What did the postman bring?

[PeterW]

After Turtle mail from the US (posted 20may), it has arrived. Initial impressions good, rubber winged eyecups added, waiting for stars to appear.

 

Peter

[Dannomiss]

29 minutes ago, Helen said:

I suggest this https://www.wickes.co.uk/Proplex-Black-Surface-Protection-Sheet-2400-x-1200-x-2mm/p/118670 instead of hobby foam. 

Perfect. Will pick some up at week. Do you keep it in the tube or have you made yours removable?

[Helen]

4 hours ago, Dannomiss said:

Perfect. Will pick some up at week. Do you keep it in the tube or have you made yours removable?

My telescope is a different design as it completely dismantles, so no tube... I store my shroud separately.

Helen

[Rob]

A pristine Meade MA 9mm Made in Japan eyepiece circa 1985!. Been keeping my eye out for one of these for some time.

There's a rumor that the 9mm works really well in long focal length achromatic Refractor's.  Looks like first light could follow early next week. Anyway, so far really pleased with regards to its quality for the age of the item. Optics all lovely and clear, coatings look perfect.

 

 

Edited June 19, 2020 by Rob

[vindubs]

22 hours ago, Bobby1970 said:

Been waiting a month or so for this. 😀

 

Just got mine yesterday.  But awesome bit of kit!

[Captain Scarlet]

Stellarvue M2 heavy duty alt az mount. I knew it was going to be bigger than I expected. But it’s even bigger than bigger than I expected!

very excited to have a good alt az to top my previously redundant SW EQ6 tripod. Courtesy of @Steve Clay

Edited June 19, 2020 by Captain Magenta

[PeterW]

57 minutes ago, Captain Magenta said:

Stellarvue M2 heavy duty alt az mount. I knew it was going to be bigger than I expected. But it’s even bigger than bigger than I expected!

very excited to have a good alt az to top my previously redundant SW EQ6 tripod. Courtesy of @Steve Clay

Don’t scratch your worktop! What’s the top thread that EQ6!has, I’ve wondered about a more convenient head for it!

Peter

[Captain Scarlet]

19 minutes ago, PeterW said:

Don’t scratch your worktop! What’s the top thread that EQ6!has, I’ve wondered about a more convenient head for it!

Peter

EQ6 bolt thread is M12 I think. This head is designed to fit via the 3 horizontal bolts to an EQ5-type, or directly on to a 3/8" photo thread. I already have an EQ6-3/8 adapter, resulting in:

 

[Neil H]

Well mine is boring looking at what lot have brought lol FLO don't normally ship part orders but thanks to Ian they did for me Thanks Ian 

A new Barlow 

[Captain Scarlet]

23 hours ago, PeterW said:

After Turtle mail from the US (posted 20may), it has arrived. Initial impressions good, rubber winged eyecups added, waiting for stars to appear.

 

Peter

What spec are they? can't quite see. 4x34? Will be very interested to have a look through in due course

[PeterW]

They’re an a commercial updated version of the homebrew Nikon 2x54. They are Galilean so don’t worry about what exit pupil you expect it to deliver. Clear and sharp vs the homebrew one I made with the addition of focussing, ergonomics to my face not quite as comfortable as the homebrew.  Field of view looks a little larger, though not sure it’s quite the 36degree spec... waiting for some stars to test them out on. The front filter thread is not a common one which is a slight annoyance, though I might just tape on a slightly smaller adapter ring I have. I will draft a review soon, others will hopefully compare them to the other commercial options eg vixen, Kasai etc
 

Details of the EQ6-3/8 adapter please.. then I could use “any old” camera tripod head.

thabks

 

peter

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Just got a second-hand Optolong L-enhance filter in. Amazingly, there are some clear nights forecast. Looking forward to using it on the North America Nebula, or the Veil

[Spanish Tony]

A new 5mm Baader Hyperion ready for the next imaging experiment Learn by trial and error and improve by each mistake  

[Sky-searcher]

2nd Baader clicklock accessory to arrive this week. 2-1.25 adapter for the clicklock diagonal. Thanks @Littleguy80.

[Captain Scarlet]

19 minutes ago, PeterW said:

Details of the EQ6-3/8 adapter please.. then I could use “any old” camera tripod head.

thabks

peter

https://www.berlebach.de/?bereich=details&id=123&sprache=english ... and specify the 3/8" and eq6-ness to the right

[PeterW]

Wonder if is a half brother of https://www.firstlightoptics.com/alt-azimuth/astro-essentials-3-8-photo-adapter-for-eq6-tripod.html

Good to know these things exist... now to work out what I can want to mount on top of it!

