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Quickie: Mounting Heritage 90 Mak OTA to tripod?

ghostdance

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Alfian

Alfian

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And the beer's good :)

(Whoops, just realised not M97 - meant M95 of course...)

Ooh, new toy?

AB btw seem to have a glut of the Virtuoso 90 - another one up and a mount.

Yes there is some very good beer up here, but not wishing to spark an off-subject north/south row about beer I would also say that there is a lot of very good beer up and down the country, especially since the boom in micro breweries. We've never had it so good!

New Toy? I'll come clean. With the nights getting shorter and my necessary bed time, with work considerations in mind, making any observation time shorter, I impulsively decided to buy from AB a Heritage 130p mini dob mount and seperate Heritage 130p both at knock down prices because they were a bit dishevelled but functionally A1. I thought that something other than my binos that I could put under my arm and set up very quickly might be OK. I figured, funnily enough, that the mini dob mount would work well with the 102 Mak, which it does, plus my old Konus114/500 will fit and of course the Heritage 130p compact nature beggars belief. So I was out the other night lining the finder up, getting the feel of it and wincing at Jupiter. The jury is still out pending more time with it, but I'll post something when I've got to grips with my mini kit.

Incidentally AB seems to have recently taken off again with some gusto. Lots of stuff and some real bargains on the face of it. I have also been impressed with the service too, which is good, given the slightly wobbly history. 

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ghostdance

ghostdance

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Happy-kat - sorry didn't see your question until just now,but...

Yep :D (see post #13)

And there's another at AB now...they must have a supply!

Now I'm wondering about diagonals ( the 90 will be my first Mak, so some genning-up to do.)

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happy-kat

happy-kat

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yep the heritage 130p base is really nice and I have used it with my camera too I got a L bracket and I can also use my ST80 on it, made setting circles for my base as well

I guess the virtuoso mount is a bit frivolous... but looking forward to using it with the 130p

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ghostdance

ghostdance

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Little Red is in the house, very fast delivery from Astroboot and very safely packed (thanks AB!)

What a little cutie - grab n go to a tee.

The dovetail foot (right term?) does indeed mate perfectly with my tripod plate, so happy days!

Er, nights :)

Initial (uncooled) views look promising, though I think windless conditions may be needed. On to Jupiter,Venus and Saturn at the earliest opportunity :)

The diagonal I have doesn't look up to much and is 45deg to boot. Ah me, the joys of looking for new gadgets for this tiny little beauty!

Thanks to all for your advice re the dovetail. Whooee...I am now officially a two-scoper...(three if you count the 4.5" but that's going at some point ). Salad days eh? :)

Steve

Golly, three smileys. Sez it all....

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Alfian

Alfian

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Glad to hear the arrival of "Little Red". I was surprised about the 45 degree diagonal as the 102 came with a star diagonal and a quick look at FLO shows the 90 with one too. Not the best obviously, but not so bad either. Getting a better one has long been on my to-do list, but I've not felt overly compelled.

Cooling on the 102 is pretty short, though if an observation session is likely I tend to put it in the camper outside, so it kind of pre-cools. The 90 should be even more cool down friendly.

Maks are a bit susceptibe to dewing but its easy to knock one up. If it was colour matched you would have a Little Red ..?.. Hood - no no forget it! 

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ghostdance

ghostdance

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The 45 diagonal was one I already had - bought by mistake ages ago and never got round to selling it. It's a budget one so I'll be looking for a good midrange 90deg. And a video/joystick head for the Befree as the ballhead is just too fiddly.

Yep and a dewshield!

I don't usually name stuff, but Little Red may stick...Or Lenin... :)

Luckily, the ally padded case I had for my Meade spotter fits the 90 perfectly and is well sealed so I'll be keeping it in the shed - should minimise cooldown to near zip. Looking forward to fitting the rdf (ordered a base as it was missing) so I can find things!

In the meantime, off to learn a bit about Maks - care, feeding, any problems, that kind of thing :)

Steve

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avtaram

avtaram

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Mine arrived today, that's quick service from Astroboot.

I've tried it on my camera tripod with ball head but I prefer it better on the SW AZ GoTo.

The only eyepiece I will need when travelling is the Baader Zoom.

