Dr Strange

10 hours ago, Stu said:

Lovely stuff, glad you got to see it. Nice scope!!

Cheers Stu

8 hours ago, cletrac1922 said:

Dr Strange, nice report

Sun has just been setting here also, and sun below the western horizon, reflecting off the clouds above the ranges to the west of me

Not sure where you are, if you are above or below the equator

I am 27 degrees south of the equator

Had both Venus and the moon peaking through the clouds as well

Not sure if you are able  to see The Crux, also known as Southern Cross  down under with Centaurus 

Have Orion and the Seven Sisters overhead currently

When do presentation with my club, primary schools, scout groups, enjoy showing them Omega Centaur

Both Orion and Seven Sisters are very prominent in Australian Indigenous astronomy which goes back over 40,000 years

In women's business, Indigenous astronomy,  Orion is chasing the seven sisters to marry one

He can't, because Orion belongs to the wrong mob

In men's business, Orion is a pack of dingoes, chasing a mob of kangaroos

The belt of Orion, is also know as the canoe

Another interesting fact, with Indigenous population northern Australia

The first time Orion appears above the eastern horizon, just after sunset, it is also the onset of our wet season

I hope my info on Indigenous astronomy, which I love to share, and have many more stories, taught to me by the Elders, when growing up on family farm, rural Victoria, passed down by word of mouth from one generation to the next, has brought a bit of happiness into the world, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic

John

 

  

  

 

Unfortunately I am at 34 degrees so no luck on the Crux. I want to take a trip down under for observing. Been to Perth, Hobart, and Sydney for work but that was before I got into the hobby. 

LOVE the story! I am a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador so I am going to steal it and incorporate it into my talks!  

8 hours ago, John said:

I've changed the colour of your text - it was black on dark grey for me and practically invisible !

 

Thank you John!

11 hours ago, Ciaran Meier said:

Nice report there Dr Strange 😀.

Read a bit of Robert Heinlein many years ago.   Literary folk tend to look down on us sci-fi fans but reading good science fiction can lead one to question the "norm".  It causes us to look for another perspective on what we are given ( told ) to believe.  

What are you reading at the moment ?

All the Best and keep safe. 

Ciaran. 

Big fan of Heinlein! My favorites are Time Enough for Love, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, and Friday. I also enjoyed his other works including Star Ship Troopers (wretched  movie aside). Right now I am reading an Alister Stone novel which is a paranormal magic series. I also am a really big fan of Jim Butcher Harry Dresden series. As to SciFi I just finished a Star Trek TOS book that was a reread as well as a couple Shadowrun Cyberpunk books. I am a voracious reader and enjoy a wide swath of topics that range from Fiction to Fantasy to SciFi. If you haven't tried a Dresden book I highly recommend it.

13 hours ago, Sunshine said:

They are an awesome sight now, enjoy that, i have clouds clouds clouds over here.

Sorry to hear that! Hopefully it clears tonight! We are looking at a series of storms starting today that will give us rain and snow in the mountains (much needed) through Thursday.

The 120 is significantly more heavy than the 80 and has a much bigger moment arm, that is why it would be a problem. The 100 is heavier (this is a porky telescope) at 7.25 kg which I believe is double the 80's weight but is still likely OK on the HEQ5 since the scope is a bit more than 1/2 the rated weight for the mount which is 13.6kg. The rated weight is usually the maximum weight for visual use and also doesn't take into account moment arm. 

Generally I have found Skywatcher products to be able to carry more weight for imaging than Celestron products which is odd since Synta, the parent company for both Celestron and Skywatcher, makes both product lines (as well as the mounts for Orion USA) but it is what it is.

Oh and I ran into this high frequency oscillation SDE problem during my Masters degree work. Different application but same problem. This was back in the mid 90's so the money for absolute encoders were more than the University was willing to spend for a non-PhD candidate that didn't have additional grant funding for their research. 

2 hours ago, oymd said:

well, it would make sense that with higher end mounts the encoders would also be higher spec...no?

i think I read somewhere that the encoders used by AP are the top end ones...

I think they are called “Reninshaw” 

pretty sure I got that name wrong...

