DaveL59

Sorry to read of your issues, I imagine that can be quite restrictive in what you're able to do and doesn't sound nice at all. With regard to what's showing, there's also this website - lighter on the PC I find than Stellarium for a quick look at what's up at the moment https://in-the-sky.org/skymap.php Does sound like weight of kit would be a potential issue which could limit you to smaller apertures and thereby the amount of deep-sky you'll get to see. Once you get to bigger scopes the mount itself can be quite weighty and with Equatorial mounts there's the counterweights to consider too. Something like an 80mm on Alt-az mount may well be a good choice but only you will know your limits regarding weight and flexibility. Best of luck on the new hobby though, I'm sure you'll get plenty of helpful advice here

ok, so the m2x6mm screws arrived. Levelled off the ally by fitting suitable blocks on the file and slowly reworking that section and opened up the threaded holes in the ally too so the screws are bolting the ally section to the steel repair section. Holds very nicely now, well pleased with the change of plan test fit and the arm runs nice and smooth and level with the occular refitted. So, now it'll be degrease, epoxy the sections and once set, prepare and paint to get a good finish so it'll match reasonably to the original. I did get some 0.5mm nylon washers too so opened one out to fit the central pivot as I think that may be needed to counter the slight rock once the arm is fitted up. The steel is slightly thinner than the original ally section was and any rock with cause image alignment issues as well as the movement to jam. Still to strip and overhaul the optics and sort masking the prism damage but want too get the arm sorted first as that'll determine if its worth doing the rest

they are a lovely sight aren't they Only took a quick look with binos last night so can't confirm the moons, was going to head off to bed after a smoke you see, hence didn't attempt to lug a scope out as I'd not planned ahead, my bad. With the TAL-M dismantled at the min I've only the 1M long OTA's available to play with and they take a bit more effort than a quick lift and step outside.

Any recommendations would need to take into account the level of disability I think, as that will help determine size/weight and accessibility around a tripod, whether a pier setup is more suited than a tripod and so on. Also what are you hoping to see, moon & planets, deeper sky objects etc and if you want to travel with the equipment or use from home. The sky quality where you are will limit some of this, depending on how much light pollution you have. As IB20 suggests, a good pair of binoculars and a monopod/tripod may well be a good starting point, as well as perhaps a book like Turn Left at Orion to help find your way around the night sky, then move to a telescope once you've decided to go further. Good luck on your journey, it can be a very absorbing hobby and seeing Jupiter and Saturn for the first time is a real thrill

Nice shot Ags! Did take a look out of the front bedroom window last last night before going to sleep, but the bright LED lighting on the street made seeing anything hard going. Will have to take a look with binos next time and see if it shows as being up a hill that side does give a reasonable view toward N-NNW other than a few tall trees here and there. Of late I'm not so good at staying up till 2-3AM

Good result, well done Must get out and take a look again at them while I'm still able since they are starting to show above the rooftops around 11:30 here now I noticed last night. Others have merged 2 sets of shots, one with longer exposure to pick out the moons which is really neat and maybe worth a try.

I've an EQ5 so older model setup but it seems to work ok for me. I've so far mainly use the polar align pro app and not used the polar scope and find that so long as the mount is level that works well enough for visual. I use the handset only and the SynScan Pro app to give the correctly formatted co-ords to enter, the date needs to be the backward yankee format and you should enter time as is and indicate if DST is in effect. If a particular area of sky is of interest you could do a 2-star align in that area which should give reasonable accuracy when using GoTo in that region. You could just one-star align and then adjust using the arrows when it misses the target you select. Alternatively, unlock the clutches and manually swing the scope to the area of interest and then home in using the arrows and the scope should then track reasonably on the target. An expensive mount for that use but sometime getting some use is better than frustration when alignment isn't playing or the stars needed aren't so visible When aligning remember to end the arrow sequence with up+right before hitting enter and moving to the next target - a quirk in how the system works I believe. It can help to start with a low power eyepiece (20-30mm) and as you hone the aim switch to higher power (10mm) to get it better centered. A reticule can help here so you centre the target star to the same position in the view.

