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ST102 First Light

kaybee

By kaybee
in Getting Started With Observing

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kaybee

kaybee

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I think I must be the lucky recipient of one of the few ‘scopes not packaged with clouds.  The ST102 and EQ2 mount arrived bright and early Saturday morning, I took the opportunity to unpack them, check them over and assemble the mount. To my surprise, this evening was clear and I wasted no time getting outside.

I set the Latitude on the mount and carried out a very basic polar alignment before mounting the 'scope.  I knew what I wanted as my first target; M42. The ST102 came with a red dot finder.  I flipped on the ‘finder, unlocked the RA and Dec bolts and swung the scope around so that the dot fell roughly over M42.  I relocked the bolts and slotted in the 25mm EP.  Some minor adjustments with the slow motion controls and... WOW. M42.  I found myself mesmerised and very excited by the fuzzy patch in the Eye Piece.  I quickly slotted in the 10mm EP... only to find that in the darkness (and my haste) I was actually trying to look through the barlow... oops... second time lucky!

After touring around Orion the next stop was the Pleiades... one of my favourites.  Switching back to the 25mm EP and unlocking the bolts I soon found myself in the right place and counting my way through the Seven Sisters just to be sure.  I had hoped for perhaps a hint of nebulosity, however having only viewed through a pair of 10x50's in the past I wasn't sure what to expect.  Note for another day - The Red Dot Finder could do with a little more alignment work.

By this time the moon was creeping over the horizon and I realised I was fast losing contrast for feint-fuzzy hunting, however Jupiter was clearly visible.  Easily found with the 25mm EP I immediately switched to the 10 and readjusted.  Brilliant... 4 moons.  This was also the first point I noticed some CA creeping in, although not at all offensive so I added the 2x barlow to the ‘train.  A little more CA, but again hardly upsetting, which is more than can  be said for my polar alignment!  It was at this stage that I noticed it was definitely very rough and frequent declination adjustment was needed.  Pity, since I had removed the Dec slow motion control after it kept poking me in the mouth.  Two clearly visible cloud bands on Jupiter though was a thrilling sight.

I tracked Jupiter until our moon had cleared the trees behind my house and then turned my attention to this.  I was fully expecting horrendous CA but was again pleasantly surprised.  With the 10mm and Barlow I traced my way along the terminator – Hercules and Atlas craters were sat right on the shadow and looked great.  Whilst I loved the detail, the brightness was a little overpowering.  Perhaps this will be better as the phase wanes, but I think a moon filter may be my next investment, as I've always loved looking at the moon.

I have no idea at what times any of the above happened... I went outside a little before 8PM and the next thing I know it’s gone midnight and I’m thrilled to bits with the new ‘scope.  Best kind of hobby, right!?!

~Keith

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kaybee

kaybee

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Congratulations on the new scope. I found this a particularly interesting report as I'm looking at a 102 as a grab and go scope.

My first impressions are very good, I can't wait to to take it out under better skies, and to a Dark Site later this year.  I suppose reflecting on the evening my one comment would be that the focuser felt a little "clunky" and imprecise.  I'm not sure if there's any adjustment (tension) available - I havent looked yet.  The position I was standing in whilst focussing probably didn't do me any favours.  Next time out I'll definitely grab a chair from the shed.  This should also allow me to put myself somewhere where the dec control isn't a nuisance!

I'll spend some time on polar alignment too and mark up the patio, but I'm unsure how accurate I'll be able to be with this in the absence of a polar scope.  A little effort on the Red Dot Finder alignment won't hurt either.

Thanks for posting.

I have the ST120 and AZ3 on order as a grab and go. I have yet to hear a poor report on the Star Travel range.

Love the Old Rosie stabalizer....trouble is that the contents make you unstable....

...Very true! Stayed lovely and chilled whilst it lasted!

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completenovice

completenovice

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Another St102 owner here.

brilliant little scope in my opinion and one that will be with me for a long time. CA can be noticeable but doesn't affect my enjoyment. What does though is the crappy EQ1 mount mine was supplied with.

