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A New Bumbling Amateur!

Notty

By Notty
in Welcome

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Notty

Notty

Posted
Posted

Hello everyone, I've been lurking a while but finally took the plunge and bought myself a 'scope. I'm 45, with 2 small kids so not a huge amount of free time, but I fly aeroplanes for a living and for a long time now the night time views above the skies have fired my imagination. I want to start exploring the cosmos and ultimately, to get into AP.

I've bought myself a SW 80ED DS-PRO which will sit atop an EQ5-Synscan. Now I know, this isn't ideal for AP but I just couldn't stretch to the HEQ5 £££ (cough), and the chap on the phone from my supplier said the EQ5 Pro is quite capable of some AP albeit workmanlike with that scope/weight. I'd love to hear from anyone with similar kit, in order: to

a) Tell me what I want to hear i.e it won't be a complete disaster for AP! :confused:

B) Help me with some of my rather fundamental questions on this equipment.

I did lots of reading first, but having got the kit along with what laughably passes as SW's "instructions" I realise I am in for a whole world of pain! I naively expected after spending nearly £1000 on equipment that the documentation would be at least specific to my kit, if not the easiest to follow. It's neither! :eek:

It arrived yesterday and I've already the proud owner of a bent front Alt-adjustment bolt, so I'm stalled pending the shop opening Monday anyway.

Anyway, nice to meet you all!

Andy

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JonDoe

JonDoe

Posted
Posted

Hi Andy welcome to SGL, im convinced the suppliers of telescopes think only geeks buy them and they know everything anyway so why waste paper giving instructions :grin:.

trial and error mate and a possible visit to youtube might provide you with some help, good luck you`ll soon be up and running, (when you get a new bolt).

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tommo b

tommo b

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Hi Andy. Welcome to SGL.

I'm saving for a similar scope myself (although the HEQ5 is going to come first for some widefiled AP).

I'm surprised no-one has recommended the 'Making every photon count' book yet. It's proving invaluable to me - gives you a realistic perspective on AP.

And there's no end of opinions on the forums as to what the best mount is. General consensus is the sturdier the better, I think!

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midnight_sky_watcher

midnight_sky_watcher

Posted
Posted

Hi Andy,

Welcome to SGL. I have 1 EQ5 mount, and 2 EQ6 pro mounts, and I agree with you, the instruction manuals are designed to serve us right for buying the mounts in the first place and will have nothing ever to do with astronomy ever again!!! Only joking, but they are a bit of a minefield to get through a lot of mistakes in them.

Grant......

Cornwall.....

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glowjet

glowjet

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Posted

Hi Andy and welcome to SGL, if you are intending to replace the bent bolt with another as supplied with the scope, there has been some severe criticism of the metal used by the manufactures, by many on this forum, they are affectionately known as bendy bolts. It is recommended that you replace them with stainless steel, there is an outlet who supplies them as a set, but I regret I can not furnish you with this information, as I make my own, but I am sure someone soon will, enjoy your new scope and your Astronomy :)

John.

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Din

Din

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Posted

Hello Andy

How did you bend the Alt bolt? I have just started and found the Alt adjusting bolts on the HEQ5 very stiff. If the EQ5 is the same you might benefit by spraying WD40 on the bolts and the axis. Mine is much easier to move now. By the way, the word Alt confused me at first, it is supposed to be Latitude.

Regards

Ed

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glowjet

glowjet

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Just a little caution Ed, many on here have tightened the bolts to find they bend quite easily, as to say the least they are very poor quality, sometimes they have bent so badly that it has been necessary to strip the mount to cut the offending bolt before it can be removed, as is often said prevention is better than cure, which is why some outlets provide replacement sets for the EQ5 and EQ6 series mounts made in stainless steel, which alleviates the problem altogether, HTH to explain things :)

John.

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