DaveL59

thanks Vicky. Wow lucky you, the 76mm 660, I was after one of those a while back but lucked out. I've read they are a pretty decent performer so hopefully gives you lots of enjoyable views

I thought the Telementor was the smaller 0.96 inch eyepiece, did they switch the Tele-2 to 1.25? Someone on here is likely to know the answer I'm sure.

perhaps a RasPi with the later camera might do what you want, tho I've no experience of them others here are testing them as skycam's with reasonable results. Solves the remote compute side too and they've WiFi I believe. 2 Cameras would help as you can fit IRcut or not as required as well as fix the focus to suit. You'd just need to sort a suitable housing and dome, possibly dew heater too tho the RasPi may generate enough to solve that issue.

hi Dave Thanks for that info, yeah I thought Prinz for the finder too, looks like the OTA is leather/ette covered hard to tell if the tube is steel or brass. For sure the main scope is quite old given the drawtube focuser and fittings but it looks well put together. As said earlier, I think I'll pass on it. Kinda have to stay reasonably isolated at the mo as I've an op in a week, so taking on another project likely not a smart move. I know me and I'll want to fiddle and try it out etc and as I'm not supposed to be lifting much for a few weeks can see that ending badly Who knows tho, if it's still around in a few weeks I might get interested again... Yikes, just discovered the taxi to the hospital will cost around £49, its only 24 miles away 😮 Guess I won't have many pennies to spare for this scope then as I've yet to sort the taxi home after

thanks guys, yeah I have to say I'm tempted, rescue something vintage and all that. Remounted on proper rings it could work on a modern mount, just the eyepiece type. If it'd take 1.25 fittings then it'd maybe work quite well. Think's I'll pass right now tho, circumstances are going to limit me for a few weeks so probably best I don't add more things to do lol

what camera are you considering for this? CCTV modules will tend to use 500mA to 1A draw which would become an issue for solar+battery unless its a decent sized panel and battery. Also limited slow shutter so night sky will only show the really bright objects. No idea what the astro cameras draw but would be surprised if they are much less but they will do a far better job of picking out the stars. Pivoting the camera for different day/night views would need a PTZ or a DIY rig which will add to the current draw while slewing. You'll also need switchable IRcut perhaps unless you run with IRcut always present, else day view will render foliage as purples rather than greens and skew some other colours also. At least you won't need IR illumination for night sky use unless you also plan on panning around the lake at night. Focus may be an issue though if you need it to be different for the daytime use. Regarding WiFi, what sort of range as that can be quite limiting unless using more directional and high gain aerials.

hmmm that matt black is a bit too different I think Given it a hit of hammerite black spray and will see how that looks. Probably have to respray the other arm to get things matched I expect.

your choice really, I just mark all and go, doesn't take long after all, but you can do just that one if you want.

sounds like you'll need to update the comet database which is easy to do: https://gatetoadventures.com/neowise-in-stellarium/

you need to enter as C/2020 F3 to find the current comet

ahh perhaps, but with a collection of binos and a couple of scopes... then the car and so on... Will refurb the TAL-1 one day tho likely much later in the year or maybe next so may well need a couple more from that set. It's in fair shape really compared to how this one started, could do with a little work on the slo-mo controls is about all really, having already swapped to a TAL 1.25-in focuser and shifted the mirror so it's workable with regular eyepieces.

thanks all, I've enjoyed doing it, still a little bit to go but wanted to get the heavier bits out of the way before I go for an op, won't be able to punt stuff about for a while after that It's looking pretty reasonable I think and way better than when I started. Really just the flocking, mirrors and focuser to go back I think, so mainly the OTA to finish up and it'll be done. How long the new finish lasts tho... time will tell

A plane using ECM to deflect locked on missile...?

so much for waiting a day or so... Will leave it till tomorrow now to see how it looks once dry, might be too matt to match up with the rest of the original paint.

well I guess it IS running naked across the sky...

just saw this on the BBC new pages https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-53383007

Today I ground back the epoxy and smoothed up the metal edges then hit it with some primer... Looks ok I think, will let that cure and hit it with some black over the next few days and this phase will be pretty much done

