What did the postman bring?

[Pixies]

Some more goodies from Japan:

That's my first Takahashi!

[DaveL59]

fresh off the-bay, EQ5 dual-axis drive kit for my other EQ5 mount

it's been modified for 12v feed via a ciggy plug which is handy as I can just hook it direct to my car starter LiPo pack which has a ciggy socket adaptor already. Quick test on the bench and shows is all working so will fit it later today, probably 🙂 

Edited May 26, 2022 by DaveL59

[Pitch Black Skies]

With thanks to @markse68

In mint condition, packaged securely, and posted promptly.

2" Concenter

Edited May 26, 2022 by Pitch Black Skies

[bosun21]

5 hours ago, cajen2 said:

Ooh, great minds, etc. I've just ordered the same EP from FLO. Now I'll have to wait 30-40 days....😥

It’s actually 40-60 days.

[bosun21]

4 hours ago, DaveL59 said:

fresh off the-bay, EQ5 dual-axis drive kit for my other EQ5 mount

it's been modified for 12v feed via a ciggy plug which is handy as I can just hook it direct to my car starter LiPo pack which has a ciggy socket adaptor already. Quick test on the bench and shows is all working so will fit it later today, probably 🙂 

I’m wondering how he changed it from 6v to 12v. The motors are rated for 6v and the tracking speed electronics are also all 6v. If it’s all working fine and the sidereal tracking is accurate then you are onto a winner.

[DaveL59]

32 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

I’m wondering how he changed it from 6v to 12v. The motors are rated for 6v and the tracking speed electronics are also all 6v. If it’s all working fine and the sidereal tracking is accurate then you are onto a winner.

the ciggy plug has some sort of step-down in it to give 6v out. Not opened it up to see what but it does seem to work just fine when I did a quick test. Unfortunately he removed the socket for the original 6v input, probably to solder in the hard-wire from the ciggy plug which means I can't swap over to the battery box it came with, but that's not really an issue. All seems to have been done neatly and works which is the main thing 🙂 

edit: Looking at the plug a bit closer, it's a RING switchable adapter with a tape over the switch to prevent accidental changes:

Depending how this goes I might switch that out and pop a 6v buck converter in-line but for now it works and as the old saying goes, if it don't broke... 😉 

Edited May 26, 2022 by DaveL59

[Telescope40]

Hello. A nice Baader 2in diagonal courtesy of @Franklin  Fancied having one for a while now. 

Thx. John 

[barkingsteve]

Delivery from FLO yesterday and 365 Astronomy today. 533MM, ZWO filter wheel and Antlia 4.5nm SHO. All installed and ready to take my first tentative steps into narrowband imaging  

 

[StuartT]

1 hour ago, barkingsteve said:

Delivery from FLO yesterday and 365 Astronomy today. 533MM, ZWO filter wheel and Antlia 4.5nm SHO. All installed and ready to take my first tentative steps into narrowband imaging  

 

 

I have not yet made the step from OSC to mono imaging. I will become a grownup one day. Best of luck!

[Ags]

Proof copy of my new book arrived!

Edited May 29, 2022 by Ags

[jacko61]

1 hour ago, Ags said:

Proof copy of my new book arrived!

Cool!  Will it be ringbound when it goes on sale? That's a lot more useful in the observatory than a glued spine IMO.

Graeme

[IB20]

Been after one of these for a while. My first cautious ABS purchase too. Needn’t have worried though as think I unwittingly purchased from a SGLer. Superbly packaged, can’t wait to give it a go. Sun’s out too! 😃

[Ags]

49 minutes ago, jacko61 said:

Cool!  Will it be ringbound when it goes on sale? That's a lot more useful in the observatory than a glued spine IMO.

Graeme

Yes, ringbound, paperback and hardback.

[Laurieast]

ZWO IR Pass from FLO 
Makes the garden look very tidy 😁 , and look at that sky!

[Dave scutt]

DPD delivered my new case today a week earlier then I expected, it's bigger then I expected should be able to fit lots of ep's in this.

[Ags]

Brought not by the postal worker but by the gods of fortune: my long lost red light torch.

I said eight months ago "it's a small apartment, it's bound to turn up soon". NOT.

Where was it? On the shelf with the other torches. 🙄

 

[Astro_Dad]

I’m sure I told myself not to be distracted by any more new telescopes coming to market but here we are!  -  big shout out to the team at Rother Valley Optics for getting this to me virtually within 24 hours of the initial chat 👍

Scope Nights suggests tonight could be clear… surely not. We’ll see. 

Pleasure to meet  @paulastro this evening too - buying and selling some stuff between us - lovely to chat all things astronomy and telescopes. I learned a lot even in that short time chatting in your observatory.  Hope to speak again soon. 

Will post a first light review/experience of the StarSense Dob in due course. 

