cletrac1922

John Welcome from Land Down Under You travel the universe in this forum John

Hi Buddy If you in South East Queensland, then rock up to one of our local clubs, members their only too helpful assist Sirius Optics also have a monthly night at their Underwood store, and very knowledgeable club members attend as well John

Stephanos First of all welcome from Land Down Under For viewing, cannot go past a Dob, for imaging you definitely need EQ mount with GoTo I have a 10" Dob, for viewing, and when doing presentations in primary schools and scout groups with my club, very easy to set up For imaging, have a Skywatcher ED80 on EQ5pro mount You are also able to use the ED80 for viewing as well I also mount my SolarMax11 on my EQ5 mount

Welcome from Land Down Under John

Adam Welcome from Land Down Under Number of steps first need to establish As Michael stated, what type of scope you have, and you use away from home If is is a Dob, how long have you had it, and what makes you think has a collimination issue I am out 2 or 3 times per month with my club doing presentations with my club primary schools, scout groups, and very rarely need to colliminate my 10" flex Dob I have become the go to person in my club for colliminiating Dobs Rock up to your local club, and members there will only be too happy to assist u John

Welcome from Land Down Under If you in Charleston, South Carolina, them from across the ditch, Pacific Ocean John

Domica Welcome from Land Down Under Since he is planning in the future to upgrade, you cannot go wrong with an assortment of 1.25" filters I have an assortment for Lunar, and viewing planets #25A Red brings out polar caps on Mars #38A for spot on Jupiter ND96 for lunar viewing The attached link gives you a description of fiters https://www.myastroshop.com.au/guides/filters.asp John

Claire Welcome from Land Down Under If you and your partner ever make it down here, show you both the southern sky Southern Cross, known as The Crux, which contains the Jewel Box, Coalsack Nebula. In Centaurus we have Omega Centauri close by to The Crux When I do presentations in primary schools, and scouts groups, I also talk on Australian Indigenous Astronomy, which dates back over 30,000 years Was taught to me by the Elders when only a child, growing up on family farm rural Victoria Google Emu In The Sky Hope you both have lot of fun with your new scope Out of curiosity, what sort of scope did he buy you John

Brendan I have been frustrated with the SynScan App since brought the WiFi adapter 12 months ago Been southern hemisphere everything is round the other way I use a compass the align the mount, and the north leg has to be facing south, and allowing 12 deg east magnetic variation When do two alignment, I select Sirius and then Canopus when using the SynScan hand controller select save once aligned With the SynScan App, I select Sirius as my first star, and mount skews close to it, then us up/down, left/right buttons to center This is where my problem is The instructions is up and right to save, I do not get confirmation been saved When do second star alignment, the App selects a lists of stars which it thinks you can observe, half the time not been able to identify the star the App wants, and not able to select the one I want, visible Have you had any success using the SynScan App saving your two star alignment and star of your choosing for the second star I also use the App, for my SolarMax 11, on my EQ5pro mount, and when select solar, gives an equation to solve, and type in the answer Example 123 + 456 = John

Jon First of all welcome from Land Down Under Lets go back to basics, without WiFi or any other connection I also have the SynScan WiFi adapter, and use with no issues Very helpful when using with my SolarMax 11 on my EQ5pro mount solar viewing mode When you setting up your Dob, you putting base on a ground sheet to stop moisture in the ground damaging the chipboard construction Finder scope aligned to primary mirror, do this in day time, when can make out an object about 2 kms away, such as a tree, phone tower Step 1 U have the base facing north, using a compass to allow for magnetic variation Where I am magnet variation is 12deg east Step 2 Power up the SynScan controller What are you using as power source I use a car jump start battery Step 3 Put in your GPS location, remembering Northern Hemisphere is + and Southern Hemisphere is -, Date and time Ignore daylight saving settings, as our solar system does not know about that Step 4 Do a two star alignment This time of your I use Sirius and Canopus, and save Step 5 Search Objects, and first option select the moon, and scope should slew to it, then use up down, left right buttons on medium speed to fine tune, and should be visible in eyepiece and finderscope Step 6 Search for other objects, currently we have Orion overhead, and should be able to see Orion Nebula Step 7 Shut down If you intend to use same location in your backyard to observe from, then select home, and the Dob with return to your start point Next time you power up, GPS setting will be saved in SynScan controller, and just need to do date adjustment, and verify your two star alignment Now you can try using the WiFi adapter with the SynScan App Hope have been of assistance John

Hi Ant Welcome from Land Down Under I have a EQ5pro mount now for over 10 years with a ED80 mounted on it 12 months ago, I purchased a SolarMax 11, and fits the same mount I had to update the firmware in my SynScan controller, assume you have Version 3 as well My astronomy shop updated the firmware for me, when purchased the Solarmax, as they had updated files stored on their work laptop The attached pic was taken at a recent club solar public viewing day, and mount in background is also an HEQ5 Few of the club members have also updated their HEQ mounts from gear to belt drive conversion kit I also recently purchased the WiFi adapter, and downloaded the SynScan App Hope I have been of assistance John

