DaveL59

hi Keith What are you looking at and is this day or night? I'm guessing Venus since you mention the bright one and that's the brightest object I can see at the moment, toward the west. Are you able to get a picture to show this effect? With stars you will get diffraction spikes, the number depending on how many vanes are holding the secondary. It's unfortunately the way reflectors work unless you've a MAK/SCT.

Was pretty pleased to win that Giottos and it seems good on first inspection, will have to give it a test later if there's a chance. I must admit that when there's a lot of cloud about I don't even bother to set the scope up, just take a peek with the bins every now and again. Quicker to scan over to a clearer patch as well a to pick up and point when I feel like stepping out back. Nowt as exotic as Leica here tho, I generally use Minolta 10x50's but now I also have the Audubon's for a wider view too.

the Giottos M5570 arrived this morning, looks very good, nice and solid and with the feet stored in the lower section seems nice and stable. Extends above my head height so should be useful for binos looking up at the stars. The quick-release plate has the regular 1/4 thread, but looking at it, seems its also 3/8 underneath, so looks like that can be reversed if needed, which would be handy for the manfrotto trigger-grip rather than using the thread adaptor for it. All in all I think I got a bargain at £30

Assuming the scope OTA is in tube rings what you'd do is loosen the ring clamps a little and turn the tube to get the finder and focuser into a more comfortable position then tighten the clamps to keep the scope secure. You may need to do that a few times as you switch targets around the various parts of the sky.

if you're prepared to look at used, there's this one on the bay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Skywatcher-Helios-102-Refractor-with-EQ3-2-Mount/303313185101?hash=item469edfe94d%3Ag%3AM54AAOSwCmBdm7at&LH_ItemCondition=3000|7000 I'm sure someone else here may have experience of it and be able to give some feedback. Comes via ENS Optical

The dob's get recommended a lot as the mount is pretty basic so is relatively inexpensive, the real cost cost going into the OTA and optics on them rather than a tripod and EQ/AZ mount. Likely the save "average" eyepieces tho? Funnily enough I have a sw130EQ2 with RA clockwork drive that doesn't get a lot of use, could be persuaded to part with it. It is the long (1M) tube version and RDF, No boxes tho so unfortunately would not be possible to ship it, I'm only around 25 miles from you if it wasn't for this lockdown lol

and then in roll the clouds... oh well Am really going to have to consider a better camera tho if I want to really see the night sky but this was just a fun distraction in the main and a purpose for a spare CCTV module, so not too bad tbh.

and as the sky has gotten darker...

so having resurrected the fogged up skycam-1 earlier today, I can now see venus is showing as the sun starts to fade

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-52229667 Apparently made its fly-by today en route to Mercury via Venus. If you got a pic then you're asked if you'd upload it.

awaiting the arrival of this one, Giottos M5570 monopod with tripod foot option. Hopefully it'll be more useable than the shorter Slik monopod that I already have.

looks exactly like the Tap set I have, they work pretty well and have been real handy on the car and on astro gear, cleaning up a thread or cutting a slightly larger one to re-work when someone's overdone it and wrecked the original thread.

Could you post some pics of it and the part that's broke? Might help us visualise what you're facing and may get suggestions from the group here.

lol know what you mean Peter. So today decided to give the internals of the lenses a clean to at least cease any further developments, just in case. Lousy day so was something to keep busy and not after a day working at the PC so eyes fresh enough. Only went as far as stripping down the top end so I could access the inside of the objectives and not have to mess with the collimation. Also cleaned off the excess grease on the dioptre threads and that now runs much smoother, seems grit caught in the grease may have been the culprit.. So just the scratchy focuser movement, likely the same issue but its smooth enough for now. Will touch the paint wear eventually and order new eyecups if I can find a suitable size. Internals look a bit dirty, gave it all a wipe over with peroxide on cotton buds including the glass internal and external, then Zeiss lens wipes and reassembled. Didn't dismantle the eyepieces at this stage, will consider that later if needs be but think these are more complex 5-element ones so a task for another day, perhaps. Collimation seems good still, but will check against the stars later. View now seems brighter than when I first got them and very sharp, so all-in-all a good result for a couple hours play 🙂

perhaps a carbide one? I'd say 12-inch or so attached to a decent angle-grinder...

so these arrived this morning, condition actually better than I was expecting as focus and dioptre work tho a little "scratchy" and I can get a nice sharp view, wow the FoV on these is wide! Body in good order other than paint wear as you'd expect from old gear, tho the case - perfect, no separation of the lid/base and leather strap intact - I've given the leather a good coating of balm to help it stay that way. Guessing the serial means these are 1978 vintage, I'd say they're excellent build, nicely balanced and not heavy. Only real issue I can see is what looks like slight possible fungus on the inside of the obkectives, barely noticeable but I'll open them up and clean that pretty soon. All in all, very pleased, been wanting a pair of Audubon's for a while and these will clean up nicely with just a little TLC I think Just tried them on the moon and venus and could get both in view at the same time, collimation spot on too!

just waiting on these to arrive, will need servicing and tidying up which I'm hoping to DIY Then there's these couple from the collection of many others and a very special pair I obtained which now look like this after some restoring, flocked the objective tubes and wow what an improvement that made to the image!

shouldn't be stuck if you've powered off fully and then tried again as I doubt it'll hold connection details in non-volatile memory

is the handset cable ok? not owning an EQ6 but I have read comments here before about the cable causing issues. If you have another that you can swap to try that would eliminate the cable.

did it not come with a battery box and controller? The EQ2 clock drive (simple version) the battery went in the motor box but the clockwork drive one I have came with the above. Isn't the EQ5 one similar, or is it just you're added a motor only?

I use a regular camera/video tripod (pyser-sgi model 520) which can be cranked to a suitable height. That's where the quest comes really, finding one that can actually reach the height needed so you can stand comfortably but is also stable at that setting. I do also have a Slik monopod which can also be used when its more convenient. My bins are 10x50 porro or lighter tho. I'd say if you want to go for the bigger (heavier) bins then you'd be looking at video and the more sturdy models.

the old coin meters were a pain sometimes too, if not emptied then you'd have coin but the meter was full and... clonk - no power

I've yet to make a start on repainting both the Tal-1 and the Tal-M was waiting on warmer weather till I get to that, so can't help the the coverage, but as Mark says the can should give an idea. Question will be how many coats you'd need to do. I was thinking along the lines of getting them powder coated but not sure what that'll cost or if its worth that expense. Plus there's something nice about doing the work yourself I think.

Sadly my sticker is worn to just white, but the handbook does have the Serial 0985 and date 17 Dec 2003, unfortunately came on a plinth in a cardboard box rather than the full crate

ok so out for a smoke a short time ago and wow its a hoolie out there, but the clouds largely cleared. OK thinks I, pop the OTA inside and swap the focuser. Off came the old, quick side by side with the new and... spot the difference? Yep is taller BUT the foot plate is a lot thicker too. So of course the original screws don't reach the holes So much for a quick swap then. Dug out the old mirror screws and they are same diameter so for now the new focuser is on with rather long screws. Will sort some better length ones later on when I refurbish it all but it's on at least. Bonus too, it reaches focus on the stars using the vixen EP's and the TAL 40mm so a fair result I think Didn't get to try the moon to see how sharp as it was only rough collimated after moving the mirror plus it's way too far east at the minute and the cloud rolling in makes it all rather hit & miss so that'll do for this night...