sonnymoon

Hello, I have an Uno not a linear, but just wanted to say that Avalon's customer support is excellent and so it may be worth emailing to see what they say. I did notice on their website that they have a new Mzero designed for low latitude, although whether that's suitable will depend on your payload.....

Ah, I've only ever owned an ED80, but I was under the impression that longer focal lengths do better with an OAG. Thats good news if all is well with a regular guide scope.

Hi Tony, can I ask if you use an off axis guider to guide the esprit? Being largely marooned in London without much sky visible I tend to image objects that are near the zenith early in the evening when even my ED80 only just makes it without bumping into the mount (If I have started tracking before the meridian crossing). But I imagine even with the Esprit if you are imaging nearer the horizon e.g m20 in the summer, then it should track across the meridian without a flip and without hitting the mount. Is that your experience? I do love the Uno I have to say..... Chris

Thanks Adam, I hadn't thought of it like that, but yes more in terms of what I can get for 2K or so.

It's the old scope upgrade question again. I want more focal length than my ed80, although the Esprit 120 isn't really that much more (840 compared to 510 with the reducer) but it should make some difference. I'm drawn to another refractor due to the relative simplicity and lack of collimation etc. It'll be used with a Zwo 1600 and an Avalon Uno. Deep sky astrophotography is what I'll be using it for; no visual. Any thoughts? Cheers

Hi Jose, If you have flips sorted then probably no need for the Uno! Like the Linear it is superbly made, no backlash, no maintenance and tracks very well. Stargo works well with SGP. Luciano replies to emails himself (he's the boss at Avalon as far as I know) and there is now a forum on their website. Although not many people have these mounts I have never read a bad word about them on the net. Best purchase I have made recently aside from my Golf GTI and my North Face parka

Thanks for your replies. May or June does seems like the best bet

Theres always the Avalon Uno? Single arm and no meridian flip (more often than not, depending on which part of the sky you are tracking and the length of your scope). Still fairly portable. I have one and I'm very pleased with it.....

I’m planning a trip and have had a good look at a lot of the useful information on here but just wondering about thoughts on best time of year when it comes to weather and cloud cover ? I know there’s the option of getting above the clouds which I will certainly do but it would also be good to image from wherever I am staying (haven’t got that far yet) on the west of the island. Any thoughts / experiences will be appreciated Chris

I have an eagle3q which works well. I don’t find the WiFi connectivity to be very good though, the range is only about 20-25 feet, although this could possibly be improved with bigger ‘aerials’ on my laptop and on the eagle. Prima Luce labs said to me that other WiFi signals in the area can interfere with it, which may be the cause of the WiFi issues, so I use a 60 ft cat 5 cable to connect it so that I can operate it from indoors using Microsoft Remote Desktop.

Hi Piero, its this one - stock ed80 . It’s got a sesto senso attached at the moment . Hope you can see the Allen key heads....

So I've got my laser collimated and my paper circle with the middle marked on the objective lens and the red dot is a little bit off centre. Probably worth getting dead centre with a little adjustment however I can't work out how to adjust this. The focuser seems to be a very tight fit in the tube. I have read the Tommy Nawratil guide which seems to me to be about adjusting the grip strength of the focuser rather than having it exactly centred in the shaft. Do I have to take the focuser out and use a spacer of some kind?

Much appreciated Jock1958, thanks for taking the time to post the photos, makes your approach much clearer.

Thanks for clarifying , John. That makes sense.

One more thought. If I line up the focuser and then shine the laser through the scope and there are still two points of light that hit the wall (or the floor), overlapping or otherwise, does that mean the lens cells needs collimating?

Thanks Jock for the tips. There’s no adjustment of the lens cell on my ed80 as far as I know so lining up the focuser in the draw tube and getting the correct distance between the FF and the sensor is the best that can be done. all the best Chris

Thanks for both of your replies, very speedy and helpful. Cheers

It's an ED80 with the stock focuser. I think there is some astigmatism somewhere as my stars can be a little stretched and so I want to see if I can use a collimating laser to check if the focuser is in straight. (I'm also going to make a determined effort to get the spacing right between the FF//FR and the sensor, but that's another story). I can't see any threads that get into the detail of lining up the focuser with a laser. If I put the laser in with the target bit facing up, then the red dot that bounces back off of the lens is slightly off centre on the target on the collimator. If I loosen the screws, turn through 90deg, retighten and look again, then the red dot is in a different place and so on all the way through 360 deg. I'm thinking that the red dot should be central (as when collimating a Dob that I used to have). Is that right? It may be that the laser needs collimating, but I'm not sure how to do that. Any advice on whether this approach is going to get me anywhere would be appreciated.

thanks for the replies; hadn’t heard of that before. I’ll do a bit of fiddling and see if it goes away. Haven’t read the cloudy nights post yet, but wonder if it’s more prone in relation to certain filters than others. All the best

Just wondering if anyone knows what's going on here with Alnitak? I'm not sure if its the scope or the sensor, or an alien megastructure....? Taken in Ha in a white zone, 24x180secs, gain 150, stacked in dss with darks and flats. I've pushed the brightness so you can more clearly see what has happened to the star... ED80, Zwo 1600mm pro, Avalon Uno Thanks very much, any thoughts gratefully received.