AdeKing

Great news as I'm saving for an AZ Pro but am still a long way off yet. 

Good to know that I can source from FLO when the Piggy Bank is full though. 

Ade

15 hours ago, Saganite said:

Very nice Ady !

 I had a champagne coloured ED100 once, but I sold that also. You can't please some people !

You have a bit of a Moonlite theme going on now. 

Thanks Steve,

I'm loving the ED120 and I'm grateful to @Grumpy Martian for selling it to me.

I do have a Moonlite theme going on now, which is an expensive habit. I'd like to fit one to my ZS66SD to replace the awful stock focuser but as that setup is pretty back heavy anyway, I'm worried that a Moonlite would make it too difficult to balance. 

Ade

Not the postman, but yesterday I met a friend and collected two new (and hopefully final for a while) additions to my astro arsenal. 

1) a new to me Giro Ercole Mini and counterweight bar. 

2) an ED120 of the gold coloured vintage complete with a very nice red Moonlite dual speed Crayford. 

Unusually the weather gods smiled on me and we had a cold but clear night down here in Dorset and I got to use them both. How often does that happen?

The mini ercole was fantastic to use with much more progressive tension on the axes unlike the Giro GR2 mini which I find a very much on or off affair. 

Now just need to decide on the fate of the Starwave f/11 which hasn't seen much use. 

My Starwave f/11 trying to see the total Lunar eclipse through impenetrable cloud........ Without any luck I might add. 

A new to me, though actually of 1990s vintage and still working perfectly, Manfrotto 058 tripod for my SolarQuest mount and Lunt LS60. 

Love the way that this model has a lever to release all three legs at once, which makes levelling a whole lot easier. 

It was lovely this morning.

Quick shot with an old Samsung Galaxy A5 from my front garden. Earthshine very clear.

I got one of these as my first refractor and despite now having several Fracs, including an ED100 this one still gets loads of use.

To be honest, I don't find the CA too bad, even when lunar observing, but I think that CA annoyance varies from observer to observer, it doesn't bother me much on the example that I have at all.

This little scope has given me some cracking views of the Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, WL Solar and loads of brighter DSOs.  In terms of performance compared to cost, I think that this little OTA scores pretty highly and I'll certainly be keeping mine.

Ade 

I didn't go for one in the end, I managed to pick up a used iOptron Skytracker for a reasonable price.

However, I'm still interested to know how folks get on if anyone gets one.

7 minutes ago, Ally8446 said:

Let's say your focuser resembles this one. As you look down on it there is a screw at 12 o'clock and one at 8. Fit the HGP so that the gold screw is at 4. 

At least, that's how I understand it. 

Thats how I understood it too.

Ade

I really need to get a move on with mine but need to magic some spare time to do it from somewhere.

I have successfully hijacked the end of this post, so I'm going to resurrect my old threads with updates now that I've been inspired to tackle it again.

More info here too:

38 minutes ago, Trikeflyer said:

Hope to see this at SGL star party next year Ade.  

Steve 

Not in its current form I don't have a long enough vehicle to transport it. Even my Navara pickup was too short unless you left the tailgate down.

Possibly will convert it to a Truss Tube eventually or maybe a split tube like @Moonshane did to one of his solid tubes.

1 hour ago, Tonyhaz said:

Looks foggy Ade, have you had a quote to get it done ? 

Your tube looks massive, how long is it ? 

Base looks very good, did u make it ? 

 

That was the image when I first received it and it was covered in dust. I have now cleaned it so it's slightly less hazy now but does need recoating.  

The Base came with it, I think it's the original Base. However the dodgy wheels and barrow handles have been disposed of.

The "tool rack" on the side is actually a small handle to assist with lifting it there is one on the other side and a third on the box work around the tube.

It's a 12" mirror but the tube is either 14 or 16 inch diameter and about 1600mm long.  I'm 1.8m tall and the whole assembly is about 4" taller than me.



Looks very similar to my primary mirror cell with the deflated bubble wrap between the mirror and wooden primary holder.

My base is in very good condition, but the mirror is slightly sorry for itself.

Apologies to @Stub Mandrel, I didn't mean to Hijack your thread.  

Your thread has however inspired me to get my posterior in gear, drag my 12" Dob out and complete the renovation job that is part finished.

Ade

11 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

It sounds like replacing the thin twist of wire stopping my secondary dropping with a thick clip was a very good idea!

