Stardaze

I did start to read up on that and saw a couple of cheap controllers but if I can plug it into one of the dew controller channels and control from that, then even better. I was thinking that it might need its own supply. Already have a 12v 7ah battery powering the dew kit.

So I can lose the molex plug and add some thing like the below to plug into the controller to power? https://www.switchelectronics.co.uk/male-rca-phono-plug-screw-terminals?gclid=Cj0KCQjwt-6LBhDlARIsAIPRQcJ4aJzLmKOyeV4r65ih2Zw84rIjzU7iSC84boHhMOQ2A3DfHlJ1FCgaAnFIEALw_wcB

Thank you, that’s great. I have a 4 way controller from Dew Control so I’ll look at that configuration. Can’t seem to find grilles to go on the back now..

Quick question, what is your fan powered by? Have been looking at 4 pin fans but typically the converter plugs I've found are 2 pin like this one: https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/dc-power-connectors/8104595/?cm_mmc=UK-PLA-DS3A-_-google-_-CSS_UK_EN_Connectors_Whoop-_-DC+Power+Connectors_Whoop+(2)-_-8104595&matchtype=&pla-362265064714&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwoulkofw8wIVze3mCh3xBwNpEAQYBSABEgLflfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds The additional wiring looks to be needed if you add a controller, which I assume isn't really necessary for mounting behind the mirror. Need to get something ordered really.

The article is a really interesting view, certainly have read a fair bit about the boundary layer and I'd love to be able to implement something for that, but I'll concede that my handcraft skills are average and so cutting a hole to mount the fan on the side, with corresponding holes opposite is probably a little beyond my comfort zone. Though maybe a downlighter hole punch could do the job well enough with some insulating tape on the tube to mitigate slip? Maybe I'll give it some thought.. Thanks @Pixiesfor the link to a white fan. I don't think the look of it all concerns me that much tbh but was thinking it screwed into the bottom would make it look a bit tidier for my OCD but certainly see the benefit above to bungee chord mounting to mitigate vibration, which is probably even easier to implement. Have you considered adding a fan to yours? PS. I think my primary mirror may have had some moisture on it the following morning still from a very wet hour I had out Monday evening - everything was sodden/damp around me. Odd though as I kept the OTA horizontal for half hour for cooling beforehand and had it back in an hour later. There's a bit of dust/small particle all over the mirror when shining a light onto it, even a couple of very fine strings of cobweb in the tube itself. I always store it with the top cap and shower cap on the bottom too but it's not as bad as I first thought. I left the cap off the following day for a couple of hours just in case it was moisture. I'm still tempted to clean it all out one evening regardless.

A fan filter isn’t a bad idea either. I’m thinking that 2 core cable up the side isn’t the end of the world.

Great post @Piero I think drilling holes into the side is probably a step too far for me. Eventually I’d like a nice truss which would make it easier or even a secondhand OO tube. Did think about just butchering mine and adding a better base and mirror in time. Far too many options with dobs 🙂

He does like a Bresser with a good ‘andle. It’s all John’s fault that I bought one. Just need to add another sibling now though.

Was thinking of a good old Brillo pad as it comes supplied with the soap too. 😆

Here’s my most exciting Astro purchase to date, my ‘baby’ needs a clean 😂 The mirror that is..

Thanks for this @MerlinI presume that you mean to remove the boundary layer for truss dobs. Mine is a solid tube and so really from underneath just helps cool the mirror itself.

Thanks Dave. I had seen @Ricochetdo something similar but thought I'd try to drill it in place but I hadn't thought out the dampening properly. It does make sense to bungee it to stop the vibrations. 🤔 I love seeing these big old dobs - that's a proper job @PieroJust looking at those fans and seem to do a 92mm or 120mm option. The latter is too big but cheaper than the smaller one for some reason?

Thanks John. Looking at a dual ball bearing fan for around £16, single bearing seems to be £10. Thanks for the input.

