Pitch Black Skies

Cheers Mike, I gave it its first light last night. These are just single long exposure shots. I don't know anything about stacking, darks, flats, bias, etc yet. I think it has some good potential, just need to learn how to get the most from it.

Thanks malc, I just melted the existing solder and stuck the existing wires back on. To be fair, the techs job was a lot neater than what mine is now, plus the wires are extremely thin, fragile and old. In trying to sort the grub screw problem I accidentally snapped 3 of them. They can't tolerate much movement at all or they will snap. I was actually holding my breath at times when re-assembling it, so fragile. Having said that, if they were on a new connector block, I'd imagine they'd be a lot stronger. Think I'll just let it be, just glad to have it working.

< UPDATE > I've fixed it! Decided to try re-solder the wires back myself. It's a poor job, but as they're now enclosed in the case they shouldn't move. I might ask the tech to re-do it with a connector block, but at the moment I'm thinking I might just leave well enough alone. On the DEC Axis Motor, I noticed that the encoder wheel was missing it's grub screw, it must have been slipping when the motor was turning. I also re-positioned the encoder wheel on the RA Axis motor so as that it is more central between the sensor and Infrared LED. I assembled everything back together, extremely carefully.. Started it up, went through the menus and this time instead of the telescope slewing at full speed all over the place, it just started gently tracking at the sidereal rate. It was like music to my ears, such a delight. Thanks so much to all that contributed. Alan Encoder wheel grub screw (M2)

So just a bit of an update guys. I've had the wires re-soldered. The go-to is still slewing the telescope to a completely incorrect part of the sky, and then just stops and displays a motor unit fault on the hand controller. Very disappointing.

I see, interesting. 68° seems pretty decent to me. I love the idea of being able to find your object, and then zoom in as far as conditions allow, very convenient. Would definitely need a low power eyepiece to compliment it though. Are they okay in fast scopes do you know?

So I tested out the Celestron kit. The 32mm & 15mm were nice, the others were like looking through a straw. The eye relief on the 4mm.. At one stage I actually thought I felt my pupil resting on the glass 😳

Cheers Ed, Looks like it's the BSTs again so. Just kicking myself now that I recently sold my 8mm & 15mm BSTs while I had the 200p. Sounds they would be fine in the 300p.

Zooms sound interesting, I've never used one. I've heard the fov gets a little tight on the lower end though which could be unpleasant. I would be interested to know if any members use one on an f5, and how they find it performs. From what I gather from reading threads, the Baader zoom seems to be the "go to" one. But isn't that based on the Hyperion line? And as John has already alluded to, they won't work well with my telescope.

Thank you, glad to see the BSTs getting more praise.

Thanks Heather, I think you're right. Like most things, it really depends.

Glad you mentioned that about the Hyperions. I've seen on a few occasions, people saying Plössl eyepieces in general give excellent views, as long as you don't mind a narrower fov. Is there much truth in that?

Great, I actually had the 8mm & 15mm with my 200p, really liked them. At f6 they were grand, wasn't sure how they would cope at f5. Otherwise, I was looking at the likes of Hyperions, ES68 or maybe even TV Plössls.

I've read that the Baader Zoom is a quality zoom, I suppose when I said budget I just meant something decent that isn't going to break the bank. For me it would be a budget option instead of having to fork out for the likes of ethos, Naglers, etc. My real wonder is what others are using to getting the most from this telescope. Is a coma corrector needed? Are the likes of the Morpheus range perfect for it, etc?

I will, but don't feel very confident as they are cheap, have poor eye relief and a narrow fov. I was hoping some experienced members could recommend something that would be a step up, that wouldn't break the bank, and more importantly, that also works well with this fast telescope.

Having acquired a 300p flextube. I am wondering if any owners of this telescope can recommend some budget eyepieces that work okay with this if any. As it stands, I only have the Celestron Eye-opener eyepiece and filter kit. Am I correct in thinking these Plössl eyepieces will give a decent image, just with a narrow fov? I was thinking along the lines of BST Starguiders, Baader Zoom, etc.

Well not exactly the postman but this is my new, albeit second hand, largest telescope to date, the Skywatcher 300p flextube. It was bought from a fellow SGL member, and looks like it was well looked after. I'm really curious to see how the views will compare to my recently sold 200p. An increase in aperture of 4 inches. Exciting times 🙂

Awesome, thanks so much for that Magnus. You would make a great teacher if not already, seriously. Oh you're in Ireland?! I'm by the Copper Coast, Co. Waterford.

Stunning 👌

I'm stuck on the very first part of figuring out what "s" is for "a". How do you measure"s"? 😳 I wonder if you would be kind enough to demonstrate the whole sum from start to finish with the measurements included? It's extremely well thought out and put together, personally I just struggle with maths. I've bought the same double sided tape you have, and my secondary is 70mm too. I could however just take a picture of your marked secondary. Enlarge the pic so the width is 70mm, and then measure the lines on the pic 😉 #thelazyapproach Cheers, Alan

Cool, I have one in that case. It's the premium Stellalyra one from FLO, a great bit of kit. I only use it for the secondary alignment though which doesn't really move unless I start messing about with it. I'll then carefully use a laser for the tilt of both mirrors and finish off with a collimation cap to verify everything. I've tried Barlowing the laser before but didn't really see much benefit of it over just using the laser alone. I must look out for that book, cheers.

I've seen a bit of conflicting information on what a Cheshire looks like. Can anyone clarify?

Sound, I think it is too to be honest. Just hate spending money 😔😂

Looks collimated to me. Quite dark as pixies has mentioned.

I damaged the plug trying to fix it myself. I got a quote of €50 to have it repaired.

Not a silly question. 2 wires have broken. I'm bringing it to an electronic repair person tomorrow.