PeterStudz

Yes, I saw that. Although I couldn’t find anything quite like that in the UK. If there’s a place to buy these here I’d be interested.

As for contact/impact adhesive. I’ve tried a few types but keep coming back to good old Evo-Stik. Get it in a tin (a few sizes available), like my well used example, rather than a tube. Can do large surfaces, spread with a foam brush or thin piece of plastic or ply. I haven’t tired it on Formica but it should work. Creates a very flexible bond. I’ve used it to bond foam mat for dew shields and if you attempt to pull it apart the foam will split instead of the join.

Re the dust cup. I leave the 1.25 inch extension tube in and as suggested above, use the collimation cap with tape over the hole. I find the collimation cap really useful to check collimation before every session by looking down the little hole just to make sure everything is in order.

Hmmm… I can feel my flexible friend getting excited. Must resist! Might put it on my birthday list (which is next month) and hand it to my wife. Although history has shown that something of this value & fun is immediately discarded.

I used 2mm textured ABS sheet running on PTFE pads for my AZ bearing. I fixed it down using small countersunk screws (no glueing). The idea was that I could easily remove it and try other materials. But it worked so well I didn’t bother. Smooth and virtually no stiction. The sheet is like this… https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ABS-Plastic-Sheet-2mm-600mm-x-500mm-Textured-Black-/124165920352?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l6249&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0 Surprisingly (well, for me) the Alt bearing I settled on uses PTFE pads running against PTFE tape. I tried all sorts of things instead of the tape but in the end simple PTFE tape was the best. Maybe that’s because the tape does have small dimples. PS - this was for an 8 inch Dob

@Sky-J - OK, I’ll take some pictures and write something up in the next few days. Will try and remember to tag you in!

Plagued by high level clouds here in Southampton but I had fun testing out a second hand PanaView 2” 32mm eyepiece on my Skywatcher 200p Dob and fiddling with the PushTo function in PS Align Pro (phone strapped to the telescope). This worked well, maybe I’ll do a write up when I have time. Mostly a selection of open clusters, but had a look at M81/M82 and M3. I really need to get to a dark site as M81/M82 & M31 are the only galaxies I can see in my light polluted back garden. First time I’ve seen M37. Why I don’t know as it was stunning in a low power eyepiece.

lovely images @Stu! And @MalcolmM I also do everything on the phone. In fact I try and keep to the standard phone camera app, even for processing (which is basic), although occasionally I’ll use soothing like Snapspeed or Lightroom. For me a big part of using a smartphone in this way is that it should be as immediate as possible. Mind, I don’t even have a PC (just a smartphone and tablet) so I’m kind of forced to! Out of interest - I use to work in IT. When I left I’d had enough of PC’s, couldn’t stand the sight of the things, and got rid of mine 😀. I Much prefer visual observation. The only reason I started taking pictures is that my daughter wanted to try. She’s shown our pictures to friends and sometimes teachers at school who generally think it’s wonderful. It’s not all about trying to recreate astrophotography standard images.

Hi, I started out 15 months ago with something similar. A Skywatcher Skyhawk 1145p on an EQ1. What mount do you own? The EQ1 is very wobbly but there are improvements you can make. I also now have a much larger 200p Dob but I still use the 1145p. Here it is doing a bit of solar which I can highly recommend. Much depends on the direction you want to take. If your setup is similar I can give some suggestions learnt from this forum and a dose of trial & error 😀

Sounds fun and my kind of thing! About this time last year, when I first found M81/M82, using an even smaller Skywatcher 1145p on and even wobblier EQ1, I used my late dads old 7x50 1960’s binoculars to do the star hop to M81 even though I couldn’t see M81/M82 in the binoculars in my light polluted sky. Then used a combination of red dot finder and low power eyepiece (as a finder) to follow the hop I’d done in the binoculars. I now also have a 200p Dob with a 9x50 finder and when I’ve found a target for the first time, centred in the eyepiece, I’ll often go back and look in the finder then do a noddy sketch of the star pattern I can see. I then look at the sketch the next time/night I have a chance to go for the target again. It’s amazing how this jogs my memory and enables me to instantly recognised the area of sky in the finder once again. Like finding your way around a forest without a map these things eventually become second nature.

I was observing last night from my garden in Southampton. Transparency was good but seeing poor. Low magnification on the moon was good but up the power and there was a wobble that spoilt the view. I also wanted to do a star test and I could really notice it there - virtually impossible to do. It improved slightly later on but it was like watching an episode of Roobarb and Custard (showing my age there!).

Great project. Thanks for sharing. Please let us know how you get on. I’ve got a 1145p on EQ1 as our first telescope. Although it’s now somewhat taken second fiddle to a Skywatcher Skyliner 200p it’s a surprisingly capable little telescope. Had a lot of fun with it even with the limitations of the mount. I’m now thinking of mounting it on a AZ-GTi plus better tripod. @astrochumak what tripod are you using in your pictures? I’m also thinking of turning it into a travel scope. Something that will all fit into an airline cabin bay.

Yes, I’ve had my eye on that too. And until recently due delivery date was Feb/March!

