What did the postman bring?

[eshy76]

The postman brought me...a Rainbow Astro RST-135 mount!

I've had an iOptron CEM25P pretty much since starting the hobby in 2018 and have been battling with DEC backlash issues for over a year.

So once the last paycheck went in I fully intended to get a CEM70G as the upgrade to hopefully solve my issues and also use my EDGE 8 HD for imaging, but then I thought about having to set up 17kgs of mount every clear night...and plumped for the RST-135 instead! No mount balancing, no counterweights needed for my widefield rig and light (3kg)!

I hope to get first light tonight and I'm hopeful it can cope with the EDGE too, but I'd be more inclined to sell the EDGE than the mount if that doesn't work.

Of course on ordering the RST-135, I somehow managed to tighten the DEC belt on the CEM25P properly...but no looking back. The Rainbow Astro is a beauty...

 

 

[Stuart1971]

35 minutes ago, Daf1983 said:

I thought so. My plan is to run it all off the RPI(heard it's better this way, in case of any connectivity issues), and then use VNC on my laptop from the house, beer in hand😉

Yep, that me all over....works a treat....👍🏼

[johninderby]

And this time it was Amazon that dropped something off. 🙂

A phone / tablet holder for the AZ100. Nice liitle holder that’s all metal. Just adjust the jaws so they are almost touching, lock with the big locking wheel on the back then use the top knob to adjust the upper jaw and lock the phone or tablet in place. Works much better than the simple type of holder with just one locking knob on the back.

I had  already made a mounting bracket with a finder shoe that fits one of the dovetail saddles so simoly fitted a mini tilt head with a finder foot to the holder. 

[Dantooine]

3 hours ago, HollyHound said:

Ah that's why it looked so "cloudy" 🤣

Thanks for including the 2" adaptor and parfocal rings... along with the equivalent Hyperion extension rings I have on the 8mm and 13mm, I can now use all the Ethos in the Paracorr without swapping to a 1.25" adaptor at all... just need to work out the Paracorr settings for each now and I should be able to swap quickly between all five within a session 👍

And it’s a “proper” TV extender. Not many people are daft enough to pay for them however, its me we’re talking about 🤣

[Dantooine]

3 hours ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

Don't expect much. I'm hardly an eyepiece expert. It will either be "Blinkin' 'ell look at that!' or "How much did I pay for this again...?" I'll let you know. 👍😁

I’ve read they are pretty much on the money. 

[mog3768]

Arrived a couple of days ago Lunt 1.5 to 2 inch adapter

[Voyager 3]

11 hours ago, johninderby said:

Few bits & pieces. 🙂

A StellaMira Losmandy plate for Big Red

A SW 6x30 RACI finder and a laser pointer bracket and nylon thumb screws for a new finder for the ScopeTech 80

An inexpensive 26mm Plossl which with the fitting of a TAL screw in crosshair will be ideal for one of my finders.

So how did you manage to add the cross hairs ? 

[johninderby]

3 hours ago, Voyager 3 said:

So how did you manage to add the cross hairs ? 

I used a TAL screw in crosshair reticle. No longer available but do show up used occasionaly. Fits any eyepiece of about 25mm.

Edited March 6, 2021 by johninderby

[HollyHound]

13 hours ago, Dantooine said:

And it’s a “proper” TV extender. Not many people are daft enough to pay for them however, its me we’re talking about 🤣

Umm... not just you, I’ve literally just ordered another from @FLO as I feel yours threads better than the Hyperion I bough, however the difference is small 👍

[faulksy]

18 hours ago, HollyHound said:

And the Ethos set for the dob is now complete, decided to extend down the focal length with two superb condition arrivals from fellow forum member Dale... thanks😃

Ethos 6mm and Ethos 3.7mm, with 2” adaptors and parfocal rings 👍

Now the set runs... 21, 13, 8, 6 and 3.7.

cant believe i missed the 3.7 ethos for sale, im never coming on this posty thread again . its a bit like "look what you could of won " 😃

[johninderby]

15 minutes ago, HollyHound said:

Umm... not just you, I’ve literally just ordered another from @FLO as I feel yours threads better than the Hyperion I bough, however the difference is small 👍

Baader uses a slightly different thread pitch than standard which is why they sonetimes don’t thread on properly.

Quote from an article on astronomy threads.

“Eyepiece/Filter Thread 2" (M48x0.75)

As with 1.25" eyepieces, most 2" eyepieces have barrels threaded to accept filters mounted in a cell. The diameter of 2" works out to 50.8mm, but the actual thread has a nominal diameter of 48mm. In North America, many simply refer to this M48x0.75 thread as a "2-inch thread". Europeans, however, take a "2-inch thread" to mean the 2"-24 thread used on the visual back of 5" to 10" Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes by Celestron and Meade (see section 4.3.3 below). To avoid confusion, the M48x0.75 thread on eyepiece barrels and filters should be called a "2-inch filter thread"or "M48 filter thread."