Peter

[HollyHound]

32 minutes ago, PeterW said:

Wonder if is a half brother of https://www.firstlightoptics.com/alt-azimuth/astro-essentials-3-8-photo-adapter-for-eq6-tripod.html

Good to know these things exist... now to work out what I can want to mount on top of it!

Peter

I have the same adaptor, but for EQ5/HEQ5 tripod heads (https://www.firstlightoptics.com/alt-azimuth/astro-essentials-3-8-photo-adapter-for-heq5-az5-tripod.html). It's a very useful and solid adaptor. I had my AZ5 mounted on my Berlebach Uni 28 (overkill really!), until I recently got the Skywatcher 1.75" steel tripod with 3/8ths head, so it now fits direct. Keeping the adaptor around (for now), in case it's ever needed again.

[Tenor Viol]

Ordered this box of tricks yesterday, arrived this morning....

 

So it now does this...

 

[Dantooine]

7 hours ago, Sky-searcher said:

2nd Baader clicklock accessory to arrive this week. 2-1.25 adapter for the clicklock diagonal. Thanks @Littleguy80.

So what do you think about the baader diagonal? I have the 2-1.25 clicklock in my Altair Prism diagonal. I’m thinking maybe get the baader diagonal on the strength of performance the adapter has. 

[Sky-searcher]

10 hours ago, Dantooine said:

So what do you think about the baader diagonal? I have the 2-1.25 clicklock in my Altair Prism diagonal. I’m thinking maybe get the baader diagonal on the strength of performance the adapter has. 

Hi Dantooine, diagonal only arrived on Tuesday & not had any clear skies since to use it, but build quality is the usual excellent for Baader accessories. The clicklock mechanisms are really easy to use & the clamping is strong. If you want to upgrade a diagonal, I would recommend looking at the Baader range.

[Merlin66]

Much as I love my Baader gear, I have to admit the diagonal with the cliplock doesn’t like my ED80. The required backfocus is just too much for my setup.

[Sky-searcher]

35 minutes ago, Merlin66 said:

Much as I love my Baader gear, I have to admit the diagonal with the cliplock doesn’t like my ED80. The required backfocus is just too much for my setup.

That is certainly correct. The clicklock diagonal has a adds around 112mm, so can be a problem with inward (back focus) on some setups. Touch & go with my 80 mm frac. Can focus at distance at present, but not a lot of travel left & not had a break in the clouds to find out as of yet. Not a problem if so as can use it on my Mak & swop my T2 prism to the frac if needed. 

[Dantooine]

On 20/06/2020 at 08:17, Sky-searcher said:

Hi Dantooine, diagonal only arrived on Tuesday & not had any clear skies since to use it, but build quality is the usual excellent for Baader accessories. The clicklock mechanisms are really easy to use & the clamping is strong. If you want to upgrade a diagonal, I would recommend looking at the Baader range.

Do you think it would take an ethos in 2” mode without the 1.25” barrel hitting the prism?

[Sky-searcher]

1 hour ago, Dantooine said:

Do you think it would take an ethos in 2” mode without the 1.25” barrel hitting the prism?

I doubt it. Don’t know the measurements of the ethos barrels, but I wouldn’t use my Morpheus that way in the diagonal. Wouldn’t try it as hitting the mirror with the 1.25 barrel at 45 degrees would probably damage the coatings. You can use parfocal rings on the barrel to set the depth if your brave enough though.

[Dantooine]

14 minutes ago, Sky-searcher said:

I doubt it. Don’t know the measurements of the ethos barrels, but I wouldn’t use my Morpheus that way in the diagonal. Wouldn’t try it as hitting the mirror with the 1.25 barrel at 45 degrees would probably damage the coatings. You can use parfocal rings on the barrel to set the depth if your brave enough though.

Thank you for answering that question. Morpheus are a very similar setup and I hear they are very good. I think I would need some sort of spacing ring between the diagonal and the eyepiece holder if I wanted to used eyepieces in 2” mode. They would be fine just being held by the 1.25” barrel I suppose but may be quite a stack with the 13e. I think Morpheus are maybe a little shorter than that one.