I had actually considered rivets too 😛

that's weird, opposite of what you'd expect really I wonder is there any way you can lock the focus on the 150P, maybe a bodge with some sort of ring clamp? As Kat says PTFE would tighten up the focuser movement but the clamp and phone will still likely cause focus creep. I've a helical focuser on the TAL-M but no phone holder so while I'm aware that would be an issue I've not had direct experience of that. No focus lock screw there either so a bodge might have to be considered if I ever need to experiment with that scope. Going for video on the planets you don't need to shoot hours, just a few mins I believe as that'd grab plenty of frames which you can then play with in stacking apps and then crop the final to remove the muddy edges.

It does take practise and I'm still early on that path I'll admit, in my case using the phone hand-held just to make life harder. From your profile pic you wear glasses, do you wear them with the scope too? I realised that I don't wear mine at the scope so focus is always a touch off, mine are for reading so I tend not to wear them for bino/scope/camera activities so need to get into the habit I think. For the phone, do you have a camera app that you can manually set the focus and other settings (exposure time, aperture, ISO etc)? On the note-10plus I have I get that with the in-built app tho there are other apps that can be loaded too. As for the magnification, so long as there's enough light and detail you may be ok, but pushing the ISO will result in noisy images. Zoom on the phone itself - is if optical or digital, the latter will affect quality if taken too far. Hardest thing I find is getting the phone in the right place, both centred on the eyepiece and the right distance from it to account for eye relief. That wildly aflicts the image I get, made worse being as I hand hold the thing at the moment. Not sure what holder you are using but if its a helical focuser then you've got the problem of the holder/phone causing rotation shifting focus and possibly sag that will affect how well the phone is aligned with the eyepiece and give distortion.

yeah am almost thinking the same, tho right now with furlough and the drop in income plus other things that will limit what I can do over the next few weeks. Might have stretched if it was something particularly rare/special but will probably pass on it. Hope he does find a buyer that wants to bring it back to life tho

Thought I really should make an effort and try see this early hours. Set the alarm for 03:10 and did manage to drag myself out of bed. Looked out of the bedroom window as it faces NE and being on a hill that heads down toward the north I was hopeful but... Nada A few bright stars and something very bright slightly north of NE but a couple tall trees obscuring. Some clouds too (N-NE is toward the thames estuary, a factor perhaps) so no sign of any comet tails anywhere in the skyline. As much at the sky was starting to brighten and was looking quite nice, just perhaps it might have been worth waiting it out for a while and see if things improved, I went back to bed instead. 7Am and cloud everywhere so probably the right decision. Somehow I'm not sure from here I'll get a view of Neowise but that's ok, have so enjoyed the images you've all been posting here, a wonderful sight.

Having Quatermass and the Pit on quite recently I have to ask: Does the image disappear if you ground it to earth?

I'd guess it'll be a battery with posts, but for my UPS's I used these tho not sourced from them as I got mine way cheaper elsewhere luckily https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yuasa-NP17-12-Battery-approval-technology/dp/B002Y2LRJA Tho I expect this one would also do the job https://www.amazon.co.uk/MaxPower-Sealed-Battery-Maitanence-Scooter/dp/B0055CUFXK/ref=pd_sbs_23_8?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0055CUFXK&pd_rd_r=b5e6d1d7-7cca-4c0d-ad00-3b156511bc50&pd_rd_w=ngM2j&pd_rd_wg=n926P&pf_rd_p=2773aa8e-42c5-4dbe-bda8-5cdf226aa078&pf_rd_r=0GP2TQYSAHC8YRRK716Y&psc=1&refRID=0GP2TQYSAHC8YRRK716Y Other's with the power tank may have alternates but it's likely to be a standard form factor battery they used. update: I note that Yuasa do a 22AH battery too, same dimensions but higher price, tho might be worth a look given that's an extra 5Ah capacity

nice idea, only wish I could but with 2 cats I can just hear the crash of my camera shocking me from my slumber. Hope it works tho