 

Correct. They are Renishaw (you spelled it right too) high resolution absolute encoders. Key words there being high resolution and absolute. This means that they are very accurate in their positioning and cannot get "lost" because each tick on the encoder wheel has  a specific code identifier. These encoders are much more expensive. And much more accurate. 

The problems that iOptron faced were in how they handled the SDE (Sub-Divisional Error aka interpolation error) in software and how poorly they handled all the owners who found a problem and wanted help with it. At short focal lengths the encoder version of the CEM60 and CEM120 did really well. When people tried to image over 1,500mm in focal length potato stars started to appear. This was due to a high frequency oscillation that would occur that wouldn't show up at shorter focal lengths but did in the longer ones. There are reports that they have addressed the SDE problem in software that was missing before but problems are still being reported so I am not sure this was addressed or there is some other additional problems. In addition this doesn't include the other issues they have had and still do have in the variability in manufacturing process, materials, and quality control. 

For its price point the CEM60 and CEM120 are good mounts but I would recommend the standard versions not the EC versions.

Light pollution in Los Angeles isn't reduced all that much but the lack of traffic is fantastic! Both in terms of headlights on my street (when I observe from the driveway) and in terms of traffic overall on the freeways and roads. It is like it was in the 1980's...

The Esprit's are excellent scopes. I had the 100 and loved it. It will be impossible to find a scope in that aperture with Schott and FPL-53 glass that is well figured and mated as well as coming with all the accessories you need to image in the price range of the 120. The only other scope that would come close would be the Takahashi TSA-120 at double the price or the Tele Vue NP127is which is three times the price. And both of those would mean several hundred more pounds to get all the accessories you need to image with it.

 My only concern would be the HEQ5. It should be fine for shorter exposures but if you are trying to to narrow band or long duration exposures (over about 90 seconds) you may run into challenges. Wind could also be a factor. You may want to think about adding a Skywatcher EQ6-R to the purchase just to make sure you are not under mounted.

One of the surprising but really nice features of the 6-R is the handle. People don't realize how much this helps ergonomically when trying to move and mount/dismount the mount head. 

AP is different than visual. For visual aperture is king. For AP it is the mount. AP is a very complex part of the hobby and can be very expensive. There are also a lot of moving parts that need to be accounted for so simple is better. Thus in general for someone starting out a short focal length good quality refractor is the best option. A 80mm refractor like the William Optics Zenithstar 81 APO on a Celestron Advanced VX mount is a good place to start. I used an Advanced VX to start with. With a 80-102mm refractor is worked well for its price point. You can expect up to 90 seconds unguided with the mount. Realistically 30-60 seconds. I would wait to guide until after mastering the basics. Trying to do too much too fast is a recipe for disaster. 

As a counter point I also used it with a 127mm carbon fiber Explore Scientific FCD1 APO refractor on the AVX. This combination was fantastic for visual and I used this setup a lot. I also got a lot of firsts with it. However for AP it wasn't as fantastic. It was possible but very much not recommended. Any little bit of wind was a problem. Any vibrations were a problem. Guiding was a problem. And so on. 

For things that I cannot get or cannot get in a reasonable time I have used First Light Optics (FLO). They are absolutely second to none in terms of service, support, and product availability. I would highly recommend them.

The 152mm Dob is a very good option for visual work. However as noted, it really doesn't work for any imaging. The reason being that it is a completely manual telescope.  Also as noted if you are handy you can build a motorized equatorial platform or you can buy one. They are quite expensive though. Another option would be to buy the Skywatcher AZ-GTi, the EQ wedge for it, and use your 70mm refractor for imaging. This will be a less expensive option than buying a platform if you cannot or do not want to make it. 

16 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Lots of useful insights there, thank you.

So I’m now going to have to get an M210 to compliment my TSA 120???

🤣

 

 

Yes. If you check your TSA certificate it is actually an implied contract that you agree to when you buy the scope. Included in there is a paragraph that says if you buy/own a TSA-120 you are required to buy a M210 or 180 to compliment it. Sorry mate. You don't want to end up having to pay a Solicitor to try and litigate it. It is just cheaper and easier to bite the bullet and buy the Mewlon...

