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Shelster1973

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    Plymouth, UK

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  1. Hi there sorry, but no idea where you could get a geared motor from have you looked at the grub screw that sits on top of the worm gear? When I put mine back together, this needed adjusting a few times so that it did not cause a bind and stop the turning
  2. That would be an ideal situation yes, but at this monent in time the answer is no on teh mount upgrade. Wil be sticking with current one, although it will be mounted on a solid pier when in use (pier is part of 'upgrade' too)
  3. Hadn't even seen that one...thaks for info While I have heard good things about them, have to say that it is too expensive for me to go for, but many thanks for highlighting it as an option. The FSQ 106EDX4 f/5 quad petzval is right at the very top of what I would want to pay, when factoring in rings and plates for scope and guider mounting, plus I will be going motorised on the focuser too, so that maxes out the budget
  4. Cheers Jeremy The Tak does get some excellent reviews and I am struggling to find any on the Borg...maybe they have been assimilated 🤣🤣 At least I have a good while to research and ponder, plus try to figure out which bits I will need to get the whole thing put together and working too
  5. Come September (which seems a long way off, but will soon be here), I am going to find myself in the lucky posiiton of being able to get myself my 'forever, lifelong' scope and having previously had a Newt am now leaning towards getting a frac, but the question I keep going round and round in circles with, is which one? This will be solely used for imaging and will be mounted on my EQ6R-PRO along with SXVR-694 camera and SXPress filter wheel. Data grabs will be LRGB plus all the funky narrow band options too. For a long time now I have been looking at the Skywatcher Esprit Pro 100, but am now looking more towards the 120 if I went SW with this 'once only' purchase, but having recently restarted my research, have seen mention of the Takahashi TSA-120 and that then even lead me onto the Borg 107FL 3.9 Petzval scope. I suppose my question is, would the Borg be a better purchase over the Tak and also what would the final price for the Tak be when factoring in all the bits and bobs needed (tube rings, dovetails etc etc) As I will only be doing this once, I need to get it right first time, so wont be rushing into this and am hoping other people have constructive views and comments to help me out here. Cheers and clear skies
  6. As I am struggling to get my pier built at home, am now looking at moving to reemote imaging locations with my setup and as part of that, am looking into getting a hard travel case for my EQ6R-Pro. Has anyone else found a suitable case to store and transport this mount in? I don't have the original packing anymore either, so will eb doing my own foam inserts too.
  7. Ed That is pretty much how platesolving works yes. I do not use APT myslef, so cant say for sure how that functions, but for me using NINA, i just tell the mount where to go using Stellarium then platesolve in NINA. It uses Astrometry for its solving solution. Then when the result comes back, the software knows where it should bo pointing, compares this to where it actually pointing, resolves the differnec and moves the mount accordingly. It then re-syncs the mount so that it knows where it is pointing, takes another image and goes through that cycle again, unitlk it within a set tolerance. The you just carry on and image away. No updates are sent to Stellarium just provides the co-ordaintes for the mount to slew too, the update as mentioned is in the mount. I was a bit daunted when I first used it, but now would not go back at all. Have given up doing 3 star aligns and using handset - everyting is done via direct PC connection and platesolving now. Still have to do a Polar Align though. Hope that helps
  8. When I did mine a few years back, I used black felt sheets bought in the arts and crafts section of a local 'Range' store. Stick this down with Copydex or other similar glue and you will be fine. You can see some pictures of scope after flocking here
  9. Fred Was not that focused on grabbing such detailed info whe i did my first teardown, sorry, but as I have to go back in for some minor tinkering that I want to do to the power solution I have, will get the info and post back on here, along with any more detailed phots that I take along the way.
  10. Hi there In my last house I installed a fixed pier made from 4 fence posts bolted together and only ever polar aligned either after removing the mount for maintenance or once every 6 months or so just to check that all was still solid. Am planning on installing an Altair Astro pier in my new garden at some point in the near future and will be doing the same again when it comes to Polar Alignment. Will be done when I do the first install and done to a high degree of accuracy and then as a check every 6 months or so, or if I start to get some weird readings from guiding or my images start to look a little ropey. As you say, time spent not PAing is a bonus here in the UK. I did invest in a the QHY Pole Master which has proven invaluable with my temporary setup, but was also a bonus for when operating of the fixed pier as it allows the accuracy to be checked (and adjusted if needed) very quickly indeed.
  11. That does sound like a rather terminal power issue. If it is still in warranty get in touch with @FLO and have it sent back for repair.
  12. I had to take the entire head back to them. I am lucky in that I am only 30 mins away from FLO, so did not have to courier it there. What issues are you having with your mount?
  13. At present I have my Evostar guidescope mounted to the rather small screw held bracket on the side of my ED72 OTA. Am wanting to make this slightly more stable and solid, so looking to mount it a-top the 72 in the good old over nad under configuration and was wondering what people would recommend for tube-rings and dovetails to achieve this. I will be giving it a good look at over the weekend when I get back to my set-up, but for now as I am just pondering, am open to guidance and advice
  14. Joining in, like others, to say that this is a great idea and many thanks for FLO / IKI for making this happen. Thank you. Can get to fully learning how to drive PI and get an image out of it. One side of me thinks that this is fully altruistic endeavour....then the ever present cynic thinks this is plot by staff at FLO to be able to get away every month or so to some warmer and clearer climes to 'check on the equipment' and 'bring back a few supplies (duty free) 😉 and seeing as Exeter airport is only just down the road...….need I say more??? 😁 Just putting it out there that if you need anyone to carry bags, turn screwdrivers, pour sangria for you, I am only a few miles down the A38 and happy to come along and help. Back to serious, thanks again FLO and IK for being great as always
  15. Must do an update on this and try to get my head around it again. Some of the future updates look good too, especially the replacement for DBE. Will be interesting to see what that looks like and how it performs / behaves. Also interested in the atsrometry tool too, just to see what it actually is. Also, as it is currently unnamed, wonder if it will be known as Tooly McToolface 🤣
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