Unfortunately, there is less standardization on the thread pitch for 2" eyepieces and filters. While the vast majority of astronomy manufacturers have now settled on a 0.75mm pitch, a few (most notably, Orion) use a 0.6mm thread pitch.

Baader Planetarium of Germany uses a slightly different thread pitch (which they do not specify, but which is a little less than 0.75mm) for their M48-threaded products. This was selected based on their measurements of hundreds of other M48 threaded accessories on the market, and which they believed would therefore increase the chances of their products being compatible with the largest number of non-Baader items. As a result, there is always the odd chance of some M48-threaded items not working well together.”

[HollyHound]

7 minutes ago, faulksy said:

cant believe i missed the 3.7 ethos for sale, im never coming on this posty thread again . its a bit like "look what you could of won " 😃

This came about through a private conversation about our respective eyepiece collections and scopes to use them in... that’s still probably no comfort, but at least you don’t have to beat yourself up about missing a sale listing 😬

[HollyHound]

26 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Baader uses a slightly different thread pitch than standard which is why they sonetimes don’t thread on properly.

Well the two I bought do thread on, but they seem a bit “gritty” and don’t thread fully... perfectly usable and really barely worth worrying about, but having received the 6mm with an actual TV extender and seeing how well that fitted and smoothly threads on/off, it just seemed right to get the same for the others 😃

Minor investment compared to the price of the eyepiece and will find uses for these Hyperion extension rings.

Thanks for the detailed information 👍

Edited March 6, 2021 by HollyHound

[johninderby]

Also explains why some Baader 2” filters when threaded to a 2” nosepiece can be very hard to remove. 🤬

Edited March 6, 2021 by johninderby

[John]

I've been using the Baader FT rings (28mm) on my Ethos eyepieces for years. They seem to both thread on and off the eyepiece barrels very smoothly and a variety of filter brands have screwed into them with no effort. Maybe the latest ones differ in spec a little

I don't use Baader filters though.

 

 

[HollyHound]

9 minutes ago, John said:

I've been using the Baader FT rings (28mm) on my Ethos eyepieces for years. They seem to both thread on and off the eyepiece barrels very smoothly and a variety of filter brands have screwed into them with no effort. Maybe the latest ones differ in spec a little

I don't use Baader filters though.

It was one of your threads I originally read about them 😃Just to emphasis, they do fit and work absolutely fine but having compared them to the TV one, it just seems that little bit smoother and closes completely (the Baader leaves a tiny single thread gap on  mine... very much a first world problem and given they are half the price, I’d still recommend them 👍👍

[John]

2 minutes ago, HollyHound said:

.... very much a first world problem .....

I think that applies to many of the options we discuss

[Stardaze]

Didn’t realise others were available, I paid the money for the TV version for my 8E 😂

[John]

If the TV version came with a neat blocker for that inverted "U" shaped notch in the 2 inch barrel and a flush grommet to fill the set screw hole then I might be interested. I assume that they are not as shiny on the interior as they are on the outside ?

 

 

Edited March 6, 2021 by John

[Mark at Beaufort]

I have just received my Nagler 3-6 zoom. I had one years ago but sold it on. During the past year I started using Ortho EPs again and enjoy using them but adding a Barlow caused inward focusing problems.

So to get some extra mag I bought the nagler zoom.

By the way I have been using baader extension rings on my ethos EPs for years without any difficulty.

 

[callisto]

A nice little Evoguide 50 & Flattener from the Widescreen Centre....Ordered yesterday and just came now   

 

[John]

4 minutes ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

I have just received my Nagler 3-6 zoom. I had one years ago but sold it on. During the past year I started using Ortho EPs again and enjoy using them but adding a Barlow caused inward focusing problems.

So to get some extra mag I bought the nagler zoom.

By the way I have been using baader extension rings on my ethos EPs for years without any difficulty.

 

The Nagler zooms are incredibly useful eyepieces I find. What they give away in performance to specialist high power eyepieces is so slight that it is outweighed, IMHO, by the ability to instantly find tune the magnification.

[Nigella Bryant]

New Zwo ASI 178mm camera for my baader k-line scope arrived yesterday for my dual solar imaging rig. Already up and running this morning, lol. Great camera for solar imaging.

[Stu]

7 minutes ago, John said:

The Nagler zooms are incredibly useful eyepieces I find. What they give away in performance to specialist high power eyepieces is so slight that it is outweighed, IMHO, by the ability to instantly find tune the magnification.

I agree John, I’ve got the 3 to 6 and 2 to 4 now 👍. The latter is good in my Genesis to get to x200, and others of course for very high power. Had the Vixen Fluorite up to x450 on some doubles the other night with it. 

[faulksy]

2 hours ago, HollyHound said:

This came about through a private conversation about our respective eyepiece collections and scopes to use them in... that’s still probably no comfort, but at least you don’t have to beat yourself up about missing a sale listing 😬

feel loads better 🤣 only came on to say my sqm and astronomik h beta filter will be here Monday from Flo. seen what you put and didn't bother 😝

not jealous at all