Stu

Thanks Rob. I would do a bit more research on the Lightbridges, I think they are pretty heavy and I’ve somehow never really been a Meade Fan. I think @John had one for a while. One reason for posting this is to force me to crack on with it!!! So please do keep asking

Thanks Adrian, although for clarity I purchased the scope in this condition so so far I can take zero credit for it! The lounge is the original owner’s Hopefully I can do it justice though and get it back to working condition.

A little while ago I bought a very nice Truss dobsonian for an indecently cheap price off ABS. One reason it was so cheap was that it does not have a mirror set in it! It was designed for a Zambuto 12.5” f5, and ultimately that is what I would like to replace it with, but as a stop gap I have sourced, from a very fine gentleman on the forum (who seems to wear warm socks ) a 12” f5 mirror set, secondary and spider plus a focuser. The dob came with part of the primary mirror cell, and I have plans to combine this with the support from the Revelation cell to get a functioning scope. There is a small degree of DIY needed, enough to challenge me with my normal chaotic life, limited time available and the fact that I am also supposed to be building my daughter a bed at the same time! Basic steps required are to fit the focuser, fit the secondary, sort the primary cell and fit that in the correct position (slightly higher) to allow for the shorter focal length. I may need to do some slight balance adjustment to allow for the change, not sure yet. Pics of the dob attached, I will post up some detail shots of what I need to do as I move on and suggestions are welcomed! My intention is to have this setup semi permanently in the garden but obviously able to be transportable if needed. It is not particularly lightweight.I have just made another purchase which to a degree duplicates this scope but one the other hand it is a very different proposition, will post up about it shortly elsewhere. Looking forward to getting this lovely scope up and running again.

Yes, my apologies Thought I should nab it before anyone else did!!

They do look very similar don’t they? Certainly the focuser looks identical apart from the temperature dial. Both lovely little scopes.

Never Smart phone messing around is all I am likely to do, although, now you mention it, I could stick a DSLR on it.....

Worry yee not Derek, just for ultra grab and go visual use

This arrived today. Have been wanting one for a while, very lovely ‘chunky’ little thing, feels very nicely made. Focuser is very smooth and it is incredibly compact with the retractable dewshield. It reminds me of a more up to date, slightly bigger version of my old WO SD66 and will hopefully come everywhere with me, to places the Tak dare not go (or rather fit!)

? ?

My recent experience with my OMC140 emphasises your point John. Before it was fettled by Es it was showing some fairly ropey star images and variable detail on planets, sometimes good, sometimes bad. Now that the primary is fixed correctly, the corrector is not over tightened and it is collimated, the views are significantly better. It just goes to show that fine tuning these scopes is well worth doing, to pin down the contrast and detail we all enjoy. EDIT To add too, my Heritage 130P is nicely collimated currently and it really does show.

I guess Skywatcher are still making a decent profit on this. The shame is that the price competition online has squeezed retailer margins, and now customers are having to pay more to ensure a product which is up to scratch which doesn’t seem quite right somehow.

Indeed backs are rubbish! Very grumpy making at times. Hope it improves soon Jules

What a shame John. So much anticipation and potential, let down by the manufacturer. Fair play to FLO for shipping out unchecked scopes, this sort of thing, and your honest reporting, will help to identify the problems quickly and we can only hope that they fix them as quickly. Seems that FLO and other retailers need to be doing 100% checking on these at the moment

Shane makes a very good point. A number of issues with theses sorts of scopes only show themselves in more extreme conditions. Nice warm summer evenings are not really going to challenge the cell at all. You have just made a very good case for a longer term loan

Why do I have visions of John's arms and legs poking out from underneath a large scope at the bottom of the garden?

Hope you didn’t get buried in one John, you’ve been awful quiet

Shame, a first light post to celebrate the 40k would have been very apt but let’s not wait for that Looking promising John.

@John now you are just teasing us Hopefully the weather will settle down!

Good point Helen!

Not seen those before Derek, is it even smaller than the Mini Ercole? Looks interesting. It has a little more height than my Giro-WR so probably won’t need a pillar of any sort to avoid tripod leg clashes! Nice, although I do see the white is a little unusual. Can’t see it in the dark though I guess

Not sure that’s the case Phil, would be interesting to find out though hopefully it is not something which will need touching. Great pictures @John, it sits very nicely on the Ercole along side the 120ED. I can see you are going to have some fun with those two plus the LZOS Out of interest, do you have two similar diagonals so you can rule out that contributing to any differences you see?

Binoviewer and eyepieces I expect

Something a little different. An old pair of Chinon Countryman 7x35 wide angle. They are specced at 11 degrees, but I think 10 is more realistic. A kind gentleman from this forum 3D printed some filter holders for me so I have OIII and UHC on here, nice for the NAN and other widefield targets. The moon was bright last night (obviously!) But I still got some nice hints of the NAN with these.

You have my sympathy Paul, been there myself for quite a while with just a set of BGOs, a 24 Pan and a Nag zoom but you will manage. Those big bad boys will come back to you in time

I’m making some progress with this which I will share soon.