DaveL59

13 minutes ago, Alien 13 said:

Have been curious about the size of this rocked so found this which is interesting..

Alan

Now if there weren't a functional reason (as in fuel load) you'd start to think someone has a serious case of penis envy 😉

For those wanting to see it live, launch window for the roman candle starts 01:04 EDT, 06:04 UK time.

Sounds like they're more prepared to take some risk this time around, unless they find a show-stopper, so we may get to see the world's biggest firework get off the ground yet 🙂 

Angry up close and personal with Cosmic Girl

Shame none of our news channels aren't giving this much air time at all, way to encourage the younger generation that there's some potentially interesting stuff they might aspire to being a part of. I'd have loved the chance once upon a time.

oh dear, so some damage to the big roman candle then...

16 minutes ago, markse68 said:

I’ve noticed most of the Tal-Ms that come up for sale tend to be in rough condition yet a lot of Tal-1s look pristine! I guess they were bought for kids more and got a lot of use whereas the Tal-1s are a bit bulkier to setup and went in the loft after a few goes  

Mark

Not sure, but I noted when I collected mine that the knuckle was slack so the alt-az L-shaped section of the mount was flopping about and hitting the pier which didn't help the paint. You really do need to tighten the clamp screw like your life depended on it and then some. Also when packing it away into the box its easy to scrape the pillars etc on those long screws that stick up from the base for the bolt-down wood slats. Mine was used for the family tho so their kids did have use of it so some contributing factors perhaps. Either way, they're not so hard to overhaul and refurb and with the TAL's you'd have to go some to actually dent the tubes 😉 

Have fun. I used spray hammerite when I did the little TAL-M a couple years back, found it helps to warm the metal a little before spraying as well as use several thin layers than try for a good coating off the bat - less paint runs that way. Think I used several cans doing the OTA and pillar but it looks much better for it. One day I'll treat the TAL-1 to the same but that's still in reasonable shape compared to how battered the paint looked on the M.

Thanks Mandy, but isn't me looking to buy one of these 😉

If your skies are anything like mine at the mo the moon is swimming in cloud soup stirred by fast winds so not much chance of a good view or pic.

4 minutes ago, Carbon Brush said:

 

Anyway. Watching for November 16th. Hoping they have fuel calculations right, and correct pipe fittings, and kind weather.
Who suggested a launch site in an area known for tropical storms? Sunny Cornwall or rainy Scotland sound much better🤣

ahh but then it'd be tied up for years, decades even, awaiting CAA approval to launch 😉 

Might as well just roll it into the museum as a relic of a never-quite-got-to-be bygone era...

Thanks @Mandy D, never seen one myself so can't comment on quality but sounds like a luck of the draw then. pity as Samyang seem to have a good rep on their other products. 

9 minutes ago, Carbon Brush said:

If memory serves me correctly it was a Mars orbiter mission. Or was there another?😁
Not forgetting Hubble mirror profiling in metric or inch, requiring a service mission from Specsavers.

For those unsure about what units to use, lengths are measured in inches and sixteenths. Area in football pitches and volume in olympic swimming pools.

Only this week I had a USA customer asking about cable size for a large electric motor. I gave him a number in mm sq.
He asked what it was in AWG🥴. I had to explain to him that AWG is a unit that is peculiar to the USA.
Adding there is a small region, called the rest of the planet, who always 🤣 use metric.

aha! is that why the quick-connects leaked, an M??? tube going into a UNC hole? 😉 

2 minutes ago, John Wick said:

This? 

Urth Lens Mount Adapter: Compatible with Canon (EF/EF-S) Camera Body to M42 Lens https://amzn.eu/d/4SBgfar

 

yep that's the type, M42 to EF

Probably obvious but best to consider handling and mounting. No idea what that weight but you may not want the weight vs distance of the CoG of the lens to be just hanging off the camera lens mount, lest things distort or come away.

you should be able to get a Canon to m42 adaptor that'd suit whichever mount yours has. You might find one that has the focus-confirm chip but those are usually et for something like 50mm/f1.8 so won't help in terms of image stabilisation, but then that's not useful on a camera with no in-body IS system. Can still be handy if you want to use the lens in daytime tho.

You do want to be checking that the adaptor is thin enough tho to be able to reach infinity focus so worth cehcking any reviews on the one you consider buying.

I think somewhere here I may have a canon adaptor tho no idea what type of canon it'd fit nor where I put it. No use to me since I've Minolta/Sony gear.

