Space Hopper

8 hours ago, johninderby said:

Nice bit of kit. Makes me want to buy a dob. 😁

I see you're local John.

Once i'm up and running with it ( i'm having a little bit of work done on the base to make it a good fit with my OO Dob)

you'd be very welcome to drop by and check it out.

Bookmarked 😀

Oh.....?

A tracking platform.

But then i spotted this.......😎

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/en/info/p2700_Geoptik-Dobsonian-platform---motor-tracking-for-telescopes-up-to.html

27 minutes ago, Stu said:

I'm very pleased with the EQ platform, I bought it used but it was effectively brand new with the packing all in place. Even at x200 it was keeping objects centred very well.

 

That platform looks great.......i wish they still made them.

Telrads are great. You won't go wrong with one, but be aware of them dewing up.

And just remember to switch them off, as its easy to forget !!!

I wonder who that could have been......???

How does v4 differ from v3 ?

Interesting spider design they did back then. I wonder why they discontinued it ?

22 hours ago, John said:

If and when you decide to go for a Moonlite focuser, go for the 10 inch tube fitting kit. The 12 kit fits Skywatcher, GSO, and Orion (USA) tube diameters but Orion Optics tubes are a bit slimmer so the 10 inch kit is a much better fit I found.

Orion Optics tend to position the focal plane of the primary mirror further outside the tube wall than the other manufacturers I've mentioned here (the slimmer tube plays a part in that) which is why you need extension tube(s) or the Moonlite risers to get eyepieces to reach focus.

I can help the OP there.....

My old scope was a 10" F6.3

I've still got the Moonlite 10" fitting kit somewhere. He can have it gratis if he wants it.

(btw : i used the 12" kit on my 12F4 as i thought i should, and afaik it was and looks a perfect fit)

Fully racked in, yes the focuser tube is just in the lightpath, but its not too bad. I certainly haven't noticed degraded views or anything. A 12" mirror compensates well.

And when i'm in mid or high power mode and racked out, no issues.

One problem with extensions is that with a big heavy 2" eyepiece in the 1kg range,

you can put quite a bit of strain on the focuser, especially if its not a terribly good quality one.

My old OO focuser was in that category.

Fully racked out with a 2" there was noticable sag on the tube, although you can't fully see it from this image.

More of a worry was the security of the eyepiece itself.

11 hours ago, joe1950 said:

 And this is the last hobby related purchase I’m making! Maybe a cheap eyepiece or something will slip through, but this is it for me! 

 

 

 

 

We don't believe a word of that Joe ! 😉

When i purchased my 12 F4 i asked John to fit the Moonlite which was on my old scope.

It is a non standard 60mm drawtube version which together with the spacer options will focus just about anything.

I got the 60mm drawtube because i use a 'Powerswitch binoviewer' and it has a fair amount of focus travel between the 'low' and 'high' power settings.

The Moonlite also gives me a little bit more stability which i need with a 2.5kg load.

I've been pleased with my F4.

Great rich field, low power views with the bino and the scope fits nicely across the back seats as well.

Nice : congratulations on your new telescope.

I have the short tube version 

One things for sure in this hobby......

Things never stay clean for very long ! 🙄

Its about to go into production, so they say.

So things are happening there......

Deliveries expected between mid August - end September.

On 30/06/2019 at 02:22, nhyone said:

I'm fumbling my way with binoviewing on my Mak 127.

I knew magnification would increase due to the longer light path, but I underestimated it. As a result, the image was very dim.

 

Probably some aperture loss there as well, due to the increase in lightpath.

And with the best part of the primary getting chopped from the outside, the central obstruction by the secondary as a percentage gets bigger.

Hence the dim, over magnified view, and a loss of contrast. SA (Sperical abberation) probably in the mix there as well.

This isn't really a fault you can blame on the BV, its just when you use one with a SCT / Mak you need to optimise everything first to make it work well.

Nice post.

This hobby is great when it all comes together.

Next time you are out, see if you can track down M11. (one of my favourites)

Here in Derby, i'm not exaggerating when i say i reckon we have had less than 10 hours sun so far this month.

That equates to an average of less than 25mins per day.

And i've completely lost track of where the moon and planets are at.

If you asked me what the current Lunar phase is, i wouldn't know.

Its been weeks since i last saw it at all.

Quite depressing : all this nice kit sitting around with me unable to use it.

It'll be cloudy.......

On 13/06/2019 at 14:51, Stu said:

I do recall Jupiter and Saturn being close together and high in the sky when I first started being interested in astronomy, can recall exactly when that was.

Probably around 2000.

Every 20 years (approx) Jupiter 'overtakes' Saturn in its orbit and gives us a nice conjunction, actually a triple conjunction.

There is one next year, but it will still be low in the sky for us in the UK

Recent, future ones were / are

1981 in Libra

2000 in Taurus

2020 Sagittarius / Aquarius

2040 Virgo

2060 Gemini

The 2060 conjunction promises to be very good from the UKs perspective.

Problem is i'll be 93 years old.....😩

The spider looks good, if a little on the pricey side.

I think i'll be his next customer John.  Klaus looks very good to deal with so far.

I've been doing various upgrades to my own scope over the last couple of years and have fitted encoders and a new Moonlite focuser.

A tube upgrade with new spider / secondary assembly will be my next step.

That only leaves flocking and sourcing an equatorial tracking platform.

You mentioned a longer tube to act as a built in dew shield and i thought it seemed a good idea,

but then i realised it would no longer fit across the back seats of the car.

I currently use an Astrozap shield on mine which works well, and helps to balance the heavy primary end a bit.

It looks very nice indeed John. Thanks for sharing the response from him. Not too bad a price either....?

I'd had concerns with the tube end rings, and it says somewhere on his website to retain them, but now

i've seen the tube, its obvious they can be dispensed with.

Klaus hit the nail on the head in his reply to you......"Anyway, the whole mechanical construction is poor" (with OO)

Apart from the mirror cell, which IS well built, i couldn't agree more.

My only concerns would be with the slightly thicker tube.

Would the mirror cell still fit in ok ?? 

And with me being a OO Dobsonian user : would the slightly bigger tube throw the OTA out of alignment with the aluminium Dob mount ????

I will also be upgrading my spider and secondary assembly, and have a curved vane design planned.

Take a look.

http://www.1800destiny.com

I hope your upgrade goes well, and i will follow with interest. Keep us updated please ? 😀

I think Klaus Helmerichs supplies TS with tubes that he produces.

They have lots of sizes : look at the 'solid carbon without core' tab. They actually do a ready made tube for OO 10"

and you can arrange for holes to be drilled for focuser etc.

I myself am after something for exactly the same upgrade, but in a 12" F4 size (OO VX12)

The job has been on 'the backburner' for quite a while now........