Martin Welcome from Land Down Under My club also holds regular public viewing nights, and visitors as welcome at our monthly meet as well As a club, we also go into primary schools, scout groups and do presentations Last night was trying to catch Neptune adjacent to Venus, unfortunately cloud cover rolled in and will try again tonight The attached pic was taken at one of our recent solar public viewing days, held on the foreshore Goldcoast adjacent to SeaWorld theme park We also do public display in conjunction with our local Lions Club, fun raiser for them, International Night of The Moon, and have between 400 - 600 people turn up through local advertising community newspaper Club members will only be too happy to show you their setup and equipment At the moment, we do not have Jupiter and Saturn visible night sky until late April, early May Hope I have been of assistance John

Simon I just leave mount on the tripod with counter weight attached. I have a big SUV wagon, and when do presentations with my club, the Dob and mount sit on back seat, and just tie Dob back to rear head rest support, to stop rolling off the seat The mount and tripod in back cargo compartment, just with an old blanket around to protect Have couple of aluminum cases as well One has all my eyepieces, compass, collimator, filters and other bits and pieces The other one the tray for tripod, hand control and hand control mount, cables I also have the WiFi adapter as well, and downloaded the SynScan App The attached pic is on my ED80 on EQ5 pro mount, showing my eyepiece case I carry a small fold up table also to put things on Pic was taken at a recent solar viewing day, on the foreshore, and invited public to view through scopes as well The ED80 in background, is on a HEQ5 mount, and shows camera setup as well I use a car jump start pack to power the my mount and SynScan Hope been of assistance John

Simon Welcome back from Land Down Under I am out 2 or 3 times a month with my club doing presentations in schools and scout groups My EQ5pro mount has spiked feet, and adjust legs, until head is level, and use ED80 as well Where I am, have to face north leg of tripod, to face south, and use a compass to align, allowing for magnetic variation When use my 10" flex dob, I put down ground sheet, to protect the chip board of dob mount from moisture Have know some club members who have set payers in their lawn, and they just put down a bit of road base first, and ensured the paver was slightly below ground level, to enable mowing John

Frank Would definitely go for ED80 or even ED100 these days I have an ED80 on EQ5pro mount, and also use same mount for my SolarMax 11 Attached pic taken at recent club solar viewing day of my ED80 In background is another ED80 on an HEQ5 mount, camera fitted John

First of all welcome from Land Down Under Did you buy the scope new or second hand? Definitely sounds like a collimation issue If you not able to resolve focus issue, then rock up one night to your local astronomy club, the guys there will only be too happy to resolve your issues, and same time show you their gear as well With my club, I have become the goto guy for Dob scopes Had new member recently, and brought a scope second hand 8'' Dob he brought on Gumtree, had similar issue When looked down the tube, noticed that the secondary was not centered, and used bit of paper to mark off the supporting veins, and the secondary was off to one side Once fixed that, then used a laser collimator, and to align secondary and primary, and had perfect image John

Have same issue with my wife, when use very religious T-shirts to mow the yard, remind you, do have a 2000 sq metre block to maintain, which is standard size for housing estate live on I just use distilled water, and moistened ball of cotton wool to clean my Dob mirrors and eyepieces Not sure what chemicals are impregnated in commercial wipes John

Mick Welcome from Land Down Under Agree with all previous comments, great pics Moon rising, you have caught it at the right moment John

Welcome from Land Down Under You travel the universe in this forum John

What I think you have detected is SpaceX Starlink broadband internet constellation satellites train Was another group of 60 launched just prior to Xmas, and the main observatory in Chile been complaining about them as well Get used to it, with more to be launched shortly Lot of info online about them John

Baz First of all welcome from Land Down Under The trick with solar viewing The hard plastic cover has a removable cap, and the cap fits over the other non-removable detent for storage On the underside of the hard cover, just sticky tape some baader visual solar film I have also made up a cap for the finderscope, using plastic cap off an aerosol can, and cardboard tubing John

Ron How is things across the ditch, Pacific Ocean Nice to have you aboard You going to watch the SpaceX Crew Dragon Launch Escape Test on the NASA channel on saturday morning, your time Full details on the NASA APP John

Venus is covered from think layer of CO2, caused by greenhouse effect, due to volcanic action on the planet The brightness of Venus is caused by the sun reflecting off this CO2 layer Due to this think CO2 layer, we are not able to see the surface of Venus The attached pic taken during the transit of Venus in 2012, with camera of my android phone to the eyepiece, hence not good image That day, our club had a public viewing on the foreshore of the goldcoast I left my ED80 on EQ5pro mount as visual, while other club members imaged ever 10 to 15 minutes The entire transit lasted about 8 hours

Baz I just purchased from my local astronomy shop Where you are, FLO should be able to supply Only need one sheet I also made a cap for my finderscope as well, using aerosol can plastic caps, and piece of cardboard tube

First of all welcome to the forum from Land Down Under Personally, I will be sending whole lot back, getting full refund, and because of all the issues, also send COD, and pay no delivery charges to return, as entire unit is faulty, then go elsewhere to purchase When things like this happen, puts a damper on the whole astronomical experience Wishing you all the best John