M40

Neil H and myself have had a few chats about collimation of the skymax180 and whereas Neil could use an artificial star, that option wasn't available to me as you need a line of site of about 100 - 150 feet. So I bought the ocal 3. Note that from what I have read, the earlier versions of the ocal may not work due to the focal length of the 180. Using the ocal is all about knowing what to align with what. In the skymax, the eyepiece is fixed, the meniscus is fixed and the secondary mirror is fixed. The only adjustable item is the primary mirror assembly. From captain scarlets topic it was found that the secondary baffle may be fitted in different positions, so although it is fixed, it should not be used for alignment. The primary mirror assembly is basically the collimation plate, primary mirror and primary baffle and as the collimation screws are adjusted, the whole moves as one component. The focusing position of the primary mirror is not important. When the ocal is clamped in position I found it could move off center, so with power connected and the picture on screen, I spun the ocal as I tightened it to ensure it remained central as far as possible. This is what you see when using the ocal.... The eyepiece/ocal camera and egde of the telescope on the meniscus lens are all fixed so I aligned the edge of the telescope and the edge of the primary baffle Note that the edge of the secondary baffle is not centered, so like captain scarlets it just seems to be plonked in roughly center. The green circle being the edge of the primary baffle and the blue circle being the edge of the telescope on the meniscus. So what was it like when I did a defocused star test? Using an 8mm eyepiece is was spot on, using a 5mm it was out so some tweaks later and it's sorted. When you tweak it, slightly loosen all three of the smaller screws, adjust a larger screw, retighten the smaller screws to see how it has changed and repeat etc etc, So the end result is if you have a clear line of site of about 100 to 150 feet, use an artificial star, flo do one at about £20, if you dont have that sort of space, the ocal 3 works. I will be trying it with a reducer to see if it works and if better focus is obtained. All the best and hope the topic helps someone in the future.

Great idea, I can see that being copied more than a few times 👌 I bought that finder recently, might just have a look at it when the battery runs out.

Mine copies straight into the camera photos album, are they in there somewhere?

The ufo hovering over your house last night watching you is still there?

-3'c outside, bright moon and didn't see a single satellite which tells you what the seeing was like, but here is a picture I never expected to get.......horsehead and flame nebula. 36 x 10 seconds (6 minutes), internal filter, no processing, seestar stacked image.

It's a skymax180 🤦‍♂️ would have been an idea to say that 😁 I have added the second focuser and eaf as it completely removes the shakey hand syndrome on high power.

It might help you make up your mind. Including the losmandy plate underneath the thing its 11kg. It sits on an heq5 which has no challenges with it albeit I would guess its on the mounts limits.

Just to clarify, the collimation plate assembly that holds the primary mirror is adjusted by the three larger screws with the three smaller screws "pushing" against the collimation plate and locking it in place. To adjust, slightly slacken all three of the smaller screws before adjusting the larger screws. When tightening, expect things to move as any slack in the larger screw thread is taken up. Captain scarlets topic "reverse engineering the skymax" has a picture which shows the arrangement.

Spot on Neil, takes a lot of the unknown out of it. Many thanks.

I used to use one and it worked with no challenges. It creates a network between your smart phone and the dongle linking to your mount very much like the asiair does. I stopped using it and went back to the handset simply because of the way I do things. I tend to use stellarium a lot and found myself forever switching between apps, if at the time I had a second smart device it would have worked well.

Hello Chromium and welcome to the site. Interesting question, I am sure most will say concentrate on the mount but looking at your listed telescopes I would say go for your ideal telescope so you can take it on your upgrade path with you. All the best and keep us up to speed

As in all things, no one telescope does it all. You have a good planetary telescope because it has a long focal length and narrow field of view, whereas to view something like orions belt, M42, you would ideally have a telescope with a shorter focal length and wide field view. Have you found the astronomy tools within resources at the top of the page? If you select your telescope, then add your target then add a few eyepieces you will get an idea of what you may see. Try it with the baader hyperion 36mm/72'. All the best.

I'm not unduly concerned as I have plenty to be getting on with, I have been doing the collimation on the skymax, nearly there, ijust need to do a star test...... oh wait.....

Do you think reverse psychology would work? I am so pleased we have clouds so I can take many many many pictures of grey clouds; us amateur cloud gazers are so fortunate we dont have clear skies 😀

Welcome to the site RJC. Just to muddy the water have you looked these.... https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az-gti-wifi/sky-watcher-skyhawk-1145ps-az-gte.html All the best

How about leaving the felt in place and putting some of that tarred corrugated roofing on top. I used that on top of one of my sheds a good few years ago, very strong and no leaks.

Much as processing is not for me, I must say that you have got some great images there. What processing software did you use?

Hello Mr Brownstone and welcome to the site. I take it that when you say view, do you mean visual only? or are you open to using a camera of some sorts?

I'm going to have to stop buying stuff at this rate.......

That's not an egg, it's a critical balancing mechanism that only the Victorians could build

Superb, you have to admire the Victorians. I was fortunate enough to be able to visit the Norman Lockyer Observatory in Sidmouth on a sunny day earlier in the year and they have three similar telescopes, one of which was a diy jobby that Norman Lockyer made himself and with which he discovered and named Helium. Here is his diy jobby, not sure if I could get that stuff from B&Q today

I didn't spot anything on the mirror, it was stll nice and clean. I also use a desicant cap, so again its a closed tube. Quite a puzzle.

I have recently flocked the inside of the skymax tube and have been a bit puzzled over something. This is a picture I took of the inside of the tube when I was carrying out tge work. So my question is this, are the little white dots part of the internal paint process or are they a result of me keeping the telescope in the garage for the last 3-4 years? The garage is not heated so its at outside temperature give or take and there is never any sign of condensation on the telescopes. Looking through the lens, I have never noticed these before but then I never looked that hard. When I rubbed them with my finger, nothing smeared or changed. Anybody got any thoughts? Anybody else have the same? All the best

That's a great idea 👍 certainly going to make life easier for you.

I just made mine by creating a box with a roof and removeable side panels, which makes it lighter, together with quick release clips at the base. All I do is pick it up and move it out of the way. The trick is to strengthen it on three sides only at the base so you dont have to lift it over the mount. Food for thought.