bomberbaz

Its the extension pillar I got with the AZ Wifi GTi mount John. It is quite steady actually John but I will see how it goes from here. Spent quite a bit recently and I am looking to draw a line in my spending.

Ok so I have regreased the mount and it is far better. For grease I got some carlube LM2 lithium based grease from B&Q (other grease is available from other retailers) Even after this It is still a little stiff and slipping. However I think this is down to the extension pier more than the mount, there is not a lot of surface contact to allow the two joining edges to bite. (see pictures below) So I cut a small thin piece of mouse mat foam rubber to give the two edges something to bite into and it has worked so there is no slip. It's a lot of work for something that should work well out of the box. However mechanically I do really like it and feel it will get a very lot of use.

Ok so eased the clutch a little, but no this didn't help at all. However, whilst doing that I felt something sticky on my hand from one of the Alt axis joins, it was the grease. I thought sod it, the problem is the grease. So I have very carefully removed the end with the thread for the bar and this confirmed it. Obviously this one has been put together by someone with a thing for the stuff because there is lots of it and I see why some people refer to it as glue. So I have emailed the seller and told them to leave it, I will simply regrease it with something a little less tacky. Problem I think solved. Steve

Good point well made John, I shall contact them now before I start tampering. Steve

thanks for that John. Seems the most difficult part is the AZ axis which is the part giving the biggest issue although Alt is still very stiff. No mention of grease though, have you any suggestions on that part per chance?

Hello all. So my shiny new mount arrived yesterday. lovely looking piece of kit, initial findings are it is perfect for the job in mind which I shall post about once it is modded (extra saddle fitted) but the grease, yuk! The mount is so stiff that the extension tube or tripod joins are moving instead of the actual AZ part of the mount. I am physically having to hold the tripod/extension tube to stop it turning and make the AZ joint move. (yes i slackened the clutches 😅 ) I am not a weak bloke but I am really having to apply some serious pressure to move it. I realise this will ease off over time but this isn't a little stiff, this is VERY stiff. SO I am going to have to strip it and re-grease. First, has anyone done this? (I assume plenty have, I can't be the only one to experience this) If so, it it fairly easy to get to the parts to strip away the old grease. Secondly. I have a near full pot of lithium grease in the garage, would this make a suitable replacement? Reasonably tacky, good temperature range and excellent shelf life. TIA Steve

Ok I think I get it but footies on tv now so will reread it later. Thanks all.

Brill and thanks peter, but when you say 20%, which one are we using, area or diameter. One great, the other not so good. See why I get confuddled now 🤣

I feel I should know the answer to this query but I have been thinking about it a bit recently and realised I don't have a grasp that I fully understand. So can someone clean up a small area of confusion here for me. When these types of scopes are advertised for sale they are frequently quoted as having two levels of obstruction. Secondary mirror obstruction by diameter or Secondary mirror obstruction by area. Typically circa 30% and 10%, give or take a few %. My slight confusion surrounds which one is the correct one or is it a little of both. That is to say which one is the actual area of obstruction. Area surely. However I also seem to remember reading somewhere that there is a little loss of light gathering around the outer edge due to the corrector lens housing or something like that. Finally just how much of an effect does the obstruction have on the contrast of the view. I know this last matter is very subjective but I value other peoples opinions otherwise how are we to learn and know what to look for and/or expect.

I enjoy the bumping now since I got the pushto Louis, will have to see if the 14" truss is as easy to use when it arrives.

When I had one I occasionally swung it around manually, the encoders know where it has been moved to but as far as I know it doesn't actually tell you where it is on the handset, I may stand corrected. However it is a little bit clumsy and stiff trying to move it. At least the 12" version was that I had. Had some fantastic views in it but I tired of all the setting up (wires, batteries, collimation, shrouds etc) also it was quite heavy and so went for the solid tube pushto. Far easier to use in my own personal experience. Steve

I have had goto and pushto. I prefer the pushto if I am honest. John rightly identifies the key difference between them, both should find the target. However that said i have found the pushto to be a little more accurate at finding objects and a little easier to align. I shall miss the 10" pushto when i sell it in August. (spoiler) Mrs Bomberbaz can't wait to see it go. Steve

think I would get a 12 and 8. You can always barlow the 12 to a 6 in the meantime.

