Wanderers

Thanks everyone for all your help and advice.

The two 6se's have cost a total of £300 so I've done OK, especially if I can sell some parts.

I've just bought a 6se on ebay with smashed corrector. Fortunately the secondary is OK as is the retaining ring. It cost £100 but everything else still works so I'm going to try and recoup my losses!

4 hours ago, Stu said:

Some pictures may help explain what you are asking.

this confirms what i thought. I'm missing the ring that obviously secures the secondary in place. 

Is it possible to order such parts?

I meant corrector!

I've bought a very cheap 6se (cheap because the collector plate needs a good clean and one leg is missing its wing nut.)

On close inspection today I noticed the secondary appeared to be a little loose. I carefully tightened it in its thread.  I noticed an external thread around the outside of the internal thread I tightened the secondary into. Now I'm wondering if I'm missing a ring to secure the secondary in place?

I'm also wondering if the collimation will be out as the secondary has been moved?

Off to Google astrohopper !

On 13/03/2024 at 13:53, RT65CB-SWL said:

If you press the '@' ['at'] key on your keyboard/keypad and start to type the username, it will show a list of possible users and highlight the one you want and will end up something like this... @RT65CB-SWL or @Wanderers 

BTW...

What is your budget? - Have a read here... https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes.html if you don't already own a 'scope. There is an eight inch Dobsonian for a little bit more [plus P&P] than the secondhand one you have shown. It will show more and will last a lifetime. Your wallet will thank you. You and your family, friends, etc., will be in awe when they look through the eyepiece. 

@RT65CB-SWLthanks for your help. 

I have been offered a 5 yr old 10" skywatcher skyliner px dob for £275 which seems a really good price?

I must admit I would like goto/ tracking at some point in the future. 

Is it possible to add it to a dob or perhaps I should save for a flextube goto?

14 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

I'm not a Meade fan if I'm being honest, although I've had no direct experience with this particular scope. I bought something similar for my younger son when he was young, and it sapped the life out of the batteries in no time.  I mentioned FLO because they are incredibly helpful and you'll get sound advice. You'd also have the reassurance that you could return it if it wasn't suitable.

I've always been one of those unlucky ones who always seem to be in the wrong queue. I've spent hours waiting in line to look through goto telescopes over the years while the guy at the helm, red faced, tries to convince everyone he knows what he's doing and its just teething problems. Meanwhile, everyone in the queue for the push/pull Dob or refractor are having a great time. It's probably just me!!

Thank you Mike. Really appreciate your advice. 

I meant RT!

10 hours ago, RT65CB-SWL said:

It’s either the Meade DS-2114 or DS-2130... or the same models, but with an ‘S’ tagged on the end.

I have a Meade DS-2102 [refractor] and the eyepiece port is a piece of crap! I know this is a family friendly site and I could have used stronger word or expletive, but I won’t. Anyway the reason I used that word is because the two retaining screws are nylon plastic and they easily break or snap when over tightened. It happened with mine. Fortunately I asked one of my astro-society/club members if he could or replace with brass or stainless steel threaded inserts and replace the thumbscrews, as he has a lathe in his workshop/garden shed and enjoys a bit of light engineering for fellow members.

Depending on how much the seller is asking for it, I personally would give at miss... unless it is going for a silly price... ie <£50.00GBP and that is being over generous. I paid £20.00GBP for my DS-2102 [just the OTA] early last year [2023].

If you need or want to read the user manual before purchase and then decide, then the link is here... https://www.meade.com/downloadEntityFile/assets/product_files/instructions/DS2000_TS_manual.pdf

BTW... it is a discontinued model, so don’t expect any after sales support from Meade.

Thanks so much RC. I was attracted by the goto but did have doubts about the scope itself.  At £350 I'll steer well clear!

I guess it's back to a dob then. 

1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

I'd worry you'd spend more time, getting frustrated by messing with the gadgetry trying to get it to work, than looking through it. There are better options on FLO. 

Are you referring to goto in general or this scope in particular, Mike?

This scope is on sale and is described as a meade star navigator.  I'm not sure.

Also they don't know what size the mirror is. Any idea?

Finally is it any good? TIA

Thanks for such a comprehensive answer, Vlaiv

Really useful. 

As a wedding photographer I would generally aim to underexpose in order to ensure I definitely didn't overexpose. The reason being that raw data is always retained in an u/exposed shot and can be recovered in lightroom but overexposed detail is lost forever.  

Does the same rule apply in ap?

What iso was this taken at?

Great spot by the way!

I'm new here too and have learned a huge amount just by reading through lots of the many threads.

Have fun. 

On 11/12/2023 at 09:41, rwassell said:

Thank you for all the replies. I am in no hurry to be able to access the classified ads and will just wait until such a time as that naturally happens. In fact, it is probably best I can't access it, especially right now just before Christmas, otherwise I'd probably try to justify why I should buy myself more presents 🙂

There are classified ads? Did you work out how to access them?

2 hours ago, bingevader said:

Seriously! Plaited? Or do you use a clip or bobble?

Sometimes I wax it

Don't ask!

2 minutes ago, Wanderers said:

Sounds like you might be on the committee of said club 🤣

And you're from Chester. Own up Ian 🤣

17 minutes ago, iantaylor2uk said:

I believe this is exactly the same as the club which is being criticised!

As I understand it, the person who started this thread was told they could attend 3 meetings as a non-member, and if they liked it they would need to join the club if they wanted to attend any more, which apparently involved filling an application form to be a member. 

Sounds perfectly normal to me.

Sounds like you might be on the committee of said club 🤣

The society have replied to apologise that the email was open to misinterpretation and to reassure me that they have rewritten it.

So all is good in the end!

Except that I might feel rather too embarrassed to actually attend now!

Whilst I save for whichever scope I eventually decide on,  I'm looking to buy a tracker to enable me to use my dslr and 85mm lens for a bit of ap.

The nyx150 seems to be easily the cheapest but is it any good and will it handle the weight of a full frame camera and lens?

Are there any alternatives?

One alternative would be to nudge the camera to retain the target in the fov. Or doesn't that work?

So many questions! Sorry. 

5 hours ago, iantaylor2uk said:

I doubt that they are assessing you at the meetings. I think they will simply assess you on your application form, and I doubt you will need to put any of those details down on the form. 

What would they learn from the form?