tooth_dr

It doesn't immediately shout scam to me either. He is selling a drumkit also, and the description is equally short. Maybe he doesnt want COC due to CV-19? Also the postage is a mistake on the ad too. What proof is there that this is a scam?

Brilliant. Just tighten the black ring against the FF when it’s in the correct orientation for framing, to prevent the FF slipping

and you would need to factor in a Baader Clicklock then too https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/baader-click-lock-2956256-m56-celestron-skywatcher.html

Screw off everything off the silver tube except for the last black ring. Then screw the FF onto that

Hi! Thanks for all the nice comments, I really appreciate it. Looking back there was a fair wee bit of work that went into it, but once you get started it, the time sort of flies by. There is no doubt the build was helped a lot by both good weather and being unable to practice due to CV-19 meaning I was at home much more than usual. @inFINNity Deck Nicolas - I’ve managed to focus the autoguider, PA the mount and test the autofocus routine on the Tak but otherwise no images yet!

Final fitting out. Overall pleased, but I guess some issues will rear up when I start using it. One minor oversight so far - I have a couple of items that are attached to the outside of the dome - Oculus ASC and SQM - I should have put in another external duct for their 12v power supplies, as only put in 2 - one for 240v and one for ethernet.

I ordered 1m3 of concrete, and that was sufficient to do the lot. We had some left over so I gave the neighbour a shout and they stuck in a few replacement fence posts around the farm. Nice photo of old versus new observatories.

A few photos of the ground being dug out and the base being prepared

It sat in my garage, waiting for better weather, and it wasnt until 6 months later that I started working on it. I built the walls to work out a suitable location, and marked it out on the ground. I'm not sure how much of an issue the telephone drop wire was going to, but just removed it and buried it underground anyway.

Here are a few photos from delivery to completion of dome. I bought the dome and it was kindly delivered by the previous owner in September last year. It came with all the electronics that I wanted - dome rotation and shutter drive.

@Helen that is really impressive! Well done.

Wall-e Observatory here, named due to the similarity in appearance of my dual rig of ED80s to the character from the Pixar movie Wall-e. (My kids werent familiar with the 90s classic Jonny-5!)

I dont think so, that hole for grub screw A doesnt go through C to the shaft, it just goes against the other threaded part B. Even when all grub screws are tightened, ABC can be removed in one unit (albeit stiff due to rubber O-ring and pressure/friction fit onto motor shaft) You could drill right though and rethread the hole for A, but it's six of one what way you go about it. Anyway mightnt be an issue for you, just thought it was worth mentioning as a potential source of movement.

I had a look back at my photos and my description wasn't quite right! Slippage occurs between the motor shaft and the coupling. Not between the coupling and the focuser shaft. The grub screw on the larger part of the coupling doesn't tighten on the motor shaft - seems to be friction by a rubber o ring when it's screwed together. This wasn't sufficient for my kit. I added a grub screw here. The existing grub screw is 180 degrees around on the back.

Nice job! I painted inside my dome with matt black emulsion (although I used homebase own brand as I was being a cheapskate!) - it looks great.

If it's the same as both my SW focusers, the actual grip of the motor shaft by the motor coupling is governed by a thick O ring. I was having slippage when the scope was pointing upwards, and thought it was the spindle slipping on the focuser. However closer inspection revealed that it the motor shaft slipping inside the coupling of the motor. Presumably this prevents damage and allows some sort of slip should you exceed the focuser travel. But it meant I was losing focus. Like you I didn't want to have to use the locking screw, so I drilled and added a small grub screw to the autofocuser coupling, to directly grip the focus spindle, and this solved the problem. It now moves and holds 2kg of imaging kit.

Nice to see this nebula, a lovely image. It's pretty low here, with an altitude of just 20 degrees.

Agreed. That is truly magnificent. I like the flip up Bahtinov mask, and the aluminium holder for it looks like it will just about cope with the weight of the plastic mask.

Looking good! All very exciting I’m sure!

Thanks for your help Michael, I have the measurements sorted now. Adam.

Wolfie Thank you so much for this, I really appreciate it. I cannot wait to see if it helps my timelapses stay in the one place! Best wishes Adam.

Hi John. That information appears to be used to calculate the pier height. As you have already built the wall for the dome to sit on, then you should have already done this calculation, as this would have been used to determine the pier height (or in your case how much to bury your pier within the floor). I've attached a document by Steve Richards (steppenwolf) which is maybe the information you are after, to sync the dome with the scope? Glad to hear the move went smoothly. Adam SAN_132_HowToAutomateObs.xls

Thanks Jon. I may look into it, but I seem to have pretty decent tracking in Dec without guiding, so what I'm doing with Sharpcap may well be sufficient. I find the adjustments to get PA quite straightforward with the three bolts, and in fact no more difficult that using alt-az bolts on my EQ6. I was just checking that drift aligning can be done with the Mesu mk2, in relation to Michaels comment above.

Funny I went out a few months ago to a darker site, and of course forgot to put the memory card back into my camera after clearing it earlier that day. I had a rummage through my camera bag and found an old 1/2 GB card, and was delighted. That was soon short-lived when I discovered with my 36MP Nikon it held just 8 photos.

I was in Asda today and spotted some discounts on their memory cards. The Sandisk Extreme SD 64GB card was marked down to less than the 16GB and 32GB cards (also on sale) so I couldn't not pick one up for £10. At least it shouldnt be counterfeit.