Being sentimental about gear...

[AMcD]

I have decided that I have been letting sentimentality get the better of me. 

For some years now I have had a side by side set up on my pier mounted Losmandy G11, which includes my venerable old second hand Celestron Celestar 8.  It was my first big scope after I got back into the hobby as an adult.  Over the years the set up has grown and I now use the TS152 for AP almost to the exclusion of the C8, not least because I have never really gotten on with Hyperstar and the C8 is otherwise very slow indeed at f10, and therefore very unforgiving.  But still I let the C8 sit there, being carried along as a spectator to the main event.  Because I love it.   

The G11 is now at capacity.  In fact slightly over, at 61lbs of gear.    Whilst I can sometimes achieve a guiding RMS of 0.80" with this full load, more often I am in the high 1.xx"s or low 2.xx"s and I know that one of the reasons for this is likely the weight the mount is carrying.   

In circumstances where I have  a mini PC mounted on the TS152 to control the whole set up, it is not easy to switch regularly between scopes.  I know the practical and sensible thing to do is to remove the C8 and the side by side dovetail and just run the TS152.  But the thought of the C8 sitting in the corner of the observatory, or worse being sold, breaks my poor heart... 😟

[Luke]

What use is the best imaging rig in the world when one has a broken heart?

My wife feels most sentimental about our Equinox 120mm scope. I was up for selling it at one point, but am glad now that my wife vetoed it. Though it's tempting to get a 150mm as well, I think 120mm will probably be the largest frac we have unless we get an obsy one day!

For me, I am most fond of our smallest scope: the little Tele Vue-60. It's been my faithful grab-and-go scope, especially for solar, and it looks a bit quirky. It also restored my faith in helical focusers! To some, this may be little more than a guide scope. To me, this is a mini marvel!

[AMcD]

I decided to do it.  It is a beautiful day for working in the observatory with the roof off.  I had to re-engineer the cradle as the TEC unit for the QHY8 and the guide scope were on the C8 (and the TS152 does not really have a place to mount a finder).

[RobertI]

Could you put the C8 on an altaz mount for visual? 

[AMcD]

On 31/03/2021 at 21:38, RobertI said:

Could you put the C8 on an altaz mount for visual? 

I did contemplate doing that but decided to sell it to someone who would use it regularly.  The buyer picked up the C8 and the Hyperstar yesterday morning and by 5pm it was sitting on an AP mount next to a very high quality refractor.  I fear the C8 is going to think it has been rather slumming it with me for the past 30 years 😂

[Luke]

A toast to your new, post-C8 era! It was kind-hearted of you to let the C8 go boldy where it perhaps hasn't been for a while. Hopefully your broken heart be mended. Perhaps a bit of astro retail therapy can aid the healing process?

[Peter Drew]

I did the opposite out of sentimentality.  Despite already having 5 "modern" SCT's I bought a 1980's orange C8 simply because I had always wanted one!        🙂

[JeremyS]

Nothing wrong with equipment sentimentality. Im thinking of learning Japanese so I can speak to my Taks more easily.