bosun21

You will never reach focus placing any eyepiece into the focuser without an extension piece being used. You can only use one extension piece at a time. Use the 2" extension for 2" eyepieces and the 1.25" extension for 1.25" eyepieces never both extensions at the same time. Your Baader Hyperion eyepiece is a hybrid which can actually be used in both 2" and 1.25". What to do is fit the narrower 1.25" extension into the focuser and place the 25mm eyepiece that came with the telescope into the extension. Point the telescope at a distant object during daytime and slowly rack the focuser in and out with the focus knob. You will most surely reach focus this way. To use the Hyperion eyepiece just remove the supplied eyepiece and replace with the Hyperion. It will only slide in so far up until it reaches the wider 2" part, this is where it should be positioned in for 1.25" use. Just practice getting used to focusing using things this way. Regarding collimation I hope you haven't messed around with it too much if at all. You can't just point a camera or eye down the focuser and achieve any accuracy as you have to be perfectly centered above the focuser for which we use a collimation cap or Cheshire. I want you to forget about collimation until you get a rudimentary grasp of the basics of your telescope. If the above is not clear enough I can post you a few photos in the morning as I have the same telescope albeit the computerised version.

In two parts i presume. It's the awkwardness of them both together that poses problems. I still don't envy you manoeuvring the base up and down stairs.

I've been using Caloclean for years now as well as their microfibre cleaning cloths. They are excellent and just handling the cloths you can immediately feel the quality of the fibres.

I can remember badgering my father for hours to allow me to stay up and watch SPM on the Sky at Night. He generally relented and allowed me to watch. I had no idea what I was listening to I only knew it was about space and that captivated me. I was 7-8 years old and I'm 64 in a few months. Memories indeed.

I had to do this with my AZ4 due to excessive stiction. It was caked in the same grease. I think it's a lottery of who assembles yours at the factory. Decent enough mount once I rectified the grease issue and replaced it with a quality grease.

Looks okay but I take the 10kg payload with a pinch of salt.

What mount do you have? A lot of the newer polar scopes you can focus with them in place.

Silly polar aligning after a three star alignment with the mount. Any adjustments to polar align will throw the previous three star alignment off. Polar align first everytime.

Well I'll be the odd one out. I have owned and used both 8" and 12" manual dobs , 12" dob on a David Lukehurst (RIP) EQ platform and now a 10" go to dobsonian. I was really content and happy with the 12" on the platform until I discovered planetary imaging. The constantly chasing the planet to keep it in the small ROI was both tiring and wasn't the least bit enjoyable. The EQ platform helped a great deal but still required corrections. The go to dobsonian keeps it nicely in the ROI while I capture away. Regarding the scope itself, it's smooth enough and the go to is accurate enough for my easily pleased self. With the Flextube I check the collimation before each session and tweak if it is required which is no big deal. I considered the 12" was just a bit too much as with the addition of the motors they are heavy. This is my sworn testimony in defence of go to dobs, I hereby rest my case 😂.

We can all think up ideas and barriers to hinder and obstruct these lowlifes, but being what they are they will only think up other avenues to circumvent said obstacles. Our best weapon against them is our vigilant members as has been proven over time.

I think he thought it would enable him to see the primary mirror clips but I may be completely wrong about this assumption. I'm just glad that he now has good collimation and will now be imaging the moon. I want to pick his brains as I'll also be lunar imaging until the planets return. Darn it now you know why I was trying to help him so enthusiastically 😂.

Nice report Jim. It's great that you have your wife for company and even more so is the fact that she's an active participant. M42 is one of the most impressive targets to observe especially when in dark skies with no moon. Despite the moon washing the sky out you still managed the E and F stars at 60x. I have to crank the magnification way up when trying to coax them into view. All in all you had a good night.

A OSC camera works well for the moon. Any of the newer planetary cameras would be my choice. The ASI585MC is a good choice although being more expensive as the larger sensor allows you to capture a larger area of the moon. You can always do a mosaic to compensate the smaller sensors on planetary cameras. I would go for the 224 over the 120MM as if you are just starting out I would keep it simple and avoid mono(for now at least). You can always shoot in colour and convert to mono in the software.I do mainly planetary imaging and have only recently started doing lunar. Good luck.

Sure looks like a beautiful area you live in Olly, with the added pleasure of having dark skies. I can now understand why you chose to move there.

If you suffer from astigmatism then wearing glasses is advised, and if not then you can remove them and use the focuser on the telescope to reach a sharp image.

I Initially thought you were Scottish due to the name you had chosen, or are you?

Well done Kostas. Great to hear that you found the culprit to your troubles. I'm also pleased to hear that you replaced the secondary mirror holder springs as they definitely serve a purpose. You would have had perpetual frustration trying to collimate with a dodgy cheshire had you not discovered it. I suspect you will like me be doing some lunar imaging now that the planets are gone. I may PM you if you don't mind regarding lunar imaging.

Exactly! I solved this by fitting an electric focuser. No more vibration while focusing.

I think I have a very serious case of this affliction regarding buying and selling astro gear. I am now going to venture into the 100° wide field eyepieces after selling my Morpheus eyepieces which I loved to raise funds for the former. Perhaps when I grow up, although being 64 this year and I'm still exhibiting this affliction. Hopefully I will settle on a complete setup that I can settle on and extinguish the need to browse the astro classified section wherever it may be.

Hi Ryan, welcome to SGL. It seems like you have predominantly settled on solar system observing. From the perspective of mobility with your choice of mount I would recommend the 127 Maksutov. The additional light grasp (which is actually around 118mm) over your 80mn and the considerably longer focal length of 1500 - 1900mm will make it a far better choice for planetary and lunar observing. They are also relatively light and compact making it good for sticking in a backpack etc. Great to have you onboard.

The lazy Geek has a C6 which he uses with a Hyperstar and achieves good results on deep sky targets. But the C6 is not really made for AP. It's great on the moon and planets.

Same here, on numerous occasions. The only 8' reflector I have owned was the Stella Lyra dobsonian which most certainly required the primary springs upgraded. They were like the springs you used to get inside pens.

Sorry Peter I read it wrong 🙄. My apologies. That's twice on this thread. That's what I get for hurriedly trying to catch up with the thread after an absence for several hours.

That's great 👍. But when you go up to the 10" and 12' the mirror weight increases a substantial amount requiring heavier gauge springs to maintain collimation.