Clouds and snow=time to tinker with skywatcher 250PX

[Dude_with_the_tube]

its been over 3 weeks now since my scope has seen any light thanks to clouds,snow,rain as such out of the boredom i decided to do small upgrades to my scope.first the focuser has been replaced with Moonlite CR2 in red.No problems with fitting, straight bolt on and a little colimation was required.Next i decided that i need to flock the whole tube.got the material ordered up from FLO and arrived safely today.Started by dismantling the scope at 19:00.removed everything including the primary mirror assembly. was done and dusted by 20:30.not bad for first timer ever taking the scope apart and flocking it

Material is great,easy to work with,but it is handy if you have a helpful pair of hands to assist you,specially if it is your first time.thanks to my wife it was done nicely.I will not go into details on how to flock the tube as there is already a beautiful topic about it and i used it as guideline for myself.

here are few pics of the final results.All is left the final colimation after assembly and i decided to wait until my screws with knobs arrive for secondary,as the weather forecast is not promising for atliest a few days anyway.

All in all 3 rolls of flocking material was required.total cost 21 quid.

Moonlite Cr2 focuser fitted.

i also flocked the fittings of the focuser leaving only exit for the tube.

and lastly the view of the tube.

[scarp15]

Looks terrific, is that the 4" riser bar you have with the telrad?

[Dude_with_the_tube]

well spotted.indeed it is the 4 inch one.

[crashtestdummy]

I found flocking quite an enjoyable thing to do,and fitting a moonlite even more so

[Dude_with_the_tube]

btw,is it me or did you also had this:4 screws to fit the Moonlite focuser base to the tube are Imperial where every single other screw in the focuser are metric????

[Dude_with_the_tube]

and next building aim: dew shield for the scope

[Tinker1947]

I have the Cr2, the flocking, and brought these for the Secondary....

From here.....i had to buy 4 to get the price over £5....... http://www.a2a4.com/acatalog/M4_KNURLED_THUMB_SCREWS_H_T_464-1.html

[Dude_with_the_tube]

very nice.I have the screws already ordered but on top of that i also ordered adjustable 50mm round bases as i plan to build a leveling base where i can put the whole set up on.this will be particularly handy when travelling to dark sites with soft ground,on top of that it will raise the whole setup up by 5 or so inches and i will not need to adopt to weird observing positions.i have all the plans drawn up,now gathering materials (aluminium angle bar,u channel etc,) once made up i will post up the result.should be done in week or two ,depending on my free time off work.

[Gina]

Nice Job

[neil phillips]

Great Mods, that moonlight looks lovely, Great how no drilling was needed.

[Peter Drew]

Next easy job, blacken the edge of the secondary mirror. Neat job so far.

[Damo636]

Excellent work!!

[Mike73]

I did the same mods on my 12" SW and they were worth every penny.

A word of warning though....after a while you realise you cant mod your scope any more, then all it takes is someone on the forum to mention big dobs and before you know it you have a bad case of aperture fever and I think you know the end of that story!

[kirkster501]

Hi mate, which screws are the secondary ones? I am going to do this. Is £5 the minimum order?

BTW - I have also fitted the Moonlite CR2. Wonderful !

[nephilim]

Nice focuser, I'd buy it just for the colour Good job on the flocking too!

Steve

[Tinker1947]

I think from memory the secondary screws are 4mm X 25mm the minimum order is £5, iyou could make the order over the £5 if you ordered 3 thumb screws for the NEQ6 polar scope adjusters, these are thinner and may be 3mm fitting the Cr2 is so easy, the base screws go in from inside the tube, then the focusor plus spacers attach from the outside with a option of 2 different thickness spacers with different length allen screws for every thickness option....

Polar scope......

[Stargazer_00]

Very nice job!

how much difference does flocking make? Im tempted to do mine.

[Dude_with_the_tube]

According to reviews from different forums,flocking does make a great deal of difference and increases the contrast of viewing significantly.also it is a relatively cheap mod so worth a try and will not harm.i ordered 4mm x 30mm screws as I wasn't sure if 25mm will not be too short.on top I will be adding either a metal or plastic washer between the secondary mirror assembly and holder.not sure about blackening the edges of secondary.never seen that been done so will have to read up on that and what it does.and yes I am perfectly aware of aperture fever and I will possibly get another scope for my birthday.bigger one of course.clear skies everyone.

[Stargazer_00]

According to reviews from different forums,flocking does make a great deal of difference and increases the contrast of viewing significantly.also it is a relatively cheap mod so worth a try and will not harm.i ordered 4mm x 30mm screws as I wasn't sure if 25mm will not be too short.on top I will be adding either a metal or plastic washer between the secondary mirror assembly and holder.not sure about blackening the edges of secondary.never seen that been done so will have to read up on that and what it does.and yes I am perfectly aware of aperture fever and I will possibly get another scope for my birthday.bigger one of course.clear skies everyone.

where do you get the 30mm ones from? that site provided above only lists up to 25mm

That sites collects personal information on a non secured page as well, so aint buying from there.

Is it just an M4 with a thumbscrew head and 20mm+ of thread on it? Or is there a specific thread pattern that needs to be bought? I was just gonna go down to screwfix and get some 'samples'

[Dude_with_the_tube]

i couldn't find anything like that in screwfix and i wanted them to be a full threaded screw ,and it is just a standard M4 thread, so i went to fleebay and found these:http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4mm-Dia-30mm-Length-Male-Thread-Screw-On-Knurled-Knob-/300824652590?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item460a8beb2e

also the same guy was selling the other bits i needed and with a free postage it seemed Ok to me.I know i will have to wait a week to get them,but then again,i am not in a particular hurry

[Stargazer_00]

I found some very cheap in Nylon. Would nylon be strong enough? These show they are the (I assume correct) 0.7mm pitch thread as well. Figure they would be low reflectivity as well.

http://www.mossexpre...ck-thumb-screws

That ebay link looks ok but he only has 2 left to sell :/

[Dude_with_the_tube]

i saw these but i ruled them out as they are nylon and i doubted that they will be that strong for the job and i kinda dont fancy drilling them out afterwards if they snap.

if desperate 365 astronomy sell a set of 3 screws for secondary mirror assembly but at the whopping 9 quid.+ postage. you can also try Cromwell tools,RS components they might do something similar.

[Dude_with_the_tube]

hold on.look what i found:http://www.amazon.co.uk/M4x30mm-Thread-Knurled-Plastic-Thumbscrew/dp/B0087ZCR3I

4 only left so you better be quick

[Stargazer_00]

Sweet, nabbed 3 Had a left ove gift card on amazon id forgotten about so they only cost me £1.47 for 3

[Dude_with_the_tube]

sounds like a great deal now just flocking left for you