johninderby

Thanks for that info.

The dual saddle I already have has holes for M8 and M6  bolts on 35mm centres and M8 bolts on 80mm centres. 

A couple of M8 holes on the 80mm spacing would be a useful addition. 🤔

An excellent first image, Very well done. 👍🏻

Perhaps a bit less sharpening but that is being a bit critical though. Keep up the good work.

I much prefer the tilt tuned to the pressure tuned Lunts. Have owned a 50mm PT and a 60 tilt tuned and found the tilt tuned just so much easier to tune. While good in theory the PT can be a right pain to tune.

Think Lunt should offer the option of which tuning system.

22 minutes ago, steveex2003 said:

For the last couple of weeks Astroshop, Teleskop Express and Bresser on the mainland have had decent discounts on the single stack 50 PT and the 60 tilti-tuned. Does anyone know is there something else coming along, or is this just a sale?
I have had my eye on the 50 for a while now, and although wanting a 60, £890 for a new 50-bf400 and circa £990 for the bf600 version is a considerable saving over current UK prices. I would obviously wait if this was an end of line thing.

Apparently Lunt has a thousand of the tilt tuned 60s to get rid of and when they’re gone that’s it. Not sure about the 50s.

1 hour ago, Grant said:

Bottom is flat and M12 thread in the center - it’s designed to go on an EQ6 tripod with the alignment pin removed.

Rowan have done a beautiful job with this - the machining, engineering, mechanics and finish are first class.

EQ5 problem solved. Have found a place that does custom aluminium washers so can order a 120mm OD by 65mm ID by 8mm thick aluminium washer and fasten that to the top of the Bereleback tripod and then just use an M12 bolt. 

20 minutes ago, John said:

Same here. Is there an adapter or will I need a new hub section ?

Edit: Don't want to derail this thread into a Berlebach tripod discussion - I'll pursue this elsewhere.

It is a really good looking mount Grant

As the Berlebach EQ5 tripod top is a flat plate looks like just drilling out the bolt hole to M12 and using a new knob will allow the AZ100 to fit directly on. That is if the AZ100 is completely flat on the bottom.

Looks like it will be priced as mount only then you add the options such as saddles etc. 

Looks like Rowan have studdied the AZ8 and addressed it’s shortcomings. The AZ8 slo mo setup looks far better than the AZ8. With the AZ8 the slo mo knobs rotate with the mount which means they can get in some awkward positions. Should be a bit higher load capacity as well. 

12 minutes ago, Grant said:

Bottom is flat and M12 thread in the center - it’s designed to go on an EQ6 tripod with the alignment pin removed.

Rowan have done a beautiful job with this - the machining, engineering, mechanics and finish are first class.

Right EQ6 top for my Berlebach tripod needed then. 🤔

It looks like the AZ100 will have a bit higher load capacity although they won’t know for sure until they have tested it with long OTAs. The saddles they provide with the AZ8 are very short and I see quite a few have upgraded their saddles.

Seems to me that Rowan have studied the AZ8 and have made a number of improvements particularily the slo mo control.

Assume it fits to an EQ5 type tripod? 🤔

Think this will come in handy in November. A few minutes work with the pillar drill may be needed to addnew mounting holes.

Steve put me down for one.👍🏻

Assuming It gets the OK from John that is. 

Just a couple of 2” parfocal rings.

Just the thing to stop the Morpheus eyepice from going to far into the 2” telextender.

Here’s my thread on the Bresser 10” dob but the 8” is the same,  just smaller. but will give you a better idea of what the scope is like.🙂

Yes sounds like an 8” dob would be more suitable for you as it’s easy for anyone to carry. An 8” solid tube will fit in any car. The only advantage of the flextube is when storing. One thing most find surprising is that the solid tube is about 1kg lighter than the flextube. The collapsing mechanism adds weight.

The Skywatcher is OK but would recommend spending just a bit more and getting the Bresser 8” dob. It’s just a better quality scope with a lot of improvements over the Skywatcher and well worth the extra. You will find that most end up modifying their dobs to improve them but the Bresser already has the improvements done for you. Would recommend getting the optional 1/10 upgrade knob for the focuser.

https://www.bresser.de/en/Astronomy/BRESSER-Messier-8-Dobsonian.html

Making a neat job of it by eye is very unlikely.  

I have used the aluminium fill, which while easy to print with,  gave very dispointing results.  I was hoping for something that would look like aluminium  not just a silvery plastic. 

RE: woodfill I found it was feeding the filament was the big problem. Sooooooooo fragile that completing a print without it breaking seemed unlikely. 

Eeeek 🙀🙀🙀

You could buy a decent pillar drill and drill bts for a fraction of that price.

Anybody tried Wood PLA 3D Printer Filament? Horrible, horrible stuff to print with. Constantly breaking. So disapointed with the results tossed the roll of filament in the bin. Never again! 🤬

I’ve found 3M  2090 blue tape is ideal for printing with ABS. Easier to put on the bed and remove than anything else as well and doesn't lift when heated. Then just wipe on a bit of ABS juice (ABS filament disolved in acetone) and you’re ready to print. ABS sticks so well to this combination you need to pry what ypu’ve printed off the bed. I print in a spare room with the window open and the fumes aren’t a problem.

Has anyone tried Makerbot ASA which is their alternative to ABS?

https://www.makerbot.com/stories/engineering/makerbot-precision-asa/?utm_source=marketo&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=19morematerialsasa&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTTJZNFpqTTJZelV4TVRBdyIsInQiOiI3cGliVUdxTGY3R0dwWDg3Ym01UWxGdnV0Tld1UFhmdEdVdDc5MmZzTjBjKzk4R1NmT3pqaXFOdEpaMVlYYitZRHdWMFVZaGFsbTd6c0gxVzlNRXJWZ0x1QmZlNlQrMnJ1RkxOemtoQkRCWlwvZVpQb1h0eDhKVndiMVVHdVZnK0gifQ%3D%3D

I found that to get really slow focuser movement you need the pc control with a usb control box. The Hitec one has regular speed control or simulated stepper control for super slow movement.

The standard control box that comes with the motor isn’t that slow even on the slow setting.

I’m thinking £599.00 or so for just the head without saddles. 🤔🙂

FLO hinted at a price between the Ercole and AZ8.

I should be a legal requirement to have to give the true or usable aperture. 

Now do I sell the TS-AZ5 (Skytee) with or without the EQ6 tripod?

2 minutes ago, Alan White said:

I am getting excited now.
Thursday tomorrow..............................

Are you making up a list of things you don’t really need that can be sold for when you buy the new mount. 😁