16 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

 

Personally I wouldn't bother with wide field eyepiece designs, but would use things like the 35mm Baader Eudiascopic,  and Takahashi LE's and longer Orthoscopics.

 

I find that seeing the barrel of the EP takes me out of the immersion and suspension of reality during observing. I used to use Ethos. In the last two weeks I found that I was using the Nagler's I have more than the Ethos. They are lighter, still mean I have to move my little bean head to see the barrel, and get that wide field experience I enjoy. So I sold off all my Ethos and switched completely to Naglers with a 24mm Panoptic in the mix and my biggest EP being the Holy Hand Grenade/ improvised club that is the 31 Nagler. With the 31 Nagler and a OIII filter I am able to get the entire Veil complex in my Tele Vue NP101is and it is amazing. The 31 however is huge and as noted I can use it as a improvised club if I need to beat off a wild animal or Football hooligan. 

Even with the narrow FOV of the Mewlon I find the TV's work really well. A good (and much less expensive) alternative is the Bresser/Explore Scientific 82 or 100 degree EP's. I owned the entire line of ES 82's except the 31. They were great. I updated to the TV's because at certain points of the year vendor's in the US would sell the EP's at cost which was a great discount. TV gave fee EP's, telescopes, etc to vendors who sold a certain amount of EP's in a given timeframe. Some vendors would sell them at cost because the value of the free stuff significantly outweighed the loss of profit by selling them at cost. I don't know if they do that anymore...

4 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

First things first. Rugby is by far the superior game than either boring cricket or girly football, and the rules are much simpler too, - whoever gets the ball dies!  I lost interest in cricket after seeing my 10 year old school friend Gary get his teeth smashed out with a cricket ball, and the teacher rush him off to hospital in his car. I've never played it since. And who in their right mind could ever like a game like football, when everyone blatantly cheats and no-one does anything about it. And watching grown men cry when they trip over a daisy is just too much to bare. Rugby is much more sivilised in my book. (I'm ugly with a bad back too!)

Now to the Mewlon.  What a brilliant choice. It will cool far more rapidly because of its open tube and will be both sharper and brighter than any catadioptric. I've never looked inside the Mewlon at its cell design, but Tak are renowned for making solid, well thought out mechanics. As for the focuser, well that's the mystery of Takahashi; nobody has a clue why everything is so complicated. As a visual instrument the Mewlon would generally leave Cat's in the dust, and if you only observe for short periods you'll appreciate their rapid cool down.

Personally I wouldn't bother with wide field eyepiece designs, but would use things like the 35mm Baader Eudiascopic,  and Takahashi LE's and longer Orthoscopics.

 

I give credit to the Footballers they make gobs of money and have to be really athletic with good endurance. It is a tough game to play. Otherwise they are a bunch of floppers. Rugby is a hooligan sport played by gentlemen. Football is a gentleman's sport played by hooligans.  

Ouch! on your friend! That sucks! 

A good trick for cooling of these scopes is to use a desk fan and a sheet. Cover the front opening with the sheet. Point the fan at the opening from about 300cm away blowing into the opening. That accelerates cooling significantly. The sheet keeps the dust out. 

What I like to do is to use my TSA for the fist half of my observing. Going after the wide field/big stuff. Within that time the Mewlon cools. After I complete the wide field/big stuff I swap out the Mewlon and go after planets and the small stuff or to go deep on the big stuff. Works really well.

Well since I played Rugby both at Uni and after until becoming too injured to continue I am pretty ugly and not very bright (the good looking smart ones play Cricket or Football) so I qualify for that Idiot tag. Hence the title of this thread. I plan to do several other "Idiot" threads on my other equipment as well since it has been my experience that some of the information I had to work hard at finding would be beneficial to others coming after me. Unless of course it is just a case where I am an idiot and you lot have already gotten these things down pat in which case I will laugh at my own stupidity and get on with things. Note: I originally posted this on the US site cloudynights.com but thought it might be helpful here too. 

