Robindonne

I recently bought this one.  
It has a very good tripod, i think a vixen hal110?

i could compare it at the same time with a 120mm. And the vixen porta lost the battle    Im not sure about the az4 mounts, haven’t owned one.

Its really an underestimated mount, that gso, especially because that tripod is rock solid.

it has slomo controls. I compared it with my porta 2 and immediately made the decision to never use that porta again 

its a gso altaz deluxe, and the mount and tripod costs somewhere around the price of just that vixen hal tripod

After all these shared experiences, its pretty safe to say that a relaxed and stable position does the trick.  It might give a better position using a good 45 degrees Diagonal or just twist the binoviewer to the side.   

4 minutes ago, John said:

Did you see any photos of the objective before you purchased the scope ?

 

No that was the tricky part.   The seller only had one pic of the tube, taken from above, laying in the original box.  And i’m from Holland and the buyer and seller from Belgium.   It was their meeting in twilight that caused this i assume

51 minutes ago, Ships and Stars said:

 I find being comfortably seated

This is very much true.   Balancing behind my binoviewer isn’t really working.   I often  point them horizontal to the right side, the left side is quite dangerous with standard thread in the diagonal😑, and sit down steady.   That way the merging doesn’t have to take place after every moment of imbalance.

just relaxing on an old balcony

Hello and enjoy the rediscovered hobby

Looked through them for an hour tonight, switched to the traditional single eyepiece, but it didn’t take long before i switched back again.   Have my first bino since a month, and must say (almost) all of the reviews about a complete other experience are true.   
 

Only thing i have to play with sometimes, is the individual eyepiece focus position.  Seems like my left eye is much sharper, at least thats what it feels.  That difference completely disappears while using both eyes. 
 

But the feeling of floating through space vs the stationary feeling with the traditional “mono” is worth the investment.  

42 minutes ago, NVDW said:

Well I emailed the company so fingers crossed. Looking at the price I paid for the lot, I can spare some money to have it restored. 

Tomorrow day 3 of the treatment. 

I think I'd always be annoyed by that stuff between the lenses. A bit of OCD...

Thanks for the advice so far though

OCD? I remember you were planning to throw it over the fence, the moment you came home and found out about the possible fungus!😎

but serious, i hope it all sorts out, and you can enjoy it.

5 hours ago, johninderby said:

The Starsense app was developed by the same company that makes SkySafari and is based on SkySafari with added features.

The Starsense Explorer LT70 has been removed from Celestrons Starsense Explorer section of their website so it looks like it may have been discontinued. 🙁

https://www.celestron.com/collections/starsense-explorer-smartphone-app-enabled-telescopes

 

Not from the sponsor but 24 available in NL

For discussions likes this, the best solution is the one from John. John W.  Pour about 80 mm of its fluid in a clean glass, it contains 40% alcohol, no need to mix, but make sure you have a nice blended fluid. 
 

carefully lay aside your telescope and other equipment.  Put your face up and aim for the nightsky.  Now lift that glass and enjoy, and lets all forget about this topic

10 minutes ago, jnb said:

I think the observatory at Herstmonceux might have let something slip about it
 

https://youtu.be/k-VlV6zq-Y4

 

 

They might be right

You could probably get a anti-fungus treatment for €5,- at the local tanning-bed shop?  If youre allowed to bring the tube.  Or is that not the uv-light what is needed to remove fungus?

7 minutes ago, DaveL59 said:

there's a mirror under the camera so the phone "sees" the sky 🙂 It was tried to just aim the camera at the sky and didn't work - on the CN thread IIRC.

Ah ok.   Then its the app that only recognize mirrored view.     I was looking for a post here from a member who did just that, facing his phonecamera to the sky, probably with skysafari.   Can’t find it anymore here.  

16 hours ago, johninderby said:

Yes it is.The phone holder has a mirror on the front.

But what exactly happens if you just turn your phone 90 degrees, in a phone mount, with the camera facing in the direction of the telescope?

Sorry if its not really part of “The postman thread”.

15 minutes ago, wornish said:

I only do astrophotography, no visual, and have recently bought a C9.25 and a a Baader Steel-Track focuser to help with planetary shots.

The focuser is certainly well made and a quality piece of engineering, but it seems to create more issues than it solves. 

