DaveL59

haven't had a chance to test it properly so far other than q quick play when I took the pics, gave myself a touch of food poisoning so pretty out of action this past couple days I've a feeling it might reduce the FoV a little on the finder but the image is clear and sharp.

ouch, hope you heal reasonably quickly and not in too much pain, take it easy for sure and be sure you're well before starting again on the heavy stuff.

this arrived this evening, the bay via hermes, quite surprised they were out delivering on a bank holiday. A pentax angle finder 1:1 in original box and case. Figuring to adapt it for the polarscope on the EQ5 and to make the TAL finder into a right-angle one too without having to hack the finder and fit a diagonal. With that in mind a quick check with an eyecup off a scrap DCF type bino: and it fits, not ideal but will do for testing Need to figure something else for the polarscope and more secure for the finder, but nice and clear view through the combo so a nice cheap mod

I don't, the older gear was more often 0.96-inch I believe tho some you could undo the ring on the end of the focus drawtube and fit an adaptor to use 1.25-inch. This may give some info off CN https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/392189-eikow/ and this old ad would indicate it's 0.96 too https://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=93956

I've not but looks like a typical 60-70's japanese scope and solid build. Couldn't make out the makers mark in the info label but I've seen the larger aperture ones go for £60-80 on the bay when I've been hoping to get one (failed so far). Does it come in a wood carry-box as well, along with all the accessories? edit: Ah found it - circle-Y Criterion but the upside-down Y is Eikow. So none the wiser in terms of quality but was sold under other names it seems.

some even quite the lens area in sq-mm as the size, all a trick to con folk into believing they are mega-good when they are just cheap junk

as John says, it is usually mag x objective diameter in mm, but there does seem a tendency in some ads to add the 2 objectives so 2x30 gives 60 tho if they did that for the eyepiece/mag I've no idea how they've figured that one out, x15 each side? would give a very dark image I expect. Seems to be the way some cheaper ones have gone though just to wow buyers who've little knowledge on the equipment, bigger must be better after all...

reminds me of a tale a friend told me yonks ago, tornado radar prototype with several mods from the design plans. So as part of the required testing it gets bolted onto the centrifuge arm and spun up, cranked to speed and.... crash! It flied off into the concrete wall, smashed to bits 😮

thanks Grant, hadn't realised this was a members only section so not visible on searches, always been wary on net security, goes with the job or past jobs I guess

Result! It looks way better than when first seen I bet Figured the outer ring would be holding the deformed shape as the tube itself is pretty thin material. Had that been my TAL-1 it'd either have just dented whatever surface it hit or be some serious metalwork to reform it back to round. You might find a couple extra screws at the locations where it still deforms will pull it out to the new ring and that'll be that.

that's a risk in publicly giving out meeting details that "unexpected/undesirable" input could ensue, might have been better to issue via PM/email to those who've registered an interest perhaps?

yikes, methinks that'll need a bit more than just a new ally tube

If I put that in my tiny garden I'd barely be able to get to the shed, would sure make the neighbours wonder about what I'd be looking at too lol

shame it's not giving a full fish-eye view but nice and clear if it suits your location. A shorter FL lens would widen the view but its finding one that suits the sensor size.

no idea re apple but most handheld devices don't operate as host controller for USB and would need a OTG type adaptor in order for an external USB device to work (such as a USB memory stick). Could be that their USB-micro adaptor serves that purpose but driver support in the device could well be limited to storage and audio. Do you have a regular USB webcam you could try before spending on something that may well not function?

was almost thinking that myself, since one of my EQ5 has the 1.5-inch legs and the other the box-section type, hmmm

would sound more like small claims rather than a solicitor, else you'll have nothing after fees unless you can get those allocated to the seller's side. You'd like to hope a good solicitor would advise that if the value is low-ish but it may help to get a solicitor's letter to jolt the other side to co-operate.

how did you make payment? You may be able to raise a dispute via the payment platform if the site used to make the purchase doesn't have a dispute system.

no reason to tell them it was bought used, they'd be able to agree a price based on what is available now at the same spec. Downside might be the future hit on policy prices but no harm in enquiring. Even better if you can get paid out and fix the dented one. That said I've no idea what insurers are like to deal with these days, some may ship a replacement rather than pay out, in which case debate any options they suggest to get the best you can, they're unlikely to know much about specialist gear. Had that when I was burgled some years ago and they just compared HiFi listings to get what they considered equivalents but would have been inferior to what was taken, especially the cassette deck I had at the time. After much to-and-fro and me sending them the specs and stating I would not sacrifice the sound quality, they eventually agreed to replace the hi-end Akai with a Nakamichi Could be you get a real nice upgrade if the cards fall right

to ease it back to round I wonder if you deflate a ball, insert into the tube and gently inflate - it just might get the tube to pull back out. Go slow, deflate and work it in a few inches more and redo and then once you've reached the depth of the bow work back outward to the lip.

if you got a few thousand of them and could control the on/off individually with a bit of electronics you could make a mega outdoor cinema display screen

less of a problem over here tho, few have A/C esp the split system type, tho they're getting more common

I'd have thought if you remove the secondary and spider and then the front ring trim piece then you should be able to draw the tube back out to shape. Perhaps remove the primary too just in case. It doesn't seem to have kinked and the squish hasn't gone beyond the seam and it may well relax a bit once the trim ring has been removed.

ahh patience, it'll be around again soon And the imagers will be complaining about it blotting out everything when its bright and high in the sky

better to open the window as the glass will distort the view and cause reflections and ghost images. I take it you're in a flat? Tho with Venus and Mercury low in the sky an upstairs window may work better than trying to see over fences, just be careful not to catch the sun in the scope.