What did the postman bring?

[OICURMT]

Hello everyone:

First time poster here...  (I'm more active on IceInSpace, but have been lurking here for years...)

FedEX just dropped off my order from Jeulins (Ovio radial slits for constructing a LOWSPEC).  Now my problem is that my filament order from Amazon is delayed due to the COVID-19 higher priority stuff.  No ETA

Hoping everyone is well and safe...

OIC!

[Guest]

Two separate deliveries, wide field flattener and 5x Barlow. 

[johninderby]

Opticron moniocular tripod mount and a small tripod head.

[JoshHopk]

My first ever equatorial mount from a lovely member of SGL 

Tonight will be the first night of many capturing the stars with this beaut...

[JeremyS]

Baader 2" clicklock SCT-clamp. Allowing use of my 2" BBHS diagonal with Celestron C9.25

[Guest]

First delivery of the day. EQMOD SynScan cable and spacer rings for my field flattener. 

[markse68]

Took a while but the final piece of the el-cheapo m44 to T mount adapter arrived- T-T male threaded thing. So now I can use 1.25” eps and a diagonal to save my neck from painful contortions with the telementor 🙏 

Edited May 21, 2020 by markse68

[markse68]

And I’ve got some delrin to make adapters for the og 24.5 eps and I’m collecting interesting microscope eps to use with it too 😂 This one just arrived- Leitz- very posh! 

[Guest]

This excellent condition Guidescope. Many thanks to @Bobby1970

 

[Guest]

Final piece of the puzzle initial imaging rig - for now!

QHY5-IIM guiding camera. Many thanks @rorymultistorey, a pleasure doing business sir!

[Stub Mandrel]

Stepper motor and furniture sliders for my EQ platform project.

[DaveL59]

a pair of manfrotto-a-like 323RC2  with 200PL quick-removal plates to use on the scope ring and elsewhere to make swapping camera/bino's around quick and easy.

Tho a great price (<£16 the pair) there's a couple problems.

1. the D-ring on the screw underneath won't sit flat once screwed onto a fitting, needed a washer under the head to sort that or you simply cannot get the plate to sit right in the head to engage properly.

2. A standard manfrotto 200PL plate won't fit onto it. The narrow edge (arrowed) on an OEM plate is slightly wider. Likewise these plates won't quite secure in a manfrotto QR head.

So dremel time, grind a little away and now the manfrotto 200PL fits just fine

Will take a look at filing down the bevel on the long edge a little so these plates can also work with the OEM head should I need them to, but I more got these for the base rather than the QR plates as I already have "proper" ones.

Edited May 22, 2020 by DaveL59

[markse68]

On 21/05/2020 at 14:39, markse68 said:

Took a while but the final piece of the el-cheapo m44 to T mount adapter arrived- T-T male threaded thing. So now I can use 1.25” eps and a diagonal to save my neck from painful contortions with the telementor 🙏 

Perfect timing! This 0.965” converter just arrived from China so now I can use all the eps easily 👌

[Greymouser]

Not today, nor really astro related, ( but I have a cunning plan or two... ) but Wednesday, got these through the Amazon man: ( So not even a postman either! )

Not obvious maybe, so here are four of them working:

They are a bit brighter than I hoped, but I can work around that and for 19p each, with batteries, it just cannot be beaten. I love torches anyway and 36 more is just fine. They say the batteries are non replaceable, but feel sure that it could be done easily. Only thing is, the batteries will probably be more expensive than the torches!

A link to them on Amazon, in case anyone is interested: Fulfilled by Amazon.

They each have a separate switch and a little rubber strip to attach them to a finger or similar. The build quality is surprisingly good.

 

[DaveL59]

5 minutes ago, Greymouser said:

Not today, nor really astro related, ( but I have a cunning plan or two... ) but Wednesday, got these through the Amazon man: ( So not even a postman either! )

Not obvious maybe, so here are four of them working:

They are a bit brighter than I hoped, but I can work around that and for 19p each, with batteries, it just cannot be beaten. I love torches anyway and 36 more is just fine. They say the batteries are non replaceable, but feel sure that it could be done easily. Only thing is, the batteries will probably be more expensive than the torches!

A link to them on Amazon, in case anyone is interested: Fulfilled by Amazon.

They each have a separate switch and a little rubber strip to attach them to a finger or similar. The build quality is surprisingly good.

 

if you got a few thousand of them and could control the on/off individually with a bit of electronics you could make a mega outdoor cinema display screen  

[Bobby1970]

Sold a few bits and bobs lately and recycled them into some different stuff. 

These arrived today. 

