doublevodka

Can't believe I'm going to say this, but start with the manuals, they are surprisingly helpful! https://skywatcher.com/download/manual/synscan-hand-control-and-synscan-app/

North level alignment is the easiest with the app, so level the tube manually and point roughly towards Polaris.

If the "Reset Alignment" button is available, tap on it first before starting the alignment to clear out any previous alignments.

Then start the process, firstly it'll ask you to pick some stars, then confirm it is level.

Once you move to the next step the scope will move to where it thinks the first alignment star is, bear in mind it is unlikely to get this bang on, so tweak with the arrows until it is centered, then click the star to confirm. It'll then move again.

Again, star may not be centered, so use the arrows to center (if any are highlighted you need to tap them, the last moves should always be up and right to remove backlash)

Then you should be aligned.

Another thing to bear in mind is that the scope may not go in the direction you expect, this is ok, it is just trying to stop any cables getting wrapped up round the scope.

Aurora taken on my Pixel 6 mounted on a tripod on night mode in my garden in Ammanford (South Wales) Sunday 24th September, just before midnight, converted video to gif online using ezgif.

10 hours ago, John_D said:

Thanks, app installed. I've got a reasonable view to the north away from the bright lights of Llanelli so I'll give it a go.

Have you ever ventured up to the Brecon Beacons when you get an alert? The Brynamman to Llangadog road ( A 4069? ) should have some good views northwards.

Not gone that far yet, my best shots and views have been minutes after the alerts.

That said I've been looking at light pollution maps and the closest to me it really drops off is around Talley, just past Llandeilo, so I might have to have a scout around up there for a spot, slightly quicker to get to than the Brynamman to Llangadog road, and not as cold 😂 

I really don't think you have much to worry about there, the primary mirror clips probably have more of an impact and that is very minimal too.

If it's really, really bugging you, you could get/make a primary mirror mask https://www.firstlightoptics.com/misc/backyard-universe-primary-mirror-mask-for-sky-watcher-200mm-newtonian-telescopes.html which some swear by and others think are pointless, they are really more for if the mirror has a turned down edge.

15 hours ago, rpdayton said:

Thank you.  After 6 years, I still feel like a complete novice at this whole activity/hobby.; I've never gotten comfortable enough using this one to even begin exploring options. I've got about 6 months before next year's eclipse; we're smack in the middle of totality.  Maybe by then we'll get something!

You're not the only one, I think many of us feel the same no matter how much experience, SGL has been an absolute godsend for me, learned so much from this forum. And now I know you are definitely in the states by the eclipse 😂

As an absolute minimum, you need to get some eclipse glasses, if you do get a mount etc then a white light filter would be good too - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/solar-filters/page/0/

17 minutes ago, John_D said:

That's great. Do you use any particular software to predict or give advance warning of these events?

@John_D I use the android app from here https://aurorawatch.lancs.ac.uk/alerts/ specifically the small bouldering projects one, when it pings on your phone with a red alert, it's time to get outside (well if the weather permits)

Visually, sometimes it's just a faint red glow in the distance, almost like streetlights, but more red, the first time I caught it I wasn't sure until I started taking pictures with my phone.

You are only down the road from me so your experience should be very similar 👍

16 hours ago, rpdayton said:

Thanks for the info; I never considered mixing and matching mounts and tubes.

I'll check it out.

I was also given a link to a 'build-your-own-dobs' site last night.  I guess I didn't realize how easy it would be to just get a completely different tripod/mount.  My weekly 'duh' moment I suppose.

I've got a weird selection of scopes that I use on my AZ-GTI, the original skymax 127 that came with is, an Orion Starblast 4.5 that I've added rings and a dovetail to, a Celestron 102 GT (that one is very rarely, it's really too long for the mount) and a Helios short tube 120 refractor. As my wife says, too many telescopes 😂

There are loads of options for mounting, your scope will have a standard Vixen dovetail bolted to the tube I suspect, so an alt az mount would be best, there are many, many options 👍

Couple of things I can think of, I guess the most important thing is to go to the areas when dark and check it out for yourself if possible. Light polution maps are all well and good, but it doesn't always account for local issues.

