doublevodka

8 minutes ago, Paul_Sussex said:

Very popular, but most of the threads seem to concentrate on imaging. For visual, would the 150P be a better start? I could always upgrade to a Crayford dual speed at a later date if it was an issue.

For visual, bigger the better is the general rule. Although for my 2p worth the later upgrade of focuser is a bit of a false economy, cheaper to spend the extra £50 upfront than buy a dual speed later at a much higher cost.

Lots of reflectors on the market now for example here https://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?typechoice[]=Telescope-Reflector&titlechoice[]=For+Sale&titlechoice[]=For+Sale+-+Dealer+Ad&titlechoice[]=For+Sale+-+Kit+Tester&minprice=&maxprice=

Or (another alternative sorry!) there is this very well equipped new dob here https://www.firstlightoptics.com/stellalyra-telescopes/stellalyra-8-f6-dobsonian.html dual speed, raci finder, mirror fan the works - again quite a few posts about this one, worth adding it to the mix

15 hours ago, Paul_Sussex said:

That's one of the set-ups I've been looking at. And had the offer of a very nice NexStar 4SE from someone in the local club, but sadly no spare cash at the moment. Skies are (slightly) better where I am - supposedly Bortle 4 - and the South Downs are 20 minutes or so away. I'm hoping to get by manually to start with - have my copy of Turn Left At Orion ordered! 🙂

I recently sold my 4SE, and whilst I had fun with it it certainly had its quirks. The nexstar system is great once you get the hang of it, but aperture wise it's a bit small, the flip mirror mechanism is a compromise, the electricals can be a bit hit and miss (stripped that mount and soldered more than once) and it needs a dew shield or heater.

All that said, it really was what got me back into the hobby, and the ability to lift the whole thing out of the shed and be observing in less than 5 mins is definitely missed

3 minutes ago, Paul_Sussex said:

Spiralling in like a vulture, I'm almost decided now on a mid-size reflector. Bear in mind this will be primarily for visual observation. FLO currently list the explorer 150P and 130PDS for about the same price The 130 has only 75% f the area, but comes with a 1.25/2" dual speed focuser. How does that balance against the loss in aperture? Many people seem happy with, for example, the Onesky/AWB 5" tube.

(As these are both showing in stock with FLO, I'm tempted to grab one or the other now then sit there stroking it until I can pick up a mount to suit 🥴 )

The 130 PDS is well loved in these parts, defo have a look at some of the threads on the forum about it, people are achieving a lot with that little scope. I've got a newtonian with a single speed focuser and spend a lot of time wishing it was a dual speed. Fine focus at higher magnification with single speed is, lets just say a challenge sometimes!

21 hours ago, Paul_Sussex said:

I'm now wondering if I had "target fixation" on the SkyMax? I know there's no one size fits all for telescopes, but I do want something that has a fairly wide application and that I won't outgrow, or at least not too quickly.

Going solely on new costs, a SkyMax 127 on either an AZ5 or EQ3-2 mount and an upgraded tripod would be about £620-630. But I could get a reflector OTA - 130P-DS, 150P or 150PL - and an EQ5 mount for £535-545. Any of which would be okay-ish for planetary observation and better for DSO's. And with better potential in the future?

Oh dear...round and round we go...🤔

I feel your pain I really do, I've a fairly limited budget and have been looking at my next "upgrade" and been going round and round in circles for months

Definitely worth getting some hands on experience if possible and your not in a rush, and really worth checking out the second hand market to make the pennies go further, there are still bargains around if you are patient and willing to travel

42 minutes ago, markse68 said:

My new alt-az mount. It’s integrated with the tripod and collapse down nice and compact.

Mark

That tripod looks very strong and stable, what is it? I'm assuming the mount head itself is custom built?

Also one thing I don't think any of us have mentioned so far is you don't HAVE to buy new, your money can go a lot further by buying used equipment and it's usually well looked after

Once your post count is high enough, you'll be able to see the buy and sell sections on the forum, there is also https://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/index.php and for the daring among us, facebook marketplace and gumtree (although this is a bit more like the wild west, I've personally had some success)

There is also eBay, although again can be a bit iffy and the pricing on there has been a bit nuts since the first lockdown

It's also likely that your local astro society has some sort of buy and sell, always worth a check as there may be a bargain on your doorstep so to speak

2 hours ago, Paul_Sussex said:

Yet another set-up I'm now looking at. But with a £500 budget, doesn't leave anything for extras. How useable is this "out of the box"? Or would I immediately need eyepieces, diagonal, etc? I'll have to check out that thread for advice.

