Brutie

Hi Folks, I am trying to get to grips with star alignment using Stellarium driving EQMOD. I'm using the simulator to un derstand teh steps involved but have hit a cpouple of snags. So far, I can use the simulator and can get Stellarium slew to my first alaignment star. But at this point I cannot get any response from the EQMOD NSEW buttons to test out fine tuning the slew. Also if I press Sync nothing happens ie no alignment point is created. I think I must have some parameter incorrectly ticked / not ticked but I'm blowed oif I can see it. The videos I have watched all make it look simple. I would be very grateful if anyone can give me some advice to help me work this out. Many thanks in advance 😉 Brutie

Thanks folks for the help. I took the moubt to bits again yesterday and re assembled it with the plastic disk in place. All readfy for another polar align and I'm good to go.....................oh well there is collimation as well Regards Brutie

A while ago I removed the Alt scale disc and "HEQ5" label disc from my mount inorder to adjust the main Alt bolt. Turned out it was set far too tight so no wonder I had trouble with polar alignment. All done now and I am about to re fit the Alt scale disc and the HEQ5 logo disc. But I have another piece left over . It's a clear plastic disc which was coated by lubricating grease, and there is a hole in the centre of the disc. Can anyone tell where this goes (was going to say" where to put it" but that would be too much of a temptation hahah). I think it goes between the Alt disc and the inner casing where there are three grub screws. If not it must be on the other side of the mount under the logo disc. Can anyone advise me please. Alternatively does anyone have or kn ow where to see a cut away diagram of the mount showinmg the bAlt disc etc. Thganks ! Brutie

I just removed the secondary holder and also removed the primary mirror as both mirrors were very dusty. I'll wash them with distilled water before re assembling. I can't remember what glue I used when I fitted the secondary originally (25 years ago) but I'll use silicon this time I think. My primary mirror fixing is crude but seems to have withstood the test of time . This was a home brew project using some PVC drainpipe and a mirror set from the SPA following a Channel 4 astronomy documentary called "Earth Calling Basingstoke" many years ago. Well worth a look as I see it's on the internet these days. Brutie

Hi Mandy & Pitch Black Skies, Ok Mandy is correct ....on closer examination I can just see a double reflection on the rear (it is certainly much fainter than the main reflection) and a single reflection from the front of thr mirror surface. Pitch Black - Yes I aslo thought that the optical surface would have a non reflective rear side but thinking about it I don't think that is so. With the optical surface on the front of the glass there's no need for any thing else on the front surface (ie under the reflective coating) Anyway problem solved and I have learned something new. Thanlks to both of you for the prompt and spot on advice ! Kind regards, Brutie

Hi All, Just getting back into stargazing. I have a small home made 3 &1/2 inch newtonian which I have ressurected for possible solar use. But my secondary mirror fell off. a while ago. No problem I thought, I can just glue it back on to the secondary holder. Er no I can't ! Because I can't work out which side of the mirror is the actual optical surface. Could anyone suggest some way to work out which is which ? Many thanks ! Brutie

Hi Swoop1 Yes I agree! It has certainly worked for me.....I hope the glare is tamed by the shade and repositioning.Just awaiting a date 😉 Brutie

Hey Toxic ! That's a great light shade and ingenius fitting. Very impressive. I just heard back from the Council .......they have agreed to lower the new lamp to reduce the glare and also fit a shade ! Wow what a result ! Cost £180 for the contractor and £8 for the shade - Council happily agreed to pay for the lot. I'm so glad I bothered to contact the council. Brutie

