tonylumley

" I should've gone with this mount from the start. I'm loving it so far! ! know that feeling, upgraded my eq5pro last year, its true buy cheap buy twice!  but glad I got my EQ6 R pro now!!

6 minutes ago, FLO said:

All sorted 🙂 

The remaining part of the delivery was on a different van. 

suppose this is when you discover Adrenaline (?) is brown, glad it all worked out OK though

On 25/06/2021 at 21:02, Astro Noodles said:

Exactly.

A sense of having achieved something difficult.

Also, the equipment is really nice.

have often thought "if anything happens to me, some one is going to get a right bargain, as the good lady has no idea what all those scope things and them camera things actually cost when I bought them" maybe need to list them and leave it marked " will" !!! lol 

got my new power supply from FLO  ( Nevada PSW-30 25-30A Switch-Mode Power Supply) and due to an operation have not been able to use it or my EQ6 as that head is so heavy and am banned from lifting anything for another 4 weeks, expect the weather to be perfect for you all, heavy cloud over UK forecast in 4 weeks time !!😉

LukeSkywatcher first, and not teaching you how to suck eggs, you will need to reduce 240 volt ac power to 12 volt d/c power,  have you looked on the First light optics web site under "accessories and power supplies" Also Martin and his colleagues are very approachable if you are not sure what you need,  all the best, Lum  Essex. finally, I'm hoping Iv got your name right, 3rd attempt!!!!

CheapAsAstronomer may i make a suggestion or two, if in any doubt ask on here first, there's always someone who will point you in the right direction, and regarding leads to the mount, I usedifferent colour tape for my eq5 as I managed to blow something in it, yea, newby mistake, and had to replace the hand set and motors, please don't ask how, as I am not sure how myself. brown stuff happens!!!

Icesheet, by locking the mirror in the "up" position you remove the motion which causes camera shake , nothing to do with increasing the sensitivity, sorry if this was not clear 

On 24/03/2021 at 13:52, Dougie Smart said:

Hi All,

 

I currently have a Nikon D3200 DSLR camera and wondered if this camera type has 'exposure delay mode' to minimise vibration when taking long exposures?

Effectively, in this mode (if this camera has one), the mirror is raised a couple of seconds before the sensor activates (I assume that the reverse happens when the shutter is closed again).

I have had a look in the manual as well as going through the settings and can't find a way of doing this.

Failing that, can the mirror be removed completely and the camera still operates (obviously I would loose the ability to use the view finder and would need to do all my pictures through the 'live' mode on the camera LCD screen)?

I am planning to send my camera away anyway to have it astro photography tuned so that I can obtain better H-Alpha sensitivity.

I hope that someone can advise.

All the best,

Dougie

Dougie, you could try using the delay setting (page 33 user manual) which, i believe raises the mirror before shutteer releases, also, have you got a remote shutter release,  under £10 on ebay ML-L3 IR Wireless Remote Control for Nikon D3000 D3200 D3400 D5000 D40X D70 HQ  this will allow you to shoot without touching the shutter release, so again less wobble   sorry about the white writing, started when i added the ebay link.let me know how you get on. Lum

manual for  Nikon D3200 on google in case you have not got one 

can you lock the shutter open/ up ?, on the D3200, would save removing the mirror completely, asking as I have the D7200 and the D600, both have this facility, and use both for astro photography, 

wife remembers her dad getting her up to watch the Apollo 11 moon landing, and as they had a colour tv (rare in those days) she was a bit disappointed that the picture was in black and white!!

scotty38, for cloudy skys you can blame me, been bad since my new mount arrived, seems if its clear I haven't set up and if its cloudy Im itching to get out and someone(her indoors)  needs someone to run about, ooh well ..............................................................................

19 hours ago, Sunshine said:

It's a behemoth! what mount will that be going on? let us know how the weather looks on Zeta Reticuli when you get it working!.

so, is that the "finder scope" next to the beast now ? 😆😆

29 minutes ago, StuartT said:

I just bought a nice aluminium flight case for all my bits and pieces (eyepieces, right angles, etc) but I can't decide the best method of cutting neat holes in the foam block it came with. A Stanley knife is just going to make a mess!

I've heard that some people sharpen the end of a piece of copper pipe and 'drill' into it with that. Any other suggestions?

we used to heat up a piece of copper pipe to melt through the water tanks to fit the float valve and tank connectors, so might work for the eye pieces, if you can get the right size copper tube, but would suggest trying on a piece of spare piece of foam first, just don't get the pipe too hot either

looks great 

Stu Wilson, still looks good though, 

Hope you have kept the original, and were working on a layer!😉

just a thought, while the collective "WE" are bemoaning these price rises, please spare a thought for the team at First Light Optics, who throughout this pandemic have continued to serve us with the same quality service which we now accept as normal, and be grateful for their commitment to their customers,  I for one have nothing but praise for them all, 

4 hours ago, JSeaman said:

Love the wheelchair incident - I was stood on the pavement at midnight the other night walking the dog whilst trying to do some rudimentary trigonometry with my finger and thumb at right angles pointing at the sky. I hope nobody saw me!

 

The camera drop horror story sounds genuinely terrible!!

so, that's what you were doing, I did wonder!!!!  rofl.

Hi Andrzej,  as above welcome and enjoy.

but if it was "easy" we would soon get bored!, I always get a "satisfied" smirk when the weather gods and the star gods deem to come together and let me see properly but then I might just have a masochistic streak! 

1 hour ago, SuburbanMak said:

Sure - this is bought as an upgrade to the supplied SW star diagonal.  I’ve gone for a prism as the Mak is long focal so I read that CA will not be an issue. Also, as I’ve been enjoying observing double stars recently I want to get the best out of the OTA, I understand that prisms display less scatter. 
 

This one because i) it’s lightweight & my setup is all about portability, ii) it’s the only item from Tak I am ever likely to be able to afford & iii) it was in stock - which is a rarity. 
 

When I get chance to test I’ll post some notes and tag you@tonylumley

thanks now you  have got me very interested 

thinking about this situation, would it be possible to build an isolation switch (like they use on factory floors to isolate plant) into the sliding roof, ? I am assuming you don't need the mount to power up when the roof is closed, and unattended, this could ensure that when the roof is shut there can be no power to your mount,  just found this on google Emergency Electrical STOP Switch 240V "8.98 at the moment, but even at £19, 63 could be worth an investment, further details, further details  SolenoidValves,  01454334990  in Bristol, 

6 hours ago, SuburbanMak said:

Looking to get the best out of a SW127 Mak - the forecast is of course unbroken cloud...

silly question, however, can you post details as interested ,

what did the postman bring? does this include DPD, Got my nice  QHY  polemaster from First light optics .Arrived Tuesday, wanted to try it before posting this, and yes it is as good as the reviews suggest, thanks  to FLO for quick dispatch and easy ordering,  Much happy person in Essex, 

1 minute ago, Lotinsh said:

@tonylumley Thanks for the suggestion, but the reason that I'm so tight on the budget is that it was my birthday recently and my dad offered to buy me anything around 150-170 as I'm now 15, but the thing is that he won't go any higher so that kinda means I'm left to go for a 150ish price range, so even in a couple of months my budget won't change, thanks for the suggestion tho.

good luck, and happy birthday, I see your predicament, hope you find a bargain though,