When I was doing my research on the Takahashi Mewlon family of scopes I wasn't able to find very much out there that was related to what I wanted to find out. These scopes tend to be pretty rare in the wild and thus there isn't all that much out there. From my research I found out there are only 40 Mewlon 210's made per year. Of those 40, 20 go to the USA and the rest go to other countries. The things I was looking for were:

What accessories worked with the scopes
What focusers would be compatible
What rings or mounting plates could be used
How the views were compared to other scopes I had used
What was the size of the scopes
How much did they weigh
How long does it take to cool them
How hard are they to collimate

And so on. Since I am now the owner of a Mewlon 210 and a Mewlon 250 I want to use this thread to document my own findings and experiences with the scopes as well as constructive information and experiences both good and bad  so that hopefully someone like me coming along behind me doesn't have to go through the learning curve I did.

I have done side by side comparisons between an 8"/203mm, 11"/279mm, and 14"/356mm Celestron EdgeHD SCT's and the Mewlon 210 and 250 so I will be mentioning what I found in that comparison. 

First up some quick data:

Mewlon Family Specifications:
Mewlon 210
210mm/8.27in aperture
f/11.5
32% CO
2,415mm focal length
13.4 limiting magnitude
18mm image circle
210mm back focus
Primary mirror 220mm elliptical Pyrex aluminized multi coating
Secondary mirror 65mm spherical Pyrex aluminzied multi coating
244mm/9.6in diameter
700mm/27.56in length
9 kg/19.8 lbs
7x50 finder 6.3 degree FOV
 
Mewlon 250 CRS (current production model)
f/10
250mm/9.84in aperture
28% CO
2,500mm focal length
13.8 limiting magnitude
21mm image circle
210mm back focus
Primary mirror 260mm elliptical Pyrex aluminized multi coating
Secondary mirror 72mm spherical Pyrex aluminized multi coating
280mm/11in diameter
850mm/33.47in length
15 kg/33 lbs
7x50 finder 6.3 degree FOV with recticle illuminator
 
NOTE:  Takahashi masked off the outer 10 mm of the primary mirror in order to eliminate the coma problem that was noted in the original Dall-Kirkham design.

Mewlon Family system charts:
https://www.takahashi-europe.com/en/mewlon.systemcharts.php

One thing I find frustrating about any Takahashi telescope is the various bits and bobs you need to make the <REMOVED> thing work! So much so that I dumped my FSQ-85. Trying to get it to work with my CCD was an exercise in almost a s**ual fetish where I felt like Merv the Perv, wanted to wash my hands afterwards, and never discuss it in polite company. It was also expensive to do. In comparison the Tele Vue bits were only $140 USD and that was for all the spacers they made. Half of which I don't need but it was cheaper to order the complete kit. Remember I am Irish so cheap, like the budgie. Speaking of which did you know how copper wire was invented? Two Irishmen fighting over a penny!

Mewlon 210 Owners Manual:
https://www.astronomy-electronics-centre.com.au/instruction_manuals/Mewlon 210.pdf

Mewlon 250 Owners Manual:
https://www.astronomy-electronics-centre.com.au/instruction_manuals/Mewlon 250.pdf

The reason why I went with the Mewlon series of scopes is because I wanted the very best Reflector scope I could find that was in a similar footprint of a SCT.

Don't get me wrong. I loved my SCT's they were fantastic performers and did everything advertised. I was fortunate to have very good mirror samples on mine. However I also observe from Southern California which means that temperatures can swing from day to night. Not as much as other locations but still enough that I was waiting on cool down for my scopes even using the Deep Space Products TEMPest fans, something I highly recommend since they cut cooling time by about 1/2 and keep the scope at thermal equilibrium while being able to observe too. I like the EdgeHD scopes for visual use because they can be fitted with the TEMPest fans and they provide refractor like views to the edge of the field. A real plus. 

My observing sessions tend to be very short due to life happening. During the week about 1 or so hours (unless I lose track of time because I am so into observing at which She Who Must Be Obeyed gets quite cross because I am a zombie the next day) and about 4-6 hours from a dark sky/during the weekends. So I wanted something that would give me the refractor like views of the Edge series of SCT, the ability to go deep like the Edge, and have the best mirrors in the form factor of the SCT that were commercially available with a relatively short lead time. TEC and Intes Mak's and the like are another example of excellent mirror quality but can only be found now on the used market and then rarely.
 
