bosun21

I’m still preferring the Baader contrast booster filter being slightly better than the semi apo for cutting down the fringing. I am not alone in this assumption. PS: I’ll be trying a wratten No 8

The pound equivalent for $640 is £490. Well that’s according to my browser conversion

Yes I know that, but there will be the same springs on sale here. As long as they are the correct length and diameter the thicker gauge wire will provide the necessary tension required

I wouldn’t bet on it. I will probably just measure them and buy the equivalent springs from a UK supplier.

Postman brought me a new Crayford dual speed focuser. An Astronomik OIII filter. A Nevada PS-08 with the power cable and extension cable .

You have the spreader plate upside down

My 8” Stella Lyra Dobsonian holds its collimation pretty well as is. I have already fitted the bobs knobs screws on my secondary mirror and they are holding collimation pretty well also. I am thinking that it would be a good idea to upgrade the springs on my primary mirror and was wondering how long it took them to arrive from America?

I’m puzzled as the FLO website states that to have go to you need to use a synscan handset and cable. Is this wrong?

I stand corrected. I was always under the impression that it had to be a full go to. So does the app work for all of the other non go to functions?

Is it the virtuoso model? If so the synscan app will not work as it’s primarily for go to mounted telescopes. If you were to buy a synscan handset then that would turn your virtuoso mount into a go to. HTH

Do these actually cover the base as well or just the tube? Thanks

I’d be interested if you could try the old Lumicon OIII to see what results you get. Does your Lumicon look similar to the photo of mine earlier in the thread? I will probably just pull the trigger on a new Astronomik OIII.

Here’s a few photos of the Lumicon OIII filter. What do you honestly think?

Hi 👋 and a warm welcome to the lounge.

The one I have is not delaminated nor oxidized and is pretty decent considering how old you said it was.Next clear night I’ll put it to the test properly.

Yes it’s a used filter that I picked up from eBay as I had heard good things about them. This being my first venture into the world of filters i have had nothing to compare it to. I may now just go for a modern Astronomik OIII filter or equivalent.

He has an EQ5 pro

With your liking of the planets and moon then it’s a no brainer that a 127 Maksutov would fit the bill perfectly. They are fantastic on the planets and moon and pretty decent on the brighter DSO’s. They are also very compact and as a rule doesn’t require any collimation. It’s a win win.

I pay no attention to the numbers as I just treat it as a clock face and position Polaris at the position and hour highlighted by my Polar align app. A bigger pain for me was centering the polar scope reticle. When I bought the mount new the reticle glass was actually loose inside the polar scope. Once it’s set that’s it set forever.

I can set my go to Mak up with a two star alignment and sometimes a three star if targeting across the meridian for increased accuracy. The leveling and alignment takes about 15 minutes and has become second nature. This is of course dependent on the equipment working. I have two go to mounts now. One equatorial and one alt/az. Though I love using my Dobsonian I would never get rid of my go to’s now as I have become somewhat spoiled.

As @Budgie1 has just said have you changed the daylight savings time to ON. As the BST just started last week and your mount was working fine previously. If not then this will account for the errors you are experiencing. The mount should be in the home position when you first power it on. This gives it a set starting position each time.

I just ended up buying a bunch of 1/4” 20’s from Amazon and they fitted perfectly.

@PatrickO I will give you the steps that got me through my first polar alignment. Ensure that your mount is perfectly level and your counterweights are pointing to the ground and NORTH. This can be done with a compass on your phone and spirit level app.(or actual tool). Ensure that the mount is set to the correct latitude for your location. (I check mine with an inclinometer app on my scope or saddle) Polaris should be in the view through your polar scope. Check the app for the position of Polaris in the reticle and with the aid of your lat/longitude bolts and Azimuth screws on the base of the mount, place Polaris in the same position as the app shows. You have completed your first polar alignment. There are more fine tuning steps, like perfectly centering the polar scope reticle and drift etc, but simply get used to the basics first. HTH IAN

You should try the tap the scope technique. Just give the tube a very slight tap with your fingernail whilst looking through the eyepiece. The slight movement can bring unseen objects into your visual image. This is what you are doing by slewing 👍

I thought the ASI224 MC was strictly a planetary camera that had a high frame rate and would be too noisy on longer exposures?. This is what I have been led to believe. Is this not the case? Thanks