Carbon Brush

There is no such thing as a silly question. You have been an amateur astronomer in the past. The sky is much the same. Telescopes are still made from curved glass and mirrors. It is this new computery imaging enhancing goto stuff that changes by the month and confuses us all! Welcome to SGL. You have joined the most friendly and best informed forum.

I have made 3D printed spacers when faced with this sort of problem. You can print in sections to overcome printer size restrictions. Leave a couple of millimetres to insert thin foam (draught excluder) to avoid scratching tube paint. Or maybe I was just too mean to buy the correct rings?

Thank you Paul for posting. Like you I have only been able get the scope out for a short time. On a very moist night with a rising (almost full) moon. The sort of night you usually stay indoors. However, it found M31 and quickly produced a half decent image. It was invisible to me using binoculars.

Yes the cargo net sounds good. What you arer tying to do is keep shock and acceleration low. no sudden jolts. If the scope is swinging about the back of the van (not hitting roof or sides) that is a good environment.

With clay digging you have my sympathy🤣. When digging my garden pond I soon discovered spades and picks just stuck in th clay and it took minutes to extract them! The solution was a petrol driven post hole borer with 150mm auger - then take away the loose spirals using shovels. If you drill the holes larger than the rod diameter, the rods will drop straight in. Given a little time, the clay will move to grip the rods tightly.

It may be worth having a chat with a company who offer repair services on car bumpers and the like. Some have ultrasonic welders or good solvents to layer up. Thinking in terms of repair options on the damaged sections.

+1 for keeping a submersible pump to hand. I think this is going to be the new normal. Wet warm(?) winters. My garden is soggier than anytime since moving here in 2007. The fields visible from upstairs have more standing water than I have seen before - despite serious dredging in a nearby dike a few years back. In neaby villages, surface drains are overwhelmed, resulting rivers running down roads. I bought some new wellies for this winter and spashed out (pun intended) on good quality expensive footwear. A wise investment I think.

Hi Martin. There are lots of images from the scope sale advert in May 2021. It was a cheap round coffeee table (£20 from memory) and some rubber tyred castors. I 3D printed the black sockets (still have the files) and screwed them to the table top. The shiny aluminium tap pieces mark the location of the foot sockets when manhandling the scope onto the base. I didn't include levelling screws as the scope was used on ground that was near enough flat. Can't remember why I made the 3 loose parts. They may have been an idea to keep a free standing (chipboard base) scope off damp ground. I also 3D printed a lot of parts to make tube end caps, cable covers & handset holder.

IF it is the genuine product, then yes it is a good material. However, an amazon marketplace seller, who is overseas, rings too many alarm bells for me. I would always go straight to a UK astro retailer. FLO, RVO, 365, etc. Viewing the sun you don't get a second chance if the material is dodgy. Even after buying a sheet of material, you have to make a sturdy holder - cn't let it waft off in a gentle breeze. Keeping a large aperture allows high magnification> But in the UK on sunny days, generally air stability limits magnification before aperture. The end of your dob probably has a removeable cap - just the place to put a smaller piece of solar film. HTH, David.

I used to own a 10" flextube. A cheap round coffee table top and rubber castor wheels was my favourite transport. I put socket type cups on the table top to accept the Skywatcher feet - that ensured the scope didn't slide about during transport. The odd bit of bouncing over door thresholds didn't upset collimation. If you think this might help I should be able to rummage out some pictures of the setup.

The spots have very similar grouping, so I'm sure they must be reflections from lights. However, the 'whisker' looks like a strand from the wire brush you must have had to use🤣 Yes it was definitely ready for a clean👍

Hi Coral and welcome to SGL. You will receive many recommendations about different type of scope. The first thing I say (well actually shout) is to buy from a specialist astronomy retailer. NOT Amazon, Currys, thingonline, etc. The specialist retailer can help you after purchase if you have problems, as well as advise on what to buy next. Try asking amazon customer services about focus travel🤣 The astro retailers want to see you back next month, or next year, for accessories or another scope. As for the general retailers.....they think today only. The recommendation from @Tiny Clanger is very good. First Light Optics are a very good retailer. They always get first go at my new equipment purchases. If you would like to visit a shop, just let us know whereabouts in the country you are. Alternatively, we may be able to point you to a local club. All telescopes look the same size on a web page. Some fit into a shoe box, other require splitting down to carry outside! There is no substitute for taking a look. Keep asking the questions, David.