 

[IB20]

24 minutes ago, Astro_Dad said:

I’m sure I told myself not to be distracted by any more new telescopes coming to market but here we are!  -  big shout out to the team at Rother Valley Optics for getting this to me virtually within 24 hours of the initial chat 👍

Scope Nights suggests tonight could be clear… surely not. We’ll see. 

Pleasure to meet  @paulastro this evening too - buying and selling some stuff between us - lovely to chat all things astronomy and telescopes. I learned a lot even in that short time chatting in your observatory.  Hope to speak again soon. 

Will post a first light review/experience of the StarSense Dob in due course. 

 

Looks ace that. Hopefully stays clear tonight, enjoy!

[paulastro]

2 hours ago, Astro_Dad said:

I’m sure I told myself not to be distracted by any more new telescopes coming to market but here we are!  -  big shout out to the team at Rother Valley Optics for getting this to me virtually within 24 hours of the initial chat 👍

Scope Nights suggests tonight could be clear… surely not. We’ll see. 

Pleasure to meet  @paulastro this evening too - buying and selling some stuff between us - lovely to chat all things astronomy and telescopes. I learned a lot even in that short time chatting in your observatory.  Hope to speak again soon. 

Will post a first light review/experience of the StarSense Dob in due course. 

 

It was a great pleasure to meet you Andrew I enjoyed our chat very much.  It was a first for me.  The first time I've spoken to an  SGL member in person before 'meeting' them online 🙂.  In actual fact, I've met very few SGL members in person.

Your new scope looks great, I'll look forward to hearing how you get on with it.

I'm going out soon to have first light with my own 'new' scope 😊.

[Guest]

Well not the postman....but FedEx counts ..right?  A nice birch setting circle for the dob.

[Ratlet]

An Intel NUC mini pc.

Was pretty cheap, with an Intel celeron processor.  However I only want it to control my mount and for £65 it should do the job and be small enough to mount somewhere on the mount head or tripod and minimise the amount of cables I have to contend with.

Configured it with NINA and the GEM28 control software and everything appears to be working.  It's a bit slow at the actual imaging but I don't think it will have an impact.  Sky atlas and framing assistant work at a reasonable speed at least.

Just got to get a 2kg (ish) counter weight yet.

[Rob]

Upgrade 2022!. (Or as I call it)

Next - Rig one. Heq5 skyscan upgrade with Wi-Fi adapter from FLO. Shall fit today. Finally dragging the old Heq5 into the 21st Century.. 

Fun, and a learning curve ahead with this

Rob

[Astro_Dad]

18 hours ago, Astro_Dad said:

I’m sure I told myself not to be distracted by any more new telescopes coming to market but here we are!  -  big shout out to the team at Rother Valley Optics for getting this to me virtually within 24 hours of the initial chat 👍

Scope Nights suggests tonight could be clear… surely not. We’ll see. 

Pleasure to meet  @paulastro this evening too - buying and selling some stuff between us - lovely to chat all things astronomy and telescopes. I learned a lot even in that short time chatting in your observatory.  Hope to speak again soon. 

Will post a first light review/experience of the StarSense Dob in due course. 

 

I’ve written up a first impressions piece in a new thread for interest:

 

[Astro_Dad]

Plenty to be posting at the moment - this arrived this afternoon - taking the kids on their first camping trip next week and whilst too young to really appreciate the sky, we are being joined by my space mad nephew- hopefully bringing his scope along too (as will I be). This book was recommended as a more accessible option for his sort of age (vs TLaO) and it does look like he’ll enjoy it. Like the Telrad positions to help locate - nice touch. # Astro_Uncle !😀
 

 

Edited May 28, 2022 by Astro_Dad

[Victor Boesen]

For a long time I've been looking for a mount upgrade to my AZT6 mount which has served me well! After acquiring a Quark and Lacerta wedge I soon wished for a dual scope setup for solar (and night time as well, but a little harder to justify with my current scopes). After a very(!!!) busy month and a half with university exams and saving up I decided to treat myself with a Berlebach Castor II
The mount was delivered today directly from Berlebach, who had great costumer service by the way.

I was surprised with the size, weight and feeling of the mount. Was afraid I'd not be satisfied with the heavy dutyness of the prism clamps, but they're a great improvement over the one on my AZT6!

And of course, here are my two scopes mounted on my stainless steel tripod. A great match in my opinion!

And a little spin test in the honors of @Stu

 

A quick peek through the eyepiece on a chimney on a rooftop showed the two scopes and aligned very well but not perfectly. Good enough for me though! I look very much forward to use this setup, not only for dual-scope use but also single scope use since the AZT6 wasn't really on par to hold my 102mm APO.
(Sorry for spamming with images, but I hope you enjoyed them!)

Victor