Big Mak soon!

[Dazzyt66]

Really excited!! For months now I've been looking forward to my next purchase - a Mak 150. Yes, I toyed with the idea of the 180 but after lots of advice here and reading up on threads I've decided on the 150 after all.

Originally I was going for the eq5 GOTO version but (and I'm sure this is fate ?) I've just purchased a heq5 GOTO mount and tripod from AstroBoot for almost the same price as the eq5 (in A1 condition)! For those that know me I've had a great track record with AB as I got my 150p Dob from there too (now up for sale as I need room for Mak - and I think Mrs T may object if I keep adding to the 'family').

So, big Mak next on the list (with the ally case) I still have a few quid left in budget for the other essentials - dew shield, heater and power pack. When I've sold Dobby a Borg Helical focusser is next in time for our trip to Orkney later this year.

The HEQ5 sets me up nicely for futureproofing, hopefully improving my Astro 'snaps' and ideally will enable me to eventually piggy back my ST80 (Stacie) on there as well for those wide field views!

Can't wait now for the GOTO to get here cos I've never had one and I can get Stacie set up on it to try it out whilst I await delivery of Mak.

Happy days!!! Watch it rain for a month... ?

[Dave In Vermont]

You'll love it! I recently got one of these - also a 150mm. Amazing what a powerhouse it is, and in it's diminutive size too! It really fools you. How could something this size pack that much power? Wow!

I haven't had any issues with 'mirror-flop' - a dreaded concern for Cassegrains. But seems this has become less an issue these days & technology. The stock-focuser is smooth and sure. But I did install a GSO Crayford 10:1 dual-spd. focuser anywho. Give me lots of room to micro-adjust the focus. A Celestron dew-shield for 6" - 8" SCT's fits like a glove.

Enjoy! I'm certain you will!

Dave

[Dazzyt66]

9 minutes ago, Dave In Vermont said:

You'll love it! I recently got one of these - also a 150mm. Amazing what a powerhouse it is, and in it's diminutive size too! It really fools you. How could something this size pack that much power? Wow!

I haven't had any issues with 'mirror-flop' - a dreaded concern for Cassegrains. But seems this has become less an issue these days & technology. The stock-focuser is smooth and sure. But I did install a GSO Crayford 10:1 dual-spd. focuser anywho. Give me lots of room to micro-adjust the focus. A Celestron dew-shield for 6" - 8" SCT's fits like a glove.

Enjoy! I'm certain you will!

Dave

Cheers Dave. I'm sure too. My interest is mainly moon, planets and 'easy' DSO so fits the bill perfectly and actually feedback from you and one of your threads was one of the ones that helped me with the decision ??

[nightfisher]

congrats, im sure you will love it, make sure you get a Revelation 2" 42mm ep for doing dso, works very well with this scope

[Dazzyt66]

Thanks Jules - again, you were one of the 'voices' I listened to  will defo look into the ep though as largest I currently have is a 30mm Vixen NPL

[Stu]

Sounds like a great setup Daz, nice one. As a past BigMak owner (8" f20!) I'm sure you will enjoy it. Get it to a darkish sky and point it at globs and planetary nebs for example and you will have a lot of fun.

I would think something like a 24mm 68 degree eyepiece would be great for these objects and galaxies too, a 2mm exit pupil, x75 with a 0.9 degree fov.

Enjoy

[Dazzyt66]

12 minutes ago, Stu said:

Sounds like a great setup Daz, nice one. As a past BigMak owner (8" f20!) I'm sure you will enjoy it. Get it to a darkish sky and point it at globs and planetary nebs for example and you will have a lot of fun.

I would think something like a 24mm 68 degree eyepiece would be great for these objects and galaxies too, a 2mm exit pupil, x75 with a 0.9 degree fov.

Enjoy

Thanks Stu. Luckily I live on the edge of a village so sky's ain't to bad already and seem to be improving now that LEDs seem to be on rollout across all the streetlights  I'm also lucky cos Peak District is only an hour or so away. We're camping there odd weekends through the summer and taking the scope is a must - I've already taken my ST80 to Morroco earlier this month and had the best views of Saturn I've ever had in that scope.

The big Mak trip is in Sept when we roadtrip up to Orkney's and back over 3 weeks staying at dark sky areas all the way and back again ?