Latest news is Time Magazine say SLS is one of the greatest inventions of 2022! 🤣

Also comments here on the ultra-slow CAA approval process for the Cosmic Girl launch from Cornwall that was hoped to go any time now 😞 

1 hour ago, Mr Spock said:

Is this rocket still a thing or has it gone the way of the metric system 😜

Definitely a thing but likely never a wonderous thing 😉 

is it not worth running both? That way you've network options down the road if you decide you need it.

Or just crimp a new end on the LAN cable, not hard to do if you have the gear.

So not an astro purchase tho it's spares or an extra file server, at least that was the plan, good price if unknown working state I thought worth a punt. Dropped off by the carrier formerly known as herpes... Open the intact box (slight crush to one corner) and noticed immediately that this box has had a few hard landings. Not labelled as fragile either, oh dear.

and the reason the front looks pushed out like that:

At best it's probably just spares that is if anything actually still works at all. Back onto the ebay seller to let them know, will try inspect further and maybe test fire it after work but it doesn't look too good huh. 😢 

38 minutes ago, david_taurus83 said:

I'm going to seal the new couplers with some hot glue to prevent moisture getting in there again. I always leave a spare dew strap left on under the cover to prevent condensation from forming and its worked a treat so far. I'm hoping the connector issue is due to being exposed to rain for a few hours. The downward facing side is bone dry and fine so hopefully it's not long term exposure.

sounds like a plan if it stays flexible tho its a bit permanent? Potentially you'd have to replace the cables either side if things fail.

I've used dielectric grease on the LAN and power connects for the CCTV even indoors and it works well, even the mini IP box camera that was hog-cam which is under a cover but exposed to atmosphere and that's been running for a couple years with no issues, not bad for a non-IPxx metal boxed camera. Makes disconnects easy but as said, if it gets on your fingers its easy to accidentally transfer trace grease onto things you didn't want to, esp if working in the dark. For stuff that's left permanently connected tho its good and does its job well.

WOW!

so they've proved then that the earth is indeed a flat disc and it has a bright blue border around the edge? 😉 

On 09/11/2022 at 21:58, malc-c said:

That crawler has done more miles in the past couple of months than it did in  whole decade of  the 1970's  !! - especially if they wheel it back to the assembly building once more due to yet another storm !

you never know, by the time they light the blue touchpaper it may have done more miles than SLS ever will 😉 

32 minutes ago, Zermelo said:

Well, one has just been listed on the Bay ... for £350!

yikes! Wonder if that's a pre-prod model and they're looking to make a quick buck?

So its on the pad and was aiming for 14-Nov but seems even mama natura isn't convinced it should be allowed to try to fly, now delayed to 16-Nov for a tropical storm

NASA Prepares Rocket, Spacecraft Ahead of Tropical Storm Nicole, Re-targets Launch – Artemis

ouch, that'll be the copper corroding, quite possibly from long term use outdoors as moisture would find its way into the connectors. Worth using some dielectric grease on/in all the connections to keep moisture from causing corrosion issues, tho be careful as it's not easy to get off your hands so quite possible you'll transfer it inadvertently onto your optics. That'd be a lot of fun to then try to clean up.

well the satellites are being prep'd at least 🙂

Cornwall space mission: Satellites prepared for first UK orbital launch - BBC News

Is that just a grommet in the case that the cable pushes thru or part of the cable outer insulation?

I'd not use superglue, it likely won't hold in any case depending on what materials the cable outer and grommet are made of. You could see if you can get a suitable clamping grommet such as:

iplusmile 20 Pcs Round Cable Wire Strain Relief Bush Grommet Electric Cord Strain Bushing Protection Buckle Clamp Glands Connectors : Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

Or feed the cable back thru the grommet and use a cable tie on the inner side so it can't slip out again. You'd need enough of the outer fed thru and nip the cable tie up tight but should work ok.

No idea where they may have been made but somewhere far east most likely, much as Dixons Prinz and Chinon brands were. I think one of mine was Phillipines made tho I can't recall exactly now. I'd expect they would be coated, at least single coated so a blue-ish tint. Never tried any Boots ones but probably they'll be very much like the Japanese made ones from that era (80's), so should perform reasonably well.

Thing to check is that they are clear and everything moves smoothly as well as the alignment of both sides when viewing. If all is good then that's not too bad a price IMHO, they'll be a bit heavier than modern ones, being metal bodied vs composite and so may feel cold when using outside at night. Do they have a tripod screw mounting (often on the end of the central hinge)? That may be handy to keep them stable if you plan on using them for astro.