DaveL59

given a D-cell alkaline battery capacity is around 12,000mAH then around 1/5th the amount of time using the original 4xD cell pack would last. Might run you ok for an evenings use, only way to know is give it a try. Perhaps useful if you can make a lead with the right connector or a USB female to RA motor connector but modifying a USB extender cable.

thanks John, perhaps worth merging this one with your original thread too.

The synscan will draw more power when slewing than tracking but 2A should suffice. I run mine via a 5A tho and that works well, or a LiPo car starter pack via a 5A buck converted to regulate to 12v. All the wall-wart and brick type PSU's will get warm, quite normal but hot is a different story as that means its too loaded.

quickly followed by "wot no 'andle?"

bear in mind that you'll need 6v and not the 12v most packs will push out. Also 4x NiMh will be lower volts than 4x alkaline as they are 1.25v rather than 1.5v batteries, hence suggesting use 5x NiMh to get you 6v. Wonder if you can get rechargable alkaline cells in the size you need, might be the easiest solution.

very nice pic, well done! I've thought to do similar with my EQ2 mount that has RA clock drive and the old Fuji S100FS riding on it, one day perhaps if the cloud ever breaks. Limit would be 30s exposure on that camera tho but worth a go.

I'd test it with the supplied battery pack and see how it does. RA only should run for a good while off the 6v pack. Worse case, make up a rechargable one using 5x batteries in a 6x holder and bridge the 6th bay with a wire or dummy battery, NiMh rechargables should run a decent time and be low cost if you charge them up ready for use. No real need to try running mains out esp from a second floor flat - would that be dropped out the window?

oh my bad then, I'd not tallied John's previous alert with my first trawl around the bay this morning.

Wow this one looks to be a very nice scope tho I've no experience of them nor relationship to the seller https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Telescope-Nikon-100-MM-For-1200-MM/174525240117?hash=item28a283d335%3Ag%3ATvAAAOSwbYFftl42&LH_ItemCondition=3000|7000 Sadly out of my price range.

The screws will always mark the dovetail on this type of mount unfortunately, you'd have to replace the head with a clamping type to avoid this but is perhaps not worth doing unless it is a problem that bothers you too much. The risk of inserting something to cushion the bolt end from the dovetail will be ensuring that you have things well clamped so that the dovetail doesn't slip or worse disengage and the OTA falls off the mount. Depending on the scope and accessories you use you may find you need to shift the OTA up/down to maintain balance. A very heavy eyepiece for example could change the OTA balance point. Having a filler piece between the dovetail and securing bolts could complicate that especially in the dark.

ahh I found I got a reflected view with the regular bino prism in bright lighting but was able to damp that down with flocking and the wing baffles but on a roof I expect that'd be harder still given the light paths. Pity as it almost looked like a nice cheap way to hack a solution.

What sort of view are you hoping for, as Mars will look small in most scopes as will the other planets. You might be able to discern some detail in a larger aperture longer focal length scope but it'd still be a small disc. If your main interest is planets then perhaps something like a MAK like the SW127 would be a better bet tho it'll cost more.

caught a view earlier while having a smoke, mk1 eyeballs only tho as they were already behind the oak tree and getting close to dipping below the treetops and cloud rolling in. Mars was above the rooftops behind me too

ah ok, makes sense I guess. The TAL-1 finder is screwed to the OTA likely same reasons. Wonder what happened re the original purpose of this thread, did it get bought? Pretty sure I came across the ad for this the other day tho can't find it again now of course.

yep re the bino count but that Zeiss would so have been worth it, oh well... For the finder, guess I'll know when it arrives what the mystery part is, will let you know. Can you not swap the screws for thumbscrews to make it quick(er) release on your one?

not exactly sure, perhaps a mounting for the OTA to form the shoe? Hoping it'll fit the TAL100RS directly, if not I'll find a way to do it 😉 For sure they don't come up often so it was more reflex than think about it first lol. Prodded too by missing on a ziess dodecorum 12x50 bino the other day that went while I thought about it and had gone when I'd decided "yes" a minute or two later, doh!

