Stu

Nice piece of work Alan, wobbly focuser/image shift are very annoying so I’m sure this makes a good improvement to your enjoyment of the scope.

Lovely setup Dave. I was so tempted by that Vixen f15, it looks beautiful. Glad you got it! Looking forward to the results

Yum ?, looks lovely with matching clamp and focuser. Get yourself a Herschel wedge and enjoy the sun through it too, the views are stunning!!

Really John, it’s a great mount. You know it makes sense

I guess you will have to make a call on whether you think FLO and Es are incompetent or not?

Yes, it should settle after a few seconds if it is backlash I think. I do wonder if I have seen this effect too. It might be that the tracking works ok if you just goto but somehow gets turned off if you recentre the object. I need to check it out next time I use the mount.

I assume you mean mount Gavin? I suspect this might be a backlash issue. Does it vary depending on which direction you have just centred the object? It could be that the gearing lash is just unwinding before picking up the tracking again? Does that make sense?

I picked up a 1.25” 0.5x focal reducer on eBay for £8! I knew what I was getting, the description said it was in good condition with just a few scratches, but the images showed it had been dropped and that the bottom edge was a bit out of true. I think people think they can can be dishonest in descriptions so long as the pictures show any problems. Anyway, having cleaned the optics I can see they are in excellent condition, and the reducer works perfectly well; it threads onto eyepieces perfectly and it still fits into the diagonal with no problem. So, a small value risk which has paid off. Nice

Will you have to adjust the spacing between the Primaluce rings or will they fit in the gaps? I assume they don’t bolt to the Losmandy plate? Anyway, hopefully the Tak green will tone in with the Prima Red Regardless, the scope will be super safe with four rings and two clamps.

Great pictures, what could go wrong with such an expert helper?

Had to look up what an UBEC is! Handy little device

How on earth did he get that through the letterbox?? Great scope, enjoy!

Be great to see some first light reports with some of your new kit Richard.

That’s one blessing, Tak don’t do RACI finders..... (as far as I’m aware!)

There is some strange effect with dual speed focusers in that, even when I use the 1:1 knob, the fact that it is also turning the 10:1 knob stabilises the movement and makes it more accurate. The 10:1 does just allow to to gently tweak focus with minimal disturbance to the scope and to get perfect focus. Really important for everything but solar especially for me. Some of the single speeds I have used have been pretty darn good still. The Televue focusers are so buttery smooth with no slip at all. For those I just added a micro focuser because the basic R & P was so good. The Vixen 150ED has a very nice AP single speed focuser on it originally. I replaced it mainly so I could get a motor focuser (Steeltrack and Steeldrive) which helped keep vibrations down. I think my preference is FT, Steeltrack (DiamondTrack now) then Moonlite, but they are all more than up to the job. FTs for larger scopes get fearsomely expensive so I have generally opted for the other two in these circumstances.

They are pretty amazing, got mine for a reasonable price ‘as new’ on the bay. Focuser? FT all the way for me I’m afraid.

It was indeed a mighty Gitzo, GT5542LS to be precise . Rated at 40kg load. I had been fairly sure it was the C8 Edge but have checked back through photos and you are correct, C925. Bit of a crazy setup

I used to have a set of these including the barlow when I first started out. I had no idea that they were any good at the time and sold them on for far too little. Should have kept them really. Very nice eyepieces.

What are hole spacings on there? Will it fit the SkyTee without modding? You will certainly be prepared for when the TEC200 arrives

I raised this issue on the SkySafari forum and I believe it is on their list of things to address ie single device use for iOS. They are a small team though and can only do so much at once. I think the SkySafari guys, quite rightly, feel that Skywatcher should have talked to them first!

Very nice! Lunar X and C showing there nicely. How does the single point align work, starting from North and Level?

Many thanks @ZBOYD, I didn’t know that!

Hi, These are the instructions I recieved. if obvious backlash can be sensed when shaking the mount, it means there is problem with the spring part on the worm and gear where is supposed to eliminate the backlash. Please open the black plastic cover, and then move worm base A where there is a spring, by hand. At this moment, the worm base A can be moved freely. And when the hand is off, the worm base A will be pulled by the spring to the gear. Basically you loosen the screw holding the worm in place, adjust the position and then retighten. This is very easy, but you need to check the movement through the whole range in case it binds anywhere, in which case you need to back off a little and perhaps accept a little backlash somewhere. Hope that helps.

I don’t disagree, but mine was quite loose when I got it. Tightening up made a big difference. If yours is solid then the problem obviously lies elsewhere.

@MatthewPeter1993 as mentioned, please start a new thread for each image in order for them to be considered. They must have been taken between the dates for the competition. Thanks!