M100 in 4.5 Hrs, sort of...

[tomato]

26 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

I made my own, holds WO110FLT triplet, FR plus CCD camera no bother, only cost about 30GBP in materials.

Dave

Nice, but how much did your machine tools cost or did you make it with just hand tools?

[Davey-T]

28 minutes ago, tomato said:

Nice, but how much did your machine tools cost or did you make it with just hand tools?

Made the prototype with milling bits in a pillar drill then made some more using my son in laws CNC machine.

Dave

Top

Top with ss cover plate

Three of them mounted on the 10Micron GM1000
Middle one is for WO110FLT, small ones for WO Star71s

[MrsGnomus]

11 hours ago, gorann said:

Does anyone know if there is any more sturdy adjustment saddle on the market than the 9kg JTD? TS or Astroshop don't seem to sell any. Maybe one day I feel rich enough to put another esprit 150 next to mine.

ADM make one which looks remarkably like the original Cassady T-GAD. https://www.admaccessories.com/product/tgad-tandem-guiding-aiming-device-altaz-aiming-device-for-side-by-side-systems/ I am in the US at the moment and was idly looking for second hand Cassady’ on Astromart and discovered the news that ADM are producing them via that route. Unfortunately they are an eye watering $550 new - I dread to think how much it would cost to buy one in the U.K. - second mortgage territory?

[JamesF]

I'm really not sure this image works, you know.  There are just far too many faint fuzzy blobs to make it all out properly.

James

[gorann]

8 hours ago, Davey-T said:

Made the prototype with milling bits in a pillar drill then made some more using my son in laws CNC machine.

Dave

Three of them mounted on the 10Micron GM1000

Middle one is for WO110FLT, small ones for WO Star71

Impressive craftsmanship! This thread suggests it will be a market for them so......

By the way, why three - would not two be enough?

[gorann]

8 hours ago, MrsGnomus said:

ADM make one which looks remarkably like the original Cassady T-GAD. https://www.admaccessories.com/product/tgad-tandem-guiding-aiming-device-altaz-aiming-device-for-side-by-side-systems/ I am in the US at the moment and was idly looking for second hand Cassady’ on Astromart and discovered the news that ADM are producing them via that route. Unfortunately they are an eye watering $550 new - I dread to think how much it would cost to buy one in the U.K. - second mortgage territory?

I could not see any statement about payload capacity for the ADM. Is it sturdier than the JTD?

[tomato]

11 hours ago, MrsGnomus said:

ADM make one which looks remarkably like the original Cassady T-GAD. https://www.admaccessories.com/product/tgad-tandem-guiding-aiming-device-altaz-aiming-device-for-side-by-side-systems/ I am in the US at the moment and was idly looking for second hand Cassady’ on Astromart and discovered the news that ADM are producing them via that route. Unfortunately they are an eye watering $550 new - I dread to think how much it would cost to buy one in the U.K. - second mortgage territory?

As highlighted in this thread, if you have the space and time,  invest instead in some second hand good old pre CNC machine tools (lathe and milling machine) and teach yourself the skills, there are so many things you can make with them, not just astro gear.

[ollypenrice]

13 hours ago, MrsGnomus said:

ADM make one which looks remarkably like the original Cassady T-GAD. https://www.admaccessories.com/product/tgad-tandem-guiding-aiming-device-altaz-aiming-device-for-side-by-side-systems/ I am in the US at the moment and was idly looking for second hand Cassady’ on Astromart and discovered the news that ADM are producing them via that route. Unfortunately they are an eye watering $550 new - I dread to think how much it would cost to buy one in the U.K. - second mortgage territory?

That looks good.  My second hand T-GAD cost me 600 euros, so eye-watering it certainly was! Also it works so well that you only ever use it once, so to speak. Once aligned it stays so for a very long time indeed. I suppose this is why it's worth paying for but you somehow feel that needing to twiddle it from time to time would justify the price! Some people manage without one and align by patiently experimenting with shims etc. This is very worthy but, as with all my kit, I need to be as plug and play as possible for the sake of our guests. Losing alignment and needing a night to recover it is not an option.

Olly

[Davey-T]

5 hours ago, gorann said:

By the way, why three - would not two be enough?

I am attempting to run three WO Star71s at once or the WO110FLT.

As Olly said the commercial ones are over engineered and there's no need for all those big adjusting knobs and large adjustment range, simple bolts do the job and once set you leave well alone 

Dave

[MrsGnomus]

22 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

That looks good.  My second hand T-GAD cost me 600 euros, so eye-watering it certainly was! Also it works so well that you only ever use it once, so to speak. Once aligned it stays so for a very long time indeed. I suppose this is why it's worth paying for but you somehow feel that needing to twiddle it from time to time would justify the price! Some people manage without one and align by patiently experimenting with shims etc. This is very worthy but, as with all my kit, I need to be as plug and play as possible for the sake of our guests. Losing alignment and needing a night to recover it is not an option.

Maybe you should get one and thoroughly test it for the rest of us by putting your dual Tak rig back into action ?. 

[ollypenrice]

4 hours ago, MrsGnomus said:

Maybe you should get one and thoroughly test it for the rest of us by putting your dual Tak rig back into action ?. 

Fine! I have a regular supplier of second cameras for dual rigs. This one needs to be full frame with 2 inch filters... ? One good win in Las Vegas should cover it...

lly

[MrsGnomus]

3 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

Fine! I have a regular supplier of second cameras for dual rigs. This one needs to be full frame with 2 inch filters... ? One good win in Las Vegas should cover it...

No luck so far......we leave tomorrow for a couple of weeks touring - you will have to keep your fingers crossed for a big win when we get back here again....