Stargazer33

Yeay, a spot! At least you can get your kit out and in quickly! 😳🤭 Takes me at least 30 - 40 minutes (must start planning for an obsy). I might try and have a go at this tomorrow. As someone else said in another post, it will give me something to focus the 'scope on!

Nothing of the sort! You have a good starting point. We all change/upgrade our kit over time. Use what you have and learn your craft. Then later when you feel the time is right, upgrade. Your experience will then reap benefits from the more advanced kit.

Okay so it was actually four years ago! 😲

I did this a couple of years ago. Have a look at my post here:

It's the dec axis. The picture is of the bottom (counterweight shaft end). It's the other end I can't undo; under the saddle.

All sorted now. I found this thread: I found out that I had x3 drizzle checked! Don't ask me why. I don't think I've ever used it!

You've got some very nice shots there John; you should be well pleased. I learnt a long time ago that it's not worth comparing your results to others. I just try to improve little by little and as long as I'm pleased with what I've achieved then I'm happy.

Very nice Carol, lovely and sharp. Looks like it's been out in the rain too long and is going rusty! 😉

Thanks almcl! That gives me a place to start looking. Unfortunately I can't afford to replace my PC at the moment. Looks like I will have to start saving up!

After finally getting out and capturing some half decent data I'm getting an unhelpful error message coming up right at the end of the stacking process: As you can see (click to enlarge) the error message is none too helpful! When I click on okay it goes to the stacked picture window but there is no picture there. I go back to the main window and click 'save picture file', but get the response 'no picture to save'. Has anyone had the same problem or know how to find out what DSS doesn't like with my data? I'm running the highest version I can on my XP operating system. Any help would be most appreciated.

No, the lock ring is back on in the picture. I did manage to get this one off using needle nosed pliers (after undoing the 4 locking grub screws) and removed the taper bearing to see what condition it was in and to check the grease used. I couldn't remove the shaft as I couldn't undo the top retaining ring under the mounting plate.

Nice capture, well done! I tried this target a couple of weeks back, but my collimation was sooo bad DSS wouldn't stack the frames.

Nice! I wonder what Earth would look like transiting the Sun, from, say, Mars? Would you be able to see the Moon too?

I did manage to get the one in the picture off using a pair of needle nose pliers (as a test run). You can see where the pliers slipped and marked the surface! 😱 The other end is a lot bigger and therefore the pliers would be at too great an angle.

That's a good tip thanks!

Yes, the top one under the mounting plate doesn't seem to have grub screws. The bottom one (shown in the picture above) had four. They were all tight, but one was a right pain to loosen! I'm sure I've read somewhere that one person put the block in the oven to loosen the Loctite on his mounts grub screws!

A few years back we were in Florida for a holiday and we ended up driving from Davenport to Titusville and back 3 times to see STS128 launch. We just got it in before we had to fly home. Good luck if you decide to chance it. At least it's not more Star Link satellites!

I need to remove the retaining ring that screws onto the shaft so that I can remove the taper bearings and shafts from the housings to clean and polish them.

Yes, that is the sort of thing I kept getting up as a result. A lot of them seem to have large pins that are not changeable. The retaining ring I'm having problems with has been tightened so much that they have deformed the holes! I may need to warm it up a bit first! Thanks for your help. 😊

Steppenwolf and LunaSwift: thanks for the info/links. I'll have a look at those.

I did find something like this but they seemed to be only for angle grinders etc. Mind you they were a heck of a lot cheaper than this one. With the bearings, grease, de-greaser, tubs, shop roll and other tools I am already at a couple of hundred so I think £100 for one tool might be pushing it a bit! 😉 Thanks for the link anyway.

I think the ring under the mount plate is in way too tight for nails through wood. As it bent the M4 bolts I tried I would imagine the force required would split the wood! Nice idea though.

Hi, I am going to attempt hyper-tuning my CGEM mount when we lose astronomical darkness and wanted to get all the bearings, grease, and tools required before I start. I've got pretty much everything sourced, except for the tool to remove the bearing retaining rings such as the one in the picture below: I've tried searching for 'pin spanner', 'retaining ring tool', bearing tool, as well as a few others that I forget now; but the only things that seem to come up are ring spanners, or circlip/snap ring pliers! Does anyone know the proper name for the tool required? I would prefer an adjustable version as there are a couple of different sized rings on the mount. I have tried making one out of some steel bar and drilling and tapping holes to take bolts; but the rings have been done up so tight that the bolts just bent! Thanks in advance for any help!

Great shots, loads of prom activity! Lovely Sunbow too.

For modest equipment and a rather breezy night you did very well. You've managed to capture a nice amount of detail in the galaxies, your stars are a good shape and it looks like you have a reasonable snr in your background. I would say it was a very good session and not in the least 'a bit ambitious'.