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Top tips for a new Dob owner?

rockystar

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rockystar

rockystar

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Some of you may have read about my equatorial mount trials and tribulations, for those that haven't, I have been observing for the past 9-10 months with a 200p f/5 on an EQ5, have taken the plunge and swapped (well half way through swapping) to a 200p f/6 on a dobsonian mount. The forecast looks like there should be some opportunities in the next 2 or 3 days, so I was wondering if anyone had any sage wisdom for a new Dob owner?

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Chris Murray

Chris Murray

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Hi Rockystar, i have an xt10i i got fedup with sticky bearings so the first rhing i did was change to a lazy susan bearing, super smooth, never looked back, if you do this mod you need some sort of friction as its so smooth, i put some of those green scrubbing pads for washing dishes, that was three years ago and no problems, if it goes wrong change the pads, enjoy  

chris 

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rockystar

rockystar

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Thanks guys. Had a quick session last night, after the wife went to bed, but I was tired and it all started out in a daze.

Far quicker and much easier to get set up than my EQ, so big plus there (with tiredness and the way the clouds were looking, with my EQ I probably wouldn't have bothered).

The chair I have was just about ok height wise for the altitude of Jupiter, but when I went looking for the Leo triplets, it was a tiny bit low (that adjustable chair looks amazing, but a bit pricey at the moment)

The twisting motion was a bit stiff, so need to sort that out - I'll have a look into that mod  Chris, but is there anything I can do in the mean time? Take it apart and grease it? It looks like a self locking nut, can these be removed and replaced?

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rockystar

rockystar

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Also checked collimation with my laser - which I spent a good hour collimating the laser itself a couple of weeks ago - when I spin the laser in the adapter, the stays where it is on the mirror (maybe a very minor wobble), but when I twisted the adaptor in the focuser, the laser drew a much more pronounced circle. I'll check this in my other scope, but could this be the focuser that isn't set properly?

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Ricochet

Ricochet

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56 minutes ago, rockystar said:

The twisting motion was a bit stiff, so need to sort that out - I'll have a look into that mod  Chris, but is there anything I can do in the mean time? Take it apart and grease it? It looks like a self locking nut, can these be removed and replaced?

I think you might find that that nut/bolt is what governs the stiffness of the mount so slackening that off a touch might help in itself. I don't know how the Skywatcher base works but on my Dob the only thing to lubricate was a little plastic sleeve around the bolt.

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Chris Murray

Chris Murray

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i had limited amounts of success until i changed the bearings, i tryed pledge polish, silicon spray, cleaning complete assembly, seemed to work for a little while then bad as ever, google, lazy susan 12inch bearing, it realy is worth £15, feels very loose when setting up, but when your scaning the sky, find something ineresting, it just stops, no back and forward trying to center. havent found a solution for the altitude yet, enjoy.    

chris 

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DevonSkies

DevonSkies

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As Chris says, the nylock nut should just be just tight enough to hold the base together without squeezing on the washer. I have mine set so it just takes up the slack and turns without any sideways slippage. The friction on the Teflon pads comes from the weight of the telescope sitting on top, so there's not much that can be done to reduce it. It is a little stiff, but I can live with it and don't feel the need to do any mods. Just be careful not to tip the scope over when enthusiastically swinging it round, especially near zenith. Sometimes it helps to hold the side handle as well as the front handle for extra stability.

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DevonSkies

DevonSkies

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31 minutes ago, rockystar said:

thanks Chris, that looks like it might be a plan. Are nylock nuts re-useable?

If you mean can they be adjusted without losing their effectiveness, then in my experience, yes. I have adjusted the locking nut on my Dob base a couple of times and it still holds tightly. In general, I believe nylock nuts can be reused, but they are so cheap to replace that you might as well put a new one on if you're stripping down and rebuilding.

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Chris Murray

Chris Murray

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its one of those things some are ok some not so good if you are happy then just carry on enjoying the views, i try not to look for problems but some times you just want a little better, for me its all the time,, the bug i think

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