Totally usable out of the box as is, in time you'll probably want to upgrade the eyepieces, we all do   shows what it comes with here https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az-gti-wifi/sky-watcher-skymax-127-az-gti.html#in_the_box Also worth reading the reviews there to get an idea of what other people think of it

12 minutes ago, Paul_Sussex said:

As a complete change in direction, I've never considered a Mak, probably because I knew nothing about them. But they were recommended by the local shop as a good start. Any opinions on something like a Skymax 102? Seems to fit the light and affordable criteria. And although I was looking for an equatorial mount, something like this could be tempting - Sky-Watcher SkyMax-102S AZ Pronto | First Light Optics - or even this for instant gratification - Sky-Watcher SkyMax-102 AZ GTi | First Light Optics

 

Sorry I'm going to be "that guy" here and make a different suggestion - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/maksutov/sky-watcher-skymax-127-az-gti.html

The 127 is a very well thought of scope, has more light gathering power and is good for a range of targets that benefit from higher magnification such as planets, lunar details etc

Huge thread on the az-gti mount here, it can also be modded to run in eq mode should you so wish - 

If you really get into the hobby, resale values are usually pretty decent if you want to upgrade the mount later, or you could even add different OTA's to that mount if you decided you also wanted to go widefield for example with a fast refractor

As a slight off piste option, may be worth you looking into something like these - https://www.photobox.co.uk/shop/photo-books

For example, how nice would this look on a coffee table - https://www.photobox.co.uk/shop/photo-books/silver-halide-book

They're also doing 40% photo books till the end of the day

Pretty sure there are plenty of visual observers out there, you've only got to look at the popularity of dobs like the 200p, eyepiece resales etc.

As above much easier to share imaging content, there are probably less people into the traditional observing reports though. Personally I just got out with the scopes for a quick look at a few objects because time is limited, I think logging things, writing observation reports etc. would detract from that enjoyment but maybe that's just me 🤷‍♂️

Plus not everyone has the budget for a full imaging rig so there must be a fair few of us left doing just visual, we're just a bit less vocal maybe?

If you look at the two side by side they are identical apart from branding and the one from FLO comes with a RACI finder

From what I've seen on the forum they are very well thought of and have some nice upgrades compared to the Skywatcher 8 inch, so looks a good buy to me! To add the RACI and Dual speed crayford alone would put a significant dent in the wallet

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I recently purchased a used 8mm with a rattle with a vague memory of this thread.

Quick inspection twisting up the eyecup I could see the retaining ring and the two holes, one cocktail stick later (aka diy anti mark lens spanner), now no more rattles!

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the thread 👍

On 07/03/2022 at 15:26, wulfrun said:

Try slackening the three allen-headed screws a fraction, that should take the pressure off the centre screw.

Defo try this first, had the same problem with my secondary

2 hours ago, powerlord said:

Mine is a middle ground too.. I'm building it all today/tomorrow. I'm not sure it's something anyone else will want to copy, but for me, it's gonna work a treat I think. I shall leave it there, and post pics when complete.

I will tell you it will be solid, waterproof, long lasting with a removable roof, power and room for all 3 of my mounts permanently setup.

Oh.. and it's costing me 100 quid.

stu

100 quid! well now we need details, I think I could even get that past the boss at that price 🤣

On 22/01/2022 at 23:37, Stu said:

I have been using a piece of cut off plastic (actually an old National Trust membership card!) to prevent the clamp on the Scopetech mount from marring the surfaces of my lovely new MoreBlue Dovetails, not an ideal solution as you can see.

 

This is one thing that really niggles me, see so many pics with dovetails chewed to pieces on high end kit too, why oh why don't manufacturers put a better clamp in place 🤷‍♂️

Even svbony make their clamps with a brass block, so it can't be that expensive to do? https://www.svbony.com/categories/Dovetail/

Looks interesting, but it wasn't the first thing I noticed in the photo, that would be the broken power supply fixed with blue tape and the daisy chained extension leads 🤣

8 hours ago, bomberbaz said:

like that dob, lots of extras make it a much better buy. 2 speed Focuser, primary cooling, RACI finder, bargain really. I prefer the finish too

 

Yeah when you consider it is less than a hundred quid more than the skywatcher it really makes sense to upgrade, the included accessories would cost a lot more to add later

15 hours ago, Ian McCallum said:

It's aluminium, which is a soft and lightweight metal - I doubt there's anything that can be done about that.🙄

For now I've peeled mine off and replaced it with sticky backed felt which seems ok, certainly no worse than it was but I do need to get round to using PTFE tape.

