omo

5 minutes ago, BGazing said:

Lovely. How is RST handling it?

Are you sure you have not posted this in a wrong forum, says sale/swap...

Should be in general scope etc, oops, can a mod help as other have replied - i dont think i can move the thread

For the first time i had the RST back driving when switched off, so unlike the DZ the longer moment arm needs a bit of balancing

The Oklop is huge for a DZ, more suited to a Tessa i would think, compared to my home made version:

Theres a few of these out in the wild now so please join in 👍

FLO's latest addition to their own line up is a very nice looking scope at 125mm with an ED element and Lanthanum to go with it, its a fairly well tried combination. At F7.8 it suits me as a visual observer and with additional flatners / reducers available caters to imagers as well.

Due to the carbon fibre tube it is really quite light weight. The 2.5" focuser feels nice and smooth.

The scope itself is packaged within a double wall cardboard box and then there is the Oklop custom bag. Its made up of sections of foam that are glued together,

The case:

@JeremyS the internal cutout for the scope is approximately 875mm long 145mm where narrow, 170mm wide otherwise and 185 deep.

Protects the scope nicely. The carbon is well lacquered - although that will only really matter to solar observers. UV will break down carbon fibre over time.

Compared to my 4" DZ the 125ED is a step up in size, I like that the red anodising is not too bright and there is not to much of it, I feel Williams Optics for example go a bit OTT on anodising.

My companion is a Spanish Water dog - Io, at least here no one is going to think he was named after a toothbrush......

The scope is shipped with a Vixen style bar, the Losmandy was fitted as I prefer them and more importantly being longer i can get safety stops to prevent a potential disaster should the mount slip in the clamp

The bino viewer will not focus without a GPC, which was to be expected. I like Baader click locks, there is not one at M63, instead you use an M68 click lock and a M63 to M68 adapter, both Baader and TS make these.

Due to the length this adds i will try the Baader short 2" clamp as well - pinch it from the DZ

Looking down the tube you can see the baffling and it is apparent in the focuser tube as well, nice deep green coatings on the optics

Not sure how it wears #42, there was 19 left when i bought it?

So far the only thing i have been able to look at is a pylon 500 yards away at 78x nice clear view with a bit of rust apparent, but i live in hope i can get some clear skies and astro darkness soon to point it upwards.

Dangerous things these binoviewers, i haven't put a single eyepiece in the Tak or C9.25 for a bit over 2 years. Thats 4 XW's and a 3-6 zoom being neglected in favour of much cheaper glass.

For the Dob i like my wide fields though.

24, 6 pairs for the binoviewer.

I don't image but do use a Baader finder shoe on my C9,25

4 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

However, when using the binoviewers with the FS128 and smaller eyepiece pairs, I can simply use the provided knurled ring on the Maxbright IIs body to thread the Zeiss BBHS prism straight onto the prism itself, so guaranteeing the shortest possible light path.

 

You can with the right adapters thread the bino directly to the T2 diagonal slightly shorter i think - never tried it as i use the HD T2 quick changers, you cant use a GPC before the diagonal like this though

Never thought of using a 2" nosepiece to screw onto the diagonal, i can see how it could be useful though.

I'm sure someone could write a quite lengthy book on Baaders multitude of adapters and possible ways of screwing them all together

Having done similar to my Planet a few years ago, i gave up on the tray (still fits, but awkward) and use a 6" diameter bit of mdf to lock the spread stopper up, gives similar stability as the tray and stops the legs from closing if i lift the tripod when using.

As too different screws to fill the empty screw holes- a bit of wood filler does the job nicely

22 minutes ago, BGazing said:

Checked everything again. If this is indeed a feature and not a bug, the new adapter is unusable for owners of Berlebach (H)EQ-5 tripods. Bolt has to be replaced or somehow prolonged. Not sure how it is to be take off without a saw job.

 

If the bolt is similar to the Planet, then there is a o-ring that prevents it falling out, once you roll this up the threads and remove it you can replace with a longer bolt

54 minutes ago, Deadlake said:

If you dual mount, do you need to take a saddle off to fit the counterweight bar?

