What did the postman bring?

[PeterC65]

53 minutes ago, Zermelo said:

I love using mine with the Mak.

If you do get around to perching at the top with a big dob (as per other thread), then watch out for a bit of wobble, as the base isn't that wide.

And you might want to get/make a cushion!

I plan to use the observing chair with the Explorer 150PDS for which the seat will need to be one position down from the top. I'm already thinking it will need to spend some time in my woodwork shop having a wider seat fitted and some strengthening of the main upright. I might use the strengthening to widen the base. A seat cushion would also be an improvement!

 

[Pixies]

5 minutes ago, PeterC65 said:

I plan to use the observing chair with the Explorer 150PDS for which the seat will need to be one position down from the top. I'm already thinking it will need to spend some time in my woodwork shop having a wider seat fitted and some strengthening of the main upright. I might use the strengthening to widen the base. A seat cushion would also be an improvement!

 

A foot rest too, perhaps? In the lower slots.

 

[Zermelo]

1 minute ago, Pixies said:

A foot rest too, perhaps? In the lower slots.

 

I was just about to say that.

It's on my todo list, it wouldn't be difficult and would help when you're high up.

 

[PeterC65]

3 minutes ago, cajen2 said:

I've been looking into buying that exact chair as it seems to do the same job as those twice the price.

I wish I'd been able to compare the various chairs in the flesh before purchasing. The more expensive chairs (from Berlebach) have a similar weight bearing capacity but wider padded seats. The issue with the Geoptik chair is that the seat is small and hard, and the main support bends quite a bit under my weight. I expect the chair would be fine for a normal sized human!

 

[PeterC65]

5 minutes ago, Pixies said:

A foot rest too, perhaps? In the lower slots.

 

I think this chair is designed for perching, so just taking some of my weight and half supporting my backside. Adding a foot rest would put my entire weight on the chair and I think that might break it! None of the wooden observing chairs look especially strong to me. When I've figured out what to do with mine I will post some photos.

 

[DaveL59]

17 minutes ago, PeterC65 said:

A seat cushion would also be an improvement!

 

worth getting decent foam if you plan on that. I just redid the seat pads on a couple office chairs using this stuff:

FOAMTOUCH High Density Ultra Firm Recon Foam With High Density Bonded Blue Square Upholstery Foam For Seat Cushion Bar Seats Layer Pads 2.5 Inch Thick Cut To Size (27" x 27") : Amazon.co.uk: Home & Kitchen

Harder to cut than regular foam but much more supportive and should last well. Memory foam is worthless in seating I find and even high density firm foam only does so well unless there's a lot of thickness to it. Not sure what your seat base is but a staple gun is handy for tacking the fabric under the base. For a single small job a good hand operated one will do but for bigger jobs an electric (or air driven) will be much easier on your hands 🙂 

[cajen2]

1 minute ago, DaveL59 said:

worth getting decent foam if you plan on that. I just redid the seat pads on a couple office chairs using this stuff:

FOAMTOUCH High Density Ultra Firm Recon Foam With High Density Bonded Blue Square Upholstery Foam For Seat Cushion Bar Seats Layer Pads 2.5 Inch Thick Cut To Size (27" x 27") : Amazon.co.uk: Home & Kitchen

Harder to cut than regular foam but much more supportive and should last well. Memory foam is worthless in seating I find and even high density firm foam only does so well unless there's a lot of thickness to it. Not sure what your seat base is but a staple gun is handy for tacking the fabric under the base. For a single small job a good hand operated one will do but for bigger jobs an electric (or air driven) will be much easier on your hands 🙂 

Or just steal a cushion off a sofa (or a bed). Women always have far more than they need, for some reason! 😉

[johninderby]

I just added foam covered with leather on mine fpr a nice comfy solution.

[AstroNebulee]

This super zwo 2 inch filter drawer and spare drawer arrived today courtesy of @Grierson. A real pleasure to do business and fast delivery too. Now I can bring my astronomik L3 filter much closer to the sensor than it was and the last thing the photons hit before the sensor now. 

 

Edited May 31, 2022 by AstroNebulee

[Alan White]

13 minutes ago, johninderby said:

I just added foam covered with leather on mine fpr a nice comfy solution.

I just rely on my backsides own padding on my one.

@johninderby, I do like your solution and to be honest it would be better for this addition.
But my back side is well upholstered in its own rights, too many pies....

 

Edited May 31, 2022 by Alan White

[Captain Scarlet]

I've finally arrived to where these were delivered. 3 Items. Thanks belatedly to @moriniboy, @WbRaDy and @Richard_B. A Baader SkySurfer V; a SW Evoguide 50ED and an AZ-GTi, one of which which I've wanted for a long time.

