Miguel1983

Looking forward to your findings, i have the STC Duo witch is awesome, so i'm intrigued 😊

An ANKER PowerCore 20100mAh powerbank to power the Daystar Solar Scout Quark that's coming tomorrow 🤗

Will do I wanted one since last year, but the price-tag kept me from buying one, this Solar Scout sure looks like a winner, even the Quark it self is more expensive, so, again, i hope it delivers.

Just pulled the trigger on a Solar Scout SS60 DS, i hope it delivers, only experience i have is looking trough a Coronado PST and a Solarmax 2 60mm from astro club members.

Like it, nice work ! PS, does your wife know you took the Dyson ? 😬

Well i didn't isolate my pier from the rest of the slab, as you've seen i do have a raised floor around the pier, and the warm room is fitted with floor insulation, so i'm pretty sure no vibrations will be transferred to the pier, time will tell.. Worst case i can cut the concrete around te pier, i've got the gear for it 😉

Yes of course, when you place a slab usually we're talking volumes of concrete that are not doable by hand so you need to have it delivered by concrete truck and if necessary get it on location by concrete pump, i guess this does ad to the building cost compared with having some blocks as a foundation, so i do understand the choice for a lightweight foundation. As for the ground movement, i guess this depends on the situation (size, weight, soil type etc...), still a tripod on the lawn has to be worse, try dropping a bag of sand on your lawn.

Nice work Gordon ! Hope the weather turns for the better soon, we suffer the same bad weather here in Belgium too these past few weeks, i've literally haven't done any AP for weeks now 😢

Hi, i've used these wheels, and i'm quite happy with them, the roof is 2,5 by 2,5m and i'm sliding it open with one hand. you can check out more pictures in my building topic :

great image man !

floor insulation (5cm PUR) for the warm room is placed Started varnishing the cold room floor.

Hi, i've noticed that almost every DIY observatory has a foundation that consists of some smal concrete blocks on witch wooden beams are placed. I suppose there nothing wrong with this concept, but as a contractor i have to ask, why not pour a concrete slab ? It might be a cultural thing, i don't now, but here in Belgium every house, shed or what not is on a concrete slab. Besides the solid and weighty foundation to build on, it's an excellent moist barrier.

Hi, the 0 position of the reticle is not nicely on top in the mounts 0-position (weights down), this is because the polar scope is screwed in so its different for every mount. This doesn't matter, just make sure the 0 of the reticle is perfectly on top when you Polar-align. I now have a PoleMaster, but i used to use the following method: -Place Polaris in the cross of the reticle using both altitude and azimuth bolts -lower the mount just a bit using only the altitude bolts so that Polaris is slightly above the circle of the reticle. -loosen your RA clutch and turn the mount in RA so that polaris is on the 0-6 line of the reticle -fasten your RA clutch and move Polaris to the right position using ALTAZ bolts of the mount -Ready !

Got some nice crawlspace left to fill with things i’ll never use again. Installed the lifting pier on the concrete base.

Yes, the 127 Skymax is a Maksutov. the AZ GTI is a budget friendly second mount, as i see it.

Working on the observatory part today, the raised observation dek is completed, height between the floor and the sliding roof is 2,1 meter now. I've doubted between stairs and a slope and ended up with a combination at the flat part of the slope i have only 1,74m headroom, so the extra step up is for preventing future headaches 🤕. I've also placed the door.

Hi again Dave, when i started the hobby at the end of 2017, i bought a used 10" Skywatcher dobson, a very good telescope, unfortunately, not the right scope for me at the time. My knowledge of the sky at the time was 0 so without a GoTo system i wasn't able to see much more than the moon and some of the easier objects like M42, M31 and M45. It didn't take long that i bought the Skymax 127 AZGTI package from Skywatcher, and i have to say it still is the scope that i use the most, i find it very versatile, obviously great for moon and planets, but also for open and globular clusters, planetary photography is also possible with this combo. My path took my towards astrophotography, so i expanded my gear with the EQ6-R Pro and the Skywatcher Evostar 80ED, haven't regretted it for a second, great mount and a great wide-field scope, both are trialed and tested by many among us stargazers (i find this a big plus when choosing gear). So my advise would be get something light and portable and should you move towards astrophotography, look for a sturdy and proven mount with a wide-field scope. The ED80 is also light enough to mount on the AZGTI mount, so that's a 600 and 1500mm focal point telescopes to be used on 1 lightweight mount. What was very helpful for me was to join a local astronomy club, i learned a lot fast and off course sharing the experience is more fun than standing alone in the dark 🤜🤛

Hello Dave ! Is het goedendag ou bonjour ?

nice flyby's 👍

then you also need a barlow, the barlow lens extends the focal point.

I made sure the concrete is very flat and level, so not planned to put a gasket in between

Concrete pier unboxed, there were some airpockets under the top plate, doesn’t really matter but i will fill them.

You and me both 😁 Every day is a step closer, i'm already very glad the exterior work is done so i can get to work on the observatory part, witch is off course the most important part of the whole building (don't tell my wife 🙈🙉🙊)

So i guess you need more outward travel on your focuser ? there are extension tubes available, but that would put your camera quite far above your telescope, making it more difficult to balance and you would have more vibration in your image train. Is this the field of view you have ? Doesn't seem to bad no ?

Today i made the formwork for the concrete pier and poured the concrete 4 dia12 bars 20 cm deep (there's a 80/80/50 cm base under this area) concrete pier will be 30/30/115 cm Some left over rebar from the workshop 4 x M10 for the lifting pier Job done Next i started on the OSB for ceiling and walls Made sure to have two 30mm tubes going to the roof for future wiring (All Sky, weather station, Solar...) Warm room is done Started on the telescope room, 30% done