The rowan saddles are drilled and tapped to accept the counterweight bar 👍

23 minutes ago, Stu said:

With the Zhummel 12” I bought for our club, I just used to use the two tensioning handles to pick it up which worked well.

Yes i have been using the handles but would like something a bit higher up the tube to save bending quite as low, would also help getting it in and out of its small shed, the roof is too low to allow sitting the OTA in the base. Also noticed as you said in another thread that you want to have the alloy mount blocks at the right position before lowering into the base 👍

8 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

Really good scope for the money.

Looking down the tube, I'd say it would benefit from some flocking.

Think my camera auto settings are making this worse, its newish to me. Would be an interesting project, i thought about it with the 200p and wimped out and used blackboard paint instead of material.

Just to confirm this is the 12" scope

i got a bit distracted yesterday with another pier mounting adaptor for the Planet. I did get the base built last night though.

As per the OTA, the contents of the box are well protected

Small box contains the eyepiece holder which i will not fit. There is not a lot to it, if you have built one before you'll work it out easily. There are no instructions in the box but these are on Flo's site which those new to the hobby may find useful:  https://www.firstlightoptics.com/user/manuals/stellalyra_8_10_12_dobsonian_manual.pdf

You need a cross head screwdriver for fitting the handle, not many fixings to put it together

I really like the azimuth having the bearing much better than my previous 200p (quite a few things are in my opinion)

The most complex part of the construction would be the screw to hold the top and bottom base together

With the base is complete I felt it sitting last night in the living room, it needs a duster applied.

I'm going off on a tangent now but have you ever wondered how some objects can attract people and even trigger there imaginations? I am not meaning the tube either 🤔

I moved the base closer to the chair this morning as it was less in the way when my younger sister visited. Gail never had much interest in science, fiction or otherwise. Anyway I showed her the scope outside but it was the base that got her, quite taken she was moving it back and forward, next thing she clambers into the chair and has her feet on the base still toing and froing stating its quite therapeutic. What she then did was not so much for me.

She stands up  - on the base (so thats stress tested to 55ish kg then) then crouches down and is wiggling her bum trying to keep the base rotating a bit. This is priceless if i had a camera I would have, but had i asked her to wait, she would have moved quick enough to have Einstein reeling in confusion. She then astounds me "They used to sit like this in the Daleks didn't they EXTERMINATE EXTERMINATE"  🤣

55 years young, she really did hide behind the settee when Jon Pertwee was the Doctor.

Back to the scope and you have a range of adjustment to help with balancing the scope depending on your added bits and bobs, you do have to lift the tube out to accomplish this. Its graduated so you can keep the scope in balance on both sides. Will have to experiment with this further. You can use the same 4mm allen key that came with the scope to tighten the screws to the mount block / tension adjusters - just remember to slacken the knobs before you lift the scope into the mount.

A complete scope Resplendent in black

The focuser is very smooth, the screw nearest to the tube on its body is to lock it, the outer screw allows you to adjust the focusers tension, it has a brass compression ring on both 2" and 1.24" fittings so gouging of eyepiece barrels.

The finder shoe is the first irritation, it has a grub screw fitted, easily removed but why not just give it a second thumbscrew? I have a Baader finder shoe that will replace this once i find it.

Like the large screws for collimating and the springs on said screws. Would like to know if the fans on the base actually have an effect in helping cool the tube

Like the these, less chance of dropping a screwdriver compared to an allen key

Moving the scope proved to be interesting has to be done in two parts, a bit of a bear hug and a penguin shuffle for the OTA is required so as @Mark at Beaufort has done a few handles will be required.

On the subject of handles. Why do the manufacturers always put one on the front of the dob base - as soon as you pick it up its likely to drag the back edge on the ground, would one on each side not make a bit of sense?

One last pic before i go out to have a check on collimation having rediscoved the hotech and cap. I have not even got to looking at the ancillaries. Its very exciting - looking like i might get first light  later this evening, usually a new scope means i have to wait weeks

3 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Funny thing is I have a couple of Tak vixen style dovies and the only clamp that doesn’t hold them is an ADM clamp. It won’t close enough - the dovie is too narrow.

