Jump to content

NLCbanner2024.jpg.2478be509670e60c2d6efd04834b8b47.jpg

Skywatcher Quattro f4 Imaging Newtonian telescopes

FLO

Recommended Posts

Revs

Revs

Posted
Posted

Hi Mike, grats on the scope :) Pity about the rings/finder :)

Just a quick FYI: the screw on the bottom of the focuser is not a locking screw and shouldn't be over-tightened! The top one is the locking screw, the bottom one alters the friction/stiffness between the focuser shaft and the rail. Over-tightening will wear the rail out faster.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Replies 475
  • Created
  • Last Reply
MikeWilson

MikeWilson

Posted
Posted
Hi Mike, grats on the scope :) Pity about the rings/finder :headbang:

Just a quick FYI: the screw on the bottom of the focuser is not a locking screw and shouldn't be over-tightened! The top one is the locking screw, the bottom one alters the friction/stiffness between the focuser shaft and the rail. Over-tightening will wear the rail out faster.

Thanks Revs :)

Martin at FLO, being excellent as always, has sorted out a replacement finder for me. I hope that it arrives tomorrow - it may coincide with the adapter from Bern to make a QHY5 Finder/Guider. That's a topic for another thread of course but pertinent to this thread it appears that the rings really are too small.

If I mount my ST80 to the back it will protrude off a few degrees from the axis of the mount and whilst I suspect it may still 'work', the balance will be shifted. Quite a lot with the ST80; not so much with the finder/guider.

So I may yet still be able to do a first light test on Saturday.

I wonder if anyone else has this issue?

Thank you too for the advice on the focuser. Ok, with the screw slackened right off the focuser is still rather stiff. Not unacceptably stiff; just stiffer than I'm used to with the single speed SW Crayford. It's not Moonlite smooth either. But it does "feel" like it could hold a fair bit of weight on it. When tightened it really does make focusing a bit of a chore, presumably a half-way focus is optimum for the fine focusing and slacked off at all other times.

Collimation was a little tricky and the collimation screws are standard SW fairé.

Clear skies,

Mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MikeWilson

MikeWilson

Posted
Posted
I was thinking it may be possible to move the bolts which attach the bar to the rings slightly to one side. This may help to move the guide scope over and help the balance.That if the bar have got ajustment bolts.

An excellent suggestion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
adamsp123

adamsp123

Posted
Posted
My guess about the rings:

The Quattro's are wider than the other SW newts, but SW either a) thought they could get away with the standard ones, or :) have made larger ones, but the wrong ones were fitted at the factory.

My guess is a) ....to keep the costs down, but it doesn't look quite right

Seems quite heavy as well wonder what the 250 CF will weigh?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MikeWilson

MikeWilson

Posted
Posted

@Andy: It is indeed odd. I contacted Martin @ FLO who in turn contacted OVL who in turn are waiting to hear back from Synta.

The rings are definitely wrong. As Ian says above, I think SW thought at the factory that they could get away with slinging the standard rings around it - but I think this particular box was done by mistake. I don't think they'll all be like this, it's probably just one worker making a daft mistake in China somewhere and getting the wrong rings from the shelf.

They also forgot to put a finder in the box, how nice of them! FLO shipped me one by Royal Mail 1st class, so hopefully it will arrive tomorrow.

@Pete: It's not cost cutting, I think it's just a mistake. The 250CF will be quite heavy and I have a feeling that it will be perculiar. The center of gravity I expect will be just a few inches off the mirror. It will look very odd mounted, that's for certain.

@Revs: The internal baffles are.... about 15mm high.

Mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MikeWilson

MikeWilson

Posted
Posted

Hi Revs,

The tube diameter is 240.32mm (give or take a bit - measured circumference with tape measure and calculated diameter).

The rings inside diameter is 230mm (excluding the felt lining - measured using a ruler across the diameter).

Conclusion: The rings don't fit the tube :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Revs

Revs

Posted
Posted

Ah, I misread your post... it's the rings that are 230mm. Could you measure the internal diameter of the tube, please? Just trying to work a couple of things out.

EDIT: Or the thickness of the tube wall, which may be easier.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
adamsp123

adamsp123

Posted
Posted

TBH, with the way modern factories are set up I doubt it is a mistake but yes it is a possibilty, however another reason could be that the correct rings were not available at time of product launch and ship, so as a stop gap they used the smaller rings that just barely "fit" on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MikeWilson

MikeWilson

Posted
Posted

It's a bit difficult to get accurate measurements of the thickness of the tube as both the front and rear of the tube is tapered (the white bits). I suspect that they simply put in 8" tube rings rather than the somewhat wider bespoke ones.

Mike

Sent from my mobile using TapaTalk (so please excuse bad grammar & spelling!) :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MikeWilson

MikeWilson

Posted
Posted
Will I say if thay have not got all the right parts to put in box to start with ,do not sent out . I was thinking about one but not no more

As soon as I reported this, OVL stopped shipping the scopes.

So to be fair to them, I think they are trying to get it right.

Any other scope pre-orderers receiving theirs today or is it just me?

All the best,

Mike

Sent from my mobile using TapaTalk (so please excuse bad grammar & spelling!) :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Starlight 1

Starlight 1

Posted
Posted
It's a bit difficult to get accurate measurements of the thickness of the tube as both the front and rear of the tube is tapered (the white bits). I suspect that they simply put in 8" tube rings rather than the somewhat wider bespoke ones.

Mike

Sent from my mobile using TapaTalk (so please excuse bad grammar & spelling!) :-)

I can start to see why the rings do not close up when it a tapered tube.If they were a close fit on the rings it would be very difficult to try and balance the scope on the mount as one ring would be tight and one ring would be loose as it is moving back and forwards across the taper. Obviously if you put loads of weight at the eyepiece end you are going to have to move the scope backwards so a good fitting ring would not work, if that makes any sense.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MikeWilson

MikeWilson

Posted
Posted
I can start to see why the rings do not close up when it a tapered tube.If they were a close fit on the rings it would be very difficult to try and balance the scope on the mount as one ring would be tight and one ring would be loose as it is moving back and forwards across the taper. Obviously if you put loads of weight at the eyepiece end you are going to have to move the scope backwards so a good fitting ring would not work, if that makes any sense.

Only the front and back inch or so is tapered. Where the White bits are. The tube itself isn't tapered at all.

All the best,

Mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Coco

Coco

Posted
Posted
Only the front and back inch or so is tapered. Where the White bits are. The tube itself isn't tapered at all.

All the best,

Mike

Hi Mike , whats the total length of the OTA?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
George

George

Posted
Posted

Yes those tube rings don't look right, I'm wondering if they have the one style tube ring for the 2 types of Quattro ie steel & carbon fibre, if that's the case the steel tube I would imagine would be thinner than the CF and be a snugger fit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.