DaveL59

oh dear! that's a pretty flimsy tripod for starters but the way the mount wobbles about sure won't help at all. Can it not clamp tighter ( a screw underneath that needs tightening up)? It's a very basic ALT-AZ head unfortunately.

wasn't red and branded Tesla was it? 😉

yep, drove to Coventry for my RS complete with EQ5 and so on. I see a case is mentioned in that ad too, wonder if that's the full wood one which would be nice to have shown in pictures, but I guess they may not realise what they're trying to sell.

too far for me, not that I'd downgrade from the 100RS but would've loved the tripod and mount as a travel option.

I have an EQ2 with RA motor, EQ5 with goto and one with no motors. A lot of the time with the goto I just sit the mount pointed reasonably north and use it to track rather than the full goto functionality. Saves the setup time. The EQ2 while not as stable also works reasonably with the clock drive, tracking the SW130 on the target, just makes for more relaxed viewing without having to tweak slomo controls and waiting for the wobbles to settle out. This far I don't do "proper" photography but may one day give it a go, just phone snaps at the eyepiece on occasion. As others have said tho, a lot of the funds would be eaten by getting the full GoTo setup unless you land lucky in the used market as I was fortunate enough to. Perhaps a mount that you can add an RA motor would do as a starting point, so long as you can manually find the target you want then the mount would track. Not good enough for long exposure DSO perhaps, but enough for planets tho I'm not sure if the AZ mounts can have an RA-only type function since these would need to tweak both alt & az to stay on target unless you use a wedge?

wow it all fit in that case?!? 😉

or solder a new plug onto the existing wire? A local electrical repairer could likely do that for you if you don't have the tools.

best way would probably be to wash the mirror, guide here: http://www.astro-baby.com/TAL Telescope Rebuild/Telescope Mirror Cleaning.htm

was going to suggest similar Martin. My place has the windows that tilt inward for ventilation but can also open hinged on one side, and open inward. Would avoid the glass/frame obscuring part of the view as well as being easier to clean the outside 😉

depends what you are looking to be maintaining. Anything with lenses then a pin-wrench/lens spanner for example would save a lot of heartache, can't imagine the feeling when a screwdriver slips and skates across a big lens. An adjustable spanner or socket set might come in handy too along with pliers etc.

if it helps and depending on your laptop DC requirement, some of the LiPo jumpstart/powerbank bricks provide a 19V output for laptops. Might be a simple lightweight solution, could power the mount too perhaps. There's also a number of 12V laptop adaptors that might serve your purpose.

can't speak for your mount but on my skywatcher EQ2 the RA worm carrier looks to be held with a couple bolts and there's a collar on the end of the drive. Might be possible to adjust a little to improve the running if it's too stiff/slack but I've not needed to so can't advise on method. Is you're too stiff/slack or is it just vibrations when turning the control? You can't really get away from your turning input setting up vibration unfortunately, but adding the clock drive on the RA can help as once target is acquired the mount will track for itself so not need further manual adjustments or few of. Assumes that you have managed to get the mount pointed north and roughly polar aligned and latitude set correctly of course. To speed damping the vibrations, shifting the weight up the shaft and adding an extra weight can help as it lowers the moment of inertia, but you might find something like a bit of soft/medium foam (6x2x1 inch, say) that you gently hold against the tube when making adjustments may help. Never tried this but worth a try if you've some laying around, similar principle to a shock absorber.

Thanks Bill, yep the HR/5 is working very nicely, well worth the effort I think. Still pending a full clean but seems I'm going to have time on my hands for a while now so a job I'll be getting on with. Been finishing up an overhaul on one of my scopes (TAL-M) which I sorted the last piece for today and have an old vintage one that I'll be gradually renovating too 🙂

Hi Bill and welcome aboard 🙂 Am also on birdforum but under a different user there (did the HR/5 repair that you'd commented on)

