Ags

Tonight the stars were just about visible through several layers of cloud, so I could do a star test. A defocused star looked almost symmetrical, but the became triangular closer to focus. This means, i think, that I was too enthusiastic in tightening the screws on the primary mirror. I I'll back these off tomorrow and try again.

Great info, thanks @seven_legs! The scope would be set up permanently in my dobservatory, so I think I should be able to keep the mirror clean. I thought straps were the usual thing for large mirrors, to prevent pinching the optics? Can I ask how the scope performed at mags above 300x?

Maybe an RC? (Evil laughter)

Very sad to hear. I learned a lot from his articles when I started out.

I'll have to think about the weight. The Stella Lyra 16" is a great price and looks mechanically superb. If I ever need to move the thing, I'd need to summon a posse.

Thanks, that's a lot of detail! It does seem unfortunate the design puts the bulk of the weight into one component.

I am idly dreaming about the observatory I will set up when we move several degrees south next year. We should land in Bortle 4 which is a chunk better than 8 - although I read Bortle 4 is very wide with good end and a bad end... I think my little HEM15 is all I need for deep sky AP, EAA, visual smartscoping and so on, but I do want something bigger - a lot bigger - to get really close in on the Moon and planets. I need a lot more aperture to compensate for my snowglobe eyes that won't let me use small exit pupils. Also I want to go as far as I can with planetary imaging, and that is one field in which aperture is absolutely deterministic. I have been designing a dobservatory - a low-walled ROR obsy to house a larger dob on an eq platform. The dob would be permanently set up in a fixed position, but keeping weight low would still be a priority as things need maintenance and even the strongest eq platform can do with less load... The ES 16" caught my eye - it seems quite a good price and the overall weight is not too bad at 38 kg, although the mirror box is 23 kgs. If money is no object (really depends if I can take my work south with me) then the Taurus T400 is the other option at twice the price - 31 kg total weight, heaviest component 18 kg, and 1/8 pv optics. Does anyone have experience of the ES - how is it mechanically and optically? I think with an EQ platform and starsense for DSOs it should be pretty nice.

These are very nice pictures! I can relate to short integration times... So much sky, so little time 😃

True, I have a pronounced nasal protuberance. Maybe the device is intended for those not so blessed.

Yes exactly, and while it is capturing relatively long (a second or two?) exposures, your nose is bumping the smart eyepiece....

Also, this is just another spin on EAA. But when I do EAA, a camera is plugged into a scope and I am viewing on a screen. With this thing you are viewing through it, so the scope will be less steady - not great for longer exposures and live stacking....

No. Just no. Why open the telescope box, set up the telescope outside, and look at dim fuzzy objects, when you can look at the colorful pictures on the telescope box instead?

I spent the morning, day and evening eyeing clear skies, but now that night has fallen the clouds have closed in. Really feeling like the sky has something against me!

I like being out in the dark, so no remote roboscopes for me. But getting an ASIAIR has made imaging so easy and hassle free it's really feasible to set it going and switch over to some visual fun with a grab and go setup.

Even though you thought you could never lose your mojo, you're now falling into the same fallacy of thinking you'll never get it back 😃 You'll see, it only takes a little spark to relight the fire!

Tested on a neighboring tree, view looks sharp at 150x, less so at 225x, but it’s hard to judge by day with the razor-thin depth of focus. If the weather stays like this, I should be able to do another star test tonight.

Not sure I can get closer with a Cheshire. Tonight the stars!

The bigger the star, the higher the pressure in the core.

Tried out my FLO Premium Cheshire Collimator. Before: After: Aligning the primary has pushed the secondary out a bit again, I'll do another iteration tonight. So far it looks like the focusser is reasonably aligned...

Had some patchy clear skies after midnight, enough for a star test. I'll need to work on the collimation clearly.

My pet RC "Archie" arrived today. First impressions are favorable, it seems solidly and simply made. The focusser looks quite reasonable, although I know it may be one of the most replaced focussers in the hobby... The dust cap is a bit flimsy, it looks more at home on top of a yoghurt pot! Being such a back-heavy scope, they could have ran the dovetail all the way to the back of the tube. It looks like I can put a dovetail on the other side, which would be a useful carry handle. Not a fan of collimating the secondary with an allen key over an exposed primary mirror! From the fractured polystyrene, it seems it had a few bumps on the way to me. Hopefully I can check the collimation properly over the weekend, but a rough "hall of mirrors" check looking down the tube suggests there's nothing extremely wrong with the alignment.

Yes it is an RC6, 154mm f9. It is primarily for imaging but will see how it goes visually too.

Yummy!

Maybe this one? Creality 3D Ender 3 V3 SE - Kenmerken - Tweakers

I thought about it but decided straight ones should give a little less total diffraction. It's not like I'll be seeing any star spikes Also, I could have tried 3 vanes instead of 4... This is 50% linear central obstruction. If this shows any promise I might try 45% or 40% too. I guess there's a balance between contrast loss from the central obstruction and any gain from a more collimated beam. I am on the verge of buying a printer now - a two week wait for a print is annoying and the delivery costs are painful. And I think some/most designs will need some iterative development.