The Mewlon 210 was the ideal scope for this. It is light enough to go to the field easily, its mirror quality was top notch, its mechanical quality was acceptable (more in a moment), and it cooled to the point where I wasn't seeing wooly stars (I HATE wooly stars) in half the time of my SCT even with the Deep Space Products TEMPest fans (I highly recommend these for your Edge SCT).

I found I liked the 210 so much that I decided that I was willing to spend the substantially extra amount of money to down size from the EdgeHD 11" with excellent mirrors I had to the 10" Mewlon 250. Fortunately my local shop was very helpful giving me a very generous trade in value for the Edge so I could (barely) afford the 250. Unless you are for sure wanting to have the very best out there and have the disposable income (for me it was the trade in on my Edge plus the fact that I have no other hobbies, was willing to bring my lunch to work and save money that way, and convince She Who Must Be Obeyed that it was a good way to keep me out of the local pub's) for it, I would recommend the 210 or even the 180 over the 250. The 250 really needs good seeing conditions to really bring out its full potential. 

A note on collimation. The Mellon's hold their collimation really well. So far I haven't had to collimate either. However being the My understanding of the collimation process for a M210 per a conversation with Takahashi America:

1. Get a 2' X 2' white sheet of cardboard or poster board
2. Use a ruler or T Square to mark the center of the paper
3. Drill a 3/8" hole in the center of the paper
4. Mount the OTA on a mount or in a position where you can comfortably look in the tube
5. Shine a light so you can see inside the tube
6. Sit or stand so the secondary is at eye level
7. Move so you are approximately 4' away from the tube (50" is specified)
8. Look in the tube so you can see the spider vanes and their reflection in the primary
9. If you are at the right level you will also see the black donut that is the baffle tube
10. Move backward and forward until the secondary, main secondary nut and baffle tube merge
11. Once step 10 is done get the card stock and look through the hole as you did in step 10
12. You should see 3 vanes if collimation is good
13 If you see six vanes adjust by 1/8 turn the collimation nuts with a 2.5mm hex key until you see three vanes.
14. Wreck the collimation further, curse and make rude hand gestures at the scope, CN, me, Takahashi, and anyone else that comes to mind.
15. Finally give up in utter frustration
16. Buy a Hotech Deluxe CT Collimator
17. Repeat steps 14 and 15 with Hotech Collimator and move to step 18
18. Put the scope on a shelf to wait for good seeing and several hours to fiddle with it using Polaris and a high power EP

Honestly just skip to #18

The nuts on the M210/250 are very tight and can/will squeak on you when you turn them. They need very little turning to make big adjustments so be advised of that when you play with it. In the case of my own M210 it has held collimation very very well in spite of my doing my level best to ruin it by driving recklessly at high speeds into turns and over bumps as well as unpaved roads so the good news is once you have done this and gotten it dialed in you likely will not have to do it very often.

The Takahashi Collimation Scope DOES NOT work on the Mewlon 210 because of a lack of a center spot. Supposedly there is one on the 250. I have the CRS and after just checking to confirm, there isn't one on mine. There might be one on the older models or more recent models but there isn't on mine ergo no Collimation Scope for me. Collimation is not hard with these so save the money since you will have to finish collimation on a star anyway so why bother? 

There is a Feathertouch focuser for the Mewlon 210 and 250. What you want is:

FTF2008 2.0" focuser with 0.8" drawtube
A20-261 adapter to attach it

There is enough back focus to use most eyepieces wit this setup. I have this on my 250 because I *HATE* the electronic focuser. More on this in a minute. 