To me the obvious question is.... Why does it need to be dismantled?

On SGL I have read quite a few reports of success from street light shields. Sorry I don't have any links to hand. Maybe one of the contributors will remember and put in a comment? People have made shades in their gardens. A (taller) beach wind break type of thing has been mentioned. Another option is to install a washing line at height. Hang a tarp or similar when required. If you can make your garden more usable, you will get a lot more viewing in. What scope do you have?

Good advice from the above. In particular keeping cameras, lights and alarm as separate and simple devices. Separate systems can be replaced if they break, or modified, or upgraded with experience. My take on an alarm panel is to use a decent car alarm, unfortunately they are not so popular in the after market these days. Mine, fitted 2007, is still going strong. The idea is that it is designed to work at temperature extremes and be frugal on a 12V power supply/battery. Home alarms sometimes consume a lot of power and may not handle cold and damp too well. Your home alarm is not usually active 24/7. An observatory alarm is inactive for a few hours in a month. Power consumption is worth considering. A car alarm is geared up to inputs from poor quality door/bonnet switches on long wires, and usually has shock sensor. A home alarm usually assumes decent quality reed switches in a dry environment. You can put industrial limit switches (think big microswitches with adjustable levers) to detect door/roof opening, etc. A wire run around a wood shed will break if a board is removed. A shock sensor will trigger if someone tries to hammer off hinges. On trigger, make a LOT of noise and bright lights inside the observatory. If the villain can't hear himself think, or see if anyone is approaching, he will probably leave. If it is loud enough to damage hearing if you stay inside - not your problem. We all ignore an alarm ringing - if it isn't ours. Don't forget in your construction to ensure there is not a quick easy entry point, and don't make the places obvious. For example a big strong padlock & hasp says 'valuables behind here'. Keep the strength hidden. My roll of shed observatory appears to have an ordinary shed lock and external shed hinges. Needless to say you can try your crowbar on these, but the door won't open or come off. The strength is elsewhere. You may find the home insurance a bit of a problem. These days insurance companies are about evading payment. Not acknowledging the responsible customer. But don't get me started on insurance company payout avoidance techniques!

Good advice from @Mandy D. Are you thinking of car transport? Protection against knocks in the home? In the garage? For the car I have often used a quilt. For home storage, my first 8" scope + mount + accessories used a converted bookshelf. For a 12" you are more into wardrobe or kitchen cupboard territory. Easily modifed with only basic wood working skills. HTH, David.

To get the two objects into perspective. The moon presents as a circle about half a degree round. 30 arc minutes. Jupiter presents as a circle about 1/60 the size of the moon. 30 arc seconds. Yes these numbers do increase/decrease depending on the positions of earth/moon/Jupiter. But as guidelines they are near enough. A pair of binoculars (often x10 magnification) will show Jupiter as a very tiny disc rather than a point. The (4 largest) moons obiting will be dimmer points of light. The moons move around from one night to the next. Look at our moon and try the different eyepieces. At low magnification (20mm eyepiece) you should see a sharp image. With the other eyepieces you will see a larger image. But is it clear? If you cannot produce a clear image, then there is little point trying to see Jupiter in detail. There are various reasons for a poor image. The most obvious is sky clarity and stability. This varies with time and is weather related. Come back tomorrow🤨 It can also be a man made problem. If looking low over a (well heated) house roof, or past a flue pipe, you won't get stable air. Do you get sharp views elsewhere in the sky? Wait until the object of interest moves to a different part of the sky. The second is the state of the telescope. If it is not well collimated, you will obtain acceptable low magnification views. High magnification looking at stars starts to show problems. But don't worry, these are usually solvable. The third is the eyepieces. Often the eyepieces provided with a starter scope leave much to be desired. Particularly those for higher magnification. You have not said what make of scope you have, or whether it was bought new or used. Did it come from an astro retailer? He can help. For example I was once in Rother Valley Optics shop browsing when a customer came in talking about problems getting a good view of Jupiter. The (reflector) scope had been bought from the shop. The shop owner asked a few questions and quickly established collimation was a possibility. He told the customer to bring the scope in and he would carry out a while you wait collimation, as well as showing the customer how to do it himself. Try that with an Amazon purchase! You might find something useful in this thread... Keep asking the questions and we will do our best to help you. David.

