New rig and fun with corrector plates!

[RobH]

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to get the okay for a second major setup, which will be an all rounder for visual, planetary and DSO imaging.

I decided to source a Celestron CGE, giving me a 60 lb payload, and a C11 XLT.

I bought everything secondhand, which can always be a bit dodgy, but I'm an optimist at heart and work on the assumption that people are generally honest.

Anyway, the mount and scope duly arrived, I set everything up, the mount worked fine but the views through the scope were somewhat underwhelming compared to the 3 other SCTs I've owned.

The scope needed collimating, and I immediately noticed that the secondary was loose. This meant that the corrector plate had to come off.

I marked the corrector position and removed it, and only then did I notice some tiny engraved numbers at the edge of the plate.

On checking, it turns out that these Mark the position of the corrector and should line up with the 3 o'clock screw hole for the retaining ring.

They were at 10 o clock!

I gave everything a good clean, aligned the secondary to the proper position and tightened it, and put the corrector back in the correct orientation.

The acid test of course was to use the scope, and it's now performing beautifully.....I even got a glimpse of Saturn's crepe ring :-)

Next job is to get a camera on the scope, and build an obsy for it :-)

[perfrej]

Minor details... Build an observatory... Get a camera...

/per

[kirkster501]

A nice story Rob, glad you got her up and running

[ollypenrice]

A classically infectious RobH post!! I almost find myself thinking about planetary imaging. (No, no, not really! Get thee behind me, Satan.)

Don't take your eye off the deep sky ball, Mr Rob. We need you, Sir.

Olly

[RobH]

Minor details... Build an observatory... Get a camera...

/per

Oh, I have the cameras, and the filter wheels, and filters, and two OAGs and lodestars Per!

The obsy won't take long, then I'll have two of them as well :-)

[r3i]

Don't take your eye off the deep sky ball, Mr Rob. We need you, Sir.

I think there's a few of us in the UK who are currently struggling with the summer skies and the persistently poor weather to obtain decent opportunities for DSO imaging so are looking to alternatives.  This is why I've recently added a Mak to my armoury to broaden my options for general visual stuff and perhaps a bit of lunar/planetary imaging.

[perfrej]

Wonderful, Rob!

/per

[Psychobilly]

Mr H with a fairly meaty SCT again - I still remember the views of M13 trough the 14" Meade you used to bring to the earlier SGL starparties...

Look forward to what your going to be able to produce with this one Rob...

Peter...

[nightfisher]

Nice one Rob, what sounded like a disaster has turned out good, look forward to seeing your images

[RAC]

I never wanted to get into planetary imaging but the weather last winter pushed my into it. It's a good easy thing to do on work nights or when it's still a bit too cloudy for DSO imaging. And its cheap and easy compared to deep sky. Its a great full in and its fun.