Lovely shots @kev100. And I’m envious of your dark (for me at least) sky. I’m in Southampton and especially with the docks a blaze of light all night and every night, it does suffer from light pollution to say the least. Piddletrenthide is in a great part of the country. About 20 yrs ago, before I was into telescopes, I’d would go past and through there on a regular basis.

@bosun21 - thanks for that. I might just get one and upgrade. Although, like many, I have a list of upgrade so it’ll have to join my list

Sadly I missed the fun as I was busy all day. I do have some spare time tomorrow, Monday, but the forecast doesn’t look great

I have a Skywatcher 200p Dob. And I’m also guilty of having a cheap UHC. It’s a Svbony UHC. For me on the Orion Nebula it darkens the overall view, gives the stars a greenish hue, but improves the contrast. Eg the the “wings” of the nebula extent somewhat further and I can see more structure to the nebulosity. I also have a feeling that your light pollution will play a part. I suffer from Bortle 7 sky’s. Whether spending 3 times more on something like the Astronomik UHC would show me something 3 times better I obviously can’t say. But I might well try and if it is that much better sell the Svbony on eBay. Another way to show a different view of the Orion Nebula is to hover your smartphone camera (Surely everyone has a smartphone these days!) over the eyepiece. I’m not talking about taking a picture. Or better still use a cheap smartphone holder. Then you should see vivid colours too. Last year, when I first showed my then 9 yr old daughter the Orion Nebula in a telescope, she thought it nice enough but I could tell she was a tad disappointed. But when I carefully positioned my phone over the eyepiece the view literally had her jumping up and down.

No worries @DamianL. I’m certainly no expert so there could be something else. It sounds like you are doing the right things. There’s much to learn in this hobby and my advice is to take your time, don’t give up (sometimes it can be frustrating) and apply plenty of patience. If it’s your cup of tea then observational astronomy can be very rewarding. And don’t be frightened to ask questions, however silly they might appear! Something that I’ve been guilty of in the past.

The video, at approx 6min in, is what I get from atmospheric turbulence, especially at high magnification. Often described as the “seeing”.

As suggested that could be the result of turbulence in the atmosphere - the jet stream, viewing over a building or something relatively warm, the lower the object in the sky then the worse it tends to be. Possibly tube currents too - how long was your telescope outside before you started viewing? I need to leave my 8 inch Dob outside for at least 30 mins, often 45 mins at this time of year when it’s cold, before it’s sufficiently cooled to allow stable views.

I was in the middle of finishing off a batch of marmalade so not the best evening for me to any observing. But when I popped out and looked at the sky it was exceedingly clear for my light polluted Southampton ski. Typical! So I took my Skywatcher 200p Dob out and left it to cool. Going in and out in order to check my marmalade setting point didn’t give me quality time at the eyepiece and wasn’t great for dark adaption. However, I got some of the best views of the Orion Nebula that I’ve had from my back garden. Transparency was very good. I also managed to see Regal B without much effort, although I’ve not really tried before. I haven’t been that interested in splitting doubles but maybe there’s something in it after all. It was somewhat captivating.

Looks like a great event. Unfortunately we’re away for half term otherwise I’d have gone to this with my daughter. It’s not that far from us too - disappointed! Wish you some clear skies and good luck.

Interesting, thanks for posting. I have a Skywatcher Skyhawk 1145p. Obviously smaller than your telescope but apart from the mount (it’s an EQ1) I’ve found it surprisingly good. Although I’ve learnt to live with the wobbly nature of putting it on another mount. And I have been thinking of doing an upgrade similar to yours using an AZ GTi. How is the tripod now that you’ve modified it? Is it nice and steady?

Another thumbs-up for the BST StarGuiders. I have the 25mm, 12mm and 5mm. Initially purchased for another smaller telescope. The 5mm gave great views of Jupiter & Saturn last year when conditions allowed. In fact on one very good night I used the 12mm plus cheap 3x barlow (Bresser, purchased for £28, again for another telescope) for 300x on Jupiter. I could actually see some of the swirls and details around the Great Red Spot. For high magnification this combination has surprised me.

For an old phone, like the iPhone 4, that’s good! Thanks for sharing. I have a clone of the Orion Steadypix. Works very well the BST StarGuiders that I mostly use. When the eyecup is removed it holds onto the eyepiece very securely. Once I found the sweet spot I also added a tiny screw on the holder to lock left-right movement. See pictures. Now I only need to adjust up-down when I install the holder. As @Stu suggests, I install the phone in the holder then eyepiece before I put it on the telescope. It’s fiddly at first bit becomes easier and second nature after some practice. I practiced in the daylight, taking pictures of upside down chimney pots, branches and pigeons. If you have a solar filter then the sun is good as practice. It’s obviously far easier to spot any issues/improvements in daylight. Often I’ll install the holder on the phone indoors, in the light, so I can see what I’m doing, then take the phone attached to the holder outside. If you do this then make sure that the phone is in a position where the camera lens can’t dew up. And another tip - make sure that the lens on your phone is nice and clean before you start. If you are like me the lens can get covered in finger prints, dust and other detritus.