It looks like I need to clean the mirror of my dob and so whilst I'm at it I was going to add a fan to the bottom. I noticed they do an option with a fan and so it's a 100mm aperture which looks to seat a 4" nicely. There's just a couple of questions I have if anyone can assist please: Is there any recommendations on a specific brand of fan. They all seem to be Chinese unbranded from £2-£20? The cable looks to be tucked into the tube still. My dew heater has a 12v out supply so was going to hook up to this. It sits at the front so probably was going to leave the lead trailing from the back of the OTA but sounds a bit untidy, any ideas? I haven't disassembled yet and so presume the black plate to attach the fan to is part of the mirror cell and is easy enough to drill? Thanks in advance for any input. IMG_0070.HEIC

Thanks for posting this method. I've just discovered that my mirror needs a clean for the first time, not sure how it's got so dirty literally overnight but I'll need to get it done.

I didn’t get the funky orange interior version as it was out of stock, so plain old grey for me, but, I love it. Nice and simple and so much easier to use ‘in the field’ or, in the garden like I’ve just been. 😀 Enjoy.

Thanks John. I think you’re right, in the end I’ll probably be lusting after the bigger version. Better get saving.. I had got my heart set on a 102ED frac but have really been surprised as to how much I’ve enjoyed the planets again this year.

Yeah the sky tee was what I’ve been thinking. Sorry to butt into this thread but how much extra do you get out of the 8” over the 6” John, is it worth twice the cost plus the extra for a planet?

Think I fancy one of these next year John. Might push it to the 8” though. Which berleback is that one?

Thanks for that. I wouldn’t say that the image is large in my dob even at 250x but it does sound like there’s enough detail from the mak. Which model do you have? I nearly bought an SW version last year.

Great report. How useful do you find the 127 mak for planetary? I keep toying with that idea as a grab and go but then fighting the urge to go all out on a frac next year.

Super Stu. That little setup looks superb!

I’ve often wondered how the AR102 performs for the money. Am thinking I should hold out till I have a bit more to spend though but certainly sounds like it should do a fair job.

Thanks Stu. There was high cloud around on dusk, but it seemed to have disappeared by 9. I’ve been concentrating on the two planets too more recently, there hasn’t been many opportunities of late for DSO observations.

I've only managed to grab the odd few minutes with the Bino's this last couple of weeks, with work being so busy too but I've been itching to have a hunt around Andromeda with the dob this year. So with that in mind and the possibility of an hour or two without clouds, I set the dob up just after dark. The first half hour was spent watching Ganymede's transit across Jupiter. The seeing wasn't too bad at all at first but then the cloud rolled in, which was an hour overdue according to CO. I decided to grab a brew and get the dew kit working as it seemed pretty damp already. Around 9.30 the cloud had moved on and so I got myself acquainted with Almach to fine tune everything. At this time, Almach was only just above the tree next door and so I must have spent a good while letting my eyes slowly adapt. Andromeda needed quite a bit of breathing space and so I changed back down to the 13mm (98x) and settled in. M110 was clear, sat just inside the field stop. I couldn't discern the full shape of M31, very spread out and M32 was completely lost in the haze. I'm still to resolve this fuzzy from the garden which led me on to M33, another galaxy that has evaded me too. The sky didn't seem as dark as I'd like in the RACI, the stars around M33 were not that clear and so after 10 minutes of searching, I drew a blank. I tend to find M33, along with it's namesake M101 tricky, which must be down to my 20 SQM and the spread out brightness? I headed over to M15. This old girl responded best to 98x of magnification, the 10" didn't quite give me enough light for the 7mm, which I did try at first. There was clear arms branching out with some resolved detail around the edges. I dropped down to M2 but the session was about to get cut shorter than I'd have liked. The cloud had started to sweep back in ,which led me quickly back to watch Ganymede exiting from the disc. The autumnal damp air is upon us but I felt happy with a very quick hour+ and back in bed at a normal time to boot.