Knighty2112

All these large 'facs  make my smaller f11 & f8.3 'fracs on my Skytee II look positively dwarflike!  

Looks like Amazon do them, so I'll tell 'em to expect a rush on them!  

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Raven-Design-Problem-Solving/dp/B01JZLEW08/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491438076&sr=8-1&keywords=joke+flowchart+mugs

Nice work Mark. Well done!  

Part 2: 

The postie was busy today with more Astro goodies coming in the mail. First up was a book from Amazon on Astro sketching (which I hope to start to do soon), next some Astro gloves, then a Baader Genuine Orthoscopic 7mm EP (thanks Grumpy Martian), and finally some cables for my 6/8SE Goto mount I got off Parallaxerr a few weeks back. That will keep me going for a day or two until more Astro goodies arrive next week! Hehe!  

To make it easier to carry out my long Altair Astro f11 Starwave 102mm 'frac to observe with I splurged out for the official carry handle to go with it, which arrived about 30mins ago.  

Part 2 of what the postie brings arrives tomorrow from Amazon!  

14 hours ago, DRT said:

Happy Birthday to me...

Happy birthday Derek. You'll love the Skyfi USB. I have Skyportal wifi for my 6/8SE got mount, and control it with Skysafari Pro. It works a treat, and it is so easy to select an object to view, and also control the mount too. Enjoy your new toys!  

9 minutes ago, John said:

Good answer Gus

Thats what I'm doing with all my scopes and eyepieces - evaluating them

 

Tricky work too. And how long it will take is anyone's guess!  

1 hour ago, spaceboy said:

That's a cracking collection you got there but I can't help but beg the question why ?? For the best part there is only 20 mm aperture difference between most the fraks and the OTA sizes are very similar also

Well, the ST120 was the first frac I bought new. The next was the smaller Saxon 705, but I bought that really for the AZ3 mount it came with really as the full scope and mount was on offer new for a ridiculous offer that was under half the price of a new AZ3 mount anyway, so it was a no brainier really, plus I don't use that OTA at all I just use the mount. The next scope I bought new was the Altair Astro Starwave 102mm f11 for better lunar and planetary views than with the ST120. The Celestron 120mm Omni OTA was bought second hand off here, and the plan is (eventually) to evaluate the best views between the ST120 and the Omni with the plan to sell one of them off. The ST80 ED DS-Pro was again bought 2nd hand (ABS) for a great price and I use that on the Skywatcher Stardiscovery AZ Goto mount simply for the lightness of the OTA and the better quality optics. The Celestron 4SE Mak I bought of Chris Lock on here so as to be able to use my binoviewers without using any Barlow to focus them like I need to in the other scopes, plus I plan eventually to maybe keep the 4SE in my car when I am away for use if I get any clear skies whilst away for work in the U.K.. And the big you know what scope which we can't talk about is just a glorified finder!

Convaluted a little bit, but the plan is to eventually slim down two or more scopes out of the collection. Only trouble is I need to get some clear nights to be able to evaluate between them!  

12 minutes ago, Highburymark said:

Great collection of scopes - why bother going to an astronomy store when you can make your own?

My thoughts exactly! Saves on fuel! Hehe!  

35 minutes ago, DRT said:

Put the pitchforks down lads, he isn't a witch after all 

Phew! Got away with that one just! Now, where did I put my cauldron? Hehe!  

1 hour ago, DRT said:

Couldn't we just classify it as a finder scope?

Silly me! I forgot to mention that is just what it is for my superior ST120 'frac!  

3 minutes ago, nightfisher said:

Houston we have a problem...........some one has snuck a newt into a refractor thread...........how should we deal with this infidel 

Uh oh! I see a crowd coming up the road with pitch forks and torches, and shouting something about burning someone! Yikes!  

15 minutes ago, parallaxerr said:

Thanks, I'm considering a 200P to go an the AYO with the ST120, it looks quite a lot larger than I'd imagined

 

Here a couple of images with both scopes on my Skytee II mount to give you a better idea of scale together on a mount.  

Just now, parallaxerr said:

Thanks, I'm considering a 200P to go an the AYO with the ST120, it looks quite a lot larger than I'd imagined

 

Yes, it is bigger than I thought it would be too, but a very nice scope as long as you have a good mount to support it. Only got it off ABS a few weeks back so not had a chance to do a lot with it due to the weather, but what views I have seen with it are very impressive.  

7 minutes ago, parallaxerr said:

Ooh Knighty is that a 200P and if so is that an ST120 to the left of it? Been trying to work out the difference in scale of these two today!

