jadcx

Yeah I think so.  The Astronomical League list this - https://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/messier/messlist.html

On 02/03/2021 at 17:25, jock1958 said:

Go on press that button you won't regret it, once you've bought the FS-60CB you can invest in a CQ 1.7x Extender then you have an FS-60Q......only trying to help 😉

Where did you get those really long Slo-mo cables from? 

I've attached some pictures of what I am trying to achieve.  I think the better Velcro will be my first option, but any clever pocket type or other arrangements gratefully considered.

1 minute ago, wulfrun said:

Ah ok, so not just shiny but anodized or painted. I can see your reluctance! Isn't there somewhere else or somewhere unobtrusive?

No, it's blue all over.  And the mounting geometry restricts my options too.

4 minutes ago, Tiny Clanger said:

I'd try some experiments with whatever glue/sticky pads/double sided tape you have handy.

That's what I did when I used some self adhesive velcro to make wrap around dew shields for my 'scopes . The dew shield material is 3mm closed cell foam (I intentionally bought more than I needed to make the heritage dob. a shroud) and the self adhesive stuff on the velcro removed form the foam with less force than the velcro took to separate. I tried PVA , shoe goo ( a great adhesive for various plastics as well as repairing shoe soles ) leather glue ( why not ? you never know) , some contact adhesive, photo spray mount and hot glue gun stuff, as well as a few types of double sided tape and pads I had .

On a scrap strip of foam , predictably most glues either failed utterly or melted the foam , but what surprised me was that the hot glue gun didn't destroy the foam, and did grab the velcro backing strongly. So I used that, and have had no problem with the velcro lifting or the foam tearing , and I'm not being terribly delicate with removing the shields after use . I just put a thin layer of hot glue right on top of the glue already on the velcro.

I don't have lots of options to try here.  However, on closer inspection, I did already try glueing on top of the glue that came with the velcro, and now I'm wondering if this is the weakest point.  There was glue residue left on the Pegasus, so it wasn't completely failing there.  If this is, as I'm now suspecting, cheap stuff, maybe I just need proper supplies.

Just now, wulfrun said:

Shiny and new isn't usually a good surface for sticky stuff. If you're willing to deface your new gear, abrade the area with some emery cloth/scotchbrite or similar, clean with alcohol (not the booze sort!), allow to dry and apply the velcro. You'll have a lot better chance that way.

Yeah 😕 I did clean with alcohol first, but I just can't bring myself to get the emery paper, not on such lovely blue aluminium.  But I totally understand that it wold most likely be much more successful.

Just now, Skipper Billy said:

If its anodised aluminium you might struggle to get Velcro to stick to it - 3M is the stickiest.

I am sure the chemists amongst us can tell us why but in my experience, until it has aged, very little sticks really well to anodised aluminium.

 

Yes I wondered if this might be a factor.  The Pegasus box is very shiny and new, not been outside yet.

38 minutes ago, bottletopburly said:

You want 3M dual lock https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/all-3m-products/~/3M-Dual-Lock-Reclosable-Fastener-SJ3550/?N=5002385+3293242274&preselect=3293786499&rt=rud

11 minutes ago, TerryMcK said:

This is the best stuff I have found

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01M7P18HP

I have it in several places on my mount and it works in low temperatures and high humidity with absolutely no issues. There are lesser velcro products that are not really intended for outside usage.

Hmmm - they both look strong, and more 'industrial' that what I have currently.  But which is better?  There's only one way to find out.....

1 hour ago, DaveL59 said:

Does the pegasus get warm/hot? That could well result it it becoming unstuck from the velcro and falling off.

 

It's warm-is, but not hot.

OK, I admit defeat.  I can't stick my Pegasus Astro box to my AZ-Gti using sticky back velcro.  I'm sure this should be simple?

Vecro (spiky/hook side) sticks to the AZ-Gti - yes, it's on the white paintwork and seems firmly attached.

Velcro (soft fluffy side) stick to Pegagsus box - yes, apparently, but... ultimately no.

Box sticks to mount - yes, only for about 30 minutes, so not really.  The velcro stayed attached to itself, but peeled off the Pegasus box.  Pegasus box is on the floor, velcro is still (both sides) happy attached to the mount.  So I re-applied, not with the as-supplied stick back glue, but with a reasonable smearing of Gorilla glue.  Don't worry, it's only a few inches onto the soft carpet, it's not harmed.