funny I've thought of trying something similar but as noted it ain't as simple as it first sounds. I've a GoTo mount which could be PC controlled, so a camera in the eyepiece and linked back to the PC sounds an easy step. But you'd likely need to be able to live stack and wait possibly several minutes to get the image and may well have to shift focus, so a remote focuser might be needed too. Add in power requirements and cables trailing back indoors (not a fan of WiFi for high data-rate links) and it might be workable. May also need to consider a pier extension so the rig doesn't hit the tripod when remotely finding an object as you may not see the impending expensive collision in time... Have you looked on the EEVA threads as that's essentially what you're trying to achieve. I guess the all-in-one ready to go solution does exist these days, if you're prepared to pay £2k and accept that it is an as-is system, so you're stuck at the hardware rev shipped to you and you're unlikely to be able to fudge your own updates onto, the Unistellar eVscope. There's a topic or 2 on here as I recall.

When you say stiff, that's before the motors were fitted yes? Could be the grease is a bit claggy from sitting in storage, maybe it'll improve once the weather warms up and if you work the axes through the range a few times. I've 2 older (black) EQ5's that I bought used, one runs smooth and no stiffness where the other does have some resistance in parts of the RA movement. This latter did have the SynScan fitted and it'd seem to skip on the gears which sounded horrible. I've since transferred the SynScan onto the other EQ5 and it runs fine. I do plan to strip down the now non-goto EQ5 and re-grease etc, one day tho it works fine for manual and I've other priorities at the mo.

well, so much for picking it up again later, decided what the heck and reassembled the head Then the OTA carrier - had to run a drill through the holes to clear the paint so the pins could be refitted, just twisting it by hand tho and then a tap for the threaded section. Added some felt on the inner of the rings and saddle which should be gentler on the OTA paint than the original plastic bumps that I removed earlier. Also a washer under the OTA securing thumbscrew so we don't chew the new paint. Will try find some nylon ones later on I think. Then fit the carrier to the head and wipe down to get rid of the greasy finger marks Test fit the OTA which I've yet to finish assembly Looks pretty good I think. So really it's just the OTA and focuser to complete now, almost there. Paint finish isn't perfect but considerably better than where it started and am quite pleased with how it's gone so far

today this arrived, hopefully will be suitable to replace the 2 missing ones. Way OTT buying that many but ya never know when they might come in handy on something else So, started to look at the ALT-AZ head. Managed to free the locking screw so dismantled the AZ bearing... It's a bit gritty in rotation as a result of the sanding most likely as can be seen above, so cleaned up with a degrease wipe and added some LM2 Refit in the reverse and tighten down the clamping ring so there's no rocking but the bearing moves freely, then lock in place with the locking screw. I recall reading somewhere that one bearing was more than plain metal surfaces riding on each other but in my case both are the same. Seems to work fine, crude but effective if kept lubricated. Will pick up with the other bearing in the next day or so as I've a couple other things to sort too.

UV would kill it, tho a UV lamp might be simpler given the grey cloudy days here in the UK at the mo. I zap my binos etc periodically to prevent growth as well as storing with silica-gel sachets.

saw that episode, nice bit of work making that himself for sure and wonderful they wanted to have it restored to be treasured and used by the next generations

it's to do with the type of plug and can apply to spliiters or the PSU lead but a splitter does increase the risk as something can be powered while a spare end makes contact and causes a short. The inner +ve isn't well shielded from accidental contact on these plug design, unfortunately.

not owning anything as posh as TV nor a zoom eyepiece I can't help a lot in terms of how you disengage the rings, do they not have the usual notches or pin-holes to engage a lens spanner? One thing I would caution tho, no idea how these eyepieces are built but camera zooms are non-trivial to reassemble as you need to get the mechanism assembled right as well as the lenses set correctly. Take lots of pics as you dismantle to help get it back together after

when you say you have the finder aligned, how did you achieve this, daytime on a distant target, hopefully? If the object used was too close then in the night sky the RDF will be offset to the scope so you want something 500M or more away and then fine-tune on something like the moon. When using the scope, which eyepiece are you trying? Best to start with the lowest magnification (highest number eyepiece, 25/20mm) and no barlow which should give you some stars and the view that confirms where you are vs where the finder thinks you are. If you want more magnification then move to the lower numbered eyepiece (15/12/10mm) but you may find you are off target by enough that you won't see it any more, so re-centre if needed before switching. The object will move out of view a lot faster as you increase magnification. Lastly, sorry to ask but a common one, is the end cap removed?

do be sure to cap off any on the spider that you aren't connecting to a device. These plugs can easily short if they touch against metal and if lucky just the PSU blows, if unlucky, well... fried mount electronics etc perhaps.