I've also tried the WO Binoviewer in the Mak and I'm happy to say that it comes to focus without the need for the Barlow.

Just need some clear skies now.

Avtar

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Alfian

Alfian

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My Mak is pretty low maintenance although I have to admit that feeding wise, now you come to mention it, chocolate and other comfort type food, tends to go missing from the kitchen, when the cope is out. That's strange, I think that happens with the others too. Spooky!

I don't have a name for a scope either but you've made me think. The Russian Tal1 was born in Novosibirsk, so Nova would be OK, but I have a feeling for "Tomsk" especially given that Tomsk of Wimbledon common fame was (apparently) knowm for his nightwatch duties. Tomsk the Tal1, kind of ring to it? I'm getting sillier by the day.

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ghostdance

ghostdance

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Sillyness is always a welcome visitor at Ghost Towers :) No point being worthy but dull, seeing the short time we're here...worthy but daft - much better :D

I'm very interested to hear about the binoviewer Avtar...could well be a great option when I've more cash.

I had a real *quick* look at Jupiter last night - very poor seeing put paid to longer exploration - but I did spot Callisto's (I think) transit shadow very briefly. I mention this only because as Jupiter went out of the fov to the right (West), there was a large oval ring of light thrown across the view. Did not seem to happen to the East view...No idea what this means and it may mean nothing. Maks - a whole new ballgame, for me at any rate :)

Steve

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avtaram

avtaram

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I'm very interested to hear about the binoviewer Avtar...could well be a great option when I've more cash.

I did try a bit of Binoviewing using my 120ED sometime ago and I did get some fantastic 3D views of the Moon but I couldn't get them to come to focus in my 12" Dob so I drifted back to cyclops mode and it's also cheaper, especially if you like TV eyepieces.

Avtar

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Alfian

Alfian

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Sillyness is always a welcome visitor at Ghost Towers :) No point being worthy but dull, seeing the short time we're here...worthy but daft - much better :D

I'm very interested to hear about the binoviewer Avtar...could well be a great option when I've more cash.

I had a real *quick* look at Jupiter last night - very poor seeing put paid to longer exploration - but I did spot Callisto's (I think) transit shadow very briefly. I mention this only because as Jupiter went out of the fov to the right (West), there was a large oval ring of light thrown across the view. Did not seem to happen to the East view...No idea what this means and it may mean nothing. Maks - a whole new ballgame, for me at any rate :)

Steve

Hi Steve, re Avatar - the "short circuit" style pic is my Pentax 20x60s on the trigger grip ball head. The perspective makes them look more like 20x80s which wasn't the intention, honest.

Here's another view.

post-23227-0-92088800-1432283022_thumb.j

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ghostdance

ghostdance

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Nice, Alfian :)

Got to get me one o' them pistol grips...

Next time I'm in Yorkshire, we should meet up to try yr  Pentax - my  Tento 20x60 (I suspect the Pentax would win but it would be a hoot comparing.)

Steve

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Alfian

Alfian

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It would indeed be interesting. Some Tentos came up for sale a while back and it was tempting though a bit illogical. If you are in the area drop me a PM and we'll see if we can work something out. The trigger grip/ball head is good. They seem to be sold under different names, particularly on Amazon. You can buy them as individual units or as a tripod/ball head combo.http://www.amazon.co.uk/Olivon-TRH-14-Joystick-Tripod-Mount/dp/B004OCL5F4/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1432316723&sr=1-2&keywords=Trigger+grip+ball+head+mount

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ravelli-APGL4-Professional-Tripod-Adjustable/dp/B003SQEAY0/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1432316541&sr=1-2&keywords=Heavy+duty+Tripod+and+ball+head

As you can see from the latter, you get a better deal with the tripod (which is pretty good) and this is effectively what I have, although I paid less.

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ghostdance

ghostdance

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That Amazon tripod/grip combo will be making its way to Ghost Towers shortly - looks a really good deal with that head (and recommended by you, Alfian and BinocularSky, so my thanks!)

RDF is now mounted so I can see where I'm going, tripod is doable and the diagonal will do until a Revelation 90deg gets here. Yummy!

Right, M13 and M57 are nicely placed, Saturn is in opposition...and guess what...it's as cloudy as a vat of scrumpy up there. Sigh :(

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