Box sticks to mount - yes, this time for about 10 hours, so no.  Pegasus box is back on the floor, velcro is still happily attached to the mount.

So what am i missing?  Is it the milled aluminium Pegasus surface that rejects glueing?  Did I buy cheap fake Velcro?  (I may have, I don't remember, but surely the Gorilla glue should have worked?)

Please help.

Looks great!  What are the advantages of splitting the indigo controls across two machines?

3 minutes ago, HollyHound said:

That could indeed be it, I do find the free movement is a bit easier when using the long StellaMira refractor than when using the C5, probably due to the increased moment arm. Good luck with it, I love mine and use it more than any other mount now, even managed to zip out quickly last night and sneak a quick peek at Mars between the clouds... first time ever 😀

I'm very jealous that you got a break in the clouds - I was poised for hours but it was not to be 🙄

Thanks Gary (@HollyHound), I've read through those threads and noted the slo-mo adjustment, but wasn't sure this would help with my situation.  As it turns out, while it does still feel a little stiff, it's noticeable with the FS-60CB (because it's so tiny and light I assume) and much less noticeable when I use the FS-76Q configuration.  I'm as sure as I can be that this is not the alt axis / heavy loading problem, so I think I'm going to leave it alone for now.  I still love this little mount!

Overall I'm loving my new Scopetech Zero - however I can't get past the Alt axis being much tighter than the Az.  If I loosen the Az clutch then the mount turns very freely, and I can adjust the clutch to be reassuringly present while still allowing for slo-mo control.  All as I expected.  The slo-mo controls on both axis seem to be similarly set, if slightly tight, but I also don't have anything to compare this to and doesn't seem to cause any problems.  But the Alt axis is altogether stiffer.  With the clutch fully disengaged it still takes noticeable force to move.    Any guidance on how I can adjust this?

3 minutes ago, JamesF said:

Hellfire!  I should have encouraged my children to take up music.  The swimming club they were at cost closer to £600 pa for each of them.  And that was cheap.  Some of the others nearby are closer to £1,500 pa.

James

It's not all roses and rainbows, those flutes and oboes are damned expensive...

Near Barnard Castle?  I could do with an eye test

1 hour ago, Tenor Viol said:

Just an observation. I was involved in astronomical society admin and organisation for very many years (decades) and I was involved at all levels - local, regional, and national. The world of astronomy is not a large one. The costs of running physical meetings are significant involving many things such as room hire, public liability insurance (PLI), costs of speakers if you have them etc. Some societies are lucky and face low overheads, but that is rare these days. 

I have always found it odd that members of societies often have an unrealistic view of what is an acceptable subscription rate. I've known societies with very modest subscription fees have huge fights over rises in fees of just a few pounds. By way of comparison, almost every music group that I know that has to hire a school hall or similar, faces subs of around £120 - £160 p.a.

Unless there is a definite 'gap' in the local market, it would be preferable to work with an existing group. Clubs often fracture for various reasons, including differences of opinion about "what" a club should be doing. The end result tends to be no club at all as neither proves to be viable.  

I'm familiar with the mindset you are referring to, albeit not in an astronomy related setting.  I have no idea where my ideas will end up, maybe a new venture to expand an existing group, maybe a whole new entity in what ever form it may be, or maybe nothing at all.  I guess I'm just embracing a moment of wondering 'maybe I could...' rather than 'isn't it a shame that...'.

1 hour ago, jambouk said:

I run one of the two monthly meetings for Nottingham Astronomical Society, the one held at Plumtree which is devoted more to the amateur issues; the other monthly meeting is usually an academic talking about a topic which may have less relevance to the practical amateur astronomer, but appeals to many of us with an interest in astrophysics, space science etc. The latter meeting is held in Gotham. For the last few months both meetings have been online and accessible through the website.

Observing from the city centre is possible, the moon, sun and planets can all be observed and imaged relatively easily and well if visible. Deep sky targets can also be imaged if using narrow band.

If you can find a venue, I can see there may well be demand for a City Centre Astronomers group, who could meet up and chat about stuff. The issue clearly at present is COVID-19. 

Get in touch if you want to combine forces. 