Are there floodlit sports fields nearby which will ruin any early evening views? Are there any other major sources of light pollution around? Car sales places for example love to have floodlights on all night long to "protect" their stock.

Trees - are there any big ones around prospective houses that are going to block your view in certain directions.

Neighbours, this one is harder, but any obviously lit-up gardens, some people are a bit scared of the dark, especially those who are new to rural areas.

Are you sure you don't want to just move to the Atacama Desert? 😂

I'm not going to make any assumptions here other than you have a mobile phone and give you some alternatives to at least have a look at for some basic astrophotography.

Firstly with just what you already have - https://www.galactic-hunter.com/post/deep-sky-astrophotography-with-just-a-dslr-camera-and-tripod-is-it-possible

Secondly, "night mode" is becoming very good on mobile phones, so you could add a phone mount to your tripod for less than £20

Third, "smart telescopes"

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/hestia-turn-your-phone-into-a-smart-telescope#/  Very basic, uses your phones camera

https://dwarflab.com/en-gb/products/dwarf-2-smart-telescope a bit more advanced (and over budget with the basic kit at £369)

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/zwo-seestar-s50-all-in-one-smart-apo-telescope-tripod.html substantially over budget at £569 and the new kid on the block, but the most advanced "budget" smart telescope

Now yes, many will say this is not true astrophotography, but there are some options for those on a smaller budget, and astrophotography by definition is just the use of photography in astronomy

On 26/09/2023 at 02:31, rpdayton said:

And again,  my apologies. Everything we've done with this since it was new has been "just one more thing" to try and get it working.  It's tiresome and it just sucks that this is what we spent our money on. 

It has turned me into a bitter ******* that gets worked up every time I get it out.

It is not kind of me to ask for help and then bark at those who offered that help. I a m sorry to you all.

No problem at all, totally appreciate the frustration, especially with the significant investment at the outset and the lack of aftercare from Celestron.

Parts are expensive, there's no getting around that unfortunately, I was in a similar place with a Nexstar 4SE mount that wouldn't power on a while back, but I managed to diagnose a switch issue and bodge together a fix.

Assuming the optical tube assembly is ok, there are options though, the used market is pretty good for SLT mounts or even others for example a Skywatcher AZ-GTi if you really want to get back into the hobby

I'm not sure where in the world you are, assuming US because of $ but here are some links to classified ads that may help if you want to go down that route https://astrobackyard.com/astronomy-classifieds/ may cost around the same as the parts, but at least you'd have something from another astronomer that is known working and that can be worth its weight in gold

There are other options like pipe mounts and dobsonian mounts that are also popular in the US and can be built cheaply if you want to avoid complications and electronics too.

Best of luck in whichever route you take 👍

10 minutes ago, Horwig said:

Any recommendations? What do people use?

I've just installed the AuroraWatch Uk app on my phone, seems ok

Huw

That's the same one I use, seems to work pretty well 👍

On 21/09/2023 at 15:04, rpdayton said:

Sorry for sporadic responses; I'm in training at work this week, so bouncing back and forth between this forum and our latest cadcam system.

Suggestions I'm receiving:

Tighten it down really tight and it won't impact motion, and also Don't over tighten it or it won't move.

Currently it is just finger tight against the race, and it is already making it harder to move in Alt. I can go a little tighter by hand and it becomes very difficult to move the alt axis. I think if I actually put a wrench on it it will sieze up the entire assembly.  When I first found the loose nut, I gave it about a quarter turn past where it is now, and it became very difficult to move in alt, atleast 2 lbs at the end of the tube.  I tried it tightened down to about 1 lb, and had better luck, but it didn't last long.  (Last time I balanced the tube in the dovetail with the nut appx as tight as it is now, it will move in alt with about 6oz at either end of the tube.)

 

The bearing needs to be seated differently. I'm a little nervous about banging on it even with a piece of wood, it seems like as delicate as it is that would cause some damage if not extremely careful.  Followed by, I can't get it to move any deeper just squeezing it by hand; it feels like it seats pretty securely where it is.  If I need to completely disassemble it, would it be better to use a shoulder screw that has a diameter close to the ID of the bearing, and try drawing it in using a nut?  Just a thought; I know I asked for help and shouldn't dismiss any suggestions, but I'm nervous about damaging anything.

