Pixies

OK. I've worked it out. I discovered a thing called a "Cheese Plate". now I thought these were things that came out for Christmas tea, but they appear to be used for custom photography tripod mounts. So I got a small one and another finder shoe. Managed to fit then together successfully, and have now been able to mount my 60mm Altair RACI finder onto my old Velbon tripod. The main driver for this is so that I have something to search for Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE. It's just above the horizon NNE pre-dawn. The only way I'm going to find it is on the beach at the end of my street, which faces North.

Cheese plate (no, I had no idea either) and finder shoe. Gonna do myself some invetin'!

Can you post a quick photo of the focuser with 9mm in place, please.

These guys do the inserts: http://www.ebaystores.co.uk/Cases-and-Enclosures/Foam-Blocks-Egg-Sheets-/_i.html?_fsub=23661213017&_sid=107048967&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

Hi. Just noticed your location. Altair Astro are just down the road from you. Perhaps you could get them to test with another handset?

What did you decide to go with at the end? There were questions about needing an extension piece.

After I collimated the laser collimator, they agreed perfectly! The reason I fancied having a shot with the laser, was to be able to watch my progress while I was actually turning the primary adjusters (my arms aren't that long!). It was interesting seeing the effect of the locking screws - more like a fine tuning. I'll use the Cheshire as the main method and the laser for a quick check in the dark - as long as it proved to remain reliable against the Cheshire. The laser collimator cost <£20 from Sky's The Limit. The collimating jig cost a little less (see pics)

Filament bulb! You rebel!

Unfortunately, if I turn the brightness down, the reflection of the doughnut falls too. I'll probably need another Barlow

I'm joining the club too!

Hi, I have a collimation cap and Cheshire and have no problem collimating with them. Star tests are ok too. However, with a big dobsonian it's impossible to adjust the primary while looking down the Cheshire. So I bought a laser collimator - a cheap Starguider (<£20 new). It is adjustable and I've collimated it. I've been comparing the results using the laser with a Cheshire, and it's perfect. However, I thought I'd try the barlowed laser method, so bought a cheap 2nd-hand SW barlow (no expense spared with me!). However, I'm having a problem with it. When I stick the laser in the barlow, I get a reflection thrown back at the collimator surface that's so bright, it's stopping me see the shadow of the doughnut on the primary mirror. Even when out of the focuser, you can see it (see pic). Is it just the cheap barlow and non-coated lens surface? If I unscrew the barlow lens, turn it over and hold it back up to the end of the barlow tube, I don't get the reflection.

Hi, I had to roughen the felt to make sure it wasn't too slippery, otherwise it didn't take much to start it sliding down the tube when vertical. I didn't want to use anything too sticky - like rubber - otherwise it might be tricky to move around. The magnet is powerful enough not to fall off, though. I'm careful to make sure I have a good grip when placing it up against the OTA, so that it doesn't suddenly slam into it.

The Bresser 8" has very little range to move the scope down the rings. I'm already at the furthest limit and any further means I hit the base and can't get the scope pointing straight up. It currently only suffers for targets below 30deg and because I have quite a heavy finder (I also like to have the alt bearing 'brakes' quite loose). But I'll have problems once I get some big 2" EPs, I'm sure. You can't tighten the bearings on the fly, like a Skywatcher dob.

Hi Matt. Ex-Norwich here. Welcome to SGL OTBC!

Try the carbon star, T-Lyrae. It's part of Lyra (obviously) so well placed just now.

Made some counterweights as per:

I got a pair of 'recovery' magnets to repurpose as counterbalance weights for my dob which is a little top heavy. These things are used to fish for treasure in rivers, etc. There are whole websites dedicated to their sale. I got a pair weighing 750g each - so 1.5kg total. I didn't want to start too heavy or large. They were £8 each. They came with a plastic cover to stop scratching in transit, so I used epoxy to glue these in place. Then I stuck on a pair of those long thick felt floor protectors to keep the magnets off the surface of the OTA and stop them rotating. At voila:

Hi. Just saw that this was your first post. Welcome to SGL! This is an excellent thread on eyepieces, just read the first few pages and it'll help enormously: Let us know your budget and I'm sure you'll get lots of advise.

Oh well. At least we're not launching thousands of satellites up into low Earth-orbit which would confuse the early-warning detection systems. Doh!

I've just got a 10x60 Altair. It's pretty big. I could actually see M13 in it the other night despite not being able to see any of the keystone asterism because of light skies and light pollution. It's big though. As pointed out, it might be too much in a dark sky setting; showing too many stars and making finding more complicated. In which case I might end up stopping down the aperture! It is big, btw.

That'll be good for a table-top Dobsonian!

Hi. I was thinking about attaching my new 10x60 findersope to my sturdy old Velbon tripod, as a little grab-and-go scope. Is there an adapter for a synta/vixen type fixing to fit the standard camera tripod shoe? I can't find one using my Google powers. Ta

Hi again, Sorry if I didn't make myself clear. I'm not having issues keeping the scope in collimation. Far from it - it's very stable. Probably because the adjusters are at the tighter end of their range. I was just wondering if there was a preferred option. Perhaps I have found it more by luck than judgement!

Edinburgh: Last night I reckon the lowest magnitude I could see was 2.8. the summer triangle was OK, the 2 head stars of Draco were just there, but I couldn't make out the keystone asterism at all. I had to use binoculars and my 10x60 finder to locate M13. Going to take a break for a few weeks, I think.

Hi, Thanks for the answers. The Bresser has locking screws, and springs as well, by the feel of it. I was just aware that I usually adjusted the primary by tightening. So - instead of loosening one screw, i'd tighten the other 2 (if you see what I mean). I disn;t want to go too far, but nervous about loosening them all too much. Is there a recommended amount of tension / position when installing the mirrors? ie. a good starting point?