GasGiant

Mine just arrived.😀 

I expect FLO have added clouds,  as usual 🤣

I see a few mods popping up as well as 3D printed filter holders, dew shield etc etc  Nice 🤙

https://www.thingiverse.com/search?q=seestar+s50&page=1

Guys on YouTube have made equatorial mounts for the scope. Though thats probably not something I would do as its not worth the hassle ?  Apart from that, maybe the angle would put undue strain on the motor, gears and bearings?  However, this guy has posted some lovely images! 

Ah thats encouraging then !

What sort of WiFi range are people experiencing?

Where I want to place the s50 is up the garden  somewhat.

Bought one yesterday from FLO.

I came to realise I don't have the time, the money, or really the inclination to learn 'classic' astrophotography & that a quick fix S50 might fulfil that itch.   Looking forward to getting going with it.

Great thread 🤙

Thats a fantastic image !

1 hour ago, Gfamily said:

Elp makes a good point, that a long focal length generally gives a narrow field of view, so not so good for browsing the sky.

You might consider the SkyMax Go2 127, and swapping the telescope over in the mount depending on whether you want to look at the Moon or browsing the sky generally.

I can't remember whether the Travel Scope comes with a dovetail (which will allow it to be clamped to the Go2 mount) but it should be able to fit one if not.

It'll be worth making a DIY dew shield for the 127, but it's a good step up scope. 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/telescopes-in-stock/sky-watcher-skymax-127-az-go2-wifi-maksutov-cassegrain-telescope.html

Lol. The only review of that scope. 

The guys having a bad day 🤣

Awful! "input your coordinates and follow the SIMPLE alignment process" - great if you're already into star gazing and know about things like coordinates and you know how to point your telescope at a star that say, may or may not be Mars.

For me though, a complete beginner this is the worst thing I have ever wasted money on. Go through the alignment process and at no point does it ask me for my coordinates. I have to manually point the scope at say Mars, I have no idea where Mars is in the sky! I have to use this ridiculous app to point the telescope anywhere and all I am getting is black! I probably do point at Mars but Mars is so far away that one tap of the scope movement and I've probably gone from one side to the other of Mars, I have no idea but hours put into this stupid thing and I've seen nothing but blackness. I'd love to return it but I'm outside of the 30 days return so probably going to have to take a knock by selling to some other poor sap that thinks this thing will work

Thanks folks

Im going to try the live stacker 

In my opinion.

Neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours. With a little understanding, you can find the perfect blend. 

Neighbours should be there for one and other. That's when neighbours become good friends. 

Great info, thank you. 

so confusing looking at what there is and what it does ! 

Instead of laptop can an Ipad be used ? I guess it can 

Hi folks

Here's a question for you 🙂

At the moment I have an S23 ultra which I fit to the chosen lens on my dob via the usual clunky metal mount you get for this setup.

Setting it up is  real pain, and I have had only any real success with imaging the moon. As the phone/camera has multiple lenses, it switches between them when I try different zoom ratios and the images disappears.  Its then a mission to try line something up again, usually without any luck I might add. I end up getting frustrated and giving up. 

So, is there a camera that I can fit to the scope ( and here is the important bit ) that I can link to my phone via cable,hopefully with dedicated software for android ?  At this stage I don't want to go through laptops etc 

What choices do I have ?

I have a T mount setup for my DSLR but looking for something more convenient 

Thank you

Carl 

3 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

If you were to, hypothetically, manufacture these, you wouldn't be able to sell them here without permission from admin 

No I know. Id sell them through my own website. Just figuring out if its worth the hassle and if there is a market 

I work in an industry where we do lots of fabrication work among our 'normal' bread and butter work.

Hypothetically speaking. If someone were to manufacture tube assemblies to customer specs, is there any legs in that idea ?  

We can also manufacture piers  

C

On 28/01/2024 at 21:14, westmarch said:

Hopefully shimming the shafts will sort it. The only other thing I can think of is that your design for wider arcs is distributing the weight of the rig more efficiently on the shafts and is leading to some slippage. 
 

John

Ive turned down my shaft. unfortunately its been sper cloudy as usual so not tested the slight drift theory yet 🙂 

7 hours ago, djh said:

I use one on my Skymax, but have fitted it via a belt. This allows me to pull the belt down and manual focus if changing camera/adding barlows.

Plus I upgraded it to radio control and therefor take away another cable that can get caught up.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-focusers/4tronix-focusrf-remote-control-for-dc-focus-motors.html

Lol. More expense. Just bought one of those ! Thank you

Ah good info.🤙 

Good tip about the belt as I believe once fitted you cant manual focus. Ill fit as standard to start and see how it goes

Ive just bought one of these to try help eliminate focus wobble.

Does anyone have any experience with using them. How are they on a day to day night to night basis ? 

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/skywatcher-auto-focuser.html?gclid=CjwKCAiAk9itBhASEiwA1my_62KBAW1ERCJdpEJG-yNsXV15LCqF3S9T9-4LkgNPPHnAGmlSdrejqRoCGVEQAvD_BwE

@Orange Smartie  Excellent ! So nice being able to get a good time on Jupiter without nudging every 20-30 seconds ! 🙂 

55 minutes ago, PeterStudz said:

Could well be the diameter of the shafts. I’m sure it can be shorted. 

Im almost certain it is. Its not drifting a lot, but its enough to annoy me 🙂 

IT WORKS 🙂 

So, I get a very slight drift but I cant slow the motor down anymore.  

I have an idea what it is though. The two shafts instead of being 8mm are 15mm. I think the change in diameter has altered the 'gear' ratio.  If these shafts are smaller diameter then they will run slower on the wedge. I should then have more wiggle room with the speed controler.  I think 😁

I will whack em on the lathe and turn them down to 8MM

Hi @westmarch

They're rubber anti slip pads. I was hoping they would be enough to hold the dob in place.

However,  after a quick test I thought it not worth the risk so added the barriers !! 

Im all set up and its getting dark soon. fingers crossed.  

1 minute ago, PeterStudz said:

Even if it needs some adjustment it looks like it’ll work to me.

If you had a white light solar filter you could try it now. Well, it’s sunny here. This does remind me - if you haven’t got a white light solar filter it’s another great little DIY project.  Very simple too and well worth having. 

Na, annoyingly I dont 😞  I have some film coming for my B-day soon ! I knew I should have bought some earlier. lol

I have high hopes and cant wait to try it tonight fingers crossed @PeterStudz  I just hope I have made it correctly! LOL 🙂 

Its all ready to rock tonight !! should we get even a few stars out  it should be enough to check. Wish me luck 🙂 

Managed a pic tonight !