Figured I'd go the lazy route to finish this up and just flock it. Pah, lazy but not easy... if you've ever tried to flock inside a 28mm bore you'll know it's "fun" lol. Elected to flock the outer larger barrel too to cull any stray light and a thin strip of flock down in the eyepiece barrel too just to help and just enough so the barlow just meets it when fully inserted. View down thru the extender A bit wonky that flocking job huh 😄 Might redo but let's see how it fairs first as I reckon it'll be well outside the light path anyway. Ignore the glary bit nearest the EP entry as that'll be occupied by the barlow barrel so won't affect the light/image path. The lighter ring where the smaller tube end is - well I am pointing this up at a ceiling with the room lights on, so I guess some more black paint might be needed but not sure it's a real issue given the shape of the barlow and the fact that it's lens element sits lower and into the nosepiece barrel. Will decide later if I need to tap for a thumbscrew but I think it'll be ok as-is, the barlow fitting nice and snug with that smidge of epoxy in the barrel inner. Went over it with matt black paint pen just to dull off the surfaces inside the EP barrel area and the tube ends of both sections to control light from brighter objects from finding a way up the sides of the clear tubes. So there it is, a simple DIY TAL-M focal extender (or Mount as referred in the manuals) 🙂

Decided to have a look at making up an extender today. According to the specs that should allow the scope to reach x139 with the extender, barlow and 15mm eyepiece combo. The 38mm OD/32mm ID and a 32mm OD acrylic tube had arrived already and the smaller just fits into the larger. Downside is the 32mm OD is a tad over at 32.4mm ish so won't fit into the focuser. The Barlow and eyepiece do slip into the larger tube but a touch loose. Will have to think if how best to address the barrel bore fit later as the older TAL system is push-fit, no lock screws but a spring strip under the lip which I won't be able to replicate. Might tap a 3mm hole so I can pop a thumbscrew in depending on testing results. There's so little play that I won't be able to simply flock the inner to the edge, hmmm. So on to the first job - cut the tubes. the 38MM to 29.5mm length as per the measurements of an official extender tube. The 32mm I cut to 27mm so that it bottoms out in the focuser tube and overlaps into the outer by 5mm or so. Yeah I got the cuts a tad wonky, always the way huh even with paper rolled onto the tube as a guide. Hand holding against a stop and the saw binding in the acrylic sure didn't help, not that it really matters tho once fitted together, just put the squared end at the eyepiece end so it sits right, the rest is pretty well hidden in use 😄 Now to reduce the OD of the 32mm I left the 2 sections push fitted as they are a tight fit and rotated against a file by hand, pressing it against the file with one hand while rotating the part with the other to get a reasonable "roundness". Was going to use penny washers in just the 32mm section and use a drill to speed the process but couldn't locate a suitable bolt, always the way. So by hand and taking regular measurements so I didn't take too much off I eventually got it reduced to just under 32mm OD. Testing against the focuser and is tight so a little more and got a nice smooth fit 🙂 At this point I separated the sections and popped the 32mm nosepiece into the focuser so I could mark off on the outer how far it'll need to be inserted. Also roughen all the surfaces ready for glue and marker/paint. As you can see, I've blackened the nosepiece inner and edges, simple sharpie pen at this stage, I'll do the outer side once glued into place. Probably flock the barrel inner too (or blackboard paint it) as that's a bit shiny right now but we'll see. So mix a little epoxy, lightly coat the inner edge to just before the mark and then slip the 2 sections together up to the mark I made earlier. Blackened the nosepiece now, again using the sharpie pen. Don't want to add thickness or it won't fit nor have paint that can flake off and drop into the OTA do we 😉 Figured I'd smear a very little amount epoxy on the inside of the upper barrel to see if that'll snug up the barlow/eyepiece fit too, may as well use the excess for something 😄 So does it all fit now? The barlow seems more snug in the extender now and all seems to be stable. Will have to wait for the epoxy to fully cure and then I can do the finishing up - paint, flock etc before I can give it a field test. Not a bad result tho I think for an afternoon's play 🙂 Cost - well approx £16 for the 2 acrylic tubes from the bay, 100x38mm-OD (32ID) and 100x32mm-OD tubes. The epoxy, flock, sharpie, hacksaw etc I already have kicking around as a result of other projects or just general kit. There's enough tube left to make another couple if I accidentally break this one too lol Oh, please always clean the parts before test fitting so you don't leave acrylic powder inside your lovely optics! For info, I did wash parts and hands each time but just in case someone else wants to try something like this I thought I should mention it 😉

