theropod

Come on now Rattler, these are getting insane (in a good way).

What an image! The bar has been set pretty high now.

What an image! The inky background is striking and makes the galaxy stand out so vividly.

Looks great to me, and I have a look at M42 every time I drag the gear out.

I’ve been reading the thread with great interest. Those of us with narrow FOV scopes can, and do, have all kinds of issues with getting targets in the EP. I just yesterday hung a 50X9 RACI illuminated dual crosshair Celestron finder on my C90 Mak, and induced a winter storm advisory (snowed yesterday) and have only roughly aligned it to a distant (>2 k) lone pine. The old straight through finder became a pain during 1,2 or 3 star alignment, not least of which was silly thick crosshairs, and the 90° view will save my old creaking neck. I did have to narrow the distance between the mounting screw slots to fit the tapped holes in the C90, but my chainsaw file fit the slot well, and it made short work of the soft cast metal that the finder’s base is cast. I had to start the screws and leave them loose so that I could apply torque evenly to the Phillips head screws. I thought about a locking compound on these threads, but don’t want to have to apply heat/ chemicals to my little scope to get that compound to release should I need it to. Maybe just the torque I evenly applied will do the job. I detect no flexing or rattling. I still need some night time with my dual crosshair EP in my main scope to zoom in on a particular star, then make the same reticle type finder match. The Celestron “springy” adjusting system still relies on a O ring in the front ring, and I may drill, tap and install adjustment screws to replace it. It isn’t hard to do, if one is methodical. I also may leave well enough alone, and stop inviting a new glacial maximum.

It should be industry standard that if using dc motors to drive a mount axis that an encoder be used, and on-the-fly software adjustments as needed based on these encoder data be enabled. Even stepper driven systems can lose steps, and encoders could be used to verify, or other detect errors, in step counts. Wouldn’t that almost cancel out PE?

Long ago the quip, “The customer is always right”, died in a back alley knife attack. The perpetrator? Greed. Your NEW scope should come in NEW condition, and any dust inside the OTA should rightfully be placed there by the owner. Part of the thrill of a new scope is worrying about every little thing one does somehow harming the precious. That cherry has been picked from the top of your sundae. Replace or refund.

Had I produced this image I’d be crowing about it long and loud. Perfectionist much? 🙂

...and I thought my wife practically ordering me to buy my mount before my birthday in November was above and beyond. I’m showing her this thread!

Please document the gear train so that there’s a searchable reference for your kit. It might make someone’s life much easier in the future. Also your step frequency to get the drive rate right would be nice to know. I sure hope you get it sorted as reviving older machines has its own reward.

My male power socket on the Skywatcher EQM 35 Pro has a red LED that brightens up a 2 meter circle around the mount. It’s so bright I put a layer of white duct tape over it to tame it down some. My wife and I live alone and off the grid well back in the forest so crowds gathering around my scope isn’t likely. A deer just might rub against the mount if I leave it out unattended, but I doubt a couple LED’s could assuage a curious young deer.

Since it appears I figured out the basics of how this is done on my own nothing more needs to be said? Come on gentlmen, expound away on all the gritty bits! I live to see/photo meteors, and this looks like it would be/is too much fun.

I ordered a 9x50mm RACI finder from telescopes.net. A Celestron dual crosshair illuminating scope with new mounting foot. Supposed to fit my wee scope. I do so need it to fit and take some of the stress out of 1, 2 or 3 target stellar alignment with my Skywatcher EQM 35 Pro. Putting my head in those types of positions as currently required by the straight through supplied finder is downright painful at times. Other times my reticle looks to be made of ship beams, and block out targets entirely. I can’t wait to upgrade the finder with this new one, even with the “fun” of re-centering it with the main scope. Maybe then my goto targets will at least be in the finder FOV!

Another C 90 Mm owner in the same boat...

Welcome fellow night addict. You found a treasure trove of info right here! Too many (?) good people willing to help. There’s the “Been-there-done-that” squad that can save you all sorts of trouble, money and most importantly time.

Just came in from watching the event. Not 14°, but chilly here in north Arkansas. Seeing was above normal quality even with the moon glare. I didn’t attempt to get a photo, but the EP view was stunning. A very high layer of moisture (near cloud) began streaming in slowly from the SW, and the moon made that glow like a street light, so I packed it in. Laying in bed with my wife softly snoring and my cat warming my feet (also asleep) after some great scope time!! Dreams of big Dobs will probably haunt me...

Instead of cryo sleep make it a generational ship.

Welcome, Texas has some seriously dark sky sites well within striking distance of you. This Arky has found ONE THING to be envious of Texas about. Kidding...

Love those Jovian moons you managed. Looks very iffy that Arkansas will have clear skies on the 21st. Haz sad...

Looks good to me. Title edit?

I, for one, find this fascinating. I attempted to obtain my amateur radio rating once, and understand RF fairly well. Are the meteors reflecting an over-the-horizon signal?

I’ve had both eyes done, and it’s the best. Mine were the fast progression type and in a matter of two months my night vision turned into a study in refraction spikes. I could not drive at night at all as one set of oncoming headlights turned into 20. Afterwards I can see as well as, if not much better, than I could at 18. I still need readers, but that’s muscle degeneration caused by being older than dirt. I’d do the surgeries again in a heartbeat!

My Celestron C-90 Mk is sold as a spotting scope, and mine is a little treasure. M42 just jumps out of the ep. using my 2x Barlow, and supplied 12 mm ep, it resolves the Cassini division of Saturn’s rings very well. The GRS of Jupiter can easily be seen, and moon shadow transits are a treat. Compact, light, and superb contrast, uses 1.25” ep’s and punches WAY above its class. A full moon is blindingly clear.

The EQM 35 Pro sports this same screw.

No, not bad at all.