timwetherell

3 minutes ago, Saganite said:

Thanks Tim,

I just need to crack on and finish the groundwork, as in some positions I have to perch on the soil ledge at the back, and I  have slipped off a couple of times in the darkness. The other problem that I discovered at 2am this morning is lifting down the tube when it is  absolutely saturated, not easy, but all problems have a solution. The joy of using it far outweighs any short term difficulties. 

I built this for my OTA. It clamps round the end and provides a solid handle for gripping it and because the handles are hollow, it doubles up as a zero power finder. There's probably commercial versions of the same thing available. Saves a lot of stress  in mounting and unmounting

On 11/16/2016 at 14:43, Saganite said:

It certainly was worth the effort, as I can now get the best out of it. 

Beautiful setup! That's the ideal mounting for a big refractor

Personally I wonder if a dome "advertising" astronomy stuff may be less appealing to a thief than a shed "advertising" garden tools. I would imagine that it's far easier to sell a £200 petrol chainsaw that a weird lump of astro kit with half the bits missing. Astronomers tend to be a fairly tight knit community so whilst telescopes may be theoretically valuable I doubt they're easy to pass on and given that they're serial numbered, it's very high risk to steal and sell one - perhaps not that much of a concern to the druggie but to Honest Joe's ask no questions second hand goods emporium it might be? 

Secure it as best you can and remember bigger aperture is harder to steal, so the upgrade to a 24" can be justified on security grounds

I wouldn't feel too bad, many of us have done stuff like this - it's human nature. Worth contacting TV - most of these top notch manufacturers are really nice and helpful. Just make sure to fill in the right customs form if you have to send it back (marked returned for repair) so you don't slugged with VAT when it comes back in the country

all the best

Tim

I would say around 40 dg afov, I have had it so long I can't remember the original spec's or even if fuller's quoted one.    

I always dreamt of something like that 44mm ortho back when I had my 60mm refractor as a kid. In fact I placed an order for one at a shop in Skipton in 1977 and they're going to give me a call when it comes in

It's unusual to see a 40mm ortho.

Indeed! Interesting EP. What apparent field of view does it have?

This is my odds and sods box - all the EPs that are really cool and interesting but not actually much use for observing