Eugene69

Good evening 90's channel 4 viewers. The last few months I have aquired a few telescopes. Meade 4504 digital, Celestron astromaster 130eq, Bresser skylux refractor and a 135mm kson. In my previous posts I had a seben which as a gift and my first go I had a great time but soon discovered the tripod and mount were sloppy, that's when I was given the skylux on the German eq with the missing slow motion controls. I got a bit excited and brought myself a 135mm kson on ebay for 80 quid without being able to find out much about them and it was just the tube so stuck it on the German eq still with missing slow motion cables, but pair of grips worked fine. A few months later I was given the astromaster and it was complete! I took the weights and the winders off it and put it in the shed. Things were looking up apart from the endless cloudy nights. That's when I met a bloke who wanted to sell me his Meade 4504 for 50 quid. I had to drill a couple of holes out to fit my tube rings for the kson onto the mount and it seems good. Now here's the question... Will fitting a larger tube onto the Meade mount affect the tracking of targets? I'm putting the practice in and getting alright at polar alignment and getting it nice and level but still seem to get a bit of drift. Wasn't sure if changing the tube would affect this or if it's operator error. If you made it through this post then fair play.

For the price of replacement slow mo cables I'm starting to think about wanging an ra drive on it will be more fun for the money

Maybe why the knobs are gone too

Thanks zermelo, Upon further research i have seen it referred to as a german equatorial mount (gem) which makes sense. I found these https://www.microglobe.co.uk/celestron-astromaster-slow-motion-controls-set-of-2-p-13173.html I prefer the look of them compared to the flexible type but I have no experience whatsoever with an eq mount but I am already thinking about motor drives haha

Thanks mike

Hello everyone, Hope you have all been enjoying the clouds. I recently acquired this tripod and mount with a bresser skylux attached, it's missing a couple of knobs. Can anyone help me identify this mount? Also are the missing bits the slow motion cables??? Cheers

Thanks sounds good!

Welcome back joe. Im not going to upgrade just yet. Like what your saying, Im going to get to grips with what i have first! The rigel is sounding like a better idea each day haha. I see your very valid point about not finding anything! I have still been researching eyepieces and im thinking i shouldn't go lower than 5mm? I have been using the sky at night 2020 book. But i will check out the one you recommend. Thanks joe

Ok thanks, I will look into this in the future.

Nice one, i will bear that in mind for the future

Ok thanks for enlightening me! Would you class it as an essential piece of kit?

Hello. Yes this is an option. Everytime i get the telescope out i am learning more. Let us pray!

I have been looking on ebay hoping to find a deal! Thanks and i am actually loving it also

Hello, Yeah i dont really know what im talking about. I have only been using the telescope for about a month now. Im guessing that a quickfinder is an essential piece of kit? Thanks for the help!

Greetings and thank you. Err im not sure. Its 700mm 76mm diam