johninderby

His teachers in school thought he showed promise in mathematics. 😁🤣

More info here:

https://www.turing.ac.uk/blog/what-alan-turing-means-us

Computer pioneer and codebreaker Alan Turing will feature on the new design of the Bank of England's £50 note. Long overdue recognition. 

Arrows to the Moon: Avro's Engineers & the Space Race

Interesting read on an important aspect of the Apollo program that tells the story of the Canadian and British engineers without whom the Apollo program would not have succeeded.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Arrows-Moon-Avros-Engineers-Apogee/dp/1896522831/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Arrow+to+the+moon&qid=1563142576&s=books&sr=1-1

14 minutes ago, Rusted said:

Before I send my focuser into near Earth orbit.. can these HiTecAstro boxes cope with 17.2V DC?

I checked several of my plug-in style PSs and they all produce 17.2V unloaded.

Too much of a good thing?

Max 18v so yes it might be OK although a bit to close for comfort I think. However power supplies are available from Amazon for 6 to 10 pounds.

Quote:

The device must be powered using a 12VDC center positive supply. The controller itself will run on any voltage between 6vDC and 18vDC. However you MUST check that the voltage used matches the rated voltage of your motor, Skywatcher or JMI motors are happy to run from the typical 13.8DC output by many power supplies.

If the clutches are tightened properly you shouldn’t be able to move it. Mine locks up quite solidly.

1 hour ago, Highburymark said:

Does anyone know if the ADM replacement adapter/clamp for the SWGTi mount is also usable for the SW solarquest mount? Can't find anything online which says it is, but the two mounts look to have the same design of dovetail clamp.

Yes it works but it is very short. I used an Altair mini vixen clamp with a short photo vixen dovetail. Cheaper as well.

https://www.altairastro.com/starwave-mini-vixen-format-clamp-to-fit-camera-tripod.html

Quick vid.

DayStar Solar Scout SS60-DS Motorised Focuser

Decided to motorise the focuser on the SS60-DS which should make it a lot easier to image the sun. 

The Skywatcher Autofocuser was used with toothed drive belts and pulley. As I had fitted a Orion finder shoe decided to mount the motor and bracket on the shoe. Printed out a finder dovetail twice the length and height as standard then bolted the Skywatcher bracket to it after flattening the base of the bracket in a vice first. It comes with a bit of a curve that needed removing.

A 40 tooth GT2 drive pulley was fitted to the motor. Then fitted a 232mm drive belt turned inside out to the knurled part of the OTA focuser to give the drive belt something to grip. Was a very tight fit but that’s what I wanted. Then fitted the motor to the finder shoe usung a 320mm drive belt and adjusted the tension. 

Tested it and it worked very smoothly. The belt would slip when the focuser reached the end of it’s travel so a built in safety feature. 

Maybe a little flashing red light on the top to warn low flying aircraft? 🤣🤣🤣

Think you need a taller finder bracket. 😳

Yes need more detail. Assume it’s on the inside of the corrector? 

Would be a good idea to use a desiccant cap to help dry out the inside when the scope is stored.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/flo-125-2-inch-desiccant-cap.html

Just have try the finders in a few positions until you find the right arrangement for your particular scope. 

Couple of usefull illustrations.

One of these maybe?  😁😁😁

All scopes should have lifting/carry handles. So much easier to fit to the mount.

Might be a problem with the USB 3.0 port drivers. Try updating them and see if that helps.

A Powermate will give 2x wherever it’s fitted but a barlow’s actual magnification is dependant on the distance from the eyepiece so your 2X barlow may be giving more than 2X.

Are you using the USB 3.0 cable that comes with the camera or another cable?

Telrads have their uses in finding things where you don’t need to be spot on but pretty useless when it comes to zeroing in on a small target.  Telrad gets you in the general area then switch to RACI finder. That’s why you see so many scopes with both fitted. 👍🏻

Cloudy so I just connected a focus motor and the Hitec controller to check that the software was working properly. I had already downloaded the drivers etc from the Hitec site so when connected it worked perfectly right away with no setup needed.

You can use it in normal mode or stepper mode. Not a real stepper as the motor isn’t a stepper motor but simulates it very well. So use regular mode to get focus about right then switch to step mode for final focusing. Good range of speed adjutment from quite quick to where it’s hard to tell if it’s actually moving.

So first impression is excellent. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

A Telrad is the right way up as it isn’t a magnified finder. Just rings projected onto a glass plate.

RACI (Right Angle Correct Image) means the image is the right way up. There are also RA (Right Angle) finder where the image is not the right way up. Straight through finders also aren’t the right way up.

You can get this for your Telrad.

https://www.365astronomy.com/Telrad-Dew-Shield-Plus-Dew-Shield-for-Telrad-with-Mirror-for-Right-Angled-Viewing.html

Sorted 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

On traditionl refractors it’s obvious when it’s a long focal length telescope.