New C8 ready for test

[Linda]

Tonight I have equipped my new C8 OTA with my new, big finder. And installed Bob's knobs. And attached the Rigel Quikfinder with double sided tape. Now it is cooling outside in the hope that I can collimate on a distant light source despite a lot of wind. No clear skies to be spotted, but the weather forecast is promising for the next days.

Next project: dew cap for telescope and finder.

[Guest]

All the best with your new telescope.It does look good.

Regards

Martin

[cloudsweeper]

Nice set-up, Linda.  Similar specs to my new 8SE - plus you have the onboard battery and fancier motors!  And manual clutches - very useful!

I'm all set up at the moment - skies look clear, I have a few targets in mind.

By the way, aren't  you going to have to rotate your finder somewhat??

Enjoy!

Doug.

[Linda]

13 minutes ago, cloudsweeper said:

By the way, aren't  you going to have to rotate your finder somewhat?

Doug.

I put up the finder when the scope was standing inside th house with the mount pointing towards the north (more of less) en the scope in th direction where I usually observe at home. Then I put the scope outside for cooling and took a picture. The finder has a diagonal that can rotate without loosing alignment (I hope), at least that is why I bought that particular finder. I didn't bother rotating it just for the picture. I also just found out that the finder's diagonal was hanging very loose. Sometimes I rotate it without loosening the rotation screw... Did that a lot with the 6x30 as well...

But it should be all in order now. I did some collimation on a distant light that formed a donut when out of focus. After some adjustments it looked more or less acceptable on first site with the 24mm eyepiece. I don't bother to do more as the scope was still pretty warm and the wind is very hard. Took the scope in and wait until a better opportunity.

[Linda]

@cloudsweeper: I see now that the finder on the picture is pointing straight up. Yes, that was intentionally. The alternative angle it somewhat t the right of where the Rigel Quikfinder is fitted. I wanted to test with a straight finder first. We'll if I need to adjust. Testing when looking at things at the horizon is not representative.

[andrew63]

Hope you get to use the new telescope soon.  You should get some great views with your dark skies !

 

andrew

[Linda]

8 hours ago, andrew63 said:

Hope you get to use the new telescope soon.  You should get some great views with your dark skies !

 

andrew

My skies will not be dark until september, unfortunately. Also, I look at over a LP area from my house. Dark skies occasionally whith 5 hours driving from home.

But I hope I can use it on the moon or a planet very soon. Skies have clear up now.

[cloudsweeper]

Five hours?  It'd be easier to move!  But even with light pollution, you should at least be able to enjoy several beautiful clusters.

My session last night came to nothing, sadly - thin cloud obscured my intended targets.

Doug.

 

[Highburymark]

Looks very nice indeed Linda. I bought some Bob's Knobs for my new C8 too but thought I'd try and collimate first with the existing screws and it seems to be holding focus well. Will be interested to hear how you get on with your new scope in the months ahead.

[Stu]

19 minutes ago, Highburymark said:

Looks very nice indeed Linda. I bought some Bob's Knobs for my new C8 too but thought I'd try and collimate first with the existing screws and it seems to be holding focus well. Will be interested to hear how you get on with your new scope in the months ahead.

Lovely looking scope Linda. I hope you have fun with it.

Mark, having been collimating a C9.25 today, I do tend to agree that perhaps leaving the screws is a good idea. They seem to hold pretty firmly so I wonder whether the additional fiddliness is worth putting up with in order for the scope to hold collimation better in the long term.

[Grotemobile]

I had to do the collimation on my C8 when I bought it , & it has been ok since.  

Welcome to the C8 club.

[Highburymark]

38 minutes ago, Stu said:

Lovely looking scope Linda. I hope you have fun with it.

Mark, having been collimating a C9.25 today, I do tend to agree that perhaps leaving the screws is a good idea. They seem to hold pretty firmly so I wonder whether the additional fiddliness is worth putting up with in order for the scope to hold collimation better in the long term.

That's what I thought Stu, though no doubt there are legions of happy Bob's Knobs users. I wonder if it's easier to progress from 'fine' collimation - which is I think what I've achieved so far - to the legendary Airey disc/star test PERFECT collimation by using Bob's Knobs though? 

[Linda]

I had first light last night. I went outside from 1 to 2, when Mars and Saturn were supposed to be at their highest. Jupiter was high in the west, but my scope was on the opposite side of the house and I left it there.

In short:

Mars wouldn't get sharp. It is standing very low in the sky.

Saturn was much better. I looked at it with a 12,5mm ortho. Couldn't see any details though. Also Saturn is very low.

Higher in the sky I found M57. Well visible, but no contrast with the light summer sky. Maybe some structure in the nebula, but unsure about it. Conclusion is that watching nebula's in the summer in Norway is not very rewarding.

Epsilon Lyrae. In the telescope at 162x magn I could separate Epsilon 2 Lyrae. Not able to separate Epsilon 1. I didn't try to magnify further. I haven't seen this in my Mak, but that might have many reasons.

Collimation is fuss when you're not used to it. But I got the whole pretty well in the middle of the donut, using a light in the distance instead of Polaris. I didn't think about trying to create an airy disk and I didn't bother either because of hard wind. Little advantage of the light sky if that I didn't need a flashlight while collimating and could see everything perfectly.

[cloudsweeper]

@Linda - do you feel that so far the views/details on planets are not greatly different with this newer 'scope than with the smaller aperture?  I am tending to feel that way, although I have not been able to spend much time with it, and conditions have been relatively poor.  I have noticed a distinct increase in planetary brightness however!

Doug.

[Stu]

I often find that the planetary views in a 4" Apo refractor are more pleasing, sharp and stable than in an SCT. The larger aperture can in theory resolve more detail but is also more prone to issues with collimation, cooling and seeing conditions. They do however give lovely views of the majority of DSOs, all except the largest which won't fit in the field of view. I was viewing M13 briefly in a C9.25 a few nights ago and it was very nice indeed, far better than in the frac.

[Linda]

5 hours ago, cloudsweeper said:

@Linda - do you feel that so far the views/details on planets are not greatly different with this newer 'scope than with the smaller aperture?  I am tending to feel that way, although I have not been able to spend much time with it, and conditions have been relatively poor.  I have noticed a distinct increase in planetary brightness however!

Doug.

I hadn't expected much of a difference, as the Mak also has a long focus length and is called a planet killer. But I just wanted to look at something to check whether the scope worked at all. I should perhaps have watched Jupiter instead, because Mars is standing so low that it is hopeless. Maybe some other night. Clouds now...