The whole back focus definition seems to be a mine field and is driving me crazy at the moment - what does it actually mean?

The main focus knob on the C9.25 moves the backfous well before and after the so called published distance. I really don't understand what's going on!

I guess that to to achieve the published focal length the back focus is as what is published but that does not mean you can't get focus at different distances. - or does it?

I would really like someone to explain ??

Strange, i used one on my c8.  But of all the different types of telescopes, these sc’s are the ones i would have tought to not getting in trouble, using a crayford focuser.  Your Internal mirror focusser should almost always give you extra margin.   Not an expert so i might be wrong.  
I assume you use a reducer/flattener?   The backfocus is probably somewhere between 55 and 100 mm.

in what sort of trouble do you get when your sensor is 55-100 mm from the reducer?

-Backfocus of the reducer is the ideal distance from your reducer to your sensor.-

9 hours ago, johninderby said:

 A couple of boxes for a little project.and a few other bits. 🙂

 

I might have been sleeping, but whats the good part about this starsense part?

Is there no way to extend the connection between the telescope and focuser?

Nice thread.  I was thinking about switching the focuser, and the possible problems that can occur. That steeltrack looks on itself shorter then the original one.  Really interested in this outcome.  

M

You should download and install a tool for this.  Cant remember the name anymore.   But when you google your question: “backup sd asiair”, you’ll find the software title.   

Hello from the Ermelo👋🏼👋🏼

No problem.   They are actually also mini dovetails.   Im afraid the adm mini’s are some mm off.   Maybe i just get rid of them and follow the normal vixen size again.   Only option im going to try Is the dualside bar from WO.  They use an Arca swiss system, never heard of it before, and they kind of look to be compatible with the adm minis.   Its also the only one with slots on the right position.   Thanks anyway for the help.  Appreciated

1 hour ago, Dippy said:

Baader optical wonder solution is practically Isopropyl alcohol. Instead of £12 for a 70mL of it, buy a 1000 mL of Isopropyl alcohol for £22 (before pandemic it was only £5). They have also smaller bottles which will be cheaper of course. The Baader solution and Isopropyl alcohol don’t remove the toughest of fungi on optics, only a few of the less deep set ones can be treated with them. 

No you’re right.  But i see these rebranded fluids all the time. The pur foam cleaner or nail polish cleaner etc can be bought in bulk bottles for less then a tenth of the price.  The aluminum from a telescope tube also...   Its a bit the comfort of a proven fluid in a workable flacon etc.   
 

I have to admit that when this Belgium send me the pictures, the first thing i did was open my own telescope cases and caps. 
i do leave them open the rest of the night after some hours of use.  But it was a sad image he send me and kind of worrying. 
 

Most of his disappointment vanished in the darkness last night.   The view was nice and sharp.  I think the pricetag of an inside cleaning will let him decide to live with some imperfections or not. 
 

Those red and black desiccant caps from Flo are suddenly not so nonsense at all.   Just don’t want to cut holes in the case-foam😑

45 minutes ago, John said:

How does that relate to the topic of this thread

I wasnt sure if this topic was about the possible giving up of a member. And the fear for scams while searching for a good set.    Sorry if it is not that post.   Last week this post looked mixed up but that could also be my browser.   

A last try to get the o.p. in this hobby

A c11 on avx for 1750,- on abs.  Scam?

On 07/09/2020 at 09:19, jock1958 said:

@Robindonne Rowan Engineering who make the AZ100 mount sell slo mo cables with an 8mm end connection, it’s 420mm long, not sure of the price though?

I’ve been after longer ultra flexible slo mo cables with 6mm connections for sometime but there just doesn’t seem to be anything around, it’s that bad I’m seriously looking at making my own!

There was a couple of vintage Takahashi cables on eBay recently that would have suited my needs, but was pipped at the post 🙁

In the meantime I’ve made do with a couple of Skywatcher cables joined together until I find something more suitable 🤔

 

 

This extension idea is actually really nice.   Only if i could find a more flexible piece of 4”/10 cm.  
 

or something like this:

€ 4,30  45％ Off | 1 PCS 98 CM Lente Gecoat Pin Type Metalen Buis Kabel Flexibele As Inner en Outer Voor Opknoping Motor Power gereedschap Accessoires Roterende
https://a.aliexpress.com/_BU9MZK