Stub Mandrel

I found this 2012 post by @LeoLion: I could get a report on the mirror, but in all honesty what would I gain from it? Universal positive reports suggests that none of these scopes have duff optics, I'd rather judge it by what is see and not suffer the angst of knowing some minor flaw that will make no material difference to my enjoyment of the scope!

Just for the record the back of the primary is lightly engraved: DS 63".3 I thought that's odd, it should be DH, and I couldn't find a mirror maker initials D.S. But of course the mirror was for Darkstar - hence DS not DH. - DOH! My final estimate of focal length was 64", not far off 63.3" considering I used a tape measure ? In metric the mirror is 260mm x 1608mm so f6.18.

clearoutside.com

The mirrors will be off to Vacuum Coatings limited today or tomorrow ?

DOH! I think I've confused Harrogate and Billingsgate...

Yeah, but I bet it's got fish down the back of the cushions ?

Hmm. The back of my 'orthopaedic' office chair has fallen off, and just balances in position. I must get anew one so perhaps the old one can repurpose as an adjustable stool. But no good to replace the wooden chair as something to stand on when targeting planets with the 150Pl on top of an extension and full-height tripod!

@John that tasty little nugget has proven to be well-founded. I used an Ernie Ball 0.011" B-string, but I'm not sure if Dean Markley or Super Slinkies might have worked better ? What's good is it sliced the silicone off the mirror and left 99% of the blobs attached to the (!)MDF lens cell. The secondary mounting block turns out to be a bit of waste pipe! I can't believe silicone kept all that in place for some 30-odd years.

Well, you did ask...

A good crop today (well i've been away for a couple of days) 210mm dovetail 55mm M4 bolts to attach a fan to my dob Replacement microswitch assemblies for my 3D printer

No way! Still 1.3 gig to go two hours after your post! I'm finishing this and if it works, it works, if it doesn't then I'll try again! ?

Astronomy_Linux Download failed at 1.1GB or 43.4GB... Restarted (resumed actually Firefox is good at recovering borked downloads) 3hrs 30 minutes left (yes my broadband is about 2.8 MB/s)

Lol! I forgot about that, I wrote a Millennium Bug patch for my BBC Master ?

I've written a basic O/S and BASIC interpreter that runs on a pair of AVRs. I have no problem with complicated as long as there's logical and consistent documentation... The 'lamb' is a Dell PP22L with Vista on it. Probably an Inspiron, not a Latitude if memory serves me right.

Aiiieee! I knew it! Why does all opensource open an endless nest of software dependencies... Is it obvious how to do this? I get worried when Linux people reply to 'how do you install Linux' with 'you install it'... Insert a blank dvd right click the iso image choose Burn disk image click Burn You do have w10...? HTH. You're on your way:)  Not on the Laptop I am sacrificing on the Linux altar...

OK, I'm downloading the ISO, I'm assuming Windows will know how to transfer it to a DVD. I have no desire to mess about with live DVDs or virtual boxes. How do I use it to set up a laptop as a vanilla HDD install?

New-fangled 12V 15A connectors, apparently much loved by radio hams!

Gorgeous!

Phew! I was going to say your mirror needed recoating!

We need a show us your 130_DS thread, or at least more pics here! I will take one next time I set up - hopefully tomorrow!

Trouble is, anyone good enough at it to write the manual just wants to write more features/modules etc.

Well more than have the faintest clue what linux gibberish means... I have a computer to try it on, but although I know what 'download an ISO' means (massively ambiguous as ISO is just a standards institution) but then ANY and EVERY source of advice dissolves into names of Linux distributions, utilities, drivers, commands etc. etc. and of course no-one ever bothers to explain what purpose and scope of any bit of software is. Getting everything to work on a PC with Ascom is hard enough because of the poor way that ascom's function is explained and the awful guidance for installing EQmod etc. Compared to that, Linux scares the pants off me and I'm far from a computer numpty.

Hardly! I still have nightmares about CPM, all the complexity of managing a 1980s mainframe on your desktop...

Surely you are in luck? You can track objects form due east, through the zenith and down to west with minimal rotation. You could also try mounting the mount on a wedge - in your case a near-vertical surface or even a 90-degree bracket - so it is effectively polar aligned and rotation will be minimal.

Even Gerry Anderson's Sun probe faced problems...