[Stu]

20 minutes ago, Dazzyt66 said:

Thanks Stu. Luckily I live on the edge of a village so sky's ain't to bad already and seem to be improving now that LEDs seem to be on rollout across all the streetlights  I'm also lucky cos Peak District is only an hour or so away. We're camping there odd weekends through the summer and taking the scope is a must - I've already taken my ST80 to Morroco earlier this month and had the best views of Saturn I've ever had in that scope.

The big Mak trip is in Sept when we roadtrip up to Orkney's and back over 3 weeks staying at dark sky areas all the way and back again ?

Sounds ideal, both where you live and the trips, you can't beat it.

I'm off camping fairly soon for a week in Devon with the children. I had a great time with a C8 and the Tak last time, I hopefully will have a c9.25 with me this time so even better! Had a look at M13 in it last night after tweaking the collimation, looked pretty fabulous given the barely dark skies and LP round here.

Enjoy your scope and the trips, I hope you will write us a report?

[Dazzyt66]

Will defo put out a first light report.

So, should be collecting the OTA, case and dew shield from Rother Valley at the weekend. Have a 17ah power tank on order from Maplins so I should be set when the HEQ5 arrives.

Do you guys use dew heaters as well or do you think the shield alone will be enough? Due to my frugal expenditure I still have a bit left in my budget... ? If not I can get the Revelation 42mm suggested by Jules ?

[Stu]

17 minutes ago, Dazzyt66 said:

Will defo put out a first light report.

So, should be collecting the OTA, case and dew shield from Rother Valley at the weekend. Have a 17ah power tank on order from Maplins so I should be set when the HEQ5 arrives.

Do you guys use dew heaters as well or do you think the shield alone will be enough? Due to my frugal expenditure I still have a bit left in my budget... ? If not I can get the Revelation 42mm suggested by Jules ?

I would certainly prepare for the worst in terms of dew. With my Mak and a subsequent C8 I used both dew heater and dew shield. It's not bad at the moment but come autumn you will be fighting the dew regularly. A hairdryer is another useful option, on cool/warm setting it will clear dew quickly without upsetting the thermal equilibrium too badly.

[Dazzyt66]

10 minutes ago, Stu said:

I would certainly prepare for the worst in terms of dew. With my Mak and a subsequent C8 I used both dew heater and dew shield. It's not bad at the moment but come autumn you will be fighting the dew regularly. A hairdryer is another useful option, on cool/warm setting it will clear dew quickly without upsetting the thermal equilibrium too badly.

Ok, dew heater and controller it is. I guess I'll also hunt around for a 12v dryer - maybe I can convince Mrs T to buy that for camping lol ?

[Dazzyt66]

Hmmm having done a bit of investigation I've got a dew heater strap and controller for £28 from Amazon. The strap should be fine but the controller is actually a 12v pwm dimmer which was the princely sum of £5.99. I had to give this a try cos a Astro dew heater controller (which is basically the same thing but badged as Astro) costs upwards of £30...

If it all works (and I don't see any reason why it shouldn't) I'll add it to my first light report and hopefully save others a few quid ?

[nightfisher]

I must be lucky as i dont suffer much dew issues with my maks, but i have a practise of pointing the scope down say if i go in doors for a brew and a warm up and always use big dewshields

[Stu]

1 hour ago, nightfisher said:

I must be lucky as i dont suffer much dew issues with my maks, but i have a practise of pointing the scope down say if i go in doors for a brew and a warm up and always use big dewshields

It varies hugely depending upon where you are Jules. I am between three large reservoirs and a river so it is often bad here. That said, I've struggled in many places I've gone to for dark site observing too so I think it's always better to be prepared. Nothing worse than being out of action on a good night.

I well remember having my Mak setup at PSP, spent plenty of time setting it up, had the fans running to get it cools properly, took the end cap off and in seconds the front and back of the corrector, and the primary had dewed up. Scope was out of action for the night and it took ages with a hair dryer the following morning to sort it out! Mind you, observing at PSP was often like being in the middle of a cold cloud so pretty extreme as far as dew is concerned.

