Dean Hale

My little Tak all suited and booted. Will soon be put back to visual only once i decide what to replace it with for imaging. Not that it isn't very good - just that i have rarely used it for quick grab and go visual session over the past few months.

7 minutes ago, Astro Noodles said:

What's that behind the pint?

Pot-pourri or a fancy snack?

It does look like a fancy bombay mix - but, i have no idea what it is. May have been pot-pourri at some point although it doesn't smell of anything. It just appeared sometime ago probably when the wife bought some more cushions.

Hope this counts - my indoor setup - sharpcap and a pint an ideal match. Already starting imaging M13 so cannot take a photo of the actual kit at the moment.

Hi @badhex hopefully it was a one off. This one was fine no dangly bits anywhere.  

Snap. Another desiccant cap for me too and some more bric a brac. The Askar dovetails are a nice addition from FLO. Lots of holes and colour choices.

Hi @kraman63 Very little help from me. I always plug the mount into the same port. I had something similar before when I plugged into a random one. Also have you tried a different cable and unsure if you are using windows 7 as that seems to have issues.

Another simple upgrade. The supplied azimuth bolts are quite small and finicky to use especially when wearing gloves. Ordered a pair of longer azimuth bolts from FLO and much much better. 

Another superfast delivery from FLO. William optics guide scope yet more lynx astro cables and a pair of long azimuth bolts. Much more usable than the supplied ones that came with my cem26 mount.

A pocket powerbox advance and a pegasus PSU 12V / 10A –  120W. Just the one PSU now rather than 1 each for the mini pc, powered hub and mount. Seems a nice piece of kit. Think i'll spend a couple of hours practicing cable management.

I recently added a pier it's sturdy than it looks. As to iPolar i use this for a rough alignment then onto SharpCap to refine.

12 hours ago, Elp said:

@Dean Hale might be worth editing the thread title to cover more models as there isn't that much user feedback out there on these mounts. 

More than happy to edit. However @SteveNickolls has a brilliant thread on the GEM28 and don't wish to intrude on those posts.

Only 60 x 20 second exposures with the ZWO ASI 485MC. 10 darks no flats. Pleased i got something! - Backyard Bortle 7.

Takahashi FS60-CB, Flattener, Astronomik L2 UV-IR filter, iOptron CEM26.

Really helpful. Thank for these posts

A payday treat all ordered from Flo. May as well take advantage before the fuel bills land on the doormat.  🙄

Pier for the cem26 (more substantial than it looks it will do just fine), more blue plate and some accessories - cable, spacers, parfocal rings and a finder shoe.

Lovely. Chuffed. Love the word now that is how to describe an item.

My little Takahasi and the StellaMira 80mm ED on the iOptron CEM26 and Scopetech Zero. So nice i did some creative art. Well the phone app did. I think they actually look quite good.

No idea about the threaded hole but would be interested to find out.

It's a shame a few have reported issues. Yes it is expensive and you do expect it to work as detailed out of the box. I did have to loosen the nuts slightly, maybe a minute to do and honestly never adjusted since. I use scopes of various length and weight and very pleased with it. 

1 hour ago, Saganite said:

I have long wondered about these as an alternative to my 19mm Panoptics Dean , but am able to put them to the back of my mind, until somebody does what you have just done.....

Very nice !

They seem very moreish. I was in a dither whether to get this or the 19mm panoptic - i ended up flipping a coin.

I've been lusting after the 18.2mm. Ordered from 365astronomy as FLO didn't have them in stock.

7 hours ago, Alien 13 said:

Hope it wasn't me that planted the idea 🥳 I am loving mine and am sure you will enjoy your new toy..

 

I'm certainly glad you did. I'm like a kid at Christmas. Absolutely brilliant.

Will be an interesting thread this. I just purchased one yesterday, the Voxelab aquilla C2. Amazon had a flash deal with a 20% discount (seems to happen quite often). For a basic model i'm really impressed. Other experienced users can probably recommend alternatives and useful accessories to make.

I wanted a plate for the top of the dovetail so i can hang accessories towards the side - i'm hoping it will help with the balance of my cem26 mount as it does tend to drift and much cheaper than buying an off axis counterweight. Knocked something up in Tinkercad this morning and it's happily printing. 

Browsing Amazon yesterday and a flash deal on the voxelabs 3d printers popped up. Oh go on then. Now for the fun part setting it up. Thanks to this thread for planting the seed.

On 10/02/2022 at 13:44, Swithin StCleeve said:

During an observation session last week, I spent quite a bit of time getting confused by M78. I'm an old-fashioned observer and enjoy finding stuff using maps and knowledge of the night sky rather than electronics, but the downside of that is you can sometimes find yourself wondering if you're in the right part of the sky. Something the 'go-to' gang don't have to worry about.
Anyway, I'm telling you this because once again, an old book which I've used many, many, times came to the rescue. The book is The Cambridge Deep Sky Album by newton/Teece. I bloody love this book and have used it again and again and only last week it came through again and solved my M78 problem.

Thank you for highlighting this book @Swithin StCleeve. I also ordered a copy - £4 excellent condition, bargain. 🙂  Seeing images similar to the eyepiece is really useful for me as a beginner.  

Thanks for this i purchased a tracing pad recommended by @powerlord and used some packing foam suggested here with a few pieces of paper in front of the light source. Not rocket science but simple and i like simple.

@SimonHutch i just stumbled across them. A little expensive for a few bolts but that is what it is, but they do the job. @Annehouw also has a neat idea.