James

 

Hi James

Regretfully your meetings are on the list of things that I find difficult to get to, although I do hear/read good things about them

As much as I believe that there is possibly a city based contingent of interested people, I really have no interest in dividing what is likely to be a relatively small market.  But at the same time it feels presumptuous to propose a joint venture with a group  have no previous involvement with.  All that aside, some kind of combined approach seems eminently sensible.  My imaginings are very much centred around the practical (probably predominantly visually) observing, which can easily well into the DSO range.  If you think there could be some take-up then let's talk more.  What's the worst that could happen?

Justin

30 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

What do I think? Well, it seems a shame to set up another astro soc when, as you say, there are others already in the area. There is also the danger than it dilutes their efforts and resources.

From what you are saying, you'd like to observe and chat with others. It might be worth contacting some of the existing AS's and see if there is a subset of their membership that would like to do just that. Better still, when things are back to normal, go along to a meeting and see if there are like minded people there that might want to do this.

I *think* I agree with you, but part of my reasons for thinking about this is that it’s actually not very easy to go and meet with them.  There might be a sub-set, and I have no interest in diluting what might be an already struggling economy.   The outcome might well be that it’s subset of an existing group that are interested, but then, when does that become a new group?  I don’t think it has to be a binary choice.

Does anyone have any experience of starting a new astronomy club / society / group?  Here's why I'm asking...

I live in a classically light polluted city (Nottingham) and while there are a few astronomy clubs around, they all meet (understandably and advantageously) outside of the city.  I don't have a car (not a sensible one anyway, the 1969 Vitesse isn't so appealing in the colder or wetter months) and so it's actually very difficult to travel out.  So I've come to wonder about trying to start a city based group, which accepts that light pollution is nightmarish, but meets anyway to observe when possible, and enjoy some social connection with like-minded others.  Clearly I'm also thinking ahead to those fantasy times when we can be near each other again too!

I'm aware of the Baker Street Irregulars (such a great name) who meet in central London, and while I know that Nottingham is not London, wondered if this had any potential.  What do you think?

Here's my 'portable' setup in the biggest (FS-76Q f12.5) and smallest (FS-60CB f5.9) configurations.  The FS-76Q breaks down easily so really does become portable.

I think a directly fixed clamp on the Scopetech Zero would make this more aesthetically pleasing, but makes balance difficult with the FS-60CB.  It only hold in this picture because the alt is a little stiff at the moment.

5 hours ago, Skipper Billy said:

It seems a lot of effort to avoid a Meridian flip. I used to avoid flips if I could but now it is setup to do it without any intervention it's a non issue.

3 hours ago, old_eyes said:

I agree. I used to be terrified of meridian flips, but now I have a permanent setup, software just deals with it. I have probably done no more than about 25 so far, but every one has been flawlessly executed by both  NINA and Voyager, the two control packages I have been playing with.
 

I have had plenty of other problems, but meridian flips in the middle of a capture sequence have not been one of them.

I would be interested to know the arguments for increasing rig cost and complexity to avoid flips when the cost to do it in software is so trivial.

Thanks guys, I think I agree with both of you - but the opportunity to start from scratch has made me consider everything, hence the question.

18 minutes ago, SamAndrew said:

Personally feel like bent piers are a flawed design that have come about as people have started with straight piers and modified them.

Why have a straight pier with a wedge on top, when you can have a wedge at the bottom with a straight pier on top and then not need to do merridian flips

You can see my plan for a pier in this thread. Material has been ordered, but might be held up by covid-19. Would hope to build it in the next 2 weeks. Might be madness but I'm happy to give it a go.

 

I’ve been following   The design looks great, so looking forwards to seeing how it goes. How are you dealing with pier isolation?  My own thoughts were that with a bent pier I can easily maintain isolation from the obs floor as the footprint is relatively small.  With the mesu pier and also with yours, the footprint is obviously much larger.  But then I know that there are some strong advocates of not worrying about an isolated pier block and ‘just’ sit the whole think on big slab. This seems simple, although less so at 1.5m high.

5 minutes ago, RayD said:

No, track far enough so that a meridian flip isn't necessary.

My understanding is that yes it can.  My question about whether or not to install a bent pier is really just because I'm starting from scratch and so I can.  But just because I can, doesn't mean I should, or that it is worth it - which I'm hoping some more experienced people can help me with.

1 minute ago, RayD said:

Have you checked that the Mesu will track far enough to do what you're after?  I've not tried with mine so I don't know, but not all mounts are capable of this.

I'm not sure I follow.  Do you mean far enough to 'require' the bent pier?