Space Hopper

Theres a place in the Fatherland that looks good. Lots of options and customisations available.

I have had it bookmarked myself for a while as i want to do something like this myself.

How is your German John ?   

http://klaushelmi.de/en/index.html

On 13/06/2019 at 12:57, Rob said:

I know its not as close as 2018, but hey its Mars!.

 

 

It won't be THAT MUCH further away either.

I'm looking forward to it too : we are long overdue a good planetary apparition in this country ; i'm sure we all agree on that ! 😀

We'd love to see some photos of the 105/650 in action ! 😀

4 hours ago, paul mc c said:

Nice problem to have........😃

Indeed. Good post !

To be honest, the wind was far worse in Fuerteventura when we holidayed there 3 or 4 years ago.

That windy at times there, you'd struggle to any observing there at all.

You are correct  : the Eastern side of Boa Vista, is very under developed : there is literally nothing there.

Access would the one issue : theres no roads, as you'd expect, only dirt tracks.

The Cape Verdes (certainly Sal) often remind me of the surface of Mars)

Lots of dust and dirt and sand for the wind to whip up. A bit like Mars !

I was in Boa Vista in April and go there (and Sal) fairly often.

I wouldn't recommend it as a PRISTINE place to see the stars.....its NOT BAD, but with it

being pretty windy there a lot of the time, theres often poor transparency with lots of sand

and dust in the air. 

I really need to take a small scope and mount there someday. We have stayed on the south side (at the Tourareg) 3 times

and it has a good clear view of the southern sky despite light pollution from the hotel. I was observing Omega Cent and the Southern cross

in April, and the fabulous area around there and it was a most memorable view.

Weather wise its usually good between October and May sort of time but there are cloudy days for sure.

June - Sept can be much more unsettled with rain and cloud. The can even get the odd tropical storm from time to time.

Temperature wise is nice : not too hot, not too cold. Usually in the day its around 24-28ºC with quite a tropical feel at times.

Its rarely over 30º though, but remember, its in the Atlantic, with its active weather and wind.

Its quite a good place for dust devils if you like spotting them ! 

Its a nice place to visit if you want to chill out and do nothing for 2 weeks. Probably why i like it !

Flying time from the UK is just under 6 hours.

Jupiter moves quickly. And you get to learn a bit about each zodiacal constellation as it visits them yearly in turn.

It will only be another 2 or 3 years or so before it starts to get good again.

And although Saturn seems to take an age to move anywhere, at least its heading in the right direction for us northerners.

The sobering thing for me is that its next 'good aperitions' from around 2025 - 2040 will be my final good views of this beautiful planet.

I'm afraid i won't be around to see it complete another full orbit.

Going back to M1. (not the motorway thankfully) The supernova remnant and the first object in Charles Messiers' catalogue.

From home (Darley Abbey, Derby : AKA 'Light pollution centra'l)  i cannot see it with a 12" Newtonian.

And i've tried many times. Its simply washed out to the point of being invisible. Comets are the same.

Yet a 20 min drive up to Alderwasley, Belper (EMS darksite) shows it is visible on a decent moonless night with my 15x50 binoculars.

I rarely look at DSOs from home because of this, and stick with Planets, doubles and Lunar.

Have you tried M42 ? You can't fail to spot that, and it will bring a smile to your face.

I wouldn't !!  😆

I had a go at it last year with my Newtonian but it was like looking through a Kaleidoscope.

I should be getting my new refractor soon, so will have to reacquaint myself.

Heres my OO VX12 (short tube) with encoders that i recently fitted.

I had a good look at it today with Simon on the Widescreen stand.

Very nice bit of kit. The thread is a standard 48mm female.

I didn't see or hear a diagonal option mentioned as an extra.

It was irresistible enough for me to put my name down on the list for the first batch anyway.

And a nice little show discount thrown in as well.

I wonder if they'll have one at Astrofest ??

Somehow i doubt it, but it would be nice if they did.

4 hours ago, FLO said:

... designed and manufactured for astrophotography, from CNC machined aluminium, with a smooth calibrated helical focuser, a focus tension ring, a field rotator graduated by degree, a slot for 48mm filters and a reversible dovetail. The first one to arrive will be mine! ? 

Steve

Can i have the second...?? ?

It looks.......sexy. (sorry)

Hi,

I recently posted about adding encoders (to work with my Astro Devices Nexus DSC) to one of my other mounts, an American Discmounts DM6 

I thought it would be nice to add them to my OO Dob (a VX12) so then, when i used the Dob, i could take the Nexus from my DM6, and plug it into Dob, so to speak.

The Astro Devices website lists various commercially available Dobsonian scopes like the Meade Lightbridge, the GSO, and Skywatcher ranges, but not the Orion Optics scopes,

possibly because there are not that many OO scopes in Australia, where Astro Devices are based.

When i ordered my DM6 encoders, i mentioned to Serge Antonov (who runs Astro Devices out of Sydney) that i'd be interested in ordering some for my OO Dob, if , in the future they were to ever list them.