I've added some thin aluminium plate with a hole drilled in it between the mirror and the 45 degree plumbing pipe holder.  I'm then attaching the secondary to the aluminium plate with silicone, and then siliconing the aluminium plate to the plumbing pipe holder.  I'm also attaching a length of string to the back of the secondary mirror, threading it through the hole in the ally plate and attaching it securely through the secondary holder to the spider so that if any part of the secondary assembly fails the secondary will be caught by the string and will hang a short way down the tube rather than striking the mirror.

As I've replaced the spider with an old Orion Optics one, I've replaced the secondary adjustment bar with a length of threaded rod with nuts to adjust the mirror up and down.

I'll resurrect my 12" Dob thread in a bit when I've made a start and got something to show for my efforts. 

2 minutes ago, Tonyhaz said:

Good ideas guys, and good to see I’m not alone with a darkstar Dob. 

No you're not alone, mine is in a worse state than @Stub Mandrel as the previous owner had managed to let the secondary fall off and strike the primary and had then refitted the damaged secondary the wrong way around.

I have a new secondary to fit, the secondary spider was knackered with several of the spot welds having failed so I now have an old Orion Optics two-vane spider to fit.  It also needs the hideous helical plumbing pipe focuser replacing with a Crayford.

Then I can test the mirror and see whether its worth re-coating.

3 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I've since added a synta finder shoe. I also need to think about counterweights.

A magnetic knife rack, seems to be a popular choice for attaching counterweights to.

That is what I'm adding to my 12" Dark Star now that my garage has been tidied and I can access it to finish the renovation I started 18 months ago.

Hopefully it'll see some use this season.

On 01/10/2018 at 18:35, david_taurus83 said:

My first foray into WL solar observing thanks to Gus @Knighty2112

An almost cast iron guarantee that the Bromsgrove Astro star party at Ledbury this weekend will be wet and cloudy!

I think you'll really enjoy it when the new gear Permacloud disperses.

Not much going on in WL at the moment, but there are a couple of small sunspots up there at the moment.

16 minutes ago, heliumstar said:

Hey Panda Alvin, I used AA batteries. I fully screwed locking clutch as per the manual. I don't think the mount can handle 1m tubes even if under mass specs. When you manually move it slowly via the app it's ok but if you use it as a goto around the sky and when it accelerates and stops you can hear the motor struggle. Now, this might be the way it works but imo the motors in use like that would be short-lived.

I'm regularly using mine to mount an ED100 which is 900mm focal length. It's a little bit shaky when focusing but the mount handles the tube OK on a goto so long as the tube is balanced.

I've also tried it with a Starwave 102 at 1120mm focal length. Again the mount carried it OK but the extra length meant that it was too shaky when focusing for my liking so I haven't tried it since.

36 minutes ago, Stu said:

What a lovely looking setup Ade. Bet the views are cracking too.....if you’ve managed to see any sun that is!

Thanks very much Stu, I'm very pleased with the setup, its definitely a keeper.

The white light views have been stunning, though lately only stunning views of a cue ball

This week, not the postman, but my friend Peter delivered a new to me Moonlite Focuser that has now been fitted to my lovely midnight blue Celestron Omni XLT 102ED.  

Here are a few images of it fitted to the Omni XLT 102ED in WL solar mode and I'm very pleased with it.

You can't do it normally as the sensor is attached to the altitude axis which can't be released.

I resorted to moving the scope and dovetail on a pencil until I found the balance point and then marking the balance point on the dovetail.

Then I make sure that the mark on the dovetail is roughly central in the clamp on the mount.

Not ideal, but has been good enough for me.

14 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

My latest contribution to the FLO pension scheme a nice SW Solar Quest mount, obviously after a few sunny days it's wet and windy today.

Dave

 

You'll love the SolarQuest mount Dave.  I was sceptical but picked up a used one and have been constantly surprised by how good it is.  Now negotiating a LS60 DS to go with it.

Works a treat with the ZS66 and Lunt Wedge.

1 hour ago, BlabyStarGazer said:

Apologies if I've missed seeing the answer to this if it has already been mentioned,  but rather than break my own Solarquest ...  has anyone switched one 'on' to see what happens if the Sun is below the horizon ...  a long way below the horizon ...  as in, at night?

No, like you I haven't switched mine on after dark. 

I'm guessing that there are probably altitude limits programmed.   You can program limits in manually on the AZ Gti and other synscan mounts, but I suspect that there is a factory set limit on the SolarQuest.