I had thought to mod mine but never actually did so far, like you I'd paid £15 for it a year or so back and with lockdown did think to get another but of course prices went crazy on just about everything imported. One I might pick up once prices settle again or look to an alternative for the occasional use it'll get.

The Logi C270 can be modified to take a 1.25-inch adaptor, but the lens holder in the unit isn't a regular M12 so you'd need to sort a solution. Lots of video on youtube on that mod. They used to be quite cheap but lately seem pricey and scarce, given the global situation at the mo. Also its supported in sharpcap directly which might help getting started.

tho divorce does solve the arguments about leaving stuff set up on the mounts inside the house when not in use

Problem with Hermes and many of the carriers that use freelancers toting packages in own cars is that for it to work for the delivery person they need to minimise the number of trips, given the low per parcel drop rates. Also the depot is often only open for a short time to collect the days drops so most need to collect everything in one visit. So you find they pack everything in any way they can, even crushing down the boxes to fit where necessary without knowing what's in them of course. Not to say that it didn't end up damaged en-route but at least then a large truck is used so hopefully shouldn't happen. Can be down to luck if the local person has a van or is prepared to make multiple trips, guess I've been lucky on that front but for valuable/fragile stuff I tend to prefer one of the big name carriers and like John I'd insure so you may be able to claim for damage.

wow it's been quite a while since I updated this one. Just ordered some circlips (e-clips) so I can replace the couple missing from the Alt-Az head controls, so the reassembly will have to wait on that. Thought I'd take a look at the OTA tho as I had been thinking to flock it, the original paint is more a grey than a dark matt black so doing this may improve things a little. So cut a piece of acetate, the flock I have is A4 sheets but this is a small tube and with the acetate it should work... You can see the joins but that should be hidden once in the tube. Cut-outs for the focuser (saves having to matt black the underside of it, handy) and the 4 holes for the spider, the latter will need enlarging a little tho. So just the bare OTA, no mirrors but what's the effect...? View from the mirror end, actually pretty good it seems My one concern is on hot days will the flock come away from the acetate and decide to settle on the mirrors, which would be a disaster. Thinks I may add a few tack stitches along the joins just to be sure things stay put as far as I can ensure it. Bear in mind the conservatory where the scopes tend to live can hit 47C+ on sunny days, especially if I'm not home so can leave the doors open to help keep things cooler, hence thinking of ways to ensure things stay in place.

A good roof works fine but cheaper ones can show a line across the image (the roof edge) when pointed at a bright night-sky object I found. That said my collection is older bins and I'd expect modern ones esp with phase coating would be largely ok but is perhaps something to bear in mind. Having said that I found the Henzoldt Wetzlar Jagd 6x42 and Foton 7x35 give very good views, also the swift 7x35 and Nikon Sportstar 8x25. Can't recall which gave the line in the view now, likely it was DCF's in the Tasco/Practica range that were in a job-lot I bought. Porro don't give that effect, being a different design with no edge across the image field that roof's have, and generally a brighter image I find as well as being much more affordable compared to a good roof. Like John I tend to prefer the ergonomics of the porro too and perhaps easier to tripod mount than some roof models.

I use my 10x50's on a monopod which helps stability a lot, easier than a tripod and the legs getting in the way. 8x (and lower) is much easier to keep stable and generally may have a wider FoV for scanning the sky. There's always the electronic stabilised Binos but they are pretty pricey and bulky by comparison tho seem to get good reports.

don't forget too, being able to LIFT the thing onto the mount, unless you've an engine crane handy of course