Evening from Kent

[BoredPhil]

After lurking on the for sale board on and off for a couple of years (also been reading other posts!) I finally found a step up from the Travelscope 70 and bought a used SW 130m last week for a bargain price 🕺

Work being horrendous at the mo, I've only just got it home today, so I finally got an EP in it once the kids were in bed. I've had a nice couple of hours trying to get used to an EQ2 with Venus (lovely crescent tonight) and general star hopping until the moon came up.

Unfortunately, the "m" in 130m doesn't work - despite my smugness at remembering to order some D batteries - so I've spent the last hour taking things apart to try to find loose connections etc. My suspicion is the battery holder as there's no light on the control, but I'll need to examine it all more with the voltmeter at some point to try to narrow it down.

It's no big problem if it's not salvageable, I'm only planning on observing as I've read too many posts on here warning about the potential cost of imaging! (I was going to say "astronomical cost", but that was too cheesy, even for me 😁).

So for now, I'll keep trying to get used to the mount (the number of times I went for the wrong dial...) and enjoying the ridiculous effectiveness of a red dot finder.

 Thanks for reading - hope you have clear skies and no work in the morning!

[Dr Strange]

Welcome Phil!

[cletrac1922]

Phil

Welcome from Land Down Under

You travel the universe in this forum, make friends on the way

I use a battery jump start pack to power my EQ5pro mount which is slightly visible pic taken at a club solar viewing day late last year

John

 

[fozzybear]

Welcome Phil.

From France, Don't worry a learning curve and plenty of people who can help just ask from the simple to the extreme and don't be afraid from asking. We have all been there....

Andy

[PeterCPC]

Hello Phil and welcome.

Peter

[banjaxed]

Hi Phil, welcome to SGL.

[Mr Spock]

Hi Phil, welcome to SGL 

[BoredPhil]

5 hours ago, cletrac1922 said:

I use a battery jump start pack to power my EQ5pro mount which is slightly visible pic taken at a club solar viewing day late last year

 

Thanks @cletrac1922 - that looks a lot more reliable than the flimsy wiring on the pack I've got, thanks for the tip! 

And thank you to everyone for the kinds welcome. I've even seen some names from posts on the boards I've been reading for a long time - you're all as friendly as I hoped!

[laudropb]

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL.

[DaveL59]

42 minutes ago, BoredPhil said:

Thanks @cletrac1922 - that looks a lot more reliable than the flimsy wiring on the pack I've got, thanks for the tip! 

And thank you to everyone for the kinds welcome. I've even seen some names from posts on the boards I've been reading for a long time - you're all as friendly as I hoped!

Welcome Phil.

The SW130 you have, is the battery pack 4xD-cell and a single RA motor drive like this one?

Quite likely it is in which case a jump start pack like that will not suit since your clockwork drive would be 6v. Connecting a 12v jump start pack would fry the control box so please don't try that. The battery box isn't great but should work so long as the wires are still connected and the battery contacts are clean. Do you have a meter to check there's voltage at the terminals and the plug at all?

You might notice I have mine switched to S rather than N, the way the motor fits onto the EQ2 means it drives the opposite way to the instructions or the scope ends up tracking the wrong way.

[sloz1664]

Hi Phil and a very warm welcome to the Lounge

Steve

[BoredPhil]

Yep, that's the one @DaveL59 - thanks. I imagine I would have been frustrated looking for a 6v one! I was googling 6v supplies last night in case it's that but then disappeared down a rabbit hole of electronic delights in the  online tat bazaar!

The contacts and wires look a little ropey, so I'm going to burrow in the shed at some point for my meter to try to figure out what's going wrong. 

Hopefully just a quick solder (need to find that too while I'm in there!) and I'm sorted, but that would be suspiciously simple... 😁

[rwilkey]

Hi Phil, a warm welcome from me too.  Clear skies!

[carastro]

Welcome to SGL from another in Kent/borders of SE london.