I now have 3 Baader SSVs, each one dedicated and dialled-in to a scope. And oddly all 3 are slightly different in their details. They're a real pain to zero in for a new scope, especially in the dark, so I can understand why people might not get on with them. But once dedicated, they really are the last word in RDFs. And I have two Telrads too, not in the same league in my book.

The Evoguide 50ED I plan to apply a little surgery to, to turn it into a mega-finder: I'll shorten the main tube to allow a small RACI diagonal to be attached.

Cheers, Magnus.

 

[Astro Noodles]

Thanks to fellow member @whooshbang for selling me his bespoke dec bracket for iOptron Skyguider Pro. It has a Skywatcher derived worm gear for smooth adjustments. A major improvement over the standard iOptron one.

 

 

[markse68]

36 minutes ago, Captain Scarlet said:

The Evoguide 50ED I plan to apply a little surgery to, to turn it into a mega-finder: I'll shorten the main tube to allow a small RACI diagonal to be attached.

Very interested to hear how this works out for you Magnus. I wonder if there would be any benefit to using a field flattener with it for visual or if that would be even more overkill  https://starizona.com/products/evoff-field-flattener-for-skywatcher-evoguide-50ed

Mark

[Captain Scarlet]

20 minutes ago, markse68 said:

Very interested to hear how this works out for you Magnus. I wonder if there would be any benefit to using a field flattener with it for visual or if that would be even more overkill  https://starizona.com/products/evoff-field-flattener-for-skywatcher-evoguide-50ed

Mark

Mmmm that does look interesting. Never averse to a bit of overkill…

[JeremyS]

22 hours ago, HollyHound said:

You have no idea how many times I have come close to doing exactly that @JeremyS 😬

Decided instead to get the Lunt 16x70 binoculars... for now 😁

You’d better not look at the ad in the For Sale section, then @HollyHound and @MalcolmM!

[Pitch Black Skies]

Thank you @Grierson, you have been a pleasure to deal with.

Items packaged very securely and in excellent condition. Some of these bags have never even been opened..

 

[HollyHound]

9 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

You’d better not look at the ad in the For Sale section, then @HollyHound and @MalcolmM!

You are a very naughty man... but no, I'm not tempted.... right now 😁

[MalcolmM]

3 hours ago, JeremyS said:

You’d better not look at the ad in the For Sale section, then @HollyHound and @MalcolmM!

Now if he'd sell his Mewlon ... that would make for some binoscope!

Malcolm

[HollyHound]

13 minutes ago, MalcolmM said:

Now if he'd sell his Mewlon ... that would make for some binoscope!

Malcolm

Well actually he is (or was)…

and yes, I did (briefly) consider pairing it with mine 😬

I bet it would be stunning on the moon, binoviewing already is… but I suspect it would be a nightmare to setup/collimate and use 🤣

Edited May 31, 2022 by HollyHound

[david_taurus83]

 

Very similar in size to the Atik 460.

Of course, a few teething issues to sort out.

[JeremyS]

7 hours ago, MalcolmM said:

Now if he'd sell his Mewlon ... that would make for some binoscope!

Malcolm

I suspect that only @Stu would have the inter-pupillary distance to use it effectively 🙂

[MalcolmM]

7 hours ago, HollyHound said:

it would be a nightmare to setup/collimate

I'm sure I have enough trouble merging images in my WO Binoviewers but all the faffing is worth it for the views! Mewlons, Binoviewers, 60CB, 2" eyepieces; I've a thousand questions for you but too off topic  You'll be telling me you have a 100DC next

Malcolm

[MalcolmM]

5 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

I suspect that only @Stu would have the inter-pupillary distance to use it effectively 🙂

Binomewlon with the outer two and bino60CB with the inner two. Quadroscopic views ... fantastic

Malcolm

[HollyHound]

1 hour ago, MalcolmM said:

You'll be telling me you have a 100DC next

Umm, unless it's hiding amongst the others, I can confidently say I don't... or at least not anymore 😁

[Pixies]

More glass (pre-loved): 

My LVW collection increases. Thanks to @Rob for the 5mm - it's in brand-new condition!

The 10mm BCO was purchased just out of interest about all the rave reviews it gets. I wanted to compare it with my other little 10mm EPs (like the Vixen NLV plossls). I have a pair of the latter (for binovewing) and wanted to see if this was a better EP. I really like the 10mm NLVs. Thanks @F15Rules