wookie1965

32 minutes ago, Spile said:

This is where you need to be:

I'm seeing mainly rotational error so I'd loosen the centre bolt, rotate, tighten and tweak fine adjustments (three outer bolts) as necessary.

Thank you for that I knew last night it still needed a tweak I will get the concentre on it later after my hospital appointment. 

13 hours ago, John said:

There wasn't a cable of some sort crossing the aperture of your scope somewhere above the top of your scope by any chance ?

I've accidently observed stars when telephone wires have happened to be in their direction and have seen long diffraction lines caused by the wires.

It was the washing line lol 

Had a few problems with the 10" starsense my own fault after changing the springs I had tightened the mirror clips to much When I undid them yesterday on the second one I saw a visible ripple on the mirror.

Put it all back together collimation was a tad out fixed that put the scope out at 8pm to cool.

M31 had to be but this time I could see M110 a first for me but no M32.

NGC7662 what a sight put a UHC filter on and wow much better.

Next moving around M3 lovely cluster got the 10mm on it and could see loads of individual stars.

Brocchi`s cluster  (Coathanger) Spectacular lovely bright mostly blue stars with a lovely yellow and orange star thrown in.

M13 this was the best I have seen it in a few years and while I was there M92 this looked amazing.

M27 next with a 12.5mm and a oiii filter looked brilliant clearly could see the shape.

M57 one of my favourites and it didn't disappoint lovely smoke ring with a hint of colour.

M51 my nemesis and futile attempt again I am thinking it was too bright in that part of the sky.

Double cluster in the 25mm looked stunning.

Finally Saturn stunning is all I can say.

I had to be up early so at 10.15pm I had to pack away.

Now here is the but I still think the scope is not at its best so going to look at it again today. 

Can anyone check my pictures please and let me know what you think.

Added successfully hope it's clear in the morning near venus 

Thanks Paul I will try now to put it in and see if I am able to see it. 

How can I add this to Stellarium please followed online guide says error finding it.

Thanks

3 hours ago, Peter Drew said:

Sounds to me to be more likely a mechanical-optical issue rather than focusing or collimation.  It's possible that the stronger springs have distorted the mirror cell, how free is the primary mirror in the cell?    🙂

I checked the mirror cell just in case could not get a piece of paper under any of them started to undo them, on the second clip I visibly saw a wave on the mirror like the tension had been took off it.

I have checked all 6 clips and can get a piece   of paper under each one just like checking spark plugs with a feeler gauge.

Checked collimation again just a tad out adjusted that so now I am ready for testing tonight.

A better view and enlarging shows the donut in the exact middle 

Collimated I hope what do people think. 

Secondary position which looks bang on to me. 

1 minute ago, The60mmKid said:

😎👍 Please let us know how it goes. Best wishes!

I will thank you, I've never seen stars like it before and this is my 3rd reflector had a 6",8" and now the 10" with this being the 10" when I flocked it I just flocked up to the the spider so I know that's not been moved. 

I can check the secondary with my con-centre makes adjusting that easy then it's just the primary. 

I will screw the bolts all the way in then back them off two turns they will all be near enough the same length so shouldn't have any problem collimating it. 

1 minute ago, The60mmKid said:

If you are seeing stars as lines, especially since you just swapped out the springs on your primary mirror cell, I think your mirrors must be significantly out of collimation. Not to worry, though--the collimation process isn't too challenging once you get used to it, and it is discussed on many threads here.

Just wanted confirmation I am conversed with collimation I did think I had done it obviously I need to redo it thanks

6 minutes ago, NGC 1502 said:

What magnification were you using?   Pinched optics usually give a triangular diffraction pattern. This can be quite subtle depending on the degree of pinching. Don’t expect a sharp cornered triangle. Pinched optics are usually caused when the mirror is restrained in the mirror cell.

 

I changed the springs on the Primary  so I thought perhaps I had tightened something up too tight I had a 25mm in first then tried a 15mm  lastly a 10mm they all gave me different size streaks.

10 minutes ago, NGC 1502 said:

Best check for collimation is to view a bright star at high power. For a 10”, 200x is ok.  Slightly defocus until you see diffraction rings. They look like several rings within each other. They should look concentric, not skewed to one side.