The Mewlon 210/250 has enough back focus for me to use a Tele Vue Binoviewer with Baader T2 1.25" setup, 1.25x Glass Path Corrector, and the stock fitting on the Mewlon. Here is an image of the Mewlon 210 with the BV and other kit:

Mewlon 210 baader 2 inch prism diag TV BV 1.25 GPC 

One of the things I cannot stand about the Mewlon family is the lack of RACI finderscope. I find it a royal PITA to bend myself into positions to use the finder. Fortunately there is a very nice solution to this. It is made by Telescope Service aka Telescope Express in Germany. Here is the link to it. It is a right angle polar scope adapter:

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/en/info/p5224_PFZSLOS-90--diagonal-for-your-Losmandy-Astrotrac-Polar-Finderscope.html

And here are photos of it on my 210:

Mewlon 210 with finder close up

Mewlon 210 with finder 1

Make sure to tell the folks at TE that it is for a Mewlon so they can dremmel out the fitting since this is designed by them for a polar scope. This works well on PS's too.

I use a Losmandy Universal D Plate on all of my scopes now. The one I use on the 210 and  250 is the large one at 13"/33cm long. I like it because it has inch/cm marks on it in 1/2 inch increments making finding the same spot for balance much easier.

The Mewlon 250 requires scope rings. They are not included in the $9,500 USD price of the 250. They will cost you an additional $500ish dollars. From memory $580. Then you have to spend another $250ish dollars on the special Takahashi Mounting Plate. While I was at peace with the Mewlon 250 cost and my local store was very accommodating with me providing me an excellent value on the trade in for my excellent mirror EdgeHD 11" SCT I am still very much Irish and spending the equivalent to a nice APO refractor so I could have the pleasure of using special Takahashi rings and mount plate just wasn't in the cards.

Fortunately Parallax is substantially cheaper. For $260 they are making custom rings for me. And the D plate is about another $80. The outer diameter of the Mewlon 250 is 280cm so there is a possibility that the Orion or Skywatcher 10"/2o0mm imaging Newtonian Astrograph rings will also work.

The Mewlon 210 has mirror shift. I am not sure it would be possible to engineer it out for a price point that made it acceptable. However the mirror shift is substantially less than any of the SCT's I have worked with. So if mirror shift is a problem for you then the 210 is likely not the scope for you. But then neither are any other SCT's. Mine has very little but it is there. 

I strongly do not recommend Bobs Knobs for these scopes. From an authoritative source they actually can cause collimation to slip and thus make it necessary to collimate more often. 

Coma was minimal and in only the outer 5-10% of edge of the total field of view using Ethos eyepieces in the 17mm and below range in the 210 when the 210 was properly cooled and had (still does) very good collimation. I am sensitive to coma and can't stand it when I look in a scope. Thus why I am such a APO refractor fan. And why I have the Mewlon's. They have the least amount of coma I have seen in a reflecting scope. My old UC15 at f/4.2 had it badly to my eyes (I could see it easily but others sometimes did not as they were less sensitive to it) so I had to use a Paracorr with it at all times or else I would get very frustrated since I hate seagull stars.

The other thing that drives me to distraction is wooly fuzzy flairing stars. Something I would get in my EdgeHD scopes if they were not cooled well enough. Again why I am such a refractor guy. And something that is reduced to near zero much quicker in the Mewlon's than the closed cell SCT's. 

I usually pair my 210 up with my TSA 120 when I am at dark sites and structure my 4-6 hour observing session around objects that each scope excels on. I have found the 210 punches way above its weight class delivering refractor like views to the edge of the field when cooled in a detail level similar to a 9.25"/236mm SCT. Especially on planets. I used to not be a big fan of Jupiter. It was my 5th favorite planet after Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Mars. Until I got a look at it with the 210 in good stable air. It was amazing the detail and the colors I could see. Plus the GRS. I had only seen the GRS in my Obsession UC15. 

And the same applied to the moon. I would usually spend only a few 10's of minutes at most on the moon. Until I started using the 210. Now I can find myself loosing track of time and spending hours on it without realizing it. 

Globular clusters are quite nice with individual stars easily resolvable. Same with small planetary nebulae and the appropriate filters. Really really nice to look at.

This is pretty much what the 250 delivers. However there is 2"/51cm of more aperture. That is a good amount of aperture increase even with the "wow" factor being defined by many as 3"/76mm in order to get that "wow" factor visually in a reflector. Another key point of the 250 is that with the $500 USD reducer that brings the scope down to f/8, imaging is much easier because of the active cooling and electronic focuser. If you are an imager then this may make the 250 an easier decision though you will need/want a EQ6-R mount of bigger to do so. Visually (since I am not yet good enough to be imaging at 2,500mm focal length) there was a very noticeable increase in brightness in the small objects I look at as well as the planets/moon. 

