My New Shed

[JamesF]

To be honest it's as much the shape of it as anything else.  It's not too bad once you've sorted out a way of carrying it that works for you.

James

[Peje]

Mount arrived, immediately put to use as a climbing frame LOL

[Peje]

Well at long last all the gear has arrived (aside from upgraded mount bolts), the shed now holds:

Europa 200 on NEQ6 Pro

ST80 with QHY5L-II to guide

Can't wait to get everything aligned and balanced. A question on that, how do I go about aligning? Is there a process for multiple scope setups like balancing the main scope then adding guide rig?

[Tinker1947]

If you want to be precisely aligned scope and guide scope you need guide rings so the guide scope is adjustable....this also allows the use of the PHD screen to act as a guide scope once aligned what ever is in the centre of the PHD screen is also in the centre of a DSLR/CCD sensor, no checking required is bang on, i think i used these clamped onto a dovetail bar, FLO will know the size required...

 http://www.firstlightoptics.com/adm-mini-dovetail-series/adm-mini-dovetail-guidescope-rings.html

[Peje]

In honesty I have to say I'm loosing confidence in FLO... I don't know why they didn't spec those rings in the first place given I needed the bottom adapters at £22 each anyway. So two orders later and I still don't have the setup I wanted.

EDIT: Should have said I got FLO to spec all the parts I needed which ended up meaning two orders as they missed parts, hence my annoyance.

[Astroboffin]

They probably thought you were going to fix those adapters to the bottom of the skywatcher rings that come with the ST80, which is what I and a lot of other people do, it then holds the scope perfectly parallel to the imaging scope. With no chance of flexure, which you can get from the adjustable rings.

What pay £40 odd for another set of rings when you have some with the ST80, that do the job Superbly, waste of money if you ask me, I have used the ones supplied with the ST80 for 10 years and never had a problem with alignment, and certainly no flexure.

So I do t think that was FLO's fault to be honest, in fact they have saved you some money

Regards

AB

[Peje]

They probably thought you were going to fix those adapters to the bottom of the skywatcher rings that come with the ST80, which is what I and a lot of other people do, it then holds the scope perfectly parallel to the imaging scope. With no chance of flexure, which you can get from the adjustable rings.

What pay £40 odd for another set of rings when you have some with the ST80, that do the job Superbly, waste of money if you ask me, I have used the ones supplied with the ST80 for 10 years and never had a problem with alignment, and certainly no flexure.

So I do t think that was FLO's fault to be honest, in fact they have saved you some money

Regards

AB

OK perhaps I'm worrying too much, I'll leave well enough alone for now.

Any thoughts on balancing the whole lot? Do I balance it with just main scope with DSLR, then add ST80?

[damnut]

Hi Peje,

Crikey its all coming together, what a great setup. Would have thought you need to properly balance with all the kit on the scope though.

[Peje]

Hi Peje,

Crikey its all coming together, what a great setup. Would have thought you need to properly balance with all the kit on the scope though.

I seen someone mention on the forum that they balanced in sequence so I was planning to do that also but can't find the thread

The tube rings don't seem to grip the main scope as tight as I would have liked so will probably have to add some form of cloth the pack the gap

[Astroboffin]

I seen someone mention on the forum that they balanced in sequence so I was planning to do that also but can't find the thread

The tube rings don't seem to grip the main scope as tight as I would have liked so will probably have to add some form of cloth the pack the gap

You can tighten the those ST80 rings pretty tight, mine had some felt lining on them when they came, have yours not got that?

They should tighten more than enough.

As for balance I put all my kit on and then balance, the whole imaging kit should be balanced perfectly, this will take pressure off the mount, and make the guiding much easier.

Regards

AB

[Peje]

You can tighten the those ST80 rings pretty tight, mine had some felt lining on them when they came, have yours not got that?

They should tighten more than enough.

As for balance I put all my kit on and then balance, the whole imaging kit should be balanced perfectly, this will take pressure off the mount, and make the guiding much easier.

Regards

AB

Sorry I meant the main scope isn't as tightly held as I'd like, the ST80 is rock solid.

[Astroboffin]

Sorry I meant the main scope isn't as tightly held as I'd like, the ST80 is rock solid.

Oh, right, sorry I misunderstood ...

Well you can but sticky backed felt, to use on the inside of the rings, same stuff as people use for flocking their scopes.

AB

[Peje]

Oh, right, sorry I misunderstood ...

Well you can but sticky backed felt, to use on the inside of the rings, same stuff as people use for flocking their scopes.

AB

Cheers, I'll have a look for that.

[Peje]

Finally got to look at the mount again after 6 weeks of baby duty. Tonight I got lucky and both kids happened to be asleep at the same time and I had enough energy to attempt to align the polar scope to the mount axis.

To start it was insanely close to being spot on so I took sight on a tv aerial and then adjusted two screws and to my amazement it was perfect...no skill involved, purely luck.

This was one job I've been dreading so I'm feeling pretty motivated now. Next mission is to fit all the kit to the mount and start balancing everything, but that's a job for another night!