DaveL59

welcome to the forum, as Dave has asked, which scope do you have as I'm sure there are many here who'd be able to point you in the right direction. I found it was best to get familiar with how it all operates in daylight, where you can see what's where and how the mount operates as you pan around the sky. Just don't point it at the sun One of the most important first steps is to get the finder aligned with the scope which isn't that hard, just fiddly. Best is to find a distant target in daylight and home the scope onto it using the lower power eyepiece (20/25mm) and then switch to the higher power (10/15mm). Once happy then start to adjust the finder so that it is centred on the same target and nip the adjusters so it can't move. After that you should find that at night scanning for your chosen target with the finder should have it in the scope pretty well. Always start with the lower power and move up in mag, adjusting aim as needed. Hope that helps

Hi Karen yes getting pics of the moon can be an effort given its like trying to get a pic of a lightbulb in pitch dark and yet be able to see the makers markings on the glass. You'll need to try and set the camera to manual mode and give lower exposure times a shot and see if that improves what you capture. If you have a tripod then once you have a setting that works, try capturing some video which you can then run through stacking software (deep sky stacker, Stakkert etc) which will pull the frames and overlay them to extract more surface detail. Something I've been meaning to try but yet to get around to. Otherwise a ND filter may help a bit. There is an imaging section here and in the non-astro lounge a photography section, you're welcome to contribute your non-astro pics there too Welcome aboard and have fun, frustration will be part of the game in finding things, figuring out the equipment, getting a pic and so forth but I think starting as you are is sensible. Wait till you're sure the bug has bitten and what it is you enjoy looking at the most, whether imaging is what you want to be doing etc before jumping into the pocket-emptying void of chasing aperture/eyepieces etc that seems to go hand-in-hand with buying astro gear

maybe give us an idea of your budget and what sort of skies you have where you are, light pollution etc. General recommendations seem to be 8x40 to 10x50 like Olympus DPS, ideally go for a waterproof pair, gas filled to save internal fogging up issues. Also check there's a tripod mount in case you want to use that later on. I've Minolta 10x50's WP 6.6 degree ones myself among several other vintage pairs, recently a Swift Audubon 8.5x44 8.2 degree FoV. Ideally you want a field of view as large as you can find, most 10x50's are around 5-6.6 degree. Roof prisms are more compact but also more expensive and maybe not so simple to use on a tripod depending on make/model. Above 8x you want those to be phase coated prisms too

you could try a weight on the rear OTA tube ring if it has a camera mounting screw on it at least there's something to attach to. Or perhaps a longer dovetail so you can add a weight under the OTA, saves drilling the OTA to fit a bar just to secure weights. Alternatively, maybe some lead flashing cut and wrapped around the lower end of the tube (if you can get the non-sticky stuff, preferably), protecting the OTA paintwork if you can of course.

it is a magical view isn't it, can see the rest of the disc illuminated faintly now its dark. Phone camera didn't capture that tho.

if only they did super-size ones so I could house my TAL100RS and TAL-1. Expect I'll either have to make one one day, or persuade daughter's OH to do it so it'll at least look right

same for any that are fixed (perma) focus, not suited for astro use. Are you planning to be hand-holding these bins? If so then you may find that above 10x they get difficult to keep steady which will make the stars look very shakey and hard to see. For hand held generally 8 to 10 is the sweet spot but you may find you can manage, hard to know until you try. Bear in mind cool breeze and holding them inclined upward takes its toll though For the bigger bins a recliner might help, or a good monopod/tripod or better yet a parallelogram mount and chair, all depends how much you'd want to spend and where you'd be using them.

I can't say mine's quiet but a lot quieter than when I first got it s/h as it was a bit graunchy. I've since swapped it to another EQ5 that so much smoother on the axles and carefully aligned the gearing and its much quieter now The original EQ5 is sat waiting to be overhauled when I get around to it. They only really get noisy when fast slewing though, once target locked and just tracking they're pretty quiet. I would say tho, I'm not out at 3AM or much past 00:30 especially on work nights so I'd generally not be disturbing them anyway. Noise will always seem much louder in the wee hours though and even more of an issue in warmer weather when folk have windows open.

decided to grab a shot with the phone...

