Waldemar

Kuddos for Bresser! I own a special set of Lunt unobstructed limited edition signature series etalons HR LS75F with a BF3400 filter. According to Andrew Lunt only 2 sets of these were made in 2008. Even he himself only had a single filter and did not own a double stack set like I do... They are still in superb condition, but the blue filter at the telescope side of the BF3400 filter showed weird effects, like the filter layer was dissolving I mailed Lunt and got a message back the same day, to tell me I should contact Bresser in Germany, for they are their European presentative. So I did and Bresser by the name of Wolfgang Quere answered me that I could send the complete BF filter to them and they would repair it free of charge... 10 days later I got it back, free of charge and free of postage costs with a brand new blue filter ... Now that is what I call SERVICE (yes, with capitals!)

What program do you use to open the cam? Did you install a driver for the USB-RS323 converter? What chipset has the converter, Prolific or FTDI?

whether you believe it or not… it works great! I use it on all my outdoor electrical stuff including mount electronics, astro camera's and so on.

If anyone is worrying about the electronics, this is the answer: NanoProtech electric spray:

Mine are a total of 17 Watts under a huge TG cover, so depending on the size of your mount & scope, these should do the trick, I think Btw: your dew strap may give up if the heat is not taken away by direct contact like on a scope.

They are NOT breathable. The only way to let it air is to not shut it tight with the elastic cord. Like I said before, a little heating device like skiboot heaters or the likes will do the job. Dew straps are a bit too low energy to warm up the space underneath the cover a bit more substantial is needed, just a few degrees will be enough though...

I use the TG365 covers for many years already and have never had any problem, but they need to be able to breath from the bottom side. 2 bath towels draped over my equipment and a pair of skiboot heaters underneath, will give extra peace of mind...😉 Some say to use a lightbulb, but that is too dangerous in my opinion. Too much heat in one place and the light is a waste of energy. Skibootheaters are very low wattage and keep the temperature under the cover just above dewpoint. Works absolutely great. The towels have a double purpose: 1 they protect the equipment as well as the inside of the cover and 2 if for any reason there is some moist under the cover, they will uptake it.

To make it simple: Measure the circumference for example 36 cm. I one hour it should have moved 36:24= 1,5 cm

Maybe check out Starlight Xpress fiterwheels: http://www.sxccd.com/sx-usb-filter-wheel Father Time 2019 is not dead, yet... and 2020 is not born yet, either. So... a bit early for a funeral and/or newborn party :-)

One more thing to check: The corrector plate and/or the secondary mirror come loose sometimes. That is important to check, because collimating will be next to impossible. That would be a legitament reason to get the price down, for the telscope has to be serviced by an expert or an experienced hobbyist

I have bad uxperiences with Norton as well... It is totally entangled in your system, hard to get it out. Needs a special programm to do that: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/norton-removal-tool/ Maybe you did not get the comport number right? You know how th change that I guess? What brand USB RS232 converter do you use? Prolific always gives me problems, not to speak of the Chinese stuff... Get one with a FTDI chipset. Most of the time they are plug&play, especially with W10.

😂🖖 Hey Dan, How are you doing? I see you found your way to more fun! Takahashi... great optics, but what DID you buy? Making me curious... edit: Sorry for hijacking the thread, people

The Baader UFC system is meant for scopes that cannot use a filterwheel, like the RASA or SCT's with a HyperStar system. In other cases a filterwheel is the more logical solution. The wheels can contain more filters (4-9) and they will be protected againts touch and dirt. The Starlight Xpress filters work very well and only need a USB connection for tha power as well as operating the wheel. I use both systems and as is said before the UFC system is very good, but expensive and holds only one filter at the time. Changing them in the dark is not very nice... Quality is superb, though. edit: If you want to buy the UFC system and don't know what to get, tell me more about your set up: camera, flattener, scope size and number of filters and I will make a list for you. B.t.w., more possibillities are available, just google filterdrawersystem and filterwheel.

Well, I think the best ones are the TeleGizmo's 365 series covers. I have a small and a big one, and never condensation under it, unless I close them too tight. The trick is to not close the bottom part of the cover around your pier, but give the air a chance to get in and out, ventilate. Mine is out summer and winter, so yes... 365! edit: In spite of the fact I never had a problem, I still use NanoTech Electric on all electric and electronical parts. Better safe than sorry! A set of skiboot heaters under the cover is an option as well.

Single shot through TMB 92SS with DS Lunt 75mm, BF3400, 2 x PowerMate, ASI 174MM

Hoi Marcel, No problem using a PowerMate with Lunt, I do that all the time. How is kind of depending on the backfilter you use. I got the BF3400, which is a 2" type and I use 2x or 4 x PowerMate (2")with my Lunt set, but as already mentioned by Alan, use them after your blocking filter to prevent excessive heat in the PowerMate.

Dave, I respect and admire your dedication to help this lady out! That is a rare thing nowadays... Chapeau!

Hi Tracy, in spite of all the good advices, I would buy a cheap 10 x 50 binoculars, the book 'turn left at Orion' and a comfortable garden chair. That will totally cost you about 100 bucks and will give you enough possibillties to explore the hobby and see if you want to go for the next step: a real telescope with all ins and outs.

Hi Ssuummoonnaa, For what I understand, you can't loosen the lockingscrew for the lattitude setting, for the lattitude adjustmentscrew is not attached, it's laying in front of the mount. The trick will be to undo the jammed locking screw and maybe you will need a tool to do that, risking to bent the little lever. Sliding a piece of tubing over it and in that way get a bigger lever, may be your best chance to unlock it... Then screw in the adjustment screw, set your lattitude and fasten the locking screw again before attaching cw's or telescope.

Your laptop is the big consumer in this case with 65 W... The battery pack is 82,88 Wh, that means it can run your laptop at full capacity for just over an hour. Other equipment as you state is 2A @ 12V means 24 Wh, so in fact you will be out of power quite fast. No chance for 5 hours use... the mount won't use 2A constantly, only with max slew on both axes, but still 5 hours is impossible. You will get 3-4 hours of use out of it max. Maybe better choose a bigger battery and preferably a LiFePO4 (Lithium Iron Phosfate) type. Safer, stronger, just better then Li Ion (Lithium ion) The Tracer batteries are nice, indeed. But if your laptop runs out of power in two hours, you may want to choose a bigger one then the 24 Ah Dave suggests.

Agreed with Gus. It is the secondary mirror. The further you are out of focus the more obvious the 'shadow' will be. Your pictures are out of focus, so maybe if you try focussing through your iphone, meaning first get a live view and then focus the telescope to what you see, you may get better results.

Cotton gloves are available at old fashion foto shops or internet: https://www.walmart.com/browse/health/cotton-gloves/976760_2571007_1424843 The Nitrile gloves are very nice as well, just what you prefer. Like you I don't like smudge on the edges either...

When going into AP, you better get the whole EQ5 to start with, instead of the EQ3 on an EQ5 tripod... That will save you a bit of frustration.

What you need are guide scope rings like these: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adm-vixen-type-v-series/adm-rings-on-v-series-dovetail-adapters.html You need those to be able to change the view of the guide scope slightly if no guide star is available edit: or line the second scope out with the main scope and one of these on the main scope: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adm-vixen-type-v-series/adm-vixen-style-universal-dovetail-bars.html In this way you can balance the guide scope easily and also easily remove it.

Mmm that is a possibillty... can't you do a recover from before the last update to see if that makes a difference?