[Dazzyt66]

1 hour ago, nightfisher said:

I must be lucky as i dont suffer much dew issues with my maks, but i have a practise of pointing the scope down say if i go in doors for a brew and a warm up and always use big dewshields

Interesting - I think you are Bradford way Jules? Up to now I haven't suffered much from dew on my ST80 (I'm in Barnsley) but I figured that could be a number of things. Also, unlike Stu there isn't any large bodies of water around so I may be ok at home. However, I do want to take the Mak away when we're camping and on hols later in the year so I'm gonna go prepared for the worst.

Looks like at the moment all I have to worry about is rain though... Lol

[Macavity]

Good choice!

And, with not TOO excessive a focal length, can still be a useful "general purpose" scope.
I believe these now come with a 2" diagonal as standard? Anyway, worthwhile trying 2"
mid-priced ~30mm/70deg (or so) eyepieces to maximize the potential field of view! MAKs
are un-fussy re. eyepieces. I use a 31mm Baader Hyperion Aspheric for around 1^o field!  

It is a bit of a "Dew Magnet" (see above!). But, if you are keen on Lunar Astronomy, it is
also *great* for White Light SOLAR! If you make/buy a solar filter of 5" aperture you get
about the (anecdotal) max. aperture for daytime seeing -- Great views of Sunspots etc.  

(10-point penalty for repetition? lol. But Oi duz like moi Maaaaks)

[Stu]

29 minutes ago, Dazzyt66 said:

Interesting - I think you are Bradford way Jules? Up to now I haven't suffered much from dew on my ST80 (I'm in Barnsley) but I figured that could be a number of things. Also, unlike Stu there isn't any large bodies of water around so I may be ok at home. However, I do want to take the Mak away when we're camping and on hols later in the year so I'm gonna go prepared for the worst.

Looks like at the moment all I have to worry about is rain though... Lol

Good plan, not that expensive in the grand scheme of things and will be handy at some point I'm sure.

Normal sensible precautions to take, let your scope acclimatise first, ideal pointing down with the cover off and dew shield on. As Jules says, anytime you take a break, point the scope level or downwards, this will all help keep it at bay.

[nightfisher]

I must be lucky, but i also dont tend to do long sessions especially if the air is damp, i have had the 9x50 finder dew up pretty quick but main scope seems good, i now have a long dewshield for my finder scope that works well.

A little word of caution owning a fair size Mak is not instant supreme viewing and you may experience some early feelings of woe, stick with it and learn how to get the best from a very good scope

[cloudsweeper]

I can vouch for the two-inch Revelation EPs - I have 50, 42, and 30mm, giving on my 'scope x41, 48, 68, @ fields of 1.48, 1.34, 1.00 degrees (ignoring the slight effect on focal length of using a two-inch diagonal).  They cost £37 each.  I usually do my initial scanning with the 42mm, and the 50mm is arguably not vital, although it does give a larger exit pupil.

Doug.

[Dazzyt66]

9 hours ago, Macavity said:

Good choice!

And, with not TOO excessive a focal length, can still be a useful "general purpose" scope.
I believe these now come with a 2" diagonal as standard? Anyway, worthwhile trying 2"
mid-priced ~30mm/70deg (or so) eyepieces to maximize the potential field of view! MAKs
are un-fussy re. eyepieces. I use a 31mm Baader Hyperion Aspheric for around 1^o field!  

It is a bit of a "Dew Magnet" (see above!). But, if you are keen on Lunar Astronomy, it is
also *great* for White Light SOLAR! If you make/buy a solar filter of 5" aperture you get
about the (anecdotal) max. aperture for daytime seeing -- Great views of Sunspots etc.  

(10-point penalty for repetition? lol. But Oi duz like moi Maaaaks)

They do indeed come with a 2" as standard so that is another ep consideration for me as the only 2" ep I will have will come with Mak!

By way of an update for all - I am collecting Mak from Rother Valley tomorrow and pure beautiful coincidence my HEQ5 from AstroBoot is also being delivered so expect severe weather in the South Yorkshire area for the foreseeable future!!! 

[Dazzyt66]

29 minutes ago, cloudsweeper said:

I can vouch for the two-inch Revelation EPs - I have 50, 42, and 30mm, giving on my 'scope x41, 48, 68, @ fields of 1.48, 1.34, 1.00 degrees (ignoring the slight effect on focal length of using a two-inch diagonal).  They cost £37 each.  I usually do my initial scanning with the 42mm, and the 50mm is arguably not vital, although it does give a larger exit pupil.

Doug.

