nige745

Most definitely. I was looking at this same shoe. I've picked a cheaper one up from Amazon but if it's not right then I will go for this one. I watched yet another YouTube video and they put some rubber underneath the shoe to stop it from slipping. It didn't look that nice but it worked.

All and any tips are more than welcome! This is a great little bit of advice, especially to someone as new to this as me. Also ending a session on something familiar is a good idea. It is something that I am going to stick to. One thing I am particularly looking forward to finding is M104. It never occurred to me that I could actually see this galaxy with my own telescope! I have got so much to learn 🤯

Watching another YouTube video & he flocked opposite the focuser & around its edge. I have seen others that flock the entire tube. Flocking 6-8 inches above the primary mirror is a good idea, although I would still have to remove the primary mirror (😬). I will have the odd bit of stray light when out in the garden. Only if I go right down the garden will it be totally light free. I need to find a space down there to be able to set my telescope up first. Great advice about not doing all this before I use the scope! I want to see what it is like on its own before doing the modifications. Absolutely. I concur. Ha haa, I'm worried about setting stuff up correctly. The first thing I will change is the finderscope. I've bought this already along with a Telrad & may mount that at the same time. I'm going to take all of this advice on board. The finderscope is not such a big mod and will make viewing through it easier as its right angled. All of the other bits & pieces I've got or want, I will add as time goes on. Seeing what the telescope does before them will give me a good baseline on how it performs & how the mods perform. Honestly, I can't thank you guys enough for all of the help & advice. I'm so glad I came here to SGL. I have no doubt I will be a regular question asker from now on!!!

From watching several YouTube videos, the thicker the foam the better. It increases stability and helps with insulation. I'm going for 10mm which looks a similar thickness to @900SL dew shield. One video suggested if the mat is ribbed, to put them on the inside to help disperse any stray light. Not too sure that this will make a difference, but I'm going to try it anyway.

I have a Samsung S22. It's really suspectable to the magnetic wallet case it's in. When I take the phone out of the case there's a massive difference. I first thought there was an issue with the phone until I looked online. The taxi magnets are a good idea. I was thinking about hanging some weights from the bottom of the OTA and they would work fine. That looks spot on. I like how you've stuck the edges together, it's very neat. I am going to use @PeterStudz idea of putting veneer around the foam, but I'm going to try some sticky back plastic vinyl or wallpaper instead of the veneer as it's quite a bit cheaper. In my case, I usually measure 3 or 4 times 😉

I've looked into dew shields since asking you, as with so many other bits/things/zooms/eyepieces...…!🙃 My head hurts, in a good way, sort of. I've ordered a black 10mm thick yoga mat already. I really like the look of your shields. They look smart & also don't appear to sag, which is something I was worried about. Putting thin veneer on is a great idea. I realised after asking about the phone mount my dob doesn't have a handle on it like yours. I've bought a cheap gel phone case which I'm going to stick some Velcro to the back of. I've also got some Velcro straps to go around the OTA. I will stick the gel case to those straps, hopefully. I thought about using magnets, but my phone seems to be quite sensitive to magnets which affects the phones compass. Also found myself a similar adjustable stool. I think I have nearly spent as much on extra bits as the scope cost me. I have tried to be frugal and have nowhere near bought the expensive stuff. I had absolutely no idea how much everything cost & there's quite a bit of stuff I haven't even got yet 😬 I am going to make a counterbalance from some tiny dumbbells and neodymium magnets wrapped in a microfibre cloth. Might not be the prettiest of things but it serves a purpose. Got the idea from Reflactor on YouTube: Thank goodness for Google & YouTube! This is why I'm making a counterbalance.

Does the light shield do the same as flocking? Surprise, surprise, I've not heard of a light shield 😆

That looks really good! I had forgotten about dew shields 🙄 What are they made out of & did you buy them or make them? That's a great idea with the phone mount, where did you get it from and how have you mounted it to the OTA? I also like the adjustable stool.

Brilliant, I'll order one. There's so many things I didn't factor in to all of this. I was contemplating getting a 12" dob at first. I got lots of advice on SGL with my first post. Really glad I didn't get the 12" for a few reasons. One of those is the amount of other stuff I need for my scope that I just didn't consider or to be more precise, just didn't know about.

Wow 1kg! I didn't even know they could weigh that much. I'm finding out lots of stuff I didn't know! I've been reading another post https://astro.catshill.com/finding-and-finder-scopes/ not read it all yet. It mentions: "Do bear in mind that adding a RACI (480g), Telrad (308g) and a smartphone plus bracket will move the centre of balance. A counterweight on the opposite side (I use a magnet) will help especially when the OTA is near horizontal." This seems a good idea?

I was looking for a shoe with 2 screws to hold the finder. The one pictured is off Amazon £7.99 & gets good reviews. I'm glad you mentioned the needle file & extending the slots. I will do the same if the screws don't match up 👍

I'm definitely going to replace the Bresser finder. Is there a reason you decided to have a Rigel QF instead of a Telrad?

I've looked at these adapters. I was worried that I would have my 3 way, in an adapter, in a shoe & was worried about the stability? Is this the type of adapter you were referring to?

I have looked at the StellaLyra 8x 50. I chose the Sky-Watcher due to the it being only £6 more & the reviews were better. I have been advised by 'Second Time Around' to get a cheap SSE scope & mount the phone bracket on my Dob. Now I've seen Louis phone mount I am now thinking I could use one with AstroHopper on it instead? The right angle will save my creaking back a bit, I hope.

They look great and is what I'm looking to do. I was going to go for a Telrad. Is there a reason why you chose a QuikFinder?