But Serge did better than that : he actually custom made me a set to go with my other order.

He even phoned me up a couple of times, from Australia, to go through a few measurements that he needed to make them up !!

The order arrived quickly : it only took him about a week to make them up, and they arrived in the post only a few days later.

Excellent customer service : i can't recommend Astro Devices enough, and nothing was too much trouble for Serge.

http://www.astrodevices.com/index.html

Astro Devices components are also available through their official UK distributer.

http://astrograph.net/epages/www_astrograph_net.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/www_astrograph_net/Categories

Fitting them was simple. An easy upgrade for anyone to do.

Heres the kit :

The Azimuth / RA encoder simply screws on top of the existing bolt that tightens / loosens the Az axis.

It would be better if the existing bolt had a lower profile, but theres enough thread there, and the encoder is also secured, once tightened, with 3 micro screws to keep it in place.

At the other end, a small plate is added into one of the fittings (the centre one) that secure the base of the mount to the side panel

The small plate piece has a screw pin in it. The end of the encoder has a slot which then slides in. It also has a small plastic arm to keep some tension in the encoder.

Once everything is in place the encoder cable is attached.

The altitude / dec axis is even easier.

A straight metal bar is fitted onto the Dob rings. In the centre, which is the middle of the ring axis,  is a stay,  centre drilled to house the altitude / dec encoder. This is held in place by a convenient thumb screw.

This is handy. When i disassemble the scope and remove the tube from the mount at the end of play, i can simply unscrew the encoder and remove it from the ring altogether, and store it on the Dob base, next to the other one.

Then i can lift the tube out, without the encoder being left in a vulnerable position (where i can bump / damage it)

Another metal stay, with a centre pin in it, is attached to one of the existing pre-drilled holes in the mount, located below the rings.

This was a bit tight, and i had to drill it out a bit.

Once in place, the encoder slots in, as before, and is secured at the other end with the thumb screw, and then the alt / dec encoder cable can be attached.

I purchased another one of those handy little shelves Astro Devices sell, and this attaches, via a small ball head, on to the other side of the mount.

A little bit of cable sorting and routing then takes place (Astro devices even include some clips for this) then a final check over, and connect everything up and we are done ! ?

All in all, this was a doddle to fit ; it took me less than 30 mins.

I've only had the chance to use the scope twice since i fitted them, but they are performing very well indeed, with about a dozen or so Messiers and NGCs right in there in the eyepiece where i want them.

It pays to read the Nexus manual well, and pick some suitable alignment stars (you only need 2) and centre them carefully with a reticule eyepiece ideally.

If theres anyone who has an OO dob scope and wants to fit a DSC / Nexus system, i can thoroughly recommend Astro Devices.

Thanks for reading, clear skys ??

On 02/01/2019 at 21:50, Stu said:

Strangely, with both my 200 and one of the 140s, the primary mirror had come loose so was not sitting correctly.....

A primary mirror coming loose on a £7.5K scope.....?

Hmmmmmm......

I use a Mey musicians chair.

One of my best ever astro purchases.

Very solid, built to a high standard.

It adjusts up and down, and tilts left to right.

Not exactly cheap, but you get what you pay for.

FLO used to sell them at one time, but not any more.

I brought mine from Germany directly. Easy transaction, very reasonable shipping & quick delivery.

HIGHLY recommended.

https://www.thomann.de/gb/mey_chair_systems_af6_kl_bl.htm

Second hand 9mm Nagler. Arrived today.

Its the one on the left next to my 13mm for comparison purposes.

Note the 13s very long barrels.

That was it though.

He must have forgotten the TEC 140 Flourite Apo that was on my wish list......

Thanks for putting my mind at rest.

I  have a year to save up for it now..........

An unrelated question from the image looking at the optic if i may Gavin......

What i think is the end of the focuser drawtube appears to be bare metal.

ie not painted. Would that possibly be an issue causing unwanted reflections and scatter

when look ing at bright objects.....??

Its probably not an issue at all and just me worrying unnecessarily.

I think you are right Mike, thankyou.

Today in the gym, i picked up and trained with a 4kg kettlebell and an 8kg kettlebell

and imagined the idea of taking a scope away (on a plane) with similar weights.

Although the 8kg mass felt manageable, i don't think i'd be too keen lugging it around for too long.

The 4kg option felt so much easier.

Not taking anything away from the APM 105 of course, its a stunning scope by all accounts.

And looking at Gavins pictures and reading the available reports, the Travel Companion seems equally good.

We are lucky to be able to have all these amazing scopes to tempt us......

Btw........i have been quoted a 1 year wait time.

This was after me having a rethink (again)  about a LZOS 105 650

I really can't make up my mind. I may change it yet (again)

Its mainly the weight of the 105 thats the issue, almost double the Baader.

I've been in touch with the good folks in Germany........

......and as of today......my name has been added to the list !