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Epicycle

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Everything posted by Epicycle

  1. No, I won't! It's perfect for my mount and equipment. Without your advice at the begining I don't think I would've been able to make it work as it does now, thank you!? E.
  2. Congratulations to you all and thank you! I am also very flattered as there were top notch images in the mix. Epicycle
  3. I agree, but I already had one so it made sense to get the adapter and try. The versatility of the FT makes its price a bit more tolerable.... And autofocus is something I do appreciate now.
  4. Hi, I append below my most recent image with the 130pds. It's ngc2903, circa 10hs in LRGB with Atik 460. I think I said somewhere in this thread that it was a pitty that the focuser of this scope could not be upgraded. Actually that's not quite true, you can actually fit a Feathertouch focuser without problems. The secret is the adapter: http://www.firstlightoptics.com/starlight-instruments-feather-touch-components/feather-touch-adapter-20-for-orion-sky-quest-xt-intelliscope-telescopes.html (I think someone here at SGL mentioned this explicitly somewhere, but I can't find the post now.) Obviously the cost of an FT is more than twice the cost of the 130, but I already had the FT in my RC. And that's the beauty of the FT focusers and their world of adapters, you can basically use one FT in all your scopes and if the FT is motorized (I have a Lakeside) then you can autofocus, so I can now run Sequence Generator Pro with all my scopes, 130 included Cheers Epicycle
  5. Yes, I meant the dovetail adaptor. Keep us posted if you get and try one! cheers E.
  6. Hi Rob, I'm looking at this adapter from TS. What would be the advantage really compared with the straight barrel version? E.
  7. Hi Louise, It should be quite similar to fitting it to the 150pds, and as you say it holds focus pretty well for a few hours, E.
  8. I very much endorse the Astrotortilla/Eqmod solution: no need for finder. Getting the focus tight is the key with 130pds: I agree with Rob, need at least 30m to cool down and stabilize. Fitting the inexpensive skywatcher motor focuser is one very efficient way to get the focus tight remotly from a warm room, cheers E.
  9. Wow, dedication and commitment have a new meaning here! E.
  10. Hi, a couple of my recent images with the 130pds and Atik 460 (colour info, i.e. oiii comes from Megrez 72 taken last year). cheers Epicycle
  11. Here is a brief exposure showing what I meant in my previous post about the focuser getting into the light path and chopping off a bit of a star (Polaris in this case). Collimation looks OK though, E.
  12. I see, indeed the finder guider adds weight and complicates matters. But Lenny's suggestion seems the way to go.
  13. Hi Ross, I did try one of these adapters and I didn't see much difference: still I got some tilt when I tightened up the screws. Balancing hasn't been an issue for me as you can spin the tube in the rings and shift it up and down (and I have the MPCC+filter wheel+ camera), cheers E.
  14. I'm glad I just caught this thread. Maybe my feedback can be of some use too. I'm also a happy owner of a 130pds (by the way great service from FLO ) and my experience so far has been quite good. However I would like to address a couple of issues with the focuser. These have been pointed out before, but I hope it's useful to spell them out again. I've used the scope with an SXVR-H9 (small chip) and MPCC III. I attach below a shot with deliberately is not the best I got from the scope but it shows the issue, and I also attach a crop of the lower right corner. It's a stack of 9x1800s with an Astrodon 5nm Ha filter of the Spider in Auriga. Upon inspection, you'll see that stars in the lower right corner are not right, but stars in the upper left corner are fine. This is because the camera is not squared: once you tighten up the thumb screws it pops and produces a tilt. This is most annoying because it will also happen with the cheshire so you are never sure if you are collimating the scope correctly. The other problem (also mentioned before) is that the focuser tube really gets on the way of the incoming light and produces a darkening and chops off a bit of the bright stars. So, coming back to FLO's question: the focuser is OK but not great. On the positive side, if you adjust the tension, it holds focus really well through out a session. Concerning the FLO question about the Moonlite: Are people here happy using the original focuser on the 130p DS? I have been meaning to ask Ron at Moonlite to machine some curved plates to match the smaller 130p DS OTA. it would be great to be able to make the upgrade! If I was sure the Moonlite upgrade would solve the two issues above (i.e. squaring and reliable collimation+ shorter tube into the light path) I would go for it: it would make the 130pds into a really smart astrograph and not just a beginner's scope but something you could use for really serious work, cheers Epicycle
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