Jump to content

Banner.jpg.b83b14cd4142fe10848741bb2a14c66b.jpg

Johnny4365

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    91

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by Johnny4365

  1. Johnny4365
    Cloudy again tonight, so put the motor drives on the scope. Got these as I hope to have a go at imaging at some point in the future, and they will be useful for observing in the meantime.
    All went well using the instructions, only confusion came when fitting the dec motor. This was caused by the fine adjust knob being where the drive should be.
    Luckily I got 4 rechargable D batteries (good ones 10,000 mAh , not the AAs pretending to be Ds) for my wifes radio which she hasn't used. Ideal for powering the motor drives. :smiley:

    Wrong

    Right
    I then decided to have a go at trying to get to grips with the polar scope. Found that AstroBaby has done an online guide for polar aligning for idiots (thats me then).
    Fantastic guide this http://www.astro-baby.com/HEQ5/HEQ5-1.htm
    All has become clear and the mystery of the polar scope and using the setting circles has been lifted.
    Just need some clear skies now.
  2. Johnny4365
    Tried out finder scope which is much easier to align now that its properly fitted.
    Had a go at collimating (at last) using AstroBabys guide. Think I've got it roughly right.
    Took me 2.5 hours to do it, lots of head scratching going on. Took me awhile to suss out how the primary mirror adjusting screws work.
    Should of checked to see how far it was out before I started, but I don't think it was ridiculously out, especially considering its not been done since the scope left the factory about 9 years ago :embarrassed:
    Haven't star tested it yet (no stars), hopefully will get a chance tonight.
    Next step. Putting some marked slabs in the lawn for quick scope setup.
    This may mean using the dreaded polar scope (celestron #94221) to get accurate polar alignment.
    I have the instructions for it, but boy it looks tricky.
  3. Johnny4365

    C8N Service Begins

    By Johnny4365,

    Hi fellow loungers.
    I've had my Celestron C8N for nearly 8 years. Had many a good night under the stars with it.
    I have never used it to anywhere near to its full potential, I have neglected it and not used it much the last few years.
    Started to service it today, beginning with the focuser which seemed a bit sticky.
    First thing I noticed was there is in fact a screw on the back of the focuser that locks the focuser in position when tightened. This was done up slightly and was making the focuser stiffer to use.
    Stripped the focuser down removed the clear, very sticky grease and used some teflon grease instead.
    Reassembled everything and it feels much smoother to use now.
    Since I've had the scope I have had trouble aligning the finderscope, noticed that I had in fact assembled it wrongly in the first place. Basically I had the mounting bracket the wrong way round. Reassembled it correctly and hopefully it should be easier to use now.
    My excuse for these basic errors is that I never really look at the scope in daylight. My sessions have been very impromptu as in ' its a clear night tonight I will get the scope out '. No planning or preparation involved at all really. Thats changing this year as I am determined to get more and better use from what is a pretty good telescope.
    Collimation is the next thing on the list.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.