Its not just the ADM clamp that the Tak dovetail doesn't quite fit, i discovered the same with a Primaluce dual clamp.

Believe me the air turned blue as i watched the Tak begin to slide 🤬

Quite a silly omission that, my one is the 12" @Captain Magenta

Would seem sensible to have everything about this series of scopes together so others have an source of information.

For a while i have been considering another scope to complement my Tak and C9.25. A dob for aperture really was the only choice. I did however want a solid tube not too easy to find as these were appearing to be a bit out of fashion above 10" currently, it was looking like i either went to a supplier abroad or tried something like Orion Optics or a second hand option, not easy if you cant collect a dob.

So Flo's announcement that they were now supplying their own version of the GSO dobs was extremely good timing, I was not hanging about too long either due to the issues with supply chains currently.

The big box and its smaller sibling arrived 22 hours after ordering which is great service 👍

Just the usual signs of the bands digging in when lifting the OTA, and of course its double boxed in reassuringly thick cardboard

The OTA is supported in polystyrene blocks with the ancillaries in recesses to protect them

My last dob a 200P arrived with the poly end blocks broken (scope was ok), not the case this time when i removed them, all looking good

Time to get the OTA out of the box and it is quite awkward, not so much the weight as the sheer size of it. Definitely be having a hunt on ye olde WDS. Paintwork is very nice although the usual caveat is going to apply with black tubes always showing up fingerprints worse.

At this point it started to rain so the tube was quickly moved into a shed, i was also getting close to starting time for work so further exploration had to be postponed

The initial impressions are very good, i am very happy man its an impressive looking scope even if i am a touch daunted by the overall size of the big beastie. This should not be a problem though as this will only ever be moved a couple of metres in and out of its shed. 

Tomorrow i will update this thread once i get the base built and scope mounted 👍

Oooh it is a big box, StellaLyra 12" F5 has landed

 Superb service from the team @FLO 22 hours / 500 miles and it's arrived. Also a shout out to say thank you to Cody for fulfilling my special request 👍

Now i do apologise as this thing called work is going to get in the way and whilst the box has been opened, it then started to rain so assembly with further pictures will have to wait till later.

I can say at this point it's going to need a handle or two to assist with manoeuvrability

2 hours ago, FLO said:

No discounts but every telescope includes our eternal gratitude, free of charge 🤗

Steve

I will have some of that thank you

12" Ordered

3 minutes ago, Stu said:

I’m not sure that’s the case but might be wrong. I got the feeling you could still manually skew to target then let the tracking pick up from there. We will see…. 🤞🤞

I think that is the way it will work, the encoders mean the mount always knows where it is. From the prototype pictures, the motor gears fit on the worm shafts where the slo mo controls would have been previously fitted.

So you loose that manual control finesse, not difficult to make longer worm shafts to get around that

Light weight, is a 7mm Delite too narrow?

The ring isused as a part  for the quick change adaptor, and the piece of metal is a pin spanner - fits the holes in the ring

3 hours ago, Telescope40 said:

Thank you.   Will this power unit   ( My current one )  be up to the job ??   I'm useless at electrical to put it politely.   Thinking way ahead. 

 

Nevada PS-08 6-8A Regulated Linear Power Supply | First Light Optics

John 

I have the same power supply and expect to use it unless the specs suggest otherwise when released, most goto's are using 2 to 3 Amps when slewing that's half the Nevada's output.

On 26/11/2020 at 17:01, Dek Rowan Astro said:

 

 

Power input is indeed 12v

15 minutes ago, Robindonne said:

Are the spreaders of these bb tripods adjustable in height? So that the angle of the legs get slightly bigger to prevent tipping over?  Or is it fixed?    

You can move the spreader up the legs a bit and fill the old screw holes with wood filler,  the limiting factor becomes getting the tray in if you use it. I moved mine up by about 1.5" some time ago, tray still fits.

@HollyHound Yes the APM 20 was my first foray into 100 degrees, but the 13 kind of seduced my eyeball and the 8 followed