SHOW US YOUR NEWTS........

[CCD-Freak]

Here is a prototype of the Explore Scientific 208 Newt Astrograph.  Mine is F3.8 where as the production models are F3.9.  I love the carbon fiber tube with the white end rings.

 

John Love
CCD-Freak
WD5IKX

[CCD-Freak]

My Antares 8" f5 Newt imaging out in the wilds of western New Mexico.   I was shooting M83

 

John Love
CCD-Freak
WD5IKX

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

Big Red the cut price 150i is finally set up properly for action.

Focuser disassembled, cleaned and relubed with lithium grease, finder aligned and collimation checked. Laser says secondary off a bit, short cheshire and collimation cap say perfect...

Balancing with a 9x50 finder is a no go, so for now it's a quality used multi reticule reflex sight I picked up a while back mega cheap.

 

My grass needs watering...

Edited May 19, 2020 by ScouseSpaceCadet

[Highburymark]

My lovely little F/3.3 Epsilon 130d. Apart from its obvious moviestar looks, it made the (postal) trip over from Ireland to England last year and arrived in perfect collimation, as it remains today. Last night it showed M81/M82 very clearly from central London with an image intensifier. 

[mikeDnight]

17 minutes ago, Highburymark said:

My lovely little F/3.3 Epsilon 130d. Apart from its obvious moviestar looks, it made the (postal) trip over from Ireland to England last year and arrived in perfect collimation, as it remains today. Last night it showed M81/M82 very clearly from central London with an image intensifier. 

I'm intrigued by this scope Mark,

At F3.3 I'd always imagined it to be an imaging scope, but  how does it perform on rich star fields, especially at the edge of the field?

[Highburymark]

Hi Mike - it’s with a night vision monocular, so not traditional observing. The image intensifier thrives on fast optics, together with radical filtering to absorb all the bad photons and let the few good ones through. It’s superb on nebulae and starfields/galaxies, though with a 55mm or 40mm plossl, it’s best not to get too concerned with the quality of stars at the edge.... there are aberrations - but that’s not what I’m looking at!  The views on axis are amazing. Fellow night vision lover Gavin has solved these edge of field problems with Tak FSQs - but the Epsilon is more than enough for me.

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

The RVO customer return Star Discovery 150i tube has today transformed a bit...

Orion 182mm id tube rings sourced from Holland, teamed with Sky-Watcher 21cm dovetail. A Sky-Watcher 9x50 RACI finder (with a black bracket thanks Oldfort) and a TS-Optics 1.25" Crayford focuser.

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/en/info/p7836_TS-Optics-1-25--Crayford-Newtonian-Focuser---metal---with-T2-connection.html

Modelled on an AZ5 mount. I need to weigh the setup with a plastic rdf. If my rough calculations are correct, it should still be under 5kg with an eyepiece, so should be Ok on my AZGTI.

Edited June 14, 2020 by ScouseSpaceCadet

[Highburymark]

25 minutes ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

The RVO customer return Star Discovery 150i tube has today transformed a bit...

Orion 182mm id tube rings sourced from Holland, teamed with Sky-Watcher 21cm dovetail. A Sky-Watcher 9x50 RACI finder (with a black bracket thanks Oldfort) and a TS-Optics 1.25" Crayford focuser.

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/en/info/p7836_TS-Optics-1-25--Crayford-Newtonian-Focuser---metal---with-T2-connection.html

Modelled on an AZ5 mount. I need to weigh the setup with a plastic rdf. If my rough calculations are correct, it should still be under 5kg with an eyepiece, so should be Ok on my AZGTI.

That looks like an excellent scope - very nice job. My Epsilon pictured a couple of posts ago works well on the AZGTi - basic OTA is 4.9kg, so fully stacked for observing with a 55mm plossl it is well over 6kg - the AZGTi handles it comfortably.

[Guest]

My Orion Optics UK VX6 in the garden.

Great views when used in the dark night skies in Dorset.

[CraigT82]

This is my old plastic tubed beauty. Haven't used it for a few weeks, waiting for Jupiter and Saturn to be up at a more civilised time. 

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

30 minutes ago, Highburymark said:

That looks like an excellent scope - very nice job. My Epsilon pictured a couple of posts ago works well on the AZGTi - basic OTA is 4.9kg, so fully stacked for observing with a 55mm plossl it is well over 6kg - the AZGTi handles it comfortably.

Thanks. The focuser took some work. The draw tube hole was too small, so was widened using a dremmel. Then four screw holes needed drilling and tapping. A bathroom towel was stuffed down the tube to protect the primary. A great job it did too. Not a speck of dust.

The integral mini dovetail along with the internal bracing plate was removed. The holes plugged with black 4mm plastic screw hole caps.