argh, so a tal 8x50 finder popped up on the bay just now so of course I just had to hit the buy button, thanks Mark! 😛 According to the pics it has a circle reticule rather than cross-hairs. Will be interesting to see what its like when it arrives

so tonight I decided this old scope should get a peek at the red planet. Inside the conservatory tho aimed out the open door, much warmer and out of the wind lol. No finder on it at the mo so was a faff aiming esp as the EQ5 wasn't aiming north to make life easier in tracking. Still, the original brass plossl (20-25mm) and diagonal and got it in view and focused. Moved to the HM12.5 which gave sharp view if no real detail. Clearly a reddish colour tho with uneven colouring across the disc. Decided to pop the 1.25-inch diagonal and 8-24mm zoom in and much the same views, perhaps a little clearer but I'm comparing against a prism diagonal and a pretty old circle-V eyepiece. With the TAL x2 barlow added life got more difficult but again a reddish disc with uneven colouration across it, tho down at 8mm I think I was over pushing the mag. Still, the old glass got a look at the red planet, probably for the first time in 40+ years and it wasn't too bad for an ancient 3-incher 🙂 The new Celestron LT70AZ didn't really give much more if anything even with modern glass and coatings.

when you say "good, clear images" are you looking at visual viewing or photography as the latter would require significant investment. For the scopes you mention the Celestron 127 I'd avoid being a bird-jones format so unlikely to give good or clear images. The Bresser is a better scope in that regard tho at 114mm it'll be limited in deep sky viewing. Some more details in terms of budget, how dark your skies are and storage/transporting the gear would help others here to advise better. welcome to the forum by the way 🙂

you'd have to wonder how much energy would be lost in our atmosphere and what effect that'd have on atmospheric conditions, ozone etc., not to mention wings being cut off passing aircraft (tho the boing 737 max may not reliably reach altitude so less likely to be impacted)

ahh looking at the pic again the threaded hole is in the silver ring? You could try a couple turns of ptfe tape around the screw, perhaps, to help it bind. Won't last long but might help. Or even something like the sticky-back teflon tape they use on sealing machines, a sliver inserted into the hole for the screw to act against: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B089F77XNJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 or even onto the thread before re-inserting The above is the ALT SloMo on a cheapo Celestron LT70-AZ and firmed up the slop in the thread giving a nice smooth movement. I've taken to replacing screws on my gear with nylon thumbscrews these days to preserve the treaded ally. Doesn't look as plush but saves messing about and easier to swap a nylon screw than drill and re-tap etc. I did have to do that with the finder shoe on the TAL100RS as prev owner had already stripped the thread in the integrated bracket.

Depending on the screw size (m3?) then tapping to next size up may involve drilling the hole out to the required size for the next tap up the range and also opening up the hole in the dew shield to accommodate the larger screw. Real risk there of swarf being left inside the OTA which would not be good. A smidge of grease on the drill/tap may catch most if you work slow and careful but no guarantee you'd catch everything. You might try a nylon screw to replace the metal one, if lucky the manufacturing tolerance might get you a screw that is slightly oversize and would then bind to what thread is left in the OTA body. Alternatively perhaps a non-metric screw might work if similar thread pitch and a touch oversize?

are you thinking the screws that hold the hinge to the barrel? I'd not do those unless you know how they are secured on the inside, could be tapped holes or could be a nut that'll drop loose. Also if they aren't refitted exactly then you will affect the collimation as the barrel will be out of line vs the central hinge. Easiest will be to undo the screw top and bottom of the hinge then slip the two sides apart. Once wrapped/painted then simply reassemble and the two barrels and hinge should retain the alignment.

sort of. Under the trim cap piece at the eyepiece end you'll likely find something like this: The red arrow indicates where the set screw would be. You need a small jewellers screwdriver to undo that before trying to undo the larger hinge screw. Ideally a quite wide bladed screwdriver to undo that large screw else you can chew the slot. Be careful tho as the grub screw in there can easily split, being small, brass and pretty old. A drop of penetrating oil well before trying might help. Not sure on yours if the other end will be similar or if the centre pin will just slide down complete. I'd expect it may well be fixed and have a screw each end. If yours is tripod mount threaded the end screw at the objective end will be different as it'll have a larger threaded hole in the centre. When you come to reassemble you'll need to tighten this large screw to get the hinge to the right tension and ideally the setscrew will align with its previous indent, may help to make a small mark on the arm so you can orient it to about the original spot. Note that these are CF bin's, I've not had to strip an IF bino so there may be some differences but the principle should be pretty similar.

unsure if it'd be effective but it may well do, depending on the IR freq of the flood. Some are 850 and others 950 for cctv use. I'll update if I do need to go this route, I can spare off one to experiment if I need to. I doubt that'd work for solar lights tho as they use an LDR to sense light level. As to flooding with IR, I already do for the CCTV night vision, only issue perhaps is attracting insects but then maybe that's why the bat visits the area nightly for a snack 🙂