 

Someone (@doublevodka) posted a picture showing a similar mount with a nyloc nut instead of the one that mine has; is there a specific nut that is used for this, or is something from home depot good enough?  And also, several replies suggesting using loctite instead of a locknut; is that a common fix for this?  Again - I just want to make sure I'm not causing any damage going through this.  Loctite seems like a good way to make a bad situation even worse.

I know there have been many posts since this, I'd urge you not to give up hope though. You are closer than you think to resolving it, so hopefully I can be clear enough below to get you up and going 🤞 it will be a very minor spend, maybe none at all if you are a bit of a hoarder like the rest of us 😂

Firstly to to bearing, totally appreciate you not wanting to hit it with a hammer. Remove the nut and the altitude assembly should slide out the other side, you then need a bolt long enough to slide right through, a couple of washers and a suitable nut. Put the bolt through from the altitude assembly side with a large washer installed to spread the load, then add another large washer at the bearing end, then the nut (doesn't need to be a nyloc at this point and probably easier if it isn't). Tighten slowly and the bearing should level out and push into it's correct place.

Then reinsert the altitude assembly and reattach the now nyloc nut, bear in mind that the assembly is not designed to be moved by hand, it's designed the moved by the motors, so power on, try moving with the controller rinse and repeat. It's going to be a little more than finger tight as it's a nyloc, but effectively it's just holding the alt assembly in place so doesn't need to be crazy tight, really sorry I can't be more specific.

As for the Celestron side of support, I really appreciate your frustration, have worked in IT for many years so that means dealing with equally frustrating service/tech departments regularly, it is rarely a fun experience to put it politely, thankfully online communities like this exist to fill in the gaps 👍

Quick capture from last night on my Pixel 6, auto-generated time-lapse from night mode. Missed the more powerful one at 2am, unfortunately had to do inconvenient things like sleep before work in the morning 😂 Pillars were actually naked-eye visible too this time, previously it's just been a glow in the sky.

Pretty sure both the Zhummel and Heritage are the same scope, made by the same supplier in China with different branding when they come out of the factory.

I went through a similar thing with my daughter when she was a little younger, although I had a shaky old long refractor at the time on an eq mount, it was surprising how quickly she could get it on target with the moon and keep it there with the slow motion controls, that said I wouldn't recommend it.

I'm a big fan of FB Marketplace for bargains, just check everything is fairly clean and no obvious signs of abuse such as dents, scratches etc and the optics are fairly clean (a little dust is fine)

At 5' 1" she could probably use most of the popular dobsonians honestly, a Skywatcher Heritage 130 or 150 would be totally managable too. Just bear in mind with any of the mini dobs you'll need to stand it on something sturdy, I use a 3 legged stool from Ikea for my Orion Starblast 4.5 for example, and another to sit on.

A quick search on FB shows there are a few about at the moment in various sizes, avoid the 76 if you can 100 and above have better mirrors generally, good luck with the search 👍

slight edit to above, found this picture which shows just the bearing (fully seated) and a nyloc nut, so defo change the nut

13 hours ago, rpdayton said:

 

 

Okay so here's my 2p worth on this, I've previously stripped my Nexstar GT mount which looks very similar. The bearing above is definitely not seated correctly as others have said. I believe mine also had a large washer under the nut and a nyloc-type nut wouldn't hurt either. Your alignment is definitely going to be all over the place as that axis is at least a few degrees out.

So firstly what I would personally do is remove the nut and pull out the alt axis assembly, cover the bearing with a scrap piece of wood, and tap the wood with a hammer (gently) until it is properly seated. Find a washer with the right size hole and a locking nut and reassemble it.

No torque spec to give you, but definitely don't go too tight, it will lock up the axis.

As for alignment, once this is done have a look here - https://www.nexstarsite.com/ some good guides that will be more helpful than Celestron  

May not be the right place for it but here goes.

I'd like some sort of camera for monitoring sky conditions, ideally cheap as possible and that can be left outside without drowning in the lovely Welsh weather?

I'd thought of an allsky-type setup previously, but the budget doesn't allow for that at the moment.

