable than using my old paper charts under red light, SkySafari also has a huge database of objects and info.

Nexus was first recommended to me by Faulksy off here but I also couldn't find and bad reviews so I contacted Serge at Astro Devices and before I knew it I was sold on it and handed over the cash.

Next was the tricky part, Serge needed lots of measurements to make the kit up, he makes each installation kit up from scratch and considering he's in Sydney I needed to get those measurements right!

It took 5 days to be delivered from Oz which wasn't bad I thought and taken me two afternoons to assemble and install it, I had a few headaches getting the correct SkySafari setting but its all working and ready for its first run under clear skies. I do have to shorten one of the cables which goes to the alt encoder arm but I'II borrow a sparky mates crimpers and do that tomorrow.

I'm only putting Nexus on this scope, its not worth putting it on the OOUK as I mainly use that from home for moon and planets, if I do look at DSO's with the OO I'II stick with the RACI and Telrad.

Feather Touch and SIPS should be here next week sometime......:)

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No objects will be safe from your prying eyes now Mike!  All these whizzy additions, Are you gonna paint it Ferrari scarlet?

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You will love the feathertouch and SIPS system,it oozes quality!!can't wait to see pictures of the nexus system.it's probably something I would never go for but I like the way the encoders work :)

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I'm not that brave Alan! I'II stick to boring black. :)

 

Rich thats Nexus in the pics, not much to it but a couple of encoder arms and a black box. I like it though, its nice and simple but easy to set up and brake down. 

The Feather Touch means I can put my Moonlite on my OOUK. Ever since I've been using the OO (which is f/6.3) I can see coma a lot more in the f/4.5 so getting the Feather Touch + SIPS kills two birds with one stone.

 

 

Already been thinking about next summers upgrade...

I'm gonna compare Faulksy's 14" 1/10Pv next to Dan's SW 14" at Elan valley, if there is a real difference I may save for a new 16" mirror from John Nichol if not I'II just get my current mirror HiLux coated.

But thats next year, I gotta pay this lot of first! :)

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Nice one Mike, I look forward to hearing how this all works.  Interesting addition to a great scope mate !

 

I had not even heard of this setup until you posted yesterday on it.

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Oh and I forgot I'm also upgrading the secondary heater to a Kendrick elliptical heater pad and Micro controller, I'II have to wait a few weeks for those but I guess that'll be the last job to do anyway.

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Interesting comment about the mirror Mike. That is a comparison I would like to do too, but add my diy mirror into the mix as well. See how it holds up against a top end and stock SW mirror.

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Interesting comment about the mirror Mike. That is a comparison I would like to do too, but add my diy mirror into the mix as well. See how it holds up against a top end and stock SW mirror.

Sorry Alan I completely forgot your 14", I also didn't know that you made your mirror yourself!

Yep will be very interesting, I've never compared a Ultra high grade mirror next to a standard one of the same size. My OOUK is 1/10th pv and compared to my 16" which is 1/6th the OO looks very clean and sharp all the way to the field stop but the OO is f/6.3 so thats not really a fair comparison.

 

 

I took the Nexus for a spin last night, really mushy horrible sky conditions but the Nexus performed flawlessly. Keeping my Leica zoomed in giving me x205 it got all the objects in the FoV every time, pretty good going I thought!

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Interesting comment about the mirror Mike. That is a comparison I would like to do too, but add my diy mirror into the mix as well. See how it holds up against a top end and stock SW mirror.

good point alan, that will be cool, wont be long now

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Can't wait! The direct comparison will be great to do. Not often you get the chance to do such a test as that side by side. Results will be really useful to anyone considering new mirrors.

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i cant wait to compare them all either im still tempted by a 16" sumerian. just for the portability

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