Yep, I'm defo investing in some revelation eps too - as soon as my wallet recovers from the last 3 days...?

[cloudsweeper]

11 minutes ago, Dazzyt66 said:

Yep, I'm defo investing in some revelation eps too - as soon as my wallet recovers from the last 3 days...?

Get real - your wallet will never  recover in this great hobby of ours!

Doug.

[Dazzyt66]

1 hour ago, nightfisher said:

I must be lucky, but i also dont tend to do long sessions especially if the air is damp, i have had the 9x50 finder dew up pretty quick but main scope seems good, i now have a long dewshield for my finder scope that works well.

A little word of caution owning a fair size Mak is not instant supreme viewing and you may experience some early feelings of woe, stick with it and learn how to get the best from a very good scope

No worries about the caution, my Dob had a homemade base which took me a while to tweak so frustration I'm used to ?

[Dazzyt66]

So it's all arrived! 

But

The tripod is missing the central securing bolt - which is quite key - so I'll have to wait a bit more yet ?

[Dazzyt66]

First light done!!

I couldn't wait until after the bank holiday for the centre bolt to arrive (especially as forecasts said it would be clear early evening) so like all people on this forum I improvised.

I used a 10mm bolt to secure the mount to the tripod and then set about using a HEQ5 with GOTO for the very first time along with my Mak 150. Here is a summary of how my day went yesterday:

The mount and tripod is pretty heavy, that was expected as I wanted to future proof and have something I can expand into AP if the mood takes. I think the Mak would easily coped with on a EQ5 although I have never had that mount.

Reading the polar scope instructions were very confusing. Especially as mine has the new 'clock face' design. There are a number of simplified explanations (Astrobaby does a great overview) but by far the best thing I found was 'polar scope align' app which explained exactly that reticule (and others - it's configurable), how to set it up and gives all the other info you need to set the mount up. Bear in mind that this familiarisation should occur in daylight - you cannot possibly do all the initial setup in the dark!

With the initial familiarisation done I am still unsure how to properly align the polar scope but for a quick observing session I read that this doesn't matter. So long as you roughly align the mount does the rest - found this nugget of info whilst I was looking up how to accurately polar align - which is only needed for AP apparently - so I was good to go. I knew where Polaris was from my back garden so I waited for dark!

Twilight. Went outside to clear skies. Yay!! Got everything together and lined up to Polaris. Had a look through the polar scope but was still mystified so went for 'plan b'. I attached Mak to the mount. Having never had anything but a Dob (and a eq1 for my ST80) this scared the pants off me - my £500 ota held on by two screws!! Anyway it's on. Mars was nicely up above the trees on the horizon so I used him for centring my finder with Mak. Perfect. I swung Mak around and lined the mount up roughly with Polaris. Now for the big test...

My Maplin power bank arrived earlier (17ah for £64!) and after being on charge I hooked it up to the mount. All good. I followed the instructions on the handset. Used my coordinates from the polar scope app (only thing missing was local elevation but a quick look on MyGeoPosition.com sorted that). Done. Now for an alignment.

This is when you know you are still a newbie. You have to know the name of the star(s) you want (and roughly where they are in this case). Unfortunately Vega wasn't an option (the brightest star I could see at 10.30) so I went for Arcturus. Before you all nod your heads sagely with my knowledge; I had to look them up in Sky Safari to find out their names!

I went for 1 star alignment. Mainly cos that that point at night I could only see a handful of stars clearly and the brightest (Vega) wasn't in the options. I pressed enter... The mount moved and put Arcturus within the finder view before stopping. I centred it (following instructions) and stopped. Wow!! That is amazing in itself. Can't believe it was that easy!! But alas, clouds were starting to form on the horizon so I knew my time was limited.

Planets, Mars, go. The scope slewed to Mars. I was giggling at this point. I used the 28mm 2" ep that came with the scope and immediately got the widest view of the sky through a lens I have ever seen. Even at 28mm (64x) Mars looked great - small orange disk but very crisp and clear. I went for my 10mm Ortho. Wow! I saw vague details that I have never seen before but it was getting obstructed by clouds at this point so I moved on.

I had some further experimentation with the mount, skewing around, looking at what stars I need to know before the cloud solidly rolled in. All this with two bats circling me for 30 mins. Awesome!!! Can't wait for more!!!!!