You can just about see the cause in your 5th photo, the white plastic bearing surfaces have ridges in them that leave the marks behind, although they rubbed away fairly easily

Looks good to me 👍 Tight enough so it doesn't wiggle around is usually fine and the replacement grease always makes a nice difference

I just need to getting round to finding some suitable PTFE tape myself now to redo mine, if anyone ready has any recommendations I'm all ears 👍 It really niggles me the hard plastic used as bearing surfaces that leaves marks on the draw tube as it has on yours and mine

May I suggest an alternative

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/stellalyra-telescopes/stellalyra-8-f6-dobsonian.html

It's has all the usual upgrades people would do to a Skywatcher, although I really really like the look of the goto 150 too

Foam camping mats do seem to be the weapon of choice for this although they can be made from all sorts, I made one for my Nexstar 4SE from an old tin of SMA baby milk

Dew heaters are also available for secondaries, for example https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dew-prevention/4tronix-secondary-mirror-heater-for-8-12-inch-newtonian-telescopes.html

2 hours ago, Ian McCallum said:

I'm dubious of putting any type of grease on Teflon (PTFE), as it's already very slippery.  It doesn't look anymore difficult that when I did the Crayford style focuser on my SW 200P.

Yeah the PTFE does not need greasing, in my case I removed all the old sticky glue grease that the manufacturers like to use and then used some white lithium grease on the moving parts apart from the draw tube

As Vlaiv rightly pointed it it's probably worth a strip and regrease anyway

But in the majority of cheaper focusers (and probably more expensive too but I haven't taken any of them apart) there are some fairly easy adjustments you can do without a total strip down (although it's worth it if you are confident enough)

Most focusers I've played with have three points of contact with the draw tube, two non adjustable ones at the bottom and one at the top that can be adjusted

On the top edge of the focuser you will see the locking knob, in front and behind that (looking from the rear of the scope) you'll see two small holes, these are grub screws with a small allen head which adjust the angle and pressure of the top adjustable contact plate

Firstly give the draw tube a little wiggle to give yourself a baseline as the idea is to improve on the amount of play and not make it worse

Then start adjusting the grub screws a quarter turn at a time, wiggle the draw tube in between and make sure you can rack the focuser in and out

If you have more play pushing down adjust the furthest away grub screw, more play up the closest one and rinse and repeat

The important note here is with a standard focuser you are unlikely to remove all play from it completely as it'll be too tight to move the focuser at all, but don't worry if that happens, just gradually back off both grubscrews a bit at a time until it moves nicely again

Hopefully the explanation helps, I'm a bit of a tinkerer and this is what worked for me 👍

https://phys.org/news/2021-11-simple-silicon-coating-long-standing-optical.html

Interesting article and has the potential to make some improvements in telescope optics if the coating process can be replicated on a large scale.

12 hours ago, DivingRhino said:

"EQ5" is good info... will allow me to search on that.

Budget... I'm thinking AROUND $1000 for mount. I'll have trouble getting much more than that past the boss.

Scope - Hope to 1) mount the DSLRs, 2) mount a scope that would give good detail lunar and planets with an attached dedicated camera OR the DSLRs.

We do intend to go out on our next clear day and use our Nikon D90 and D7200 with Nikkor 18-200, a NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8, and old Spiratone(?!) lens that fits (because Nikon) that's giving me 300+mm. Going to try stacking some lunar shots, as well as some earth landscape/Milky Way sky  type exposures.

Since your price is in dollars I'm going to assume you are in the US?

EQ5 will be slightly helpful, although different countries have different manufacturers who give the mounts different names just to make things confusing, although they are all pretty much made by the same chinese company. The Celestron CG-5 for example was the same as an EQ5

I'm sure someone will chime in with the right mount names for the US

In regards to your aims for the scope, I'd suggest starting to look at ways to mount your old C8 tube via tube rings or similar, it's ideal for lunar and planetary, saves spending extra money and you could always add another scope later if you get the bug and want to do some wider field stuff

So I fixed this on mine a while ago, but figured a thread would be handy for someone in future.

A few months back my mount suddenly wouldn't power on, after much prodding and poking with a multimeter I found it was the power switch itself (apparently a common fault reading further later on).

The good news is this can easily be repaired at home for free if you have a soldering iron and some solder.

Simply bridge the two connections as marked below and it will make the mount effectively permanently on, hopefully this helps someone in future 👍