Carole 

[BoredPhil]

Just now, carastro said:

Welcome to SGL from another in Kent/borders of SE london.

Carole 

Hi Carole 👋

I'm a bit further down (Deal) but spend a lot of time around Sittingbourne for work. 

Think there's a good few from Kent on here

[BoredPhil]

@DaveL59 checked it and yes, dodgy positive connector on the pack. Not sure it's salvageable (looks like it's been chewed on one side) but there may be some old piece of kit lying around I can dismember to replace it.

Nothing like combining two hobbies in one!

[JoshHopk]

Hi Phil, welcome to SGL 

[ApophisAstros]

1 hour ago, DaveL59 said:

Welcome Phil.

The SW130 you have, is the battery pack 4xD-cell and a single RA motor drive like this one?

Quite likely it is in which case a jump start pack like that will not suit since your clockwork drive would be 6v. Connecting a 12v jump start pack would fry the control box so please don't try that. The battery box isn't great but should work so long as the wires are still connected and the battery contacts are clean. Do you have a meter to check there's voltage at the terminals and the plug at all?

You might notice I have mine switched to S rather than N, the way the motor fits onto the EQ2 means it drives the opposite way to the instructions or the scope ends up tracking the wrong way.

i wonder what they would think if they found it in your luggage at the airport.💣🤣

Roger

Edited May 9, 2020 by apophisOAS

[MikeP]

Hi Phil,

Welcome to SGL from the Kent / East Sussex border.

Mike

[DaveL59]

2 minutes ago, apophisOAS said:

i wonder what they would think if they found it in your luggage at the airport.💣

Roger

think they've stopped asking "please turn it on, sir" like they used to, brings out the naughty side of me as last time I was asked, I replied "sure, not  a problem, but surely if it was a B... then we'd both be stuffed..." CLICK  Don't try that in the states tho, no sense of humour their lot  

[ApophisAstros]

Welcome Phil  , from Worthing on the English coast in Bortle 4 skies,🌠🔭

Roger

[Pete Presland]

Hi welcome to SGL from Peter in Bedfordshire 🙂

[JonC]

11 hours ago, BoredPhil said:

After lurking on the for sale board on and off for a couple of years (also been reading other posts!) I finally found a step up from the Travelscope 70 and bought a used SW 130m last week for a bargain price 🕺

Work being horrendous at the mo, I've only just got it home today, so I finally got an EP in it once the kids were in bed. I've had a nice couple of hours trying to get used to an EQ2 with Venus (lovely crescent tonight) and general star hopping until the moon came up.

Unfortunately, the "m" in 130m doesn't work - despite my smugness at remembering to order some D batteries - so I've spent the last hour taking things apart to try to find loose connections etc. My suspicion is the battery holder as there's no light on the control, but I'll need to examine it all more with the voltmeter at some point to try to narrow it down.

It's no big problem if it's not salvageable, I'm only planning on observing as I've read too many posts on here warning about the potential cost of imaging! (I was going to say "astronomical cost", but that was too cheesy, even for me 😁).

So for now, I'll keep trying to get used to the mount (the number of times I went for the wrong dial...) and enjoying the ridiculous effectiveness of a red dot finder.

 Thanks for reading - hope you have clear skies and no work in the morning!

Hi mate, and hello from another bit of Kent. I am over towards Tonbridge.

[BoredPhil]

@JonC @MikeP  👋

looks like another clear one down here tonight, but I won't get a chance to play until next weekend 😭 

Debating throwing the Travelscope in the car to see if I get a chance to use it, but that's technically for the kids and they'd use it to justify playing with the SW - which I don't think would end well unsupervised... 

[DaveL59]

the EQ mount would likely throw them when trying to point to a target but other than that they're sturdy enough I think, depending on kids age and height. A bumper on the end of the counterweight bar might be a good idea tho. But then again, you'd end up relegated to the travelscope once they take over the "proper" one lol

I'm Medway/Maidstone area by the way, there's quite a few kent based here I've noticed  

Edited May 9, 2020 by DaveL59