Something simple that I can quickly check on my phone would be the ideal, WiFi coverage is decent in the garden and I have power in the shed so mains power not an issue.

Too many nights now I've been caught out by looking out of the bedroom window and realising the forecast was wrong 🤦‍♂️

Any suggestions?

You could use something like this? https://www.screwfix.com/p/rawlplug-rawlbolts-m12-x-140mm-5-pack/57310

Although someone will be along shortly to tell you you should have set them into the block  

35 minutes ago, Roy Challen said:

Dunno really. Most of my stuff was bought second hand, so all of it are bargains as such. I got my hyperflex zoom from a member on here, it's easily my most used eyepiece. Or how about my Tak EQ mount, I consider it a bargain at £400, cheapest Tak mount I've seen anyway. Even my Daystar solarscout can be considered a bargain even though it bought it new, I've used it more than all my current scopes combined. Oh yeah, forgot about the Tal 1 I picked up for free a couple of years ago. Pound for pound, the best a bargain can be!

I haven't got to free yet but I'm working my way down 😂

1 hour ago, globular said:

Cable tie on my focuser - transforms it into a wobble free fine focus instrument.
Honestly it's a game changer.  Less than 5 pence. 

Very similar to the "clothes peg" mod I use on my Skymax 127, as an added bonus there is a ready supply on the washing line in the event one breaks 😂

Inspired by the thread below, what has been your best astronomy bargain?

Against the advice of most I like to have a poke around the wild west that is Facebook Marketplace as I'm on a budget and sometimes, just sometimes there is a bargain to be had if you are willing to get your hands dirty.

My latest was advertised as a "Helios SkyScan 2001" from a house clearance that was open to offers, so I sent the guy an offer of £20 fully expecting to get told to go away, only less politely..

5 minutes later the deal was done and I still wasn't sure what I'd actually bought until I went to collect it on the way home from work. Helios SkyScan 2001 as advertised is just an older EQ3-2 mount, but in the picture, it had a short tube refractor on it of unknown size (I didn't ask, it was a surprise to get £20 accepted and I'd have been happy with any of them).

So that evening I turn up at the house, look in the garage and there is a grubby, but functional, ST120 Helios branded refractor sat on the EQ3-2, with various bits and bobs including motors and controller.

I've no plans to use the mount (previous experience with another cheap Helios setup tells me I'm not likely to enjoy it), but the scope had rings, so, on getting it home I transferred it to a dovetail and slapped it on the AZ-GTi after a quick dust-down and it works and has already given me my best view of the Andromeda Galaxy so far 👍

Eventually I'll tear it down and give the slightly grubby objective a good clean as it's dirty inside and out, but for now it works fine and will be my new widefield scope 😁

Added bonus, because it was so cheap, the financial controller (aka wife) didn't quibble the purchase, that's a double win in my book!

2 minutes ago, Mandy D said:

@doublevodka I can see why you like this. It has very clean lines and looks like a telescope. I feel it is reminiscent of the seaside telescopes that you used to shove coins in to use. I can only describe it as looking like a Dobsonian pier.

Definitely an air of seaside telescope there, I hadn't thought of the dob thing, but that makes sense!

This - https://vaonis.com/hyperia/en/ although it will definitely split opinion on here, I like the design, the way it's fully integrated, and the fact it can be installed outside with no observatory.

Plus it just looks smart in this shot

From memory of reading about the Heritage 150p, there are two notches when sliding out the upper assembly, I believe to get it in focus with a camera it should be on the first notch not fully extended, it's definitely way out of focus as the posts above. 

15 minutes ago, Telescope40 said:

Thanks both @globular @doublevodka

After years of wondering, in minutes I have a result. I did think probably military. I have a pair of WW2 issue 6x30 binos made by Kershaw and Sons Leeds 1940 that I covet on the basis of their provenance. 
If a firearm was placed to my head and I had to part with these binos or my FS128, the binos would stay. There - I said it. 
 

John 

No problem 👍

I have similar feelings about some Zeiss 8X30's that I inherited from my grandfather, they're not anything special, made sometime in the late 70's I believe, but the views are fantastic, they're nice and light to hold and the family connection makes them something I'll never sell.