Coco

That's fantastic advice and thank you very much, I just ordered a laser cut aperture mask to reduce the optic from 127 to 100mm, and it was only 9 quid delivered, I thought it might help but this information is extremely helpful.

I cant see Procyon's 'dog'  with my Bresser 127L or 12 inch dob, tried last night, the Bresser refused to reveal and the Dob wasnt cooled enough as I de-focused and it looked like the mirror was barbequeing something.

Last night I got the big Bresser 127L ( with Hyperion 10 & 8mm) out on the skytee/Eq legs extended and pillar, brought a bar stool out made a very comfortable observation.

My question is while the stars were pinpoint sharp they were only white, I was hoping ι Cassiopeiae B would show yellow but sadly not, anyone has seen yellow, my 12-inch dob in the past hasn’t provided any colour either.

Before I blow 900 quid on a Starfield 🙄

Wonderful!

5 minutes ago, Starflyer said:

I noticed this with my VX10 and then CT10, the fans were sucking air down the tube, I flipped them around so they blow up the tube.  Cool down time is much reduced, it breaks up the static layer of warm air on the surface of the mirror, and it has the added benefit of keeping the secondary pretty dew free.

I'll check the direction thanks 👍

Great!!

How did you get on? Still need help?

Hi

Welcome onboard..

Hi Andy, welcome to SGL

Yes use the outside of the primary.

I bought an OCAL as I wanted to strip my GSO 12” dob down completely, fit a new focuser with gears etc, spider out the whole job!

Before I took the secondary out along with the spider and used a laser (collimated) to mark the tube on the opposite side to the focuser, I stripped everything out and took the old focuser off to fit the new one, using the new focuser with lazer in anticipation of having to shim it to my surprise despite being a different brand it was bang on, this could be due to making a card template from the new focuser.

I then started the procedure as per instructions and various you tubers,
Focus tube alignment – check!
Secondary alignment – check!
The centre spot was around 3/8th’s inch out maybe more! Ignoring the spot I used the third ocal camera ring overlay on the mirror edge, switched the cross hairs on and pop! The ocal lens was bang on centre of the Ocal lens.

The centre spot isnt an issue as its hiddn by the secondary however it stops me using a laser/cheshire out in the field.

Ive discovered that 60 minutes cool down isn’t enough, the little fan just doesn’t cool it fast enough, I now use a house fan.
I may strip it down again in summer and fit Aperture Mask as and re spot the mirror, I think mirror is showing signs it has a turned down edge.

I can hear the refractor boys laughing....

Put the app Skysafari on your phone, it has suggestions on the search icon bottom left to see the images attached, you will see you are spoiled for choice.

Double stars are so rewarding on moon filled nights, 150p's are superb I may buy another as they cool down so much faster than my 12 inch dob or my 127 Mak.

26 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

The no selling on the forum applies to me too  It will be advertised shortly, probably for the usual sort of second hand mark down - with or without the Baader ClickLock clamp as that was a fair price on its own - haven't decided yet.

Affirmative 😁

6 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

Excellent build quality. No false colour; inside and outside of focus is even. Mine is a joy to use - I'm only selling due to buying a Tak  otherwise it would be a for life scope.

Selling it already! how much do you want for it

Gary

I use Apollo 15x70's , just recently had them serviced at Optrep, £140 inc returned postage, cleaned, re gassed etc, my goodness I had not realized how out of collimation they had become until I got them back, they are simply razor sharp and they were good before, stars like pin points, no false colour on the Moon, cloud belts in Jupiter, red Mars and patches of its surface although tiny, I put ND filters in the eyepieces for the Moon incredible! Orion with OIII filters shows huge nebulosity.  I have the 28x110 Apollo's also, they going next for service soon despite being able to see the trapezium as points. The 15x70's are by far the most used however.

If you pick some Apollo's up for less than £150 send them to Optrep you will not regret it.

Cheers
Guy

Nice, they look similar to the Kite version. should be a lot of fun I'm sure.

Warm welcome from Lancashire, England.

Windy rainy afternoon, just been messing about with the SkyTee 2 and some US Digital encoders and seems to be working well with the Nexus II.

Just need a break in the weather, not seen a. star through an eyepiece for 2 months 😡

Cheers Guy

Out of interest will you use and old pair of binoculars or 6 diagonals? 

I love the BST 12mm in my cheapo achro's,  Bresser 127L & Celestron 102 SLT, the other night I sat on a tall wooden stool looking at the trapezium in Orion through the Bresser 1200L &12mm BST, four pin sharp points surrounded by pale green looking nebulosity and Orion hadn’t even fully risen, wonderful!

Sky Watcher 90mm is a great scope!  dont forget to post images of it here

Big frac's are fun but keeping them steady isn't, Im going to build a garden pier for mine, my skytee II isn't really strong enough or tall enough  and my Omegon AZ & Manfrotto 161MK2B ok but has no slo mo controls. 

On 07/12/2022 at 21:29, LDW1 said:

I shouldn't show this one but I will, its my mid 1959 60mm Tasco Model 304, f15 a forrunner of all the 60's and newer models. I can use 1.25" eps as well.

in 1959 it wasn't cheap 😄  its a beauty!

Welcome to SGL

Deep sky?  you mean planetary nebulars and distant small galaxies with good detail  or  wide field large nebulae.

Here is my bundle for a starter in astro photography .

Sky-Watcher Evostar 72ED DS-Pro OTA £329 & StellaMira 2" Field Flattener with M48 Adapter £79 ( for wide field)
Or
StellaLyra 6" f/9 M-CRF Ritchey-Chrétien Telescope OTA £459 ( planetary nebular, Moon in detail, small galaxies & interested areas of nebular )

ZWO ASI 585MC USB 3 Camera £385
ZWO ASIair Plus, ASI120MM-Mini and Mini Guide Scope Bundle £577
Sky-Watcher EQ5 PRO Go-To Astronomy Mount £689
Allow a few hundred quid for accessories.

£2000 new should get you imaging, £1200 second hand.

Most important thing is the mount, without a sturdy mount you’re wasting your time,

A  DSLR and camera lens with fast optics can give you excellent wide field also, that’s how most start off.

I guess my daughter is starting up a new hobby or it's for someone she's spoiling 🤭

I've pretended to to see it 🫣