Is this worth the $6,500 extra the 250 costs? Only you know the answer to that for your given circumstances. To me it was, but I was able to get a very good deal on my EdgeHD 11 that brought that $9,500 cost down quite a bit and I have no other hobbies.

More on my likes and dislikes about the 250. I liked the fans. I am mostly ambivalent with a touch of hatred towards the motorized focuser. So I am moving off from the I positively *HATE* the thing at this point. It focused acceptably though I had to go inside and outside of focus to tell if things were focused properly. Something I am not used to with my "regular" focusers.  It still frustrates me that the focuser is a major single point of failure that could render the scope useless. That is just bad engineering in my book.
 
What was especially frustrating last night was that I had the unit plugged into a 110-120v plug on my 12v battery pack  and the plug kept coming loose from the controller. Also with all the cables (power for the mount, the hand controller for the mount, and the controller for the scope) things got a bit tangled which was a frustration point. For sure I will be putting the 9v battery in there if I use the bloody thing. I found that if I had the plug come loose then plugged it back in the scope would unfocus itself by a decent bit. No idea why it does this. Anyone know?
 
I did put the above mentioned Feathertouch focuser on it so I can abandon the motorized focuser completely. It is a joy.
 
And a more detailed observing report using the 250. Note the 210 is similar just not a bright and some less detail. I am in a barely red mostly white LP zone which sucks for me but it is what it is. The only EP I used was the 17mm Ethos which gave me 147x magnification on targets. Speaking of which the targets in order were:
 
SAO 113271 Betelgeuse
NGC 1976 Orion Nebula
NGC 224 Andromeda galaxy
Uranus
NGC 752 Open cluster in Andromeda
NGC 457 Dragonfly cluster
 
Betelgeuse - Bright, big, a bit soft, and a bit woolly. And diffraction spikes which don't bother me. It was shortly after the fans were on so the scope was no where near TE and that's fine. It was better than what I would get in my SCT's out of the box and even about 15-20 minutes in with TEMPest fans.
 
Orion Nebula - Also a bit soft but clear nebulosity and the A-C stars clearly visible. Again too close to startup to provide a good view. Sadly when I used my TEC 140 later on in this evenings session (it was first light for it and the scope has since been sold because the TOA 130 did better plus is air spaced since in the last couple years I have seen 7 different cases of oil settling/leaking in oil spaced scopes which scares me since both Roland Christian of Astro-Physics and Yuri Petronin of TEC are of an age where they are closer to the end of their respective journeys than the beginning so repair will be a question) I got the A-D stars with hints of E & F. I do love my refractors. And with it being open cluster season it is really a better time for them.
 
Andromeda galaxy - It was there. There was some hints of structure which was nice.
 
Uranus - Wow! A bright light blue ball! That was nice! And even through it was poor seeing I believe I could have pushed up to 250x with a 10mm Ethos and caught a good bit of detail. I didn't but I fully expect this scope to shine on the Moon and other planets. Update: It does.
 
Open cluster in Andromeda - Good number of stars in the field but couldn't get the whole cluster in the FOV. Saw some faint stuff in there. Caught what looked like a mag 8 and 9 or so double star in the cluster. Likely not a true double but they were close enough together for me to call it as such.
 
Dragonfly cluster - One of my personal favorites. Nice to see it again.
 

And lastly the front of both scopes:

On 29/03/2020 at 03:05, L8-Nite said:

Hello and Welcome from me too. This is a great forum and I've met so good folks here. I lived in Los Angeles from the 1950's through the mid 1980's and was the construction superintendent for installation of the piers and small building housing the Interferometer on Mt. Wilson. I remember a detail on the plans showing the instrument, and noticed the entrance door specified on the building appeared too small for clearance, so I brought it to the attention of the user and he said "we can turn the instrument on its side and carry it through". I asked to see the instrument which was on site in another building, and it was mounted on about a 4' x 8' x 5" thick slab of alloy, which I'm confident weighed about a couple of tons; so a couple of guys were not going to be able to lift it and carry it through, lol.   Thought you might appreciate this bit of trivial information.

