Frank the Troll

Wonderfull - NOT, my old laptop has popped its clogs

Ergo, now have a new lappiy with an SSD

So now need to reinstall the softare to control my EQ6

What softare do I need please? I have an ipad and iphone loaded with  skysafari on both

Cheers

2 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

Yes, I just happened to be rolling in dead Barlows at the time!

Olly

lucky you Have just 2 a 1.25 and an ed 2 inch will have a look on astroboot not much chance of making that work

Frank

14 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

Either will work but the ST80 would be more compact and give you more stars to choose from because of its wider FOV from shorter FL. I image at 0.9"PP using an ST80 guide scope. To get the backfocus I glued two de-lensed Barlows together. It's worth being sure the whole back end is tight in the main tube (three screws) and that the focus lock is very tight to reduce flex. For me this makes a great guide scope.

Olly

Cheers Olly, will take the easy option rather than the 2 barlows, FLO has an adapter/extension just for the ST80 & will be easier to mount on the frac

Currently have both an ST80 and a SW Evo 90 idle I'm looking at  turning one into a guide scope,

Which would be the better option?

Would likely be mounted on an 8 inch newt or a 125mm Frac

12 minutes ago, spillage said:

 

Not too bad for the price and looks very well engineered.

plus the cost for this  --  Note: The mount must also be belt converted to use this upgrade

Recently brought.   Celestron Ultma DX 9x63

Also have a really old pair of Tohyoh 16x50 (coated)

Overpriced novelty toy for the non informed parents to buy their kids at x-mas

Once unwrapped and used maybe twice, it will sit in the bedroom somewhere gathering dust

Well overpriced, could buy a much better frac and a budget colour  ZWO then mount on a SW Star Adventurer or similar for half the price

It does say its on a German equatorial mount, and that tripod does look much like a berleach

So seems a bargain to me

Finally, after myhermes sorted their act out

A pair of Celestron 9x63 Ultima Binoculars

Used, but a bargain at £95 and in absolutely mint condition

Cheers Tim

8 minutes ago, Peter Drew said:

 I've made a number of 6" and 8" F20  folded achromat  refractors, they work very well but despite the relative compactness they still required a substantial mount.  

Well your little old 125mm push pull refactor does well too.  Now has a SW focuser from a 120 SW

Dont suppose you have an adapter ring to fit the 125 to the SW focuser, currently has a blue peter fix

1 hour ago, Ant said:

You sure that's f4.7? Looks more like f8 (at least) to me.

I've got a 6" f8 and I reckon your may be even higher than mine.

Bet it's great on planets?

As to F ratio, mirror set was brought as F4.7 but the seller could easily have been wrong, bet either way, it does give some pretty good views

10 minutes ago, John said:

Nice looking scope - looks more like the F/6.3 version though

I brought the mirror set off astro buy sell, at the time it was listed as F4.7 but could easily be different

The pic is the old cell it was in, quite a big heavy lump of metal, now replaced with a wooded 9 point

Here's a little home made dod. All the bits and pieces are 2nd hand

Tube sourced from Orion as old stock no longer needed

10.5" F4.7 mirror.  The base I brought for peanuts is from a 12" so needed to trim it down a bit

Mirror cell upgraded to 9 points, SW focuser, that will be upgraded at some point

Another little one SW Evo 90

It strangely appeared on my doorstep yesterday, no idea how that happened

Needing a longer dovetail to ride piggy back on the 125 when its upgraded

Here's a little one (ST80)

1 hour ago, RikM said:

No. It's not an EQ5. It looks like one of the lightweight budget heads sold with Phenix telescopes. I had one for while.  They are basic but functional as long as you don't overload it. A genuine EQ5 is a much heavier, much sturdier piece of equipment. 

Took a look on google, your right, its a Phenix but its describe as a EQ5

Picture is the same mount shown on this page:  http://neilenglish.net/the-phenix-refractors-rising-from-the-ashes/

Im putting the 120 frack on it, should cope with that easily, just need the right tripod now as wont fit on the eq3

It's never been used as came as a spare in a mixup for someone.  But £35 for a mount with dual drives and polar scope, cant be bad

Its not lightweight, far heavier than my old 120 frac, eq3.2 mount and tripod combined

It's labeled as a TQ5 

Is this a EQ5 under a differebt badge?

It has dual drives fitted

Here's another oldie, 4.8" F8  Cant decide wether to turn it into a guider, or upgrade the focuser, or perhaps both