Franklin

Good idea, didn't think of that. Thanks.

Yes, the ADM products seem very good quality. The spring loaded twin bolt clamps look bombproof. But I'm afraid I'm a stargazer on a budget and cannot afford these wonderful upgrades. I have a skywatcher 330mm bar so I guess I will probably drill an angled hole in the side of it and replace the safety thumbscrew on the mount with a longer one. So as least the thumbscrew will enter the bar by 5mm or so, which would prevent the bar from slipping out should the locking bolt work loose.

Hi, I'm asking if anyone knows if a certain type of dovetail bar is available and if so, from where? I'm talking about the synta vixen-style bars that come in three sizes. Short 150mm, medium 210mm and long 330mm. The short bar has notches cut into it for the locking bolt and safety thumbscrew to engage in. This I think is a much more solid connection of mount head to dovetail bar. My question is this: Is it possible to get hold of a longer bar that has the same design as the short bar with the notches? Thanks.

I have seen that one on Marketplace and in the picture there are no rings. I don't know, it may have them. They are really nice achromats but I think the asking price is too high. Also at 1.2m and 7.5kg they are long, heavy scopes and need to be mounted well.

The nearly new Bresser Messier 127l for sale @ £270 in Stevenage is the new version with the hexfocuser but doesn't appear to have any rings with it. Orion optics make custom rings but will only do the CNC rings at this size. The cost of which for a scope like this is not really justifiable. At £270 with no rings I would just get a new one from FLO @£309.

Make sure its got the tube rings/cradle/bar with it. 130mm rings are as rare as hens teeth in Europe. You can get the Skywatcher 140mm and shim out with extra felt but not ideal. I got an Agena astro set of 127mm rings with Vixen bar used from a guy in the States for $40. A bit beefier than the synta ones.

You would definitely get more of your investment back by selling items separately but it might take longer and there's the postage costs as well. I've just grown accustomed to loosing money on astro-gear full stop. I dread to think how much over the years.

Barbeque cover/tarpaulin with bungy rope fastening, Works a treat.

Tal 100 on ABS @ £170 at the mo.

That will be a good 4" achro setup to play with and it will leave you some money spare for a few decent eyepieces.

Bresser 102/1000 has the hexfocuser which is good, you can get it on the exos1 or exos2 mount. Exos2 is the more capable mount. Another option is the Bresser 102/1350 on an exos2, at f13.2 ca will be kept to a minimum.

Skywatcher Evostar 120 weighing in at 5.5kg needs to be on an EQ5 in my opinion. Ota @ £269 new, one went on ebay the other week for £100 ( Omni 120 ) they are very similar synta scopes. The Bresser 127 has a much better focuser, ota @ £312, but is heavier @ 7.5kg, it's a bigger longer scope as well. On the limit for an EQ5 really. The TS Optics is better yet again @ £499 but for another £100 you can get the 102ED f11. I've had all these achro's and for your budget I would agree with the guys above and go for a used Skywatcher 100ED or get a new one @ £555 and then pick up a used EQ5/GP.

What size mount would you recommend for the Altair Ascent 102ed f11 for visual astronomy?

F7 or F11? Both must be popular at those prices. The F11 is on my xmas list, it must be an excellent visual luna/planetary scope. F7 probably better as an all rounder though, imaging/visual G&G.

You were right about the foam pads John, much too thick. Ended up using a micro (0.2mm) Teflon strip along the bottom corners of the mirror. Seems to have done the trick.

Thanks John. Yeah the mirror sits into the diagonal base and is protected by four small pads of felt but they are so thin I can't see much movement in them. The backplate has a rectangular pad which applies pressure when the screws are tightened. So there's nothing for it to push against, it would just sit flat against the housing which is not collimated. I think I will experiment with paper shims as you suggest to gauge what is needed.

I recently bought a cheapy Chinese 5"achromat off the used market as a lockdown project. It is unbranded but I believe it to be a Phenix Optical scope from my web search. Anyway, the objective is surprisingly quite good but the stock focuser was unsurprisingly quite bad. I replaced the stock focuser with a leftover R&P from a Vixen 4" scope which is a vast improvement. Using a laser collimator I have managed to get the new R&P spot on, which now holds the laser dot perfectly central on the objective when the drawtube is racked in and out. That is all good but when tried with the diagonal in the laser point is about 8mm off centre. Obviously the mirror in the diagonal is not quite set right at 45 degrees as it should be. This is a 2" diagonal and has no collimation screws, just a back plate and four fastening screws. The only way I can think of adjusting the mirror is to install four small pads of sticky backed foam (0.5mm thick) for the mirror to press against when the backplate is replaced. Adjustment of the tension in the four screws should then alter the angle of the mirror and hopefully allow me to collimate the diagonal with the scope. Has anyone tried using this method of improving the collimation of their diagonal?

Thanks Alan that's very handy to know. Going to get me a 10000 mAh USB powerbank and see how I get on with it. Just wondering about wiring it up though.

That's good to know Alan, never thought of a USB powerbank. Definitely give that a go. Which one did you use? If it works for you, then it should work for me. Cheers.

Hi Mark, yeah I looked at stuff like that but the different amperage, soldering etc is beyond me. I'd probably just blow up my controller. That's why I was hoping for an off the shelf solution. I've seen the 6v DC rechargeable acid batteries as well but again I'm not sure of the correct spec. I suppose I could just buy shares in Duracell!

Searching the web for info on Powertanks and the Celestron/Skywatcher Powertank manual makes mention of a multi-volt output offering 3,6 and 9v DC. Yet the ones available to buy only offer 12v DC output. Was this an older model and is it possible to still get one? I am trying to find an alternative way to run the 6v DC battery powered EQ5 clockdrive. (instead of 4xD size).

I've a few of the BST Starguiders and I've never had any problems with them. Overall great eyepieces for the cost. Wide field, decent eye-relief and good quality build. Hard to beat for just over £40 a pop.

Look at the Pentax XF 12mm. Wow!

That's very interesting. I don't know. One possibility is that you were observing the shadow of Io transit across Jupiter, which would of course disappear off the limb into space whilst Io itself was still lost in the glare of the planet. ???

I've read that this filter is to be used with a solar wedge. Can it be used with a full aperture solar filter and will it make much difference? Would it be any different to using a dark green filter such as #58?