Alan White

DPD person has been a few minutes ago, on time and correct day.
The odd thing was I was only expecting parcel from FLO, but had another one of plants delivered a day early.

I did note every time DPD deliver the person is named Charles! But one was a lady, another chap Asian etc.
Interesting how Charles is such a popular name across all sexes and our diverse population 😉

Anyway, I bought a new, yes new DeLite 13mm.
Just want an 18.2mm, but I can wait for a used one of those or the discounts if they ever come again.

40 minutes ago, DaveS said:

Well DHL delivered the mitre saw stand, so now I will proceed to mitre saw some fingers off.

I know you say it as a joke, but Dave, please don't! chop anything off but wood.
I see too much of this type of thing in my day job!!!
Be careful, be very careful indeed.

13 minutes ago, John said:

I have a dining / astro room as well. Currently it's housing 4 mounts 5 refactors, 2 cases of eyepieces and a 12 inch dob. Plus we are trying to re-decorate it ......

My what a fine room John.

47 minutes ago, Lockie said:

You can if that's all you can afford, Gina I only have one scope, a 12" vintage Dob which was a cheap curiosity buy. It's too big so I need to swap it for a 6" Newt or similar. I'm sticking to my guns here lol. I can't afford two scopes like I used to with a house renovation and a term time contract (latest expense £1760 for a new front door!) I'm sure I'm not alone. 'If' you could only choose one Gina which would it be  

open to donations (Only joking ) 

I think Chris, you have hit it on the nail, sometimes circumstances dictate one piece of kit.
Very interesting that you go for the 6" Newtonian choice Chris and I don't disagree at all.
But how would you mount the 6", I suspect it will be a Dob Mount based on your previous choices, but....

20 minutes ago, Gina said:

No doubt I've said it before but you can't have one telescope for everything!

Gina, it is something I say everyday as we sit in the Astro Room,
AKA Dining Room and the proliferation of scopes gets mentioned!
Funnily enough it is not received the same way as if it was said here 😪

9 minutes ago, Carbon Brush said:

Back to visual astronomy only? Or imaging with a pedal dynamo?

So very tempting, the Dynamo would give the imagers something to do while sitting waiting for the kit to do it's thing.
Must beat picking fluff from your belly button 😉 and exercise as well 🤣

8 hours ago, djpaul said:

You managed to turn it to fit your astigmatism with no issues then.

Well done.😁

Oh yes, took a bit of fiddling about, but once I found the spot, wowzer.

I think the location you are imaging in is the real problem.
Dew heater on the primary or fans i think lies in your future.
Good luck with this.
Please let us know how things go and what option you take.

25 minutes ago, scrufy said:

One scope only, it would have to be a 8”-11” SCT with Hyperstar. Remove it and planetary is amazing, put hyperstar back on and /dSO wide field at F2.

I don’t see how you can beat that for versatility with a 5 minute change out time.

Each of us has a preference, each of us has a different weather type and sky conditions to contend with as well.
I can tell you South UK weather is mostly wet, cold and damp, it's not the sunshine state here.
An SCT dews in moments here and cooling is a real problem.

I can report it arrived a few days ago, tonight was first clear (ha ha) evening, 
well the transparency was poor and it was very damp in the atmosphere, but needs must.

I used the OOUK OD150 f5 for a test run and popped in the 27mm Panoptic with the Dioptrx.
Well what can I say, that coma was my Astigmatism at low power, all very much nicer to view and
fainter stars are now visible 

I had a look about, did some general sky surfing, Double cluster was great as were many targets, 
I like the Dioptrx, but the 27mm gives me a balance challenge in the short scope, Hmmm, always something else.

Dioptrx works great, was not needed at 9mm but conditions were mixed so not a full test.
Was it worth it, you bet it was.

No wonder it is dewing if its at Zenith that long.
Best thing is observe and then drop away from Zenith so dew is not falling
into the primary or indeed lens on a refractor. 

Are you observing or imaging?

I have owned a number of Newtonians, always have Secondary dewing on long observing sessions,
but only once on the Primary Mirror.
Are you viewing to Zenith for a long period?

Ventilation via the tube may well be a fix, rather than heating the primary.

I and others have made vents in out Newts to vent the Primary.

This is the base plate that the Mirror cell is set of from.
Clearly the mirror sits in front of the holes.

Another identical scope, with different holes, belongs to another on SGL,
who has commented already.

You could try this first as a little air movement near the mirror may be all it takes to prevent the dew.

No dew since the vents added by me.

Milos,

Very interesting indeed.
The Translate works fairly well and is understood.
You will have a fine observatory once completed.

I look forward to the next parts as you build.

On 05/10/2019 at 23:33, JamesF said:

I've found the mere setting up of a telescope in the middle of a field at night to be quite effective at finding badgers.  It's amazing how quiet they can be when they're creeping up on you, too.

James

James you either have terrible hearing or well trained 'Stealth Badgers' your way.
Our Badgers are so loud in approach you know they are on the move 5 minutes before they arrive.

Blimey Billy, that's bright.
So unused to seeing it so bright or with all that nebulosity (see my signature),
that I find it rather overpowering.
This is not a criticism by the way, as I have great respect for you imagers.

3 minutes ago, Gina said:

Gremlins live at the bottom of the garden???  I'm sure mine live in the house and a few in my observatory.  I was attacked in my observatory a couple of weeks ago and still bear the wounds!!

You have to watch them Gina, crafty devils.
Just don't sit on a stair lift and you should be OK.
 

1 minute ago, KevS said:

As long as you don't feed them after midnight your fine😉.

But if they trick you, your in trouble.


Sorry to the OP as this is now so far off topic!

New Lithium Battery Celestron due end 2019, on FLO and looks most interesting if you do not have high power demands.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/batteries-powerpacks/celestron-6-1-ah-powetank-lithium-lt.html

1 hour ago, spillage said:

Where the pixies live..

Alongside the Gremlins of course,
all Observatories have those too.

Please see a rather long running thread on this under IAS 2019.
The latest plan is to use th FLO / IKI stand for meeting up with fellow SGLers.

Same idea, but I fenced my area, 6 ft high fence.
blocks the multitude of spotlights next door (main purpose) and
has the benefit of being a super windbreak as well.

Just read this Ade, fully understand the frustration, long drive or not.
Good to see that FLO are being very helpful as usual, so that makes a bad experience easier.

I too rather like the look of these mounts, but with the varying reports have always held off even saving for one.
But as you say the AZ100 is very interesting indeed, but again for me is a save up job if I decide one is for me.
I did try the alternate methods of fund raising;
but so far no body parts sold and someone else won the EuroMillions!

As to the riser and it's cost, the add on bits with so many things are always stupidly high,
I needed a cover ring for my Olympus Pro lens to cover where a bracket can be removed,
it's made of plastic, but specific to the lens, £35 for a small lump of poor quality plastic.

I wish you well with this mount and I am sure things will work through OK in the end, they always do.

Just wondering if anyone else has one on a Dob mount at all?

If you do, please can you share a picture.

Looking good now, worth the effort.
How long until you start moulding?

Post person delivered early today as I left home, only just opened the FLO parcel.
My much looked forward to 0.75 Dioptrx unit.
I hope my views will improve, may still yet need a Coma Corrector as well, you know how it never ends!

Of course I may decide to have more than one Dioptrx as well to save messing about,
Butt at £92 each,perhaps not.

Now in post from FLO 😊