Physopto

1 hour ago, Adrian Condon said:

HI Derek,

Are you sure that's whiskey he is putting in the bottle ?

Trust things are ok in the far North East....

Cheers

Adrian

Hi Adrian,

Scottish artist, so I have to presume he was being honest. Maybe "Firewater" would have been a better name at that time in history.

Things are sort of OK. Still having problems with my knee so walking farther than a few feet is .................Painful!   Still, with the lockdown not a big deal really.

Mike is bored stiff as am I.  Trying to find easy jobs to fill in the time.

But on to far more interesting things. Only 4 months and 1 week to go to the Star Camp. I am still optimistic  that we can go ahead and have several dark nights and clear skies at the  star camp be it either either gazing or imaging.

I hope you are well and enjoying your lockdown 😂

I just am hoping that all those who have ignored the 2 metre rule in the past few days do not mess all our hard work up for the near future. I think in the last few months Annette and I have only been out for food once every two weeks. Had to cancel our dentists appointments and doctors visits. Just not worth the worry.

So visions of Dark Skies, red lights and Pie and Peas (after of course using the newly updated Dual Purpose Dobsonian Pie Measuring  Device with the newly commissioned and  working Viscosity Ad On device!! ). All followed by scoffing the lot with a good Single Malt.

Mind you the spectacle, (as in prevoius years), of Uplooker and Mapstar in a head to head once again in the race to the ultimate victory of the Pie Scoffing competition will be worth a laugh.

Pistols at 2 metres anyone ! 😱

Look after your self.

 Derek

2 hours ago, gorann said:

Just a small correction: Baader filters are 2 mm thick.

Thanks I forgot 😀

I actually did a few calculations when I was in the market for new filters and was designing my parts for CNC machining to add an SX AO unit and QSI camera to my newest scope (Baby Q). Fitting it all in was a bit tight so the filter also had an important  bearing on spacing.

Astronomik maybe. If you do buy a set of filters matched to one type of camera or CCD chip will they be any use when you invariably change to another CCD????

Seems a recipe for extra cost in the long run.

I found that the Baader filters (3mm glass adds 1mm to back focus) also a very thick/deep  metal fitting/mounting, so  I suspect caused some vignetting of the image.

Astronomik are very thin both in glass thickness (1.1mm so very little in back focus alteration) and metal fitting. Excellent backup and guarantee honoured as stipulated.

Astrodons are both thick glass (3mm, 1mm alteration in back focus) and very expensive, but excellent filters.

I own both Astrodons and Astronomik, both excellent filters.

Derek

1 hour ago, Datalord said:

you mean, get encoders on it?

Yes  I mean if you can get encoders retrofitted. Whatever it should be a really great mount. I believe even without encoders itshould be capable of around +- 7arcseconds or so even without PE corrections.

Derek

I have the 10 Micron 1000 HPS and I have used my 132mm WO plus SXAO and QSI 683wsg and various electronic boxes  bolted on it. Total 24Kg on the mount. It handled it all without any problems at all. So the 2000 QCI should be a dream mount if you can get it upgraded. I would say you got a great deal there.

I use a Altair Astro Starbase mount which when I bought it was around £600 if I remember correctly. Can take just about any weight you can think of, but unfortunately are out of production now. If you see a second hand one grab it, that is if you are not going for a pier.

Derek

Double post so deleted

13 hours ago, james123 said:

Hi derek. I'm booked and I'll be there clear or rain. I'll be taking the voddie incase its clouded over lol

Good to hear you will be there James. Be nice to see you.

Mmmmmmm !.     I suppose Vodka is possibly OK at a pinch, (distilled from Potatoes not Grain), but I expect the Galloway Star Party committee will have something to say on that matter. So far there is  only a "Special Dispensation has been for Irish whiskey"  you know! ( So far only for Ian ).

(A man pours some Whisky into a flask in this 1869 oil painting by Scottish artist Erskine Nicol.)

😂

Very nice image and nice detail.

Derek

How about dithering techniques and how to get the best out of them. Then there is the challenge of photographing the ISS. Or even best methods of photographing comets.

 Derek

Wedges are a problem waiting to bite you in the rear end. On top of this they make the whole mount very shaky because of the extra weight on the already poor legs. At least that is what I found with my Celestron 5SE. Mind you it was a wedge built in to the mount. But I also had a wedge for my LX200  12" Meade and was never happy with that either. Then there is alignment to mess with.

Nice scope but legs a problem!

Derek

As you call it the "amended first version or burnt yellow". I know you are not fussed on the colour but I think it is the best with the most clear definition. A cracking shot.

Derek

2nd effort is in my mind the best of the lot. Very nice image with lots of detail. Well done  Carole.

Can't wait for the Galloway Star camp to try to more data for my attempt at this. Only managed a few  subs of Ha so far.

Derek

I would like to point out that there a few well respected suppliers of mounts who actively take up to several years to fulfil orders!! Admittedly they have a good track record,  BUT!

I know having been an engineer for many years it can be difficult to get every size correct without having to rethink items and how they will act or function together.  The 8 parts I had made were pondered over for some time and re-jigged in my mind many times to try to ensure that they all would fit without problems. I was in no huerry but this still took some weeks to be sure I had not made any glaring mistakes, as it costs money to fix mistakes and time!

