Lyra 4" F11 (and WO ZS66) on a Skytee II

[ibraidwo]

After buying a used 4" Lyra a few weeks ago, I finally purchased a sturdy enough mount (via FLO) to put it on - a new Skytee II. This was bigger and heavier than I had expected it to be, but appeared more than up to the job.

On Tuesday night I set up my WO ZS66 on the higher mount and finally got to use the Lyra 4", placing it on the lower mount (i.e the horizonal axis). My WO clone RDF is set-up for the WO ZS66, so I then set about aligning the two scopes, this took 5 minutes or so as the WO ZS66 had the the free movement whereas the Lyra was tied to the slo-mo controls. If the RDF was on the Lyra it would have made the alignment process much easier (next job is to set-up the RDF for the Lyra, which fortunately comes with the same finder foot attached).

My thoughts are that I can look through one and my daughter, wife and others can look through the other. I can also now fully utilise my 2 diagonals and both 8-24 zooms, with the Baader Zoom in the Lyra.

The Lyra is a fine looking scope and has a great sturdy, quality feel about it. Mine doesn't have a screw on end cap or a locking screw for the dew shield (not that I've noticed), but a lack of either doesn't seem to be a problem.

The whole set up can be pushed smoothly around the sky (like a dob) - this is one of the main reasons I wanted to move away from my Synscan AZ mount (no power needed, no cables to wrap around the tripod and can be moved by hand). Locking down the 2 axis to use the slo-mo controls was simple to do and I could easily reach the controls (with no need for slo-mo control extenders). There is a little backlash however this didn't really affect my viewing and I will look at fixing this as discussed here in other threads.

I don't have any counterweights yet for the Skytee, which would probably help keep everything in balance, with no stress on the joints/bearings - however it all worked perfectly fine without. Ii have been advised not to put the Lyra on the higher mounting point without counterweights as it may put too much rotational force on the horizontal axis.

The dovetail on the Lyra didn't match too well with the Skytee clamps (I have asked some questions about this in another thread here ). Possibly the ADM clamps that some recommend as being more robust may be deeper, else I'll need to replace the dovetail itself, as I think the original clamp would be strong enough for the Lyra in my opinion (however I'm not a mechanical engineer). The WO ZS66 foot worked just fine in the other clamp.

I could move the WO66 independently of the Lyra which means that (once locked in place) I could view and track (via the slo-mo controls) two objects at the same. I could, but may never

So, how was the viewing... well very pleasing, as it was a clear and relatively still night on the day I received the Skytee (amazingly!), and the moon was up, not quite full, but a treasure to behold. I was able to get the Lyra with Baader Zoom and 2.25x barlow up to 310x and had a lovely shimmer free view of the craters and along the dark edge. There was a little purple edging/CA as this is an achro, but I feel that a bit of colour adds to the view and am not planning to do any imaging (this was also a factor in choosing the Skytee). The wife said 'wow' at the views of the moon.

I also spotted what was likely to be Saturn and gently moved the mount and scopes round to it and although it seemed smaller than normal, I still got a good view (but quite dim at that mag and aperture). There was a lot of light polution both going upwards and coming from the moon so I didn't get to look at anything more distant (except for twinkling stars with no difraction spikes!).

The 130P I have is a real challenge to focus and is quite frustrating to use with its backlash issues (the newer DS versions with dual speed focusers are probably much better). I was therefore very keen to ensure that my chosen frac had a dual speed focuserl. The focuser on the Lyra is actual very smooth and very pleasing to use, enabling me to achieve focus quickly. The Lyra also takes 2" eyepieces which gives me scope for more purchases...

A couple of small complaints that I have with the Skytee II is that:

1) the white coating on the mount and the EQ5 steel tripod don't match each other and you can't seem to get a white EQ5 tripod extension.

2) the shaft of the clamp screw (used to tighten up the clamp) is the same width as the clamp body and as you turn it it rubs against the round platform that the clamp attaches to. It looks as though it would score into the round platform - I may have to fit a small layer of felt to separate them a little.

Not really a complaint, but more of point to note is that the Lyra eyepiece end goes quite low when pointed straight up, so I may need to think about an extension pillar (and then paint it white ), but am not sure what additional height would be most effective. [A design idea - maybe I could get an extending extension pillar made, i.e. a two part pillar that slides inside each other that can be fixed via bolts at the appropriate height to make it rigid, hmmm...]

Btw, I did think carefully (and did a lot of research/reading and posting a few questions) about alternate and cheaper mounts (i.e. EQ3, EQ5, CG4, CG5, AZ4, etc) however I didn't want the hassle of polar aligning, wanted something very sturdy for the long refractor, something quick to set-up, was seeking a long-term keeper and wanted a simple method for viewing at the same time with my daughter.

I have no complaints at all about the Lyra, this is also a keeper...

I then spent at least half an hour re-organising my 'telescope' cupboard to fit everything in

All in all I am very pleased with my recent purchases and hope to take them along to a SGL Surrey Observers meet very soon to get some darker sky viewing.

Thanks for reading,

Ian

[Astro_Baby]

Forward to having a peek

[foundaplanet]

Nice read..

I have a Lyra and find it to be a very well engineered scope. The focuser is a real treat to use in comparison to the lump on my OO newt.

I'm sure you will have many a good night out with it.

[fondofchips]

I have the Lyra also, had it nearly 3 months only managed 4 sessions, using a EQ5 mount & I soon became confident with aligning the finder scope & setting up the EQ5, well chuffed with the setup.

A keeper for sure.

[ibraidwo]

I haven't heard anyone complaining about the Lyra's. They sure are good looking and well built scopes.

Have any of you put handles on one? If so, what did you use/make?

[foundaplanet]

I have not bothered putting a handle on mine. I did consider making one out of some birch ply but she just would not look as sexy with an implant.