The Joys of Telescope Tinkering

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I really enjoy having a cheap telescope to tinker with. Since buying the 200p, I have not made a single modification to it; not so with the 130M. I have made an electronic focuser using a servo motor, sawed its off the focuser to try to reach prime focus; when this didn't work, I sawed the end of the ota off. Last night, I was frustrated trying to aim at Hercules because the motor drive plug that connects into the unit stops the rotation of the telescope. So now I have hacked the plug apart and soldered the wires directly into the motor unit; the controller is now permanently attached to the unit, but this is a price worth paying if I can get an image of the Hercules Cluster. If I'm not too tired and get clear skies later, I might give it a go.

Having a cheap scope and mount might mean I can't get the images and views I want, but mucking about with the equipment has kept me occupied on cloudy and Summer evenings.