Yes, it is a SW 200P-DS which apart from the focuser is the same as the 200P. That is indeed the ST120 to the left of it too.  

My frac's seem to be breeding. And there is a newt and a Mak in there too so sorry!

9 minutes ago, DRT said:

Found them!

The handles are sold by a firm called WDS and can be found here.

They come without fixing bolts so it is worth contacting WDS to see if they can supply them with it.

I had to drill out the camera threads on the top of the SW rings to fit the bolts, which from memory are M8 10mm with countersunk heads. (check, don't rely on that info)

Thanks Derek. Will order a couple when I get paid. Cheers!  

And @Paul73 I hope you realise to us Northerners that Watford Gap services is most definitely a southern service station! Hehe!  

8 minutes ago, Paul73 said:

New Toy Alert! 

I really shouldn't be this excited about a new (to me) scope?????

Having met DRT in a northern motorway services at an indecently early hour this morning to do the deal. Here is my new SW ED130! Complete with a Baader Clicklock diagonal and a 24mm Panoptic that was kicking around in the case (think that he might want the eyepiece back at some point).....

Paul

 Nice! Did the handle on the scope come with it too? Wouldn't mind one (or two) for a couple of my 'fracs if they are available to be had at all!  

Drooling at the mouth!  Looks very nice! 

Here the article explaining offset focusers and the need for them in some scopes.

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-equipment/offsetting-your-secondary-mirror/

1 hour ago, Dakaar said:

Skywatcher Explorer 130. Spherical mirror not parabolic. Should I slide the secondary towards the front of the scope and have it off align from the Ep then?

This has similar specs to my old Astromaster, so more than likely the slight offset is required. I did read a long while ago why shorter focul lengths require this slight offset but for the life of me I can't remember exactly now. 

Some faster scopes have there secondary mirror slightly offset. I used to have (actually still do in the loft) a Celstron Astromaster 130eqMD f5 reflector that had an offset secondary mirror. What scope is it that you have? 

2 hours ago, kilix said:

Hey guys,

Sorry for necroing this old thread, but I figured, that it may become useful for someone like me, who faces the same problems with quirky movement of alt motor of a SkyWatcher AZ GoTo mount. So, I've read pretty much everything on the internet regarding this issue, nothing helped, what I did is this:
Disassembled everything, took out the motor+gearbox assembly. Tried to run it, motor running slowly still. So, next logical step is to remove the gearbox and search for culprit there. I did that, you don't need to worry about not being able to assemble the gearbox again. It contains about 6 gears, there is literally no possibility to assemble it wrong, those gears wont fit any other way. They will only fit the way they are supposed to be. Be careful though, there is one infinitesmall washer on the last bronze gear, don't lose it like I did and then I searched for it for 2 hours.
So with the gearbox out of the way, only the motor + pinion remained. Tried to run it, still no improvement.
Last thing to try is to disassemble the motor.
Careful here, it's almost like clockwork. Brush holders are thin like matches, carbon brushes are about 1x1x3mm big, which is not big at all. The retaining springs are made of some nice material, looks like gold coated maybe, but they are really small and can jump out during disassembly.
Here is the the motor, you can see the really tiny brushes in right-center:

 

and as you can see on this photo:

 

the commutator is covered with schmoo. So I cleaned the commutator, brush holders and brushes with tetrachloroethylene, then I applied contact spray. The commutator+brushes are shiny like new. Assembled the motor, BAM, it runs crazy fast and steady.

Apparently, the grease from gearbox entered the motor and fouled the commutator+brushes. So, next logical step is to remove all the grease from the gearbox, replace it with sane amount of nice vaseline and assemble everything back together. I also recommend removing the cheap grease from the huge aluminium gear and teflon pads and replacing it with some more useful lubricant.

Nice diagnostics. Well done!  

53 minutes ago, Paz said:

I haven't compared those filters personally but I got the semi apo after reading about them. I use it in the ST120 and ST80 for medium to high magnification of bright targets. I find it tidies things up very well. At low magnifications I find that stopping down the aperture and not having any filter works fine for me.

Thanks!  

46 minutes ago, John said:

This review of the contast booster, semi-apo and fringe killer might be of interest:

https://www.baader-planetarium.uk.com/en/pdf/baader_contrast_filters_US_ATT_review_0414.pdf

If it was me I'd probably go for the one that give the most natual looking views / tints even if some residual CA was still present. I suspect personal preferences might vary on this though.

Thanks John. I read that review already. The reviewer does state that the semi-APO filter is more neutral than the contrast Booster, but it could be like you say dependant on who views through them. Still leaning towards the semi-APO filter so more than likely go with this one.