Love it!

On 29/03/2020 at 02:59, Ships and Stars said:

Rugby is a rough one for sure! I'd last about 30 seconds tops. Sorry to hear about that, both of the dobs you mention are held in high esteem by the 'dob mob' here I would imagine, I'd love to look through either one.

Rural Scotland can be great when conditions are right, but of course pretty hit and miss with the cloud cover and the jet stream never seems too far away. I've always been a casual stargazer, but only really started appreciating properly dark skies after a string of camping trips here, which ultimately led to my interest in astronomy. 

I'm actually from Indiana, but have lived in the UK for around 20 years. I played little league, but it's been many, many years. My pitching arm was better when I was 14 than it is now!

I was in Vegas once in 1993, some friends and myself worked in Alaska for a summer and took the 'long way' home.  We were driving through the pitch-black desert at night, and all the sudden we went over a crest on the highway, and there it was, surreal, lights to the horizon, the contrast with the desert could not have been greater. We won about $400, ate some pizza and ran before we lost it all. It wasn't a huge amount, but needed four new tyres the next day so that came in handy, haha, good times. 

I was wondering about Mt Wilson vs light pollution from LA, the conditions are still so good as you mention it's well worth a look. That would be amazing. I'd like to do another road trip next time I'm in the States and go out west again and combine it with some observatory stops. Lowell would be another one for sure. We've two little ones, so it may be some time!

It's a really good group here, I've learned so much in the relatively short time I've been on this forum, it would have taken me years and years otherwise to figure much of it out through trial and error. 👍

 

 

See when you are good looking, bright, and well liked you play Cricket or Football. When you are ugly, brutish, not very bright, and not well liked like I am you play Rugby.  

I would encourage you or anyone else to definitely make the trip to Wilson if it is in the cards. It really is mind blowing! 

20 hours ago, Ships and Stars said:

Welcome! Awesome selection of gear you have there. I'm a bit the same, I've gone through phases buying and selling, but have finally settled on a couple of dobs and a modest set of six eyepieces, plus binoviewers with a few pairs of plossls. I've wondered what it would be like in the southwest US with a big scope, especially in eastern Nevada (well away from the light pollution of Lost Wages however, ha). Someday perhaps! 

I used to play rugby at Uni (Lock) but if I had it to do over again with all the injuries I have I would have joined the chess club instead!  Because of those injuries a Dob just isn't in the cards for me though I tried it twice. Once with an Obsession UC15 and the other time with a Teeter 12.5 Journey. I am actually the plank holder on the 12.5 Journey. I was the test case and first person to have one. Both were wonderful scopes but just not in the cards for me. Too painful to work with unfortunately. 

Nevada and Arizona are amazing. I was there with my son less than a month ago for baseball (like Rounders but as popular as Cricket) spring training and brought a scope with me. Simply amazing observing from dark skies. I have to go to Las Vegas for work once per year and it is the same. If you can swing it I would highly recommend it as a trip. There are local clubs that you can connect with that will likely be able to lend you a scope. In addition Lowell Observatory is open to the public and you can look through some great scopes. Even in Los Angeles Mt. Wilson has reservations for visitors where you can look through the 152cm and 254cm telescopes for half a night or a full night. There is still light pollution at Mt. Wilson but the air is so stable that it makes up for it. 

If anyone makes it out to Los Angeles in the warmer months the club I belong to has nights were visitors are welcome and we have a site in a Bortle 3 sky to work with so let me know and I will arrange something.  

Oh and the weather here has been total rubbish. Rainy and/or cloudy going on 2+ weeks. 

Cheers guys. My family is from Ireland and I still have family there (Dublin and Killarney). I was over somewhat regularly and I have two young nephews who are interested in the hobby so it is good to have a place like this to hang out too. 

Cheers guys. My family is from Ireland and I still have family there (Dublin and Killarney). I was over somewhat regularly and I have two young nephews who are interested in the hobby so it is good to have a place like this to hang out too.