There is a very low priced baader zoom just on abs now, £110. Absolute bargain https://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=163063

Two parts to this review. First off I ordered a bresser frac, this duly arrived a few days later direct from Bresser themselves. However due to either poor QC /transport or combination of the two it arrived with some slight damage. Emailed FLO to see what could be done. I thought maybe a replacement part to save the trouble of shipping a new one but no, steve responded with get a new one. Top service. Anyway, after a short delay steve again got involved and bresser UK were on phone the day after with one being sent next business day by courier. thanks again Steve. Secondly I also ordered a SkyTee-2 mount thursday, it arrived this morning along with the replacement frac. They handled it very well indeed despite being very busy. All in all I am very happy. Steve

what website is both easy to get around and has good tracking of the comet please tia steve

Or try this http://www.eyesonthesky.com/Videos/TelescopeBasics.aspx There are two videos near the bottom of the page. One called "how to align an equatorial mount" and one called "learn how to use an equatorial mount". Very cheesy, a bit janet and john but also very easy to understand. Steve

blooming heck that's a beastie for a 127, never realised they were quite that big. I am so glad I resisted the temptation to got for one a while back.

Wow a 16" truss for your first scope, nothing like starting at the top. I would agree with John that if this is your forever scope then buying the right glass now is the way to go. FWIW I use a relatively low costing coma corrector from revelation with my eyepieces which are well corrected in the first place to be fair. Anyway, coma is not something I ever have to contend with. Steve

I think a 200P LINK would be a really great starter scope. It is the dobsonian style so very easy to use and should be a useful height for your daughter (and you) to use. It comes with 2 eyepieces. The 25mm is fine, the 10 pretty naff. So you will break you £300 budget as you will require another eyepiece and in this scope, which has a focal ratio just under F6 a BST will perform very well https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bst-starguider-eyepieces/bst-starguider-60-8mm-ed-eyepiece.html I did consider the heritage 150P but I think you will benefit in the long run with the 200P due to the greater aperture and the longer focal ratio. Longer focal ratio means amongst other things less aberrations is lower priced eyepieces such as the bst. A sky map will be very useful although you can download a lot of apps for free to your phone or better still, a tablet. Try stellarium, goskywatch or skysafari. You could try these. Stellarium is free for PC/laptop and is great for planning your sessions. I have an old copy of turn left at orion that I will let you have for free if you cover the postage to help you and your daughter get a few ideas going forward. However the best way of finding out things to look at though in my opinion is playing around on stellarium and reading reports on here. Don't be afraid to ask questions. There are many things you could carry on buying but I think the package above would provide a very solid beginners platform for you. Steve

Managed to figure out how to make this as a single overlaid telrad style map plotter on acetate. For the Cambridge it was big enough to add a 0.5 degree circle, for the S&T Sky atlas I stuck with 2-12

Like that a lot. I can’t figure out how to overlay the rings onto each other though. Looking at other options for this.

I started this thread here yesterday regarding having something useful for in the field to help you quickly and accurately find the distance in degrees to a object so you can quickly plan your hop and I am basing it on using a telrad. I have moved on quite quickly, taken receipt of some excellent, fairly low reflection sheets of acetate and printed degree rings on them from 2 to 12 at 2 degree spacing. (Ordered yesterday midday from Amazon and arrived this morning, wow) I made one for sky and telescope pocket sky atlas and one for the cambridge double star atlas. Both have a different scale but I have been able to exactly re-create these rings to scale onto one prentable sheet of acetate. look at the 10 degree ring and you will note accuracy. My immediate thought is this will be great for in the field or for plotting at home. Steve

I like that doug, I have a template so will post up mine once I get the acetate sheet.

$599 for the bog standard version with a BF500, increasing when you take the higher end versions with the bigger BF. Think if I ever upgrade from my starter 35 it will be to either a 50 or 60mm version