Skipper Billy

This is the time of year when we restore our yachts to their former glory - so we are well used to getting fibreglass back to A1. The coloured fibreglass is a pain - green as above - blue is even worse and red is the worst of the lot. The problem is oxidization. Products like Owatrol Polytrol give an easy and almost instant result and should last about a season. For a longer lasting solution and really the only solution for white fibreglass is to remove the oxidization. We use various cutting compounds used wet with an electric rotating sponge head but for small areas like and obsy you can do it by hand with a wet sponge. The best product is this stuff - https://www.3m.co.uk/3M/en_GB/company-uk/3m-products/~/3M-Perfect-It-Fast-Cut-Plus-Compound/?N=5002385+8709313+8709338+8710722+8711017+8711413+8724076+8743656+3293211323&rt=rud The order of events is wash (with strong detergent)- cut ( 3M Fast Cut) - polish (Good quality car polish) - wax (anything with Carnuba wax in it). The International range of products is also very good and available is smaller bottles. Wash Cut Polish Wax Its not as laborious as it sounds and even immersed in salt water and battered by the weather the above should give about 3 seasons before needing doing again. Happy to help anyone who needs help with GRP.

It was a big help having a pal that works at Faslane nuclear submarine base!!! He is a submarine tubing welder and the standard of welding has to be seen to be believed !! It is beautiful!!! I declined the offer of the x-ray certificate ?

You are very welcome - feel free to do anything you want with it!

I used a piece of high pressure thick walled steam pipe off a decommissioned submarine - simple flange welded onto each end. Cost was zero. £20 bung to the welder. Fastened down to the concrete block with M14 studs epoxied into holes drilled in the concrete. Top end M14 bolts welded to the steel plate that pass through the top flange giving some adjustment. If we move house it can be removed and the studs cut flush with the concrete. Photos here - https://sites.google.com/view/astro-imaging/micro-observatory

Hello Gina I did a presentation to a Scottish Photographic Society a couple of weeks ago - Powerpoint based. Its attached - feel free to bin it, rip it shreds, do anything you want with it. I dont get prissy about copyright of my images etc - feel free to use any images you might want etc etc. All the astroimages are mine and the none astro ones are all copyright free. Astro Imaging presentation.pptx

Fantastic - you should be very proud of your son and he should be very proud of his image. Please tell him I think he has done really, really well.

I also used SuperLube - for my HEQ5 and EQ6 - worked perfectly - I also use it for rebuilding windlass gearboxes on boats - they do a similar job - slow moving parts under high load in extreme conditions. I am not advertising but we sell it in our Chandlery if you want a tube - £12.50 posted.

I have one of those - very good value for money and about the same price as generic big padded bags on auction sites etc

I am just across the way from Skye !

Good quality grease - I used 'Superlube' and it worked brilliantly even at very low temperatures.

Oooohh - good call - better check mine !!!

Hi Neil, What ID are the spacers you need - I have loads of Delrin spacers from 0.5mm, 0.75mm and 1mm - PM me your address if you would like them. (FOC).

Is this any help ?

There is enough meat on the mini dovetail to drill and tap for a 1/4 - 20 UNC thread to mount it directly onto a camera tripod. If you dont have the facility to do that but would like it doing just PM me for my address and I will happily do it for you - no charge !

Back end of last summer I bought an Explore Scientific 208mm f3.8 carbon astrograph from Telescope House. This one https://www.telescopehouse.com/telescopes/telescopes-by-brand/brand-explore-scientific/explore-scientific-newtonians/explore-scientific-208mm-f-3-9-photo-newtonian-carbon-hex.html Since the start of the season we have only had 3 clear nights and after each session I noticed dark marks on the primary mirror - bad enough to have to remove the primary (and then recollimate!) I initially put it down to bits of flocking material that I had missed when I flocked it asthe Rocket blower blew them away very easily. I also found it very hard to collimate accurately which is essential for a fast scope like this. I investigated further and found that the dark particles were actually black paint flakes from the spiders which were rusting! The collimation problems were being caused by the secondary mirror being attached at a few degrees from where it should be. I contacted Kerin at Telescope House and within minutes I had a returns number and prepaid label. The scope was dispatched to them just before Christmas. I got an email today explaining that they had stripped the scope down and apologising for the problems with the secondary/spider and explaining that the entire secondary assembly will be replaced FOC The scope will be reassembled, collimated and shipped back free of charge and with continuing warranty. OK - the problem shouldn't have arisen but it was dealt with fairly, professionally and without fuss or argument. 10/10 to Telescope House.

Do 1/4 scale models count? https://sites.google.com/view/astro-imaging/other-hobbies/radio-control-model-aircraft

At least you now know what the problem is - fixing it should be easy !! If you watch this series of excellent videos - all 9 parts ! (but they are quite short) you will have everything just perfect ! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zd-fl9SEYHw Have fun!

Thanks Sara - will have a look at it.

Thanks Chris I will print the sheet out and see what its pulling. I am not too worried about the indoor PC as its now only connected with Remote Desktop so the obsy PC should keep going then when the power comes back on I should be able to relink it. Its unusual for the power to be off for more than 15 mins. Thanks again.

Thanks guys - very helpful as always.

Anyone know about UPS ?? We get a lot of power cuts here - had one tonight for 10 - 15 mins. Luckily it hasn't happened whilst I have been imaging but thinking ahead it struck me that a UPS could save a session but I know nothing about them. Any tech gurus point me in the right direction ?? I run a PC, mount, 2 cameras, dew bands, electronic focuser, etc - about 10 amps max.

Plus it makes it SO much quieter!! If you bite the bullet drop me a PM and I will send you the pinion extractor - it make the job easier and removes the possibility of bending the shafts.

I emailed ES in Germany and they confirmed that the spacing distance should be measured from face A as shown in the top photo - just posting in case anyone comes across this thread looking for the answer to this question.

I am setting up an Explore Scientific HR Coma Corrector and the manual states 55mm back focus but doesn't say where from ! Would you say its from face A in the first photo or face B in the second photo ?? There is a 3mm difference when the adapter is screwed on. Thanks in advance.

There is a document on this page of my website that you might find useful - 'Setting up Guiding in EQASCOM' Towards the bottom of the page https://sites.google.com/view/astro-imaging/how-to Explains pulse guiding and ST4 guiding etc very nicely