johninderby

There are some great carefull couriers put there..........and then there are idiots like these. 🤬🤬🤬

Ouch!!! Once had a new Skywatcher dob arrive and it had been so roughly handled the primary mirror was broken.. 🙀

Although pleased with the way my SolarQuest mount is working it does have a small amount of play in the Az axis. Doesn’t seem to affect the tracking but thought I’d take a look inside. Easy enough to open it up. Just remove the four small screws from the bottom and two more just above the saddle. Then slide the small plate in front of the solar sensor out and then lift of the main part of the cover off. There are some wires that plug into the board so gently remove the cover without pulling something loose. Quite small motors in there but at least has brass gears. Not sure if it’s possible to tighten the AZ. Will take a closer look tomorrow.

No it won’t work. The Skwatcher version will only work with Skywatcher mounts.

I have the 4mm, 7mm and 16mm Nirvanas and find they are excellent performers and as you say nice and lightweight.

It has been a lovely morning with clear blue skies. Not a cloud in sight. Then this arrived and now wall to wall cloud. 🤬 Altair GPCAM3 290M USB3 Mono Camera

Wonder how many people realise there were 13 signs of the Zodiac originaly not just 12. Ophiuchus (the serpent bearer) is the missing one.

Zeiss are supposed to be very good. For Kimwipes it’s importing although painless by Amazon. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kimberly-Clark-Kimtech-Kimwipes-Kcc34155/dp/B008UB6IKC/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Kimwipes&qid=1561904397&s=gateway&sr=8-2

Have seen his work before. Remember them being mentioned a few years ago on the forum. Very nice. 👍🏻

Found the info I was after on CN on focal lengths and pixel sizes. Apparently as the Daystar scope is effectively F15.5 the 290 should be more suited. Also will be using it on an F15 mak for lunar. Agreed both cameras would be a good choice though.

Something else to consider. The Opticstar 80mm guidescope which would make a nice finder but also makes a nice travelscope. Good optics for an achro as well. http://www.opticstar.com/Run/Astronomy/Astro-Telescopes-Opticstar.asp?p=0_10_1_1_90

I used to have the Telescope Express version of that 80mm finder. It was OK. However it is a lot bigger and heavier than a 50mm one. I prefered the optics in the Antares 80mm finder but that’s a hard one to find nowadays.

Have gone for the 290m. Looks like it should be a better match to the Quark Solar Scout 60DS than the 178. 🙂

After doing some more research getting the feeling that the 290 is better for what I want. The 178 would be better for DSOs etc. Hmmm 🤔

I’m looking for a new not too expensive mono camera for solar with my Quark Solar Scout 60DS and also for lunar. I have narrowed it down to these two. But which will be better suited? 🤔 https://www.altairastro.com/Altair-GPCAM3-290M-MONO-Astronomy-Imaging-Camera.html https://www.altairastro.com/Altair-GPCAM3-178M-Astronomy-Imaging-Camera.html John

6 Have you considered a medical grade waterproof keyboard and mouse? 😀 http://www.stericlick.co.uk/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-uvgybuO4wIVghrTCh3XfwzdEAAYBCAAEgLOSfD_BwE

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Cheap Advent mouse but nice to hold and works well.. 👍🏻

Just a basic laptop but surprised at how nice it is for the price. Doesn’t feel cheap and everything moves along nicely. Won’t be doing any image processing with it. Just for capture. . Will save to a micro SD card. LENOVO IdeaPad 14” laptop 4Gb ram and a 64 GB eMMC

Yes the sun is quiet to say the least. I blame it on all the Ha scopes being bought. 😁 Clear skies predicted tomorrow afternoon so fingers crossed. 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

I have nothing against spaghetti. 😁

I’m sure they would oblige. 😁

Rowen Engineering Quark T2 adpater and a Baader 1.25” nosepiece extender.

When testing the camera the other day and did notice some faint newton rings. Not bad but want to get rid of them. Looking at the scope the 1.25” adaptor is pretty short so decided rather than go for a tilt adapter right away perhaps fitting a longer more substantial 1.25” adapter would hold the camera more accurately. Got one of the Rowen Quark T2 adapters and fitted a TS 1.25” adapter that I already had. Now to try it out when it stops raining. 😁

Hazy sunshine this morning but at least good enough to get the scope out. Not much to see though. The sun is sooooo quiet. 👎🏽 However at least got to try the ZWO 120MM camera. Need a 1.25” spacer though to move the 0.5 focal reducer away a bit so I can get a full disc image. One ordered from FLO. Much playing about with settings needed to get an image worth looking at. Find with the TV 25mm Plossl the polarising filter is really needed wheras with the Nirvana 16mm not needed. The higher mag of the Nirvana does soften up the image very slightly but doesn’t lose any detail. Have been using Duracell Recharge Ultra. AA batteries and they work just fine. They hold their power output better than regular rechargeable batteries.