Edited June 14, 2020 by ScouseSpaceCadet

[Sky-searcher]

SW 150P. Easy to store & move around, but punches well above it’s weight. Fitted a auto focuser, Rigel quikfinder & 60mm RACI. Got some flocking & a handle for manoeuvring alignment still to fit.

[John]

My old Orion Optics 10 inch F/4.8 on the Ambermille alt-az mount. Nice alternative to a dob mount

 

[Highburymark]

50 minutes ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

Thanks. The focuser took some work. The draw tube hole was too small, so was widened using a dremmel. Then four screw holes needed drilling and tapping. A bathroom towel was stuffed down the tube to protect the primary. A great job it did too. Not a speck of dust.

The integral mini dovetail along with the internal bracing plate was removed. The holes plugged with black 4mm plastic screw hole caps.

Nice! You may well be aware, but have you seen Neil English’s website? He’s passionate about 5”-6” Newtonians and upgrading them. 

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

57 minutes ago, Highburymark said:

Nice! You may well be aware, but have you seen Neil English’s website? He’s passionate about 5”-6” Newtonians and upgrading them. 

Thanks and yes I'm aware of his site and arguably controversial views! 😉

Btw trying to find black and relatively inexpensive 182mm tube rings took hours. None used anywhere and none of the usual EU/UK outlets had them in stock. Hence the Orion brand. They came from an Orion dealer near Eindhoven via Amazon. Approx a tenner more than Skywatcher, but I just couldn't ruin the finish with white! 🙄

This is my first, albeit mild custom build. I'm not in the slightest bit handy so please excuse the obvious delight. The secondary refused to re-collimate until I realised the whole mirror needed repositioning slightly. It only took about an hour! 😁

The next task to finish off the job will be thumbscrews to replace the secondary collimation screws and finally blanking off the tube ring accessory bolt holes with black hole caps. 👍

 

Edit: Got off my backside and weighed the scope. As pictured, dead on 5kg. 5.2kg when adding a Celestron XCel 25mm. With a standard plastic rdf and eyepiece 4.75kg.  Success! 

Edited June 14, 2020 by ScouseSpaceCadet

[Anthony1979]

My brand new 130pds still not been used for 2 weeks because off clouds....

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

27 minutes ago, Anthony1979 said:

My brand new 130pds still not been used for 2 weeks because off clouds....

Anthony, I'm looking forward to seeing the imagery you're going to produce with this. No pressure! 😉

[Anthony1979]

2 hours ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

Anthony, I'm looking forward to seeing the imagery you're going to produce with this. No pressure! 😉

Cant wait to get out with it

[Anthony1979]

2 hours ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

Anthony, I'm looking forward to seeing the imagery you're going to produce with this. No pressure! 😉

Do you think this is ok for imaging

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

16 minutes ago, Anthony1979 said:

Do you think this is ok for imaging

I've no clue about imaging, but this thread suggests yes...

 

[Anthony1979]

17 minutes ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

I've no clue about imaging, but this thread suggests yes...

 

Yes ive read through this thread... Good thread thanks

[markse68]

19 hours ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

Thanks and yes I'm aware of his site and arguably controversial views! 😉

Just looked him up- no idea what you’re suggesting 😉

[russ]

This is my Newt setup. An old circa 2004 black HEQ5 and a newish 200P. I really am pleased with it.

 

Edited June 15, 2020 by russ

[uhb1966]

Hi fellow Newtonians!

I'd like to show a pic of my newest additions to my rig:

it's still the old SW Quattro-8S, with the same old EQ-G, but now with a decent adjustable holder for my guide scope, my QHY-8 and a brand new Zwo EAF focuser. The focuser is highly recommended, because it adds a new quality to my focusing procedure although the stock focuser wasnt bad at all- but now it's precisely repeatable.  

[Robindonne]

21 hours ago, uhb1966 said:

Hi fellow Newtonians!

I'd like to show a pic of my newest additions to my rig:

it's still the old SW Quattro-8S, with the same old EQ-G, but now with a decent adjustable holder for my guide scope, my QHY-8 and a brand new Zwo EAF focuser. The focuser is highly recommended, because it adds a new quality to my focusing procedure although the stock focuser wasnt bad at all- but now it's precisely repeatable.  

Ah nice.  Another quattro owner!   Maybe mine is a mondaymorning version but i kind of hate that Stock focuser.  They upgraded it at one time at least and I probably have the old version.  It looks and feels like a hollow toy compared to the focuser on my other scopes. Had to take it apart to at least move in and out in a straight line.  The focustube on the inside looks like its cut with a grinder by a drunk tubecutter😑. The finefocus knob on yours looks different so maybe its a other/better version.   Im not sure with what i have to upgrade.   Asked some prices for starlight focusers but Im not sure if i want to spend 700,- to get a 500,- item work a little bit better.   Did you really notice a big difference after the eaf was installed or was the focuser working well even before the eaf?    And of course do you own more scopes/focusers to make a good comparison?