A handle to safely hold a Skymax 180

[NenoVento]

Hi all,

I'm the proud owner of a (recently purchased) Sky-Watcher Skymax 180 PRO and, to be honest, although I've solved the issue of its transportation by using a proper bag I'm struggling to safely hold it when placing it in my mount (an HEQ5). I've looked in the Internet for commercial solutions to this issue but, since the OTA does not seem to have mounting holes to place a proper dovetail bar on the top side, the only possible way available seems to be using tube rings of some kind but, so far, I haven't been able to find ones that fit such OTA (Sky-Watcher publicizes a 182 mm tube ring set. However,  in their website they say that it is for the "BK P150750 Reflector", which I think is a 150 mm reflector).

Any suggestion would be very much welcome.

Regards,

NV

[Space Oddities]

Perhaps this can help you?

The 2nd post mentions Orion 216mm tube rings, but I haven't been able to find them online... But that's a start  

Ah, found them, but out of stock obviously...

Perhaps you can try here: https://www.orionoptics.co.uk/ACCESSORIES/tuberingsa.html

 

Edited April 14, 2021 by Space Oddities

[M40]

36 minutes ago, NenoVento said:

I'm struggling to safely hold it when placing it in my mount (an HEQ5).

I know where you are coming from, it's quite a balancing act. There are a number of material based luggage straps that can be used or maybe some heavy duty cable tie's but I can offer a slightly out of the box solution. I bought the HEQ5 extension tube and when bolted to the HEQ5 it raises the height of the mount to just below shoulder height. Strangely, I find it far easier to fit the telescope to the mount at that height. Using the extension does make the mount heavier but it also makes the polar scope easier to use and it's a doddle to level the mount as you can simply put a bubble on different faces of the extension tube. A straight through finder is a requirement as well. HTH

[NenoVento]

On 14/04/2021 at 21:43, M40 said:

I know where you are coming from, it's quite a balancing act. There are a number of material based luggage straps that can be used or maybe some heavy duty cable tie's but I can offer a slightly out of the box solution. I bought the HEQ5 extension tube and when bolted to the HEQ5 it raises the height of the mount to just below shoulder height. Strangely, I find it far easier to fit the telescope to the mount at that height. Using the extension does make the mount heavier but it also makes the polar scope easier to use and it's a doddle to level the mount as you can simply put a bubble on different faces of the extension tube. A straight through finder is a requirement as well. HTH

I will look into the extension tube @M40, but first I need to wait for a new tripod to arrive for my HEQ5, which I ordered so as to have the North pointing puck on a leg, instead of in between legs (the space I converted into an obsy in my house, which was the only available place I had, is really small and ill-oriented). Actually, another benefit of the new tripod is that, in the pictures, it seems more solid than the one I already have (my HEQ5 is a GOTO-updated old black ones), which I hope will save me from having to get an beefier mount in order to do planetary imaging. To be honest, the preliminary tests I've done so far are not very encouraging because I'm getting way too much vibration when moving the scope in order to keep the planet properly centered. Actually, I wanted to ask you if installing the extension tube had any effect on the stability of the mount.

Regards,

NV

[M40]

I just like the single lucky snap thing so can't really comment on if it improves stability for imaging. What I can say though is that when focusing, plenty of vibration comes into play. I have changed a few things in that I now have a steeltrack and lakeside motor focuser fitted which is a vast improvement over my shakey hands, that setup I can definitely recommend. Likewise I am trying to gear up for live viewing and as far as stability goes I haven't noticed any challenges there as yet.

The other thing I have noticed is, to my mind anyway, the horizontal level of the mount is more important than the vertical level. The machining of the extension tube ends are not perfect, as such I struggled to get the vertical level of the mount aligned with the vertical level of the extension tube so I ignored it and just concentrated on the horizontal level of the mount. I got a piece of 5mm thick rigid plastic material, cut a 62mm hole in the right place with a slot for the north peg and stuck it between mount and tube. The size of the plastic was such that I have room to place a level on it without the plastic being too large so it hits the mount or telescope during operation. Hope this helps.

[JeremyS]

Where’s John Handleby when you need him?
 

[NenoVento]

10 hours ago, M40 said:

(...) I got a piece of 5mm thick rigid plastic material, cut a 62mm hole in the right place with a slot for the north peg and stuck it between mount and tube. The size of the plastic was such that I have room to place a level on it without the plastic being too large so it hits the mount or telescope during operation. Hope this helps.

Hi @M40, could you please take a picture of this DIY setup?.

Best regards,

NV

Edited April 17, 2021 by NenoVento

[M40]

There you go...

 

[NenoVento]

Nice!. Thanks mate