You can design almost anything, but you also have to know if the present CNC machinery you own or hire can actually make the parts.  A new mount will prove many times more difficult than my few parts. I do not have access to CAD so it was all done the old way on paper first then in Word.

To be quite honest  the last time I actually did a formal complex engineering drawing using "T square" and paper was in 1970 during a 6 hour marine engineering exam for my Seconds Part A certificate of Engineering. Late on, I did learn to use a CAD program, but that was over 20 years ago, but have not used one since. I know the modern programs make life a lot easier once properly understood but you still need a high degree of understanding to use them effectively and efficiently. I am not making excuses for Mark, but development takes time. Hence there will be many pre production efforts.

So :-

Direct quote from Company Seven for an Astro Physics mount, I have highlighted a bit of their text!!

Quote.

Once your order is placed, sit back and relax anticipating the arrival of a true expression of fine craftsmanship and your rights to brag about how long you had to wait for yours. It has been common experience among our clientele that the time will go by faster if you can find a way to put it out of your mind; sending frequent E-Mails or calling asking for the production status will not make the work go any faster and tends to make the agony appear prolonged. The owner of Company Seven once ordered a 7" f/9 Apo telescope in February of one year for himself and later forgot about it so that by April of the following year, while reconciling orders, he was questioning whether or not he had actually ever placed that order with the factory! After being reminded that he had placed the order, he was condemned to be in agony with anticipation from then until delivery later in the year; incidentally this instrument is now at the University of Maryland Observatory. Remember: "Roland Christen will send no product before its time..."

End quote.

And these mounts are in full production not being actively developed or in RND.

Derek

Cut out the frivolity you lerts, this is a serious thread. 🤬

Errr well,  supposed to be!

9 minutes ago, Uplooker said:

I believe Kenny got the last slot. Let’s hope he turns up on the correct weekend 😇

So Kenny is pitching a tent to be safe due to Corona then. Bit of a change to the norm, but safer. We will all have to be on the alert. 🧐

On 10/04/2020 at 14:01, Physopto said:

I have just come across this thread about JTW mounts.

Unfortunately I had a very bad experience with JTW.

I asked if they could manufacture some parts for me that I has designed for adapting my new (second hand) Tak 85. They agreed and I submitted the plans for them to sort out for CNC machining. In due course they submitted their computer generated drawings for the fabrication of the parts. Everything looked great. Then I was given their price for the job. Upon looking at the costs, I realized that I did not look right. It looked far too cheap for the amount of work involved. I discussed this via email with the owner and he realized that he had mistaken the number of parts and submitted a revised cost. This looked fair and we agreed to proceed.

 That was the real start of problems. Over some months I got various excuses for things not proceeding to schedule. Falling down stairs,  mix ups with machining and many more!

In the end several months and many emails about my order I was told they were ready to send out to me. (I had paid the whole  cost up front via Paypal).

Anyway, after it must have been 8/9 months the parts arrived. The CNC machining and anodizing was extremely well done.  As an ex marine engineer for over 24 years I know what I am looking at.

BUT one part had been machined incorrectly! The attachment holes were on the wrong side (back to front).

It was the adapter that bolted on to my QSI CCD camera. Many emails later I just had to give up. In the end he just would not respond at all.

I  had to machine the screw holes from the other side to adapt the part to fit correctly myself. Obviously that side is now not anodized but there was enough metal to do it.

 

All I can say is beware of JTW Astronomy.

It is a shame as he can do good work but just does not look into things properly and the back up is abysmal.

I have not posted comments on JTW Astronomy before as I was far too upset and fed up by the end of dealings, but there are numerous complaints on other Astronomy forums if you care to look.

If anyone is interested I can email the drawings to them on the parts I wanted for the project. As I said, it was to fit a QSI CCD to a Baby Q / Takahashi 85mm. But it includes the ability to fit or not using a spacer a SXV-AO-LF 'Adaptive Optics made by SDtarlight Xpress. I had to calculate the exact back focus as all spacing is taken up for this setup.

I can't remember the exact number of parts but 8/9.

I think I paid around 700 Euro.

If he had finished the job correctly without all the time wasting and failure in the end to sort the problem out ,I would have been nothing but complimentary.

Derek

Since posting this, bar one short post, I have kept quiet and watched a fair few people commenting  on JTW Engineering.

I mostly prefer not to comment on things I know little or nothing about.

I do hope that the mounts promised and I believe paid for do turn up and work really well.

The reason for this post is that Mark of JTW Engineering contacted me shortly after the above post. I was surprised but grateful for his email. In that email he said hat he was sorry that things had not gone according to expectations and wanted to make things right between us.

As I said  I was surprised, but thought why not give him another chance. It has taken a little while as I had to find the original drawings, but a few emails later Mark said he was getting the faulty part remade. There have been a few delays, but I would guess he is busy with other promised items. A few days ago the part arrived with me. I could not check it out properly due to weather but today I did.