VERY IMPORTANT-  keep the defocussed star central in your eyepiece view.

 

I tried that on Albireo not on purpose but I racked the focuser in and out and never got any rings. 

Could it be pinched optics.?

6 hours ago, Spile said:

No it sounds like focus issue to me. The blue and yellow components are very wide and should be easy prey for your telescope.

All the stars looked like streaks I tried racking the focuser one way and the other did not make any difference, M13 looked like a grey blob not sharp which I know this can easily do.

Took my 10" Celestron Starsense out before turned it on M13 wasn't a great view but thought only 9.45pm not dark enough

Went to Albireo looked through the eyepiece (25mm) I could only see a blue and a yellow line adjusted the focus made no different could this be collimation please. 

I hope I can have similar with mine well done and thanks for posting. 

A warm welcome to SGL 

52 minutes ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

Both Cwmdu Astrocamp and Kielder Starcamp offer wooden pods. A step up from a tent and you can take a heater. Also Cwmdu offers four cottages to rent just off site and Kielder has a static caravan adjacent to the tent field.

The early Autumn camps are not *that* cold though. I do not use a heater.

The Spring camps however are right nippy!

My maps says its 3hrs and 16minutes  181 miles to  Cwmdu Astrocamp

12 minutes ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

The C8 on the CG5 plus binoculars. There's only so much kit you can use at once and the less you need to manage the better...

I've taken two scopes on a couple of occasions but always end up sticking with one. It's no great burden to share the eyepiece with a friend and can be fun.

Last year I was v. happy at Cwmdu with just the 102 f7 on the AVX on the one great clear night and on the second very patchy night, the 10x50s did the business from outside the tent.

Also four other people got to look through my telescope and I managed a good peep through three others.

This year it's the Stellamira 125ED and AVX plus binoculars.

 

How far is to Keiling from yours Peter it will give me an idea how far it is for me.

]

3 minutes ago, wesdon1 said:

@Marvin Jenkins LOL I actually used to be a serious amateur bodybuilder for roughly 10 years from my early 20's to early 30's, and have trained with heavy weights since 13. But I STILL feel exhausted from carrying my silly big/heavy rig down then up all the stairs at my flats! LOL. ( strictly speaking, weight lifting is great for strength/size, but rubbish for cardiovascular fitness )

As for the lottery, my goodness wouldn't it be incredible!! I'd design and have built my dream observatory somewhere dark in UK, and have a second holiday property in south USA with an Observatory, and have some of the biggest most expensive 'scopes money could buy! Oh if only...

Could you not get a trolly something like this https://www.therange.co.uk/diy/building-equipment-and-materials/hand-trucks-and-trolleys/folding-wagon-multipurpose-trolley/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwl8anBhCFARIsAKbbpySgxjrl5xg1wGjio0lM0LW8OqPnCrPiK4eg7oBBs_L3UKGVSqgNGgwaAsidEALw_wcB#4887186

Best wishes 

Paul 

If I was closer I would of jumped at the chance just found my old 3man tent so could of ruffed it for a couple of nights but like icpn says the moon is going to interfere a lot.

14 minutes ago, Spaced Out said:

Here you go. Was 29.95, now £35 🤔. There are cheaper ones on ebay but I wanted one that would go quite high + this one had thicker tubes too. Be warned, it'll definitely blow over if there is any wind, so some weights or guy ropes are essential. It's portable and lightweight tho, which is what I was looking for and it comes in its own roll up bag for storage, a bit like a tent bag.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/225113641527

Haven’t tried it out yet (I'm waiting for some weight bags to arrive now), I'll report back after the first use tho and let you know if it is any good.

 

 

Cheers for that I can use guy ropes to my fence plus I have loads of weights. 

25 minutes ago, Spaced Out said:

So I got this today, £30 off ebay. It goes up to 10ft tall, a bit higher than our garden fence and blocks the offending streetlights (you can just see them on the right side of the pic). Seems ok just need some sandbags or something to add weight to the feet and stop it blowing over !

Can you post a link please