Well I ordered the bolts on Tuesday and they arricved Wednesday from http://www.westfieldfasteners.co.uk and I re assembled the mount and fitted the bolts Thursday. All seems good. I ensured that mount was adjusted properly so that the head will rock smoothly and the new bolts work nicely. I even managed to revise the fitting to my pier so the head fits a bit more snugly which will aid in easier polar alignment. Just one minor cock up. When I disassembled the mount there were two transparent discs (greased) one was same size as the metal disc with the grub screws, and the other is larger and is slightly larger diameter than the Nameplate badge. On re assembley, I fitted the smaller greased disc between the metal plate that the grub screws engage with and the mount casing ie at the back of the metal disc (Is that correct ?) but I can't recall where the larger disc should go. Could someone confirm its correct location. I should have written it down but of course I didn't , though I thought that it went inside the nameplate but for what reason ? Would appreciate any help on this embarassing failure in my brain . However I am pleased with the new smoother alt adjustment. Now need a bit of clear sky to do the PA. Best wishes all, Brutie Observatoire Brutie North Wales

Hi Peter, Thanks for that tip. Well I took the bull by the horns at the weekend and disassembled the mount. The side plates came off fairly easily with a small craft knife .....wish I had tried the hair dryer trick but anyway they came off without damage. You were spot on with the friction grub screws ....far too tight . A quarter turn to slacken them off a tad and the head rocked smoothly like Status Quo. Even the great big bolt unscrewed really easily. I went on and disassembled the two halves of the casing to get a look at the damaged lower Alt bolt and I could see the thread was damaged about 20mm from the end. I was able to remove the bolt by sawing it off outside the casing with a junior hacksaw then unscrewing the damaged end from the inside of the casing by squeezing my fingers into the space in the casing - twiddly but easy enough to unscrew..... I was lucky I had not tried to force it out as it could have got jammed which would have been a real problem. A large sigh of relief from me !! I shall either order sone stainless hex bolts (plan A) but will also check out the bolts from 365 Astro - if they are reasonable price I may opt for those. Thanks very much for the tips. I had never heard about the need to check the friction adjustment - I think a lot of users may have damaged their bolts if they were over tightened at the factory. I checked out the Astronmomy Centre website last night - very impressive indeed ! I hope that one day I shall be able to visit the site. Best wishes, Brutie

Hi Neil Thanks for that tip I will contact Zoltan and see how much they cost 😉

They didn't mention anything about me paying so I'm keeping quiet on that ! However I have read that they have an obligation to minimise any nuisance or light pollution into homes at night............teh light also interefres with my sleeping 😉 Brutie

I e mailed the community council today and they said they have added several shades in the area. Cost is £5 for the shade and £180 fitting . They will put my request on the agenda at next meeting on 19 October. Sending them some photos tomorrow. Will report back here ! Brutie

Hi Swoop 1 Thanks for that .... a very good idea and simple (which is always good). I may even have some suitable ,materials in the garage....I'll search it out tomorrow Thanks again. Rgds Brutie

Thanks Seelive and Peter . So stainless it will be. But........ Today I took the mount off the pier to remove the bolts and measure them for my SS bolt order, and to test the tightness of the head movement per Peter's suggestion. Two issues. 1) The uppr Alt bolt came out easily but the lower bolt did not. It was fine up until the last few mm when it just tightened right up and would not come out any further. It screws back in and out again AOK un til the last few mm so I think I may have a damaged end on the bolt....perhaps through too much force on the bolt at some time. I cannot see what's going on inside so hard to be sure. I don't want to force it for fear of damaging the thread on the mount. 2) I tried rocking the head with one bolt out and one partly out as descibed above. This was very difficult but after quite a lot of pulling and pushing I can now get it to move but it's not very easy and it moves jerkily which suggests it is too tight. It'scertainly not smooth at all . So this might be another issue for closer inspection. Is it possible to to open up the head to see if there's any adjustment possible on the head ? If so what's the method ? It looks like it may be possible to remove the circular Skywatcher badge and / or the Alt scale plate and get inside. If I can do that I may be able to see the end of my non removable bolt as well. I don't want to proceed without some advice for fear of messing the whole thing up. Any ideas guys ? Thanks ! Brutie Edit.......just saw on astro baby's website that there is are adjustment screws behind the Alt dial. There is also a great big hex bolt head ! So I am assuming that the other end is behind the Skywatcher name plate on the other side. If I could access both ends of that big bolt maybe I can separate the two parts of the head to see what us going on inside . I don't think there's much else in there other than a big bolt ? Ideas. Anyone?