After a fair bit of use there are now very noticeable sticking points and jams are becoming increasingly common. Still it's my first mount so an upgrade is on the cards in the near future, then I'll strip down the mount and try re-greasing or failing that, burning the damn thing!!

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Astro Imp

Astro Imp

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Great report, its surprising how quickly the time goes once you get observing.

You mention polar alignment, in my experience it doesn't need to be spot on for visual use. Point the north leg of your tripod north(I use a compass), then using the alt and azimuth adjustments on the mount get Polaris in the centre of your highest power eyepiece. Now you will only have to give the declination control a very occasional tweak. Having set the altitude on the mount provided you are observing from the same place this will not need to be adjusted, next time you go out just point your tripod north and away you go.

BTW when you have your eyepiece centred on Polaris is a good time to fine tune the alignment of your finder.

Good luck and clear skies.

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kaybee

kaybee

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Some adjustment of the focuser is possible -- there are some grub screws on top I think which can be used to adjust the tension.

It's a lovely little scope though.

James

That's great I'll take a look, thanks James.   I was thrilled to bits with my first night of observing... feeling quite lucky since the clouds have now rolled in!  Best use the time with Turn Left at Orion to pick a next targets list.

Great report, its surprising how quickly the time goes once you get observing.

You mention polar alignment, in my experience it doesn't need to be spot on for visual use. Point the north leg of your tripod north(I use a compass), then using the alt and azimuth adjustments on the mount get Polaris in the centre of your highest power eyepiece. Now you will only have to give the declination control a very occasional tweak. Having set the altitude on the mount provided you are observing from the same place this will not need to be adjusted, next time you go out just point your tripod north and away you go.

BTW when you have your eyepiece centred on Polaris is a good time to fine tune the alignment of your finder.

Good luck and clear skies.

I certainly struggled to get up for work Monday morning - but it was well worth it.

I'll give that a go for polar alignment.  On Sunday night I just pointed the north leg north and set the altitude, didn't centre up Polaris in the 'scope, which is I guess where I went wrong.  It was only very noticeable when I was at high magnification.

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Tlawrence84

Tlawrence84

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Glad to hear you are enjoying the scope. I took delivery of mine today, however it came with complimentary clouds! I opted for the goto mount and the scope was the all black version. One difference I will note is that mine came with a finder scope rather than red dot, which is a bit of a shame, I rather liked the red dot finder on my explorer 130.

I have a tension screw on the top side of the scope above the focuser that slows it down. Excited for tomorrow now cos I'm hearing so many good things about this scope. It will be my new camping buddy!

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kaybee

kaybee

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Nice report Keith. Looks like you are enjoying the combination, how steady do you find the EQ2 mount with the ST102?

I have no real suitable comparison as a reference point, however to me it seemed pretty good.  After knocking the scope it seemed to settle within 3-4seconds.  As mentioned, the focusser feels a little tight/clunky at the moment, so I found I was unsettling the scope a fair amount when focussing.  I'm going to see about adjusting it a little.

Glad to hear you are enjoying the scope. I took delivery of mine today, however it came with complimentary clouds! I opted for the goto mount and the scope was the all black version. One difference I will note is that mine came with a finder scope rather than red dot, which is a bit of a shame, I rather liked the red dot finder on my explorer 130.

I have a tension screw on the top side of the scope above the focuser that slows it down. Excited for tomorrow now cos I'm hearing so many good things about this scope. It will be my new camping buddy!

I believe you can pick up a RDF (new) for round about £20 from FLO, I looked a while back when I was investigating other 'scope options. Likewise, a large amount of my reasoning for this setup was grab 'n go/camping companion!

~Keith

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AndyWB

AndyWB

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 Whilst I loved the detail, the brightness was a little overpowering.  

Just a thought, one option could be to push the magnification. At higher magnification you'll get a dimmer image - though at over x100, I'm not sure how well that'd work with your scope and it's resolution.

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