Pixies

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

2 hours ago, merlin100 said:

I've got a similar one that I bought from Maplin, years ago.  I wonder if you can get new foam inserts?

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

1 hour ago, Andy38416 said:

firstly, thanks for all your feedback. Celestron got in touch today and all but confirmed it is probably a handset issue and there was nothing else they could suggest that i hadnt already done. Therefore i tried everything again, 0 when powering up, firmware update, but still just stuck on 'initialize' and wont let me slew or go into any options. Its so strange as i used it a few days ago but i guess its just rotten luck.

I'll have to have a think if i buy a new handset or pull the trigger on a new scope and try and sell the OTA.  At the minute i cant do anything with it as cant even move manually. My worry with buying a handset is if its the mount itself thats causing the issue.

i'll have a think about how to proceed. thanks for your help.

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

7 minutes ago, Stardaze said:

I'm hoping the click lock system when I do buy one at the end of the month will take the sloppy fitting out of the equation too.

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)

1 minute ago, L8-Nite said:

Made up this extension light with a dimmer switch to use in our caravan awning.

Filament bulb! You rebel!

5 hours ago, Ricochet said:

What if you turn the brightness down on the laser? Does the reflection ever drop to a level where you can see the reflected beam instead?

If that doesn't help then another barlow is probably the way to go. The barlow you've got looks like the one sold by FLO under their Astro essentials brand. I've got one of that type and I don't recall it having that issue when I tried it.

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

4 hours ago, Dannomiss said:

Telling me?! 🙂 LOL, I am pleased with the new BST starguider 8mm lens for sure at £50. So much better than the kit lens. Unfortunately not much chance to play as so cloudy here in the UK at the moment 😞

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.

2 hours ago, Dippy said:

Thank you for sharing this nice idea. Would you mind if I ask whether the magnet is easy to slide during observation in the dark and if it stays in place when changing the angle of your telescope’s tube? I am asking because I found something similar in a web site, but like the one you have shared the picture of, it looks like normal magnets, not neodymium ones. So I am wondering are they strong enough to hold on to the tube. Thank you again for giving link and sharing this brilliant idea.

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. 

1 minute ago, markse68 said:

i had similar but just removed it as I couldn’t be bothered to carry weights around with the scope and with the way my tube is held inside a sort of cradle it’s easier just to shift the tube up or down if balance is too far out to maintain set altitude. 

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.

1 hour ago, Thalestris24 said:

Well, UPS from Germany 🙂 Bought this easy-assemble Vasagle 'industrial' side table. It was intended as a 3d printer stand as it's solid and rigid and should hopefully make printing more consistent:

Louise

 

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?

With the bright skies up here now, I'm going to take a few weeks' break from observing and focus on a few more practical and educational things. One thing I fancy is getting the collimation really dialled in. But I had one outstanding question. When adjusting the primary with the 3 screws, am I right in thinking you could evenly tighten or loosen all 3 screws equally and collimation would remain true - but the mirror would just be moved up or down the tube?

Have I understood the mechanics correctly? I'm yet to remove the mirror assembly, so haven't seen it up close. But the impression I get is a spring-loaded assembly that is pushed back against the adjustment screws. So you could tighten them all against the spring force and move the mirror up the tube towards the secondary (very slightly), or loosen them off and the mirror would move back down the tube until you had loosened it enough for the springs to reach their extension limit, or the mirror meet a physical stop?

It's a Bresser 8" dob. Is there a recommended tension/position for the mirror, around which the collimation adjustments should not deviate too much? I could imagine that if one adjusted collimation by only ever tightening the screws, it would eventually reach a limit?

Ta

20 hours ago, John said:

I'm bortle 5/4. So that makes a difference to the finding arrangements, I can see that.

 

Last night was unexpectedly clear, so I got the scope out for a cheeky little session. However, as this was the first clear night I've had for 3 weeks I was caught out by how bright the sky was. I thought I'd go for the obvious target M13

But at 1am, the sky was still so light I couldn't even make out the keystone asterism. I ended up having to use my binoculars to find it, then roughly get the finder pointing in the right direction. But when I did, I could see the cluster in the finder view!

It might be too much for dark skies though. I'll see. Perhaps if it is, I can make a mask to step-down the objective aperture of the finder.