gilesco

Assuming the focusers are the same I will look to remove the sticker in time, they have not fallen off on my previous OTA. Just irks that it says something that it is not - maybe I'm getting obsessive.🤣

Yes, will check with FLO and see if they can send me a sticker, with the right Aperture/Focal Length etc... the graduation on the focuser goes from 0mm-87mm, hopefully they're the same for the 100 as they are the 120. Anyone able to check that?

Well it has arrived and looks all OK. Can't help but notice that the dew shield says Esprit 120 (which is what it is), but the focuser is labelled ED100, which should read D=120 F=840 f/7

Strange, this was just discussed here (in the posts before):

If it was Oily, then the desiccant wouldn't have been able to prevent it, I wonder what component might have discharged that - a cooling fan perhaps? It would be nice to hear more from the user, on what ZWO said when he notified them etc... and whether that response made him decide to clean it himself. There might be more comments on Facebook that explain all this, but I don't do Facebook... Out of interest, just checked my 1600MM imaging train, difficult to see down the field flattener with the LPS filter attached (I keep it as a sealed unit, and never expose filters & sensors to the open air unless I have to, and even then usually end up lightly spraying compressed air around before sealing it all up again), can see the sensor at the end and all looks pretty clean, latest images look fine too.

Well, yes, to do it safely would cost as much as rebuilding from new, doing anything to try and fix it will risk another cable snap, those things snap with catastrophic force which would easily be fatal, so you don't want to be anywhere near the vicinity if it is at risk of it happening. I do hope they secure funds to build something even better.

Here we go (I do worry it's bouncing around in a van and will be starting / stopping 115 times...)

They're going to upload the 12 Petabytes of data that the telescope has gathered during it's lifetime to the cloud. That is a lot of data, much of it not fully analysed, so even without the telescope, the project is going to be going on for quite a while yet.

There's a picture of the aurora on the back page of Astronomy Now magazine (Dec 2020) also taken from Scotland (Thurso Bay).

Could just be a loose connection somewhere, or blown capacitor or other component.

Visually check the pins in the ST4 sockets (both camera and mount)? Make sure nothing is bent there. Does your mount only support ST4 guiding?

I had this once with my CGX, it seem to resolve itself by tightening the Clutches, seems strange if it moves with manual slewing I know...

Or rather, what is the courier picking up... Finally got notification that my Esprit 120ED Pro will be shipping to me today.

Just the descriptions and use cases make me think of doing a bit of visual, got into imaging DSOs, but when I start looking at planets again when they become sufficiently high in the sky these will be nice cheap additions. I like the pick'n'mix idea, perhaps come up with some bundle deals that make sense as well.

You only need to polar align. I still kind of do a single star alignment, as it can point out that perhaps the mount clock is wrong or other some such issue.

It was always "Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain" for me.

I only have ZWO cameras, similarly, I only have a ZWO OAG, ZWO Filter Wheel, and a ZWO Helical Focuser for my guide camera. I have stuck with ZWO as I have not needed to buy any adapters for my imaging train - as soon as I start to mix and match I will have to start buying adapters, and trying to fiddle with getting the right backfocus. I'm sure that if you bought everything QHY that you would also find yourself in a neat "not needing to buy anything else" position, but when I costed everything I found I could do it with ZWO cheaper than I could do it with QHY, and QHY was over my budget at the time.

Could you post pictures on here? (I don't have Facebook).

+1 for the Nevada PS-08 for indoor (I run it indoor and use 5m cables to outside), a short ring-tongue to Cigarette Lighter socket is also a useful purchase in combination.

I had mused about a website where people could upload imaging train configurations for various equipment, all with the right backfocus etc... Perhaps with a peer voting and comments section.

A T-thread or T2 is 42mm in diameter, but it is not M42, the thread pitch on a T-thread is 0.75mm, whereas the thread pitch on a M42 is 1mm, so if you were to try to mate a T-thread with a M42 you would probably shred the threads on one or both.

I think it is more of a case, that when you sketch you are likely to draw lines with your pencil, then others use your sketch as a subconscious reference when they draw their sketches with a pencil, also drawing more lines. It is not until we turn to photography, with a bitmap model rather than a line plotting model that the canals cease to exist.

The SkyWatcher orders were docking at Felixstowe and were delayed I think, believe it is through now, but ongoing issues will slow somethings down.

Yes - also don't have my Esprit 120 yet, but having worked with AP on my f/5 ST with all the issues that that entails, would be nice to work at f/5.4 = rather than f/7. Hope to get some opportunities at f/7 first then look at the reducer.

I know we are in lockdown and the following might not be possible right now, forums can come up with suggestions etc... but sometimes it is just better to get some direct help from someone local who is having more luck than you are. Check out a local astronomy group, everyone is really happy to take a look at someone else's equipment and share experiences, even to those who have not been having much luck, we have all been there, and some have come out the other side, with lots of knowledge and tips. Even if the weather is not good, doing a dry set up in the company of others might point out issues that you don't even realise are causing you problems.