Hoping that when my AsiAir arrives I can be up and running sooner. Also plan to have a play with the camera for solar and lunar. 

Have to say. Good service from 365Astronomy, who matched the package price that RVO are offering, even though RVO didn't have the camera in stock. 

Edited May 23, 2020 by Bobby1970

[Dave1]

Well some more eyepieces arrived today, to add to my collection of 0.965" eyepieces. 

From left to right. Takahashi Ortho MC 7mm, Pentax Ortho 6mm, Takahashi Ortho MC 5mm.

Have to say they all look impressive build quality. And I can't wait to test them on Jupiter along side my CZJ O-10 which I haven't used yet.

David

[Sky-searcher]

Didn’t arrive today, but several months ago. Secondhand 16 inch pillar extension, we’ll used, but cheap. Tried it on my mount after arrived, but several mods required to fit. Had a look at it while on lockdown. Trimmed the North tab on the tripod, had the pillar tube cut in half, modified the connection on top of pillar to 3/8-16 instead of M10 to fit mount. Painted the pillar tube after cutting, but remembered I had some carbon fibre wrap left over. Tried it on the off cut pillar & liked it, so wrapped the tube today.  Like the end product. Only need to adjust legs now to level tripod & I can feel a frac coming shortly so will be handy for extra height. 😊🔭

 

Edited May 23, 2020 by Sky-searcher
Pic

[uhb1966]

22 hours ago, Greymouser said:

Not today, nor really astro related, ( but I have a cunning plan or two... ) but Wednesday, got these through the Amazon man: ( So not even a postman either! )

Not obvious maybe, so here are four of them working:

They are a bit brighter than I hoped, but I can work around that and for 19p each, with batteries, it just cannot be beaten. I love torches anyway and 36 more is just fine. They say the batteries are non replaceable, but feel sure that it could be done easily. Only thing is, the batteries will probably be more expensive than the torches!

A link to them on Amazon, in case anyone is interested: Fulfilled by Amazon.

They each have a separate switch and a little rubber strip to attach them to a finger or similar. The build quality is surprisingly good.

 

If you get the batteries in big packs, like 200 or so, they might be cheaper ... thats what i did for my wifes mini led lights.

 

[Guest]

8 hours ago, Bobby1970 said:

Sold a few bits and bobs lately and recycled them into some different stuff. 

These arrived today. 

Hoping that when my AsiAir arrives I can be up and running sooner. Also plan to have a play with the camera for solar and lunar. 

Have to say. Good service from 365Astronomy, who matched the package price that RVO are offering, even though RVO didn't have the camera in stock. 

Oh a lot more lightweight than the 50mm. I nearly ordered one of these earlier last week but FLO were out of stock. 

That said perfectly happy with a 50mm unit I managed to get my hands on! 😉

[uhb1966]

My new ZWO focuser arrived this week.

Huge improvement over using the stock focuser on my SW 8S manually or a cheaper solution i bought earlier... which didnt really work. Guess if you by cheap you buy 2 times. 

Edited May 23, 2020 by uhb1966

[uhb1966]

On 19/05/2020 at 16:52, 11mahW said:

First scope. 6” Dob. Apologies to everyone in the north west who will now have cloudy skies for the next month 

Congrats for your first scope!!

[uhb1966]

On 14/05/2020 at 13:56, johninderby said:

What solar finder are you using.? The Svbony one is good but cheap.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SVBONY-Solar-Finder-Scope-Fully-Metal-for-Sun-Positioning-Solar-Eclipse-Observe/362366838367?hash=item545ebf265f:g:N6IAAOSwylRbMfYY

But I have now swiched to a filter for my 9x50 finder which is much, much better but of coirse more expensive.

https://www.365astronomy.com/Solar-Filter-for-50mm-Finder-Scopes-with-Baader-Astro-Solar-Safety-Film.html

 

i like your finder mount! What's its make and model?

[johninderby]

4 minutes ago, uhb1966 said:

i like your finder mount! What's its make and model?

Svbony bracket. Cheaper on eBay if you don’t mind waiting until probably July.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Guiding-Telescope-Diameter-Finders-astrophotography/dp/B07RQT5CHV/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=svbony+guider+bracket&qid=1590259662&sr=8-2

[markse68]

On 23/05/2020 at 10:39, Dave1 said:

Well some more eyepieces arrived today, to add to my collection of 0.965" eyepieces. 

From left to right. Takahashi Ortho MC 7mm, Pentax Ortho 6mm, Takahashi Ortho MC 5mm.

Have to say they all look impressive build quality. And I can't wait to test them on Jupiter along side my CZJ O-10 which I haven't used yet.

David

Lovely collection right there! Where did you find them?