jock1958

Hi @RobertI I was out at 1am this morning but the views were unsteady and I couldn't discern any significant detail apart from the brilliant white SPC and blueish grey NP hood. Thanks for the Mars Mapper heads up will give that a go. I've been using SS Plus but the albedo features (when I can see them) don't match up with what I'm looking at through the eyepiece, I might be using it incorrectly?

I live further along the coast from you and views of Jupiter & Saturn haven’t been up to much this year and that’s using a Tak FC-100DL. Best views of Mars so far have been very early in morning when the atmosphere is calm and it’s high in the sky, also found the Baader neodymium filter helpful in cutting out glare & enhancing detail.

Inclined to agree with some of the comments above, looks to me that you have burrs around the holes and ridge that you describe which will catch on the new focuser preventing flush fitting. I would carefully remove those burrs and sharp edges using some fine grade wet & dry & maybe a needle file if you have one.

Hi @Robindonne Ingredients for my DIY slomo cable haven’t been entirely successful, I bought a length of sink / drain unblocking cable with home made end connectors but was unable to apply any substantial torque to the control wheel due to the spring action of the cable. I haven’t given up just yet, I’ve contacted a company that makes cables for the automotive industry to see if they can help out, I’ll keep you posted on that. As far as what you illustrated above it looks good to me, I prefer those collet end connections as you can tighten them up using a small spanner, the connections with the grub screws & Allen key might round off after a while.

Another fine sketch Mike but like Ade finding it difficult to eke out your level of detail. Atmosphere was settled & clear down here at 11pm with crisp views of the SPC and darker areas more or less matching your sketch, was using my Tak FC100DL & 3-6 nagler zoom between 180x - 225x. Also IMO the Baader neodymium filter is really good for minimising glare and sharpening up detail on Mars!

Very nice sketch as always @mikeDnight I was out after 10pm last night but the seeing on Mars just wasn’t up to much so knocked it on the head after catching up on some of my favourites in Cygnus & Andromeda!

Very nice sketch and colours are very similar to what I was seeing a couple of nights ago using my Baader neodymium & IR cut filter.

That hanging mill flexible shaft looks like it may work but until you try it you will never know? The last few days I’ve been trying to source the bits I need for my ideal flexible slo mo control cable and it’s proving a challenge!!

@Robindonne Rowan Engineering who make the AZ100 mount sell slo mo cables with an 8mm end connection, it’s 420mm long, not sure of the price though? I’ve been after longer ultra flexible slo mo cables with 6mm connections for sometime but there just doesn’t seem to be anything around, it’s that bad I’m seriously looking at making my own! There was a couple of vintage Takahashi cables on eBay recently that would have suited my needs, but was pipped at the post 🙁 In the meantime I’ve made do with a couple of Skywatcher cables joined together until I find something more suitable 🤔

Thanks @John I was out at 5am and had a similar experience as yourself through my Tak 100DL & TV 3-6 zoom at 225x - 300x. Even though Mars was high in the sky and atmosphere calm the seeing wasn’t consistent with only occasional detailed glimpses of the darker areas and SPC, am I hoping for too much with my ageing eyes?

Tell you what Mike I absolutely love your sketches, I think they are far more representative of what a visual observer is likely to see through the eyepiece than some glossy photos. If you ever decide to sell copies of them I would be first in the que to buy one! Thanks for sharing and love that little Mars globe 😊

My view of the Veil is exactly the same as you described from my back garden....faint & wispy and thats using a Lumicon OIII filter with Bortle 5 skies.

Another person to join the 100DZ club! Are you the second owner of one on SGL? Looks fantastic and I’m sure you will love it 😊

Even though it’s an expensive App I think I will pull the trigger and buy it before they bump it up to £40 I assume?

Just checked the price for the SS 6 Pro and it’s £19.99 so I assume this is still the sale price?

Cheers Stu, I’ll keep my eye out for a deal or just bite the bullet and get the expensive version 👍

Hi Stu , what version of SkySafari have you got the 6 Pro (£19.99) or 6 Plus (£6.99)? bit of a difference in prices there so assume you get lots more goodies in the Pro version? I was wondering why I couldn't do a lot with my bog standard SkySafari app lol! Cheers

Ahh that’s a shame @johnfosteruk ☹️ When I looked at the pics I thought £75 was a real bargain especially for its condition and the inclusion of original tripod & mount. This old saying springs to mind “If sounds to good to be true it probably is” 😩

I paid a lot more for my 100RS and that was without tripod & Mount, if I didn’t already own a 100RS and a Tak 100DL I would have driven to Plymouth this one!

Just noticed this Tal 100R for sale on Gumtree for £75 and from the pics it looks to be in excellent condition and a real snip at that price!

Try SCTelescopes in Tonbridge run by a guy called Steve Collingwood. I know he services Telescopes not sure about eyepieces though?

Been looking at this Mount or the Omegon Az baby for my Tak FS60Q. Any further feedback on this little Mount @TSRobot ?

Cracking image Matthew. I went to Cape Town a couple of years ago and like you couldn’t get my head around Orion upside down and so high in the sky!

Ahh I see your issue @Robindonne 8mm is too big and like you say it fouls the body of your Mount! You can buy control cables that will fit your Mount from FLO for £20, part number 20485. There’s other vendors that sell the same sort of cables as well.

All the end fittings of my slo mo cables are approximately the same internal diameter of 6.25 mm and slo mo stub shafts on my Skytee 2 & Vixen mounts are approx 6.0mm outside diameter with flats on for the grub screws to tighten onto. Have you any pics of your problem?