Ian McCallum

I was actually thinking of getting the enhance kit, but FLO is out of stock. RVO and a few other retailers have them in stock, but I prefer to deal with FLO. I may take a chance... 

Courtesy of @callisto, this 2" diagonal arrived this morning, just after 8am. It was very well packaged and is in very good condition. 👍

1 hour ago, Graham Darke said:

It would be a different part of my anatomy that I would be pressing against their patio window while they’re having dinner….😈

It may take them sometime to realise that the full moon doesn't come that close to their windows!🤣

Does the SynScan goto kit make the EQ5 mount suitable for imaging? 🤔

1 minute ago, johninderby said:

One thing to note with an ADC is that they are most helpful when your target is low down. The higher up the target is the less helpful it is.

You'd think with the planets being up higher than earlier in the year, we'd have less atmospheric dispersion.🙄

4 hours ago, Muc said:

I never knew this practical  definition, many thanks, I always thought Blue and Red was CA. Good to know!

I've had that with my 8" Dobsonian, in the past.  A filter like this is supposed to help...

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-accessories/zwo-125-atmospheric-dispersion-corrector-adc.html

3 hours ago, johninderby said:

No noticeable CA on Jupiter with the ScopeTech 80mm f/15 but then it has very fine optics optics with the latest coatings. Even a stepped down cheap achro can’t match it as the optics aren’t as good..

I think it will be quite a while before I'd go for another telescope, as I need to let the bank balance recover. 🙄

35 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

It should not be hard to distinguish between the two. Atmospheric dispersion is usually linear. One side is bluish while other side is red:

CA is the same all around (usually blue).

Depending on eyepieces used - you might also get some lateral CA - this happens with wide field eyepieces at the edge of the field and depends on eye placement

I used the full BST range of eyepieces from 25mm to 3.2mm.  I'm almost certain it was atmospheric dispersion. With an aperture of just 52mm, it was just too dim (even at low magnification) to be pleasant to observe. 

It's certainly dissuaded me from buying one of the ScopeTech range... 

I tried stopping the telescope down to about f19, but was still getting some colour fringing around Jupiter. It may have been CA or atmospheric dispersion. 🤔

9 hours ago, Orange Smartie said:

I always close my "scope eye" if I have to go indoors or switch my white torch on for any reason. The difference between what I can see with my dark-adapted eye and the one I've exposed to indoor lighting is incredible.

Like this? 🤔🤣

18 hours ago, MillHey Nebula said:

Wow, that is old - it is the Mk 1 version.  I used to use the Mk 2 and that was 38 years ago!

 

I'm going back to circa 1981 or so! 😮

Does anyone remember the old Paterson darkroom light? It was a nice red colour, not too bright.

1 hour ago, neil phillips said:

I have one just like it 😄 Seriously, good choice. Sturdy for the money isnt it. Congrats

I recognise that OTA, especially the wee vertical scratch just above and to the right of the letter "r" in Sky-Watcher.🤣

Jupiter and Saturn, earlier this evening.  I tried for Neptune, but I can't be sure if I found it or not - the nearby stars were being dimmed by light pollution.🤬  I did get some views of the Sun this morning, through a solar filter - no signs of any sunspots though.

16 minutes ago, John said:

I've installed and used the Skywatcher dual axis motor sets on a couple of mounts. They are fairly straightforward to fit and work fine for visual observing. Like this:

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/skywatcher-eq5-enhanced-dual-axis-motor-drives.html

or the older version:

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/skywatcher-dual-axis-motor-drive-eq5.html

 

It looks like for a few extra quid, the kit with the enhanced controller would be the much better option!😉

I eventually want motorise the EQ5 Deluxe mount that I have, but would welcome suggestions on how to proceed.  This is mostly for visual observing...

37 minutes ago, John said:

That will help a lot with your achromatic refractor itch. Hope you don't develop an ED doublet / Fluorite itch

 

Who says I'm suffering from that malady? 🤔😂

By getting this second hand SW Evostar 120, I hope to have cured my refractor itch! 🤞🤐😄

I was looking for the Baader 495 filter, but there doesn't appear to be any available at the moment.  I'll wait till @FLOgets them back in stock.

1 hour ago, doublevodka said:

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

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

35 minutes ago, Louis D said:

Maybe someone got this one with their order up at the Tan Hill Inn.

Wow! 😱❄️

I found that the rack was a bit loose, as the small screws holding it needed tightening. 

I ended up removing the pressure plate cover that holds down the focuser knob, removed the draw tube and degreased the rack and pinion, away from the tube.  It was the usual Chinese glue grease affair. 🙄

Once I had cleaned them up, I put the rack back on the draw tube and screwed it back on. 

I regreased the rack and pinion, with small amounts of grease, wiping off the excess. 

I put it all back together and it seems to be okay, but I'm unsure how much to retighten the pressure plate too. At the moment, it's just a light pressure, making sure all the screws aren't too loose, incase they fall out. 

3 hours ago, doublevodka said:

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 👍

I was just going to say that my focuser is no where near as bad as his is, in the video.

4 hours ago, vlaiv said:

In my case - solution was easy

Instead of buying a new focuser I fitted old one that I was left with after upgrading focuser on one of my imaging scopes

There are a few videos on youtube of stripping and re-greasing synta R&P focusers - like this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K89k3U9mPe8

You'll need to adjust it and you'll probably need to replace PTFE pads that are in there

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.

What about this then? 🤔🤣