I've generally dried silica sachets on a tray in the oven, didn't know you could zap em in the microwave, interesting tho they used to say it wasn't good to run a microwave empty and it'd be pretty much empty with only a small amount of dessicant in there, surely?

So on to the pier tube and feet. The feet are retained by thumbscrews that bolt into an inner ring inside the tube, which itself is held in place by 3 screws. Nice and simple One foot had lost the plastic insert when I bought this so I'd bought some replacements but they need trimming to fit far enough to sit flush First go I cut 2 rings above the foot, not quite enough so redone as per the red mark so only one of the collar rings is left, fits perfect now Guess its time to go sand these bits down, degrease and paint... Feels like I used 3/4 can of white on just the upper pier post though, and I still have the OTA and mount head to go after these bits, so it's already feeling like an expensive restoration! Maybe powder coating would've worked out better. Will certainly look further into that for the TAL-1 when I get around to doing that one.

So checking the upper pier section, its looking pretty good, only one tiny pinpoint that looks to have been a bubble/dust and came away, so gave that part a quick respray and left to dry while I strip the lower section and the AZ-EQ knuckle down. Starting with the AZ-EQ knuckle, the cover plate unscrews to reveal a 17mm nut that holds the knuckle at the set latitude. Its very tight so I used the car socket set for this while still on the pier post. Once undone we want to remove the bolt, but it doesn't just slip out, there's a hidden cross bolt that limits the latitude movement that you access from under the pier thread area: Once done you have a few parts to clean up for paint. I'm thinking I might see if I can highlight the raised latitude marks by touching over the relief part somehow. For those unfamiliar with this little scope, the head can be set to latitude=90 to use it in AZ mode, or to your latitude angle so that the head operates in EQ-style mode (well probably more like an EQ-wedge in fact).

Hi Neil, think you've asked this before in another thread? Only suggestion I can make if you can't get hold of an extension to raise the mount would be to add weight to the back end of the scope so that you can then move it forward in the rings to balance. You may need to also move the counterweight outward or add to that to get a good balance. How you'd do that I guess would depend on what you have available or can source to make something to suit.

between layers of paint I've been mulling over the idea of converting one of the nice TAL 6x finders to be RA configuration. Looks like I could fit a diagonal into the main tube and find a way to fill the slight gap between the 1.25-in tube and the finder body. Downside is that I'd need to cut down the finder body in order to find focus but might be worth doing. I've 2 of these at the moment, one for the 100RS and the other for the TAL-1 so I'd leave one unmodified. Looking about I'm wondering if a 45-degree erecting prism might work as opposed to a 90-degree mirror diagonal, any thoughts?

so 2 coats in and it's looking ok, defo needs a few more but so far so good Does make me think maybe a primer coat would've been a good idea even tho the can says can use direct to metal. Not that the local shop had any on the shelf of course, given the supply situation...

ahh that's very handy then Likewise moisture issues too in that case. If you do feel you want to cover the scope, something like an old Lido canopy would probably do just find cut down to suit, just don't use plastic as it can trap moisture and get condensation into the gear.

so feeling in a slow lazy mood, decided I really should get a start and paint that upper pier section since it's not in use. Have sanded it down to smooth the scars in the paint and washed it off with plain water and dried. Using a spare length of plastic waste pipe across the worktops either side of the shed seems to work to hole it steady and make it simple to rotate the pole to get to spray all around. Here it is sanded and ready to paint, will look at adding the post-paint shots once I've been able to lay a few coats down. First coat still shows the bare metal area (expected) and its about due its second coat now. I reckon it'll need 5 coats or so to give a good finish, will see... Assuming I can get a good finish I'll move on to the rest of the pier and then the OTA and mount casings over the next week or so. No rush after all

the summer house should be fine so long as you keep the scope sealed to prevent dust/spiders etc finding their way in and also protect it from getting damp on colder days.Do make sure it's aired out well tho after use so you don't trap moisture inside it. It would be worth removing batteries while stored tho if the temps are likely to get high (or low) so they last longer but also not leak inside the equipment. My scopes live in the conservatory which unfortunately can hit high 40's or even low 50's C on hot sunny days as well as freezing during winter. They've survived this with no ill effects so far and other than the step up into the garden makes it quicker to get out to play. I sometimes just point the scope out the conservatory doorway too if its too cold or windy and the target is in a suitable part of the sky

likewise for the little nat-geo I have, bought a regular RDF and a stick-on foot to attach it from Astroboot, tho you shouldn't need that given yours already has a finder attachment. Would an RDF really help though as you'll still need to contort to use it, perhaps a RA finder would work better?