or head to the DIY store and buy some white pipes, reducers and black paint... 😉

how much!!! 😮

The acoustiFan I put into the sky box came with a harness that allows a speed selection which is handy, esp as this box never turns the fan on even if its cooking, so the fan is running 24x7 now at a lower speed.

they did give a great image, once cleaned up I'm sure they'll be very good. Was surprised I was the only bid so a real bargain at £19 each 🙂

a couple munsen rings - for the vintage 3-incher, a dremel-a-like with flexi-drive and a pair of ortho's (12mm fullerscope and 9mm circle-T) 1.25-inch fit. Also the 38mm OD acrylic tube (not pictured) and looks like the 32mm OD snugs into it just nice, so a DIY extension tube for the TAL-M will take shape at some stage too. Reading so many reports on how good ortho's are I figured at that price let's take a look. The 12mm has some nasty metal shards on the rim of the top section (dropped or a wrench used maybe) but I'll clean those up. Glass is perfect which is the main thing. Quick test in the NG 75/350 aimed at distant tree tops and I got nice sharp image, could even see the insects flitting about around the branches 🙂 The munsen's I'll use just the cap and brass them up (hopefully lol) after smoothing them up a bit first.

I replace with AcoustiFan's in my PC gear and sky box these days. Dust sealed and quiet ball bearing makes them ideal, the one in the sky box has been quietly working away for 3+ years now and isn't heard at all. A little more than a regular fan but very worthwhile, might do what you need for the DSLR.

Nice one Mark, will have to consider knocking up a rig for one of my mounts then. You can get tripod clamps that lock onto the central hinge tho they might marr the paint, could be worth it to hold the bino steady. A trad collimation rig would clamp one side of the body so that the other can pivot to check the IPD range. For sure tho and up/down vertical alignment error would hurt after a while, the horizontal you'd be boss eyed after long use lol or even a short while if that badly out. With my old japanese 10x50 pair the effect was instant. When I first picked those up and sorted refit of the occular it felt like my eyes were being torn out of my head they were so far out in both axes. Clearly had been apart before and the original prism shims lost. A proper lens spanner will help a lot, if not just to de-risk operations as you're real close to glass and coatings with loose screwdrivers. Did you really have to remove the retaining ring tho, or just slack it off a touch? On the Chinnon pair the lens would drop out if the retainer was removed, tho tilted up I guess would save that happening 😉

sure, here's the 120mm but same seller has a fair range of sizes https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EC120X12-End-Cap-Nitrile-Rubber-120x12mm/293659487738?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

A couple bits today, 2 acrylic tubes that I'm thinking to make a focuser extender for the TAL-M, a set of allen/hex keys (neighbour had borrowed and she's moved but not returned grrr) and lastly a TAL x6 finder for a great price tho without the bracket. Sadly the acrylic tubes ain't quite what I ordered, which was 32mm & 38mm OD but what arrived was 32mm & 36mm OD which means the ID of the larger tube isn't 32mm as I needed, will see what the supplier can do to resolve. The reason the TAL finder was bargain priced was... the objective has some lovely patterning - looks to be elements separating but was described and pictured as such so am happy with that. Very clear and sharp view as expected and compared to the one on the TAL-1 the focus is much smoother. Think this came from a frac as the black rings are further spaced than the one on the TAL-1. Worst case the dew shield and focuser can swap across to the one on the TAL-1 initially. I'll see about sourcing a mount for it and perhaps it'll be a good add for the vintage scope later on. edit: a 38mm OD is being shipped, sorted, hopefully. I note these are slightly oversize so I'll need to reduce the 32mm OD a little to fir the focuser, might have to open the 38mm ID which is spec'd at 32mm too so the EP's fit.