Mark had said that if the threads were not quite right it may be because he had hand ground the original tooling. But he would remake any faulty parts as soon as he knew about the results. Now he had factory supplied tools so any threads should be perfect. To cut a long story short, the threads, were perfect and screwed on to the other part previously supplied  without any problems. I now have a working setup without the part I had to adapt, along  with all the other correctly machined  parts as originally ordered.

There were 8 parts in all and some of fairly complex shapes. They were designed to fit on my Takahashi 85mm between the Feather Touch Focusser and the powered  Pyxis 3" rotator. After the rotator they were designed to allow fitting of an Starlight Xpress AO unit, OR a spacer could be  fitted in its place and then on to the  QSI 683 wsg CCD. I designed the parts so that the AO and/or CCD could be rotated to any position regardless of any item in between.

I am attaching some diagrams and photos to illustrate my ideas. In practice every thing has worked as designed so far.

I originally looked at Precise Parts in the USA. I sent an email with some specifications to them but their answer was to tell me I had not given them some data. I pointed out that it was in the original email and to actually try reading it properly. After that they refused to answer any emails I sent to them. EXIT Precise Parts !!! I estimated their costs to me to would have been in the region of $1500 or more.

Mark has done the same and with extremely precise dimensions (checked by me) and  his prices were much lower!

In the end, OK there was some bad and long delays for whatever cause? But I now  have all the parts well machined and in use exactly as requested, doing their job perfectly.

I hope this gives hope to those awaiting his new mounts.

Derek

( Parts 1,2,3,&4) Male Optec threeand a half inch to 72x1mm swivel adaptor (11).pdf (Part 5 ) A.O. Unit to 2.156 inch x 24 tpi.pdf (Part 6) Tackahashi 72x1mm to 2.156 x 24 tpi CCD adapter (final).pdf (Part 7 ) QSI ccd camera adapter for 2.156 inch x 24 tpi.pdf (Part 8)QSI end cap drawing for STL 2.156 inch x 24 tpi.pdf

Nothing better than a DOB. I must admit that. DOB,s are so versitile, take Damian's device as gravy is just so important to the smooth flow of pleasure at a star Camp. A DOB can do about anything you can think of, I know from long experience.
D. O. B rown😂

10 minutes ago, Mr Flibble said:

Great stuff Derek 👍

What,s this Dai? Colour in a DOB !🥃

Hello Everyone.

I have just been informed tonight by Lesley the Galloway Site owner that all 25 pitches are now filled for the next Autumn Star Camp.

But please, if you are interested, just telephone Lesley up to book pitches on the hopeful chance that more may become available if the Scottish Government feel that they can relax the Covid rules further in the future. As I said the camp is still 5 months away as yet and a lot can change in that time! Hopefully for the better 😃

Derek

Depending upon the diameter of the pin holes you can often use long  nosed pliers in the holes and use a screwdriver slotted between the open jaws of the pliers., or use  a spanner across the plier body (not so good).

I usually make tools for these type of jobs from steel bar and needle gun pins.

Derek

13 minutes ago, Nigella Bryant said:

Hi, thanks, I am planning on using a steel plate because of where the damage is near the wheels..just waiting for everything to be delivered.

Steel can rust far too easily unless properly prepared. I really would suggest either stainless steel or even brass or aluminium. I suggested the stranded fibre glass compound as it is far easier for most people who are not accustomed to fibre glass repairs to accomplish. U-Pol stranded glass repair compound is easily purchased and only requires the hardener in the correct quantity to set it off.  But be sure to prepare all surfaces before starting and have all tools at hand. It will start to harden off very quickly depending how much hardener you use. The ambient temperature can be a big factor. I suggest testing with a small quantity before actually doing the job, just to get your timings correct. The compound is far easier to use than glass matt or stranded matt with liquid resin.

If you do go the route I suggest be sure to put a thinish layer of the stranded matt compound on the underneath surface and hold the metal firmly squashed into the compound until set. Then finish with a second layer over the top of the metal and compound forming  a sandwich. You can smooth it off with some soapy mixture just as it sets with a  leather glove and spatula. Watch your fingers as the glass can go through most things. Once set ( around 10/15 mins ) you can sand it smooth.

Anyway hope it all goes well for you.

Derek

Looking at your picture of the damage, I would grind off the surface by the wheel and use stranded fibre glass repair. You can also bond a stainless steel plate across the back for added strength under the stranded fibre glass at the same time. Once that is done, I would then repair the outer surface as it will then have some strength and be able to be ground out for the final refinishing. Once accomplished you can sand down to the required level and apply a final correctly coloured gel coat. When dry/hard buff off to give an invisible repair. I have done this several times on Life Boats at sea.

Derek

35 minutes ago, JamesF said:

Also very positive to see some "new" names too, even if we exclude the number of people apparently using their wife's account to connect

James

Anonymity !

4 hours ago, hadyn42 said:

Thank you Grant for the information. Very much looking forward to looking in tonight!

I do hope that you are keeping well?

Best regards,

Hadyn - IOM

I will be watching as well. Hadyn also see latest post on GSP thread.

Derek

Excellent !!

Keep in touch, stay safe, see you hopefully ASAP.

Derek