johninderby
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Posts posted by johninderby
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Altair Losmandy dovetail bar for the Skymax 180.
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After removing the ring poke a small hex key or something similar through the front hole and give the disc a tap. One tap and mine simply fell out.
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No longer available under the Svbony brand with the ball head but still available under a different brand.
Its identical to this ball head from Amazon though and quite cheap.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0189228CS?tag=stargloung-21
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It uses an optional mini ball head for adjustment. Incredibly easy to adjust.
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All ready for your small ball head. 😀
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Hi
Don’t think there is an O ring at the back but haven't taken the back off. There is a metal back and the SCT port is metal as well. There is a plastic dust cover over the back.
There are three small openings in the back cover with rubber dust plugs and the colimation screws are underneath. Looks like a colimation screw and next to it a colimation locking screw bit like a newt. Collimation was spot on so haven’t touched anything.
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While drilling the mounting holes for the carry handle discovered that the inside of the tube isn’t just painted but has micro baffles the full length of the inside surface of the tube. Also on the inside of the baffle tube. Was going to flock it but no need.
Just waiting for some button head screws so the handle can be bolted on.
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Another irelevant and useless fact. 😁
When kids in America were asked to draw the sun they coloured it yellow but in Japan they coloured it red.
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Yellow filters help with contrast. Not as good as a green continuum filter but not bad and do give a more acceptable colour.for many observers.
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48 minutes ago, F15Rules said:
A few photos of the newly arrived zoom are shown below
Dave
Well ??????
Edit:
Now corrected I see.
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OO radius blocks to fit the OO tube rings on my Skymax 180. Now I can fit a Losmandy dovetail which should be arriving in the next day or two. 🙂
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Tested the 180 with a number of eyepieces and found the 7mm worked really well for lunar.
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I quite like these. 😁
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Yes it has a standard SCT thread. Could stick a 2” SCT diagonal on it if I wanted to.
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Clouds cleared off for a while and was able to try the Nirvana on the moon using the 127 mak. Did a head to head comparison between the 7mm Nirvana and the 7mm XCel-LX. First thing I noticed was that the Nirvana was so much brighter and was much easier to look through. At first I didn’t think the Nirvana was showing more detail, but that was due to the brightness. When I spent time looking realised I could see a bit finer detail. Found I could pull back from the eyepiece a bit which made viewing more comfortable but when I wanted to look around just move in a bit.The image was whiter and the coatings seemed to give better light transmission.
So overall very pleased with the new eyepiece. A bit sharper and brighter and more comfortable to look through and of course the wider FOV. Tried a barlow element on the Nirvana which made it into a 4.6mm. Quite usable although not as bright.
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I looked at the Pentax XW but it was more than I wanted to spend. But as it’s for a mak the Nirvana will do for now.
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Was reading some threads on CN and they gave the thumbs up for the ES 82 eyepieces in the 180 and the 127 maks so the Nirvana should work out OK. With the 7mm Nirvana available at 75 quid worth a try.
Cloud improving a bit. Now just high thin cloud. 😕
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The LX is a good eyepicec but want a wider fov. From what I’ve read the Nirvana is a little bit better so not giving up anything for the wider fov.
Was looking forward to trying this out tonight but the flippin cloud has moved in.🤬
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At least this camera connects to the tablet and works OK. 🙂
Quick test using a street light to play around with the settings. Please be as clear as last night for a bit of lunar imaging. 🤞🏻
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ZWO camera, nirvana 7mm eyepiece and a TS-Optics Glass Path Corrector 2.6x 🙂
Plugged the ZWO ASI120mm Mini camera into the tablet I want to use it with and connected OK unlike the 120MC camera I bought (and sold) last week and found out isn’t compatible with a tablet.
The Nirvana 7mm UWA-82° eyepiece is a great deal at the moment at only £75.00. Less than half the price of the WO UWAN version.
The TS-Optics Glass Path Corrector 2.6x (barlow) will give about 1.5x screwed directly into the camera and a bit more if the nosepiece is used. Will have to experiment a bit.
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4 minutes ago, Macavity said:
AGREE with the above! The lack of *handles* is something of a personal gripe. 😛
I did "bounce" a MAK127 on a wooden obsy floor (latter dented) ... it survived!
But I'm getting older... less strong... reflexive? Re-considering Electric Winches? 😸
Oh, and... Nice Handles... by the way! 😎Hmm perhaps one of these could be adapted. 😇
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One of my chief complaints about new scopes is the usual lack of a carry handle. They should at least offer them as an option. So I fit them myself. So much easier to fit an OTA to a mount when you can hold it with one hand leaving the other free to tighten the saddle clamp.
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Have been trying out different eyepieces for the Skymax 180 & Bresser 127 Maks and have settled on a 7mm eyepiece as my high power choice. Have been using an X-cel LX 7mm which does work rather well on these F15 scopes but am looking for something better primarily for lunar observing.
Am considering a few 82º eyepices such as the ES 6.7mm or Opticstar 6.7mm (same eyepices) or the Nirvana 7mm which is a great buy at the moment or something completely different, the Baader Genuine Ortho 7mm (know where there is one for sale). On such slow scopes would I notice any real difference in performance on the moon? Is the lack of eye relief and narrow fov worth it with the BGO?
Decisions, decisions. 🤔
Skywatcher AZ-EQ5 GT Mount Arrived & Set Up
in Discussions - Mounts
Posted
Time for a Losmandy dovetail plate. I had fitted a Primaluce dovetail saddle to the mount so time to finish the job and fit a Losmandy plate.
Ordered the OO radius blocks to suit the rings. Bit of carefull measuring and drilled the mounting holes and countersunk the holes on the inside of the rings. Then simply bolted the radius blocks on. Had to drill new mounting holes for the carry handle as the rings are now 15mm further apart and the handle needed moving round the rings a bit as well.
Would have used a Primaluce Losmandy plate to match the saddle but the mounting holes in the plate are 55mm apart not the standard 60mm as used on the radius blocks. Ordered some low headed cap head bolts for bolting the plate onto the blocks as the standard bolts stick out slightly on the bottom of the plate.