thought I'd have a look with the TAL-1 tonight since the TAL-M is dismantled partly. With the 1.25-in focuser and mirror raised I used the vixen NPL 20 & 10mm EP's and TAL x3 barlow, lovely view. Even managed to grab a pretty poor pic via the 20mm+x3 barlow, with the eyecup raised it holds the note10+ camera just about the right height and level. Took me a bit of faffing to find the settings for the camera so I could get to advanced mode and set ISO100 etc and get a bit better of a shot... maybe I should invest in a phone holder to make it a bit easier in future, hmmmm.

I'd also suggest - avoid binoculars that are "perma-focus" - they do not suit stargazing as your eye's can't compensate for the fact that they are not focused at an infinity that is even close to non-terrestrial distances. You can fix this I believe, but not easily and for sure isn't something a beginner would want to be trying to do.

Not sure if this is the right section but thought I'd start a thread on the TAL-M that I can update as I get on with stripping it down and refurb bits. I bought this 1996 scope a while back, perhaps a year or so and optically it's excellent, mirrors in good order etc. The paint though has suffered during its previous life as a family scope and it only had the 3x barlow and 15mm eyepiece. Missing were the 25mm and extension tube and the spanner for the Latitude nut, though the TAL screwdriver and camel-hair brush (still wrapped in tissue) are present. It does also have the wood case which is in pretty good order and nicely fits in the boot of the car for transporting the scope around, still has the nice pine smell when opened too. So first up was to replace the failed foam inside the box with felt, so that the parts are all held snug and to remove foam powder from getting all over the scope. I did this not long after buying the scope. I should give the finish a sanding down and re-coat of varnish at some stage but its fine for the moment. I've since sourced a 32mm diameter TAL 25mm Plossl (by buying an older TAL-1 scope) but no luck finding an extension tube so far. One thing I did note was that unlike other reports where it was mentioned that you can set up with only the lower pier post, on this example the connecting thread is fixed in the lower segment. This means you'd have to fit the top half of the pier to be able to fit the mount head. Fine for me but was hoping to make this usable for the wee grandaughter so it could do with being lower. So after not doing anything on overhauling this scope I finally took the first step this afternoon. No not starting on the paint but adapting the pier so that I can use this as a short-pier. No sense painting the tube then having to drill and tap it after all So the 2 pier sections are connected by this impressive threaded part which is held in place with a 3.0mm set screw. Having removed the threaded coupler, I measured to offset to the setscrew roughly and then drilled the upper pier pole in the same place. Luckily I had a HSS drill exactly the right size to enable me to then run a 3mm tap through the hole and viola, I've reversed the threaded section and can now use the TAL-M in full or half-height config. Turns out I was slightly off in the offset so I used a dremel-a-like to make a nick in the thread so that the set-screw secures the coupler in the new location, a cludge nobody will see so no matter So I guess next job will be to strip the OTA, pier posts and the mount head so I can clean up the tatty paint back to a smooth surface and then respray with smooth hammerite white. Haven't decided on the OTA inner whether to flock it or try flat blackboard paint. I recall astro-baby finding flock wouldn't stick on her TAL-1 refurb so I guess I'll find out when I get to that stage.

I'd have thought most would last a reasonable time, tho given the tripod feet will be rubbing then that'll reduce paint life. Not sure that the guys that mark up the streets use anything special in paint type and that tends to last a reasonable time on the road/pathways.

make sure you have hammer turned off and use light pressure and also keep the area wet. I'd guess too work up in bit size unless you're able to get a suitable diamond bit

so I guess a can of fluorescent spray paint would be out of the question? How about boring into the patio slabs and putting in a brass disc at each leg position?