A suggestion, if you haven't tried already. Go out during daylight to view distant horizon objects. It is immediately obvious when exposure is too long or gain too high - a white screen. Reduce exposure and gain until you see 'less than full white'. In daylight you should be able to get video. No wait for seconds to minutes while the image arrives. Struggling to get anything to focus lets you know if you have the camera at the correct distance. You can even hold the camera in mid air behind the scope and look at the rapidly updating screen. Once you have the camera in the right place to focus, leave it there. As the light fades you can increase exposure time to view the horizon. Then go for an easy target like the moon and work up from there. HTH, David.

Absolutely right. Since receiving mine there has been cloud, gales, rain. Or I have been away from home. Every time there has been a glimpse of an easy target, it has hidden behind cloud within 10 minutes. I have manged to charge the battery and install the app on a tablet. Another new owner sent me his first pictures - houses some distance away in daylight! I understand from another thread on SGL that is possible to do more with these scopes - eventually 🤣

As always, the SGL membership is constructively and actively contributing to the thread. Thank you to you all. As happens (too often) the OP has asked a question and gone away. Not been here for more than 2 weeks.

Have you had a chance to use the scope yet? Collimation is sometimes over - thought. It may be good enough out the box.

Another vote for a zoom EP. Not necessarily Baader then it can be your daughters affordable zoom😁 BST starguiders are affordable and give a lot of view for the ££. I don't have enough experience of these to comment on parfocal. But a couple of parfocal rings won't cost much.

My SQ mount runs from AA usually, so I have not seen a problem. I also remove cells after use to avoid risk of self discharge and leakage, so am doubly protected🙂 Thank you for posting. When I get a bit of time to spare, I will experiment with different external supply voltages. It may be a 'funny' that only happens at >12V?

I think there are going to be few failures for this part, which means buying a spare will be difficult. Though I may be wrong😁. In this situation I would find a bit of steel bar of similar dimensions and drill/tap to suit. It doesn't have to be steel. It would look really nice in brass😃 It doesn't have to meet the same profile, just have the holes in the right places. If your friend doesn't have the skills/tools, he should not have to travel far to find someone.. Anyone with a decent bench drill press and metric taps can make this. A benefit of making your own is that it can use decent material. Not the fragile stuff the chinese mount makers often use. HTH, David.

I am not an expert in this field. However, there may be something useful in this contribution. Lightning will strike at generally the highest point in the immediate area. For example if you are walking through an open field in flat country, you are the highest point. There is a very good argument for laying flat on the ground, or retreating to a ditch if available. You don't shelter under a tree because it is the highest point and may be struck. The tree may be damaged (burnt) in a hit, or current travelling in the ground near the trunk may may be enough to kill you. If you look at churches, and other 'pre electrical understanding' buildings in the UK, you will see a flat metal bar running from the spire to the ground. The idea is that if you get a hit on the roof, you have a low resistance path to earth. The term 'low resistance' requires explanation. If you have a damp wood roof, it conduts some electricity, but not very well. When there is a lightning hit, you get lots of local heating. The roof ignites. Or the tree in the paragraph above. If you have a metal bar (low resistance) to earth, the current flows through the bar. The roof carries little current. The metal bar has low resistance, so there is little heating from the strike. What I'm getting at is you need to be reasonably confident you have surrounding objects that are far more likely to be struck, or make sure your observatory has a lightning conductor. Something best assed by an informed person looking at the surroundings. It is tempting to suggest earth rods or a mesh in the ground near the observatory and high current bonds to the obsy mains earth. But in the absence of an eye over the situation..... I don't even know if your obsy structure is fibreglass, metal or wood. If you get a hit on other structures, or the electrical distribution network, you can get big voltage spikes on the mains supply. Or huge currents flowing in distributed earth systems. In the UK, our overhead distribution pylons have an earth wire at the top. Lightning hits here and is conducted to earth down the pylon structure. Our lower voltage parts of the network are generally below ground. However, small poles carrying a few thousand volts often don't have the overhead earth shield. In other places (USA for example) there is a lot more overhead local mains distribution - and a lot more equipment damage. I have no idea what your local are mains distribution looks like. However, it ounds like damage from your previous strike may have been from currents flowing in the wiring. A direct strike tends to blow things apart. HTH, David.