Absolutely gutted!

[Rustang]

7 hours ago, Roy Foreman said:

I feel your pain. I have dropped and damaged three telescopes over the years. One was a fatality with cracked corrector plate. A six inch refractor went out of collimation, as did an eight inch newtonian. In all cases I had put the scope on a bench or chair thinking it was secure. Sadly not.

My cat loves to join me in the observatory at night, and once he did get locked in over night, but fortunately no telescope damage occurred. 

Sorry to hear of you tragedy,  and the fact that you are not alone is probably of no help.

I know I'm certainly not alone, things like this happen to others all of the time, we all dread the day its us but you just role with the punches. I've lost expensive mobile phones and sunglasses to the jaws of our dogs, dented my current car two weeks into owning it, it's life I guess but always worries me when buying something nice! It seems I'm not aloud to keep it nice! 🙄

Edited July 24, 2021 by Rustang

[StevieDvd]

Could it simply be that the focus tube is not holding position as it used to and is able to move enough to lose the critical focus you had before.  Is the line on the focus tube a marked position used for your earlier focus point which now results in the off focus?

Perhaps someone with more technical knowledge can say whether a bhatinov mask would help in testing the focus, do you have one?

I'm sure there are plenty here who have had the focuser off their SWED80 either to replace with an upgrade or to tweak. What do you think about the idea of loosening the 3 screws holding the focuser on and re-locating it so it fits snugly as before and re-tightening them?  Perhaps if there is a simple focus test that can be done before and after, the refit might be an option to consider.

I was knocking up a 3d print design for my 2 ED80 scopes to hold the cap on the end as they drop out far too easily, now you've got me thinking to check mine for collimation again and to do a laser holder instead!

[david_taurus83]

Can you not remove the focuser and check for the misalignment? Sometimes it's a case of unscrewing things loose to get them to sit back into where they should before tightening things up again. You've nothing to loose.

[StevieDvd]

I found a link to a PDF previously added in an SGL thread and have attached it here for you. It mentions testing for collimation errors in the focuser and objective problems. Only name I can find is in the properties of the PDF, so thanks to Phil for the document.

Hope it may help.

collimation_adventures-1.pdf

[Rustang]

Thanks for all the comments guys, when I get a sec and if I can I will try and take a look at everything I can and see if I can sort anything 👍

[geordie85]

On 23/07/2021 at 19:47, Rustang said:

So I had an infuriating and upsetting incident last Saturday, I had been out imaging Friday night and packed up about 3am and went to bed. The next morning it was really hot so I always open the shed where my gear is stored to let the air flow through, as i opened the door our cat ran out, oh so I locked you in by mistake, i didnt even know he was in there! Then I stepped into the shed and my heart sank, my scope with guide scope with guide camera attached was on the floor! it was 4ft above the floor position at a 45 degree angle away from the edge of the work top where i always leave it. I went numb and just stood there waiting to be pinched and woken up from this nightmare. How it happened i dont know, it was obviously the cat but considering it all weighs nearly 5 kg and the cat weighs nothing he must have gone mental trying to get out!!!

I didnt have the heart to pick it up for a while not wanting to accept any damage. I eventually did and started stripping it all down checking for damage. The bracket holding the guide scope on was pretty bent up including a screw on the back that holds the focueser to the scope body. The main scope sort of appeared unscathed but on closer inspection the focus unit appeared not 100% aligned with the body and the tube the same with the unit, it had taken a knock because it was locked but pushed in! apart from that it seemed ok. After sorting everything the best I could i decided to try imaging the next couple of nights. The guide camera still works, and all appeared ok with the images so I was relived but also not convinced i had gotten way with any issues just yet.

Sadly after looking at my data tonight I can see the stars are not great at the same focus, see images below. The crisper stars from before the fall, the crap stars after! So i would say its now out of colimation which I'm not surprised about! I'm gutted, my gear is my pride and joy. and there was me worrying about the stars in the corners in my earlier thread!

 

Does anyone know if i could be sent away and where to be sorted!?

 

Just seen this on ABS and thought of this thread.

https://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=176342

[Rustang]

31 minutes ago, geordie85 said:

Just seen this on ABS and thought of this thread.

https://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=176342

Cheers, i will look into this 👍

[Rustang]

Well this isant going so well. I really appreciate your 'do it yourself' advice which I've got nothing to lose in trying so will at some point take a look. I really would prefer however to have had this looked at professionally because if I was to sell it on I would won't piece of mind that the new owner would have it fully functional. It's in searching for a professional that sadly isant seeming an option. SCT telescopes can't even be bothered to reply!!!! ES Reid is to busy! And ENS in Birmingham (and this is the second time I've been told this could be the case) recon that the cell could now be out of collimation so your looking at £170 plus vat for a full strip down and service so by the time it's got to Birmingham and back to be sorted its probably not worth spending that kind on money!. So note to self, don't brake your telescope, or allow your cat to! 😒

Edited July 30, 2021 by Rustang

[StevieDvd]

How far are you from Stevenage. I'm not an expert in this but can probably help with some of the basics.

To start with see the link below.

That looks a little like your problem, if it's the focuser on yours that's the issue we can try one of my spares (both from an Evostar DS80) - if that fixes it then you can order a new focuser or I can let you have one of mine cheap (£25 for the used one or £45 for the 'as new' one). Or we may be able to fix yours, having good ones to compare with,

Will have a read up on checking the collimation on refractors as it's been a while since I've checked mine, though have never had to change them. I've got some collimation tools left-over from having an SCT which may help.

This would be done in my garage as the missus is a bit wary due to covid and people in the, and we can both wear masks if you prefer.

And to be clear there won't be any costs involved I'm not looking to start a repair service or anything like that.  I'd be happy enough if you left with a zero cost solution.

If you'd rather get professional help or have a go yourself I won't be offended 🙂

Steve

 

[Rustang]

6 minutes ago, StevieDvd said:

How far are you from Stevenage. I'm not an expert in this but can probably help with some of the basics.

To start with see the link below.

That looks a little like your problem, if it's the focuser on yours that's the issue we can try one of my spares (both from an Evostar DS80) - if that fixes it then you can order a new focuser or I can let you have one of mine cheap (£25 for the used one or £45 for the 'as new' one). Or we may be able to fix yours, having good ones to compare with,

Will have a read up on checking the collimation on refractors as it's been a while since I've checked mine, though have never had to change them. I've got some collimation tools left-over from having an SCT which may help.

This would be done in my garage as the missus is a bit wary due to covid and people in the, and we can both wear masks if you prefer.

And to be clear there won't be any costs involved I'm not looking to start a repair service or anything like that.  I'd be happy enough if you left with a zero cost solution.

If you'd rather get professional help or have a go yourself I won't be offended 🙂

Steve

 

That's incredibly kind of you, I'm only in Hemel Hempstead so not far from you so that would be amazing. I'm just not experienced at all in this kind of thing so another pair of more experienced eyes on it would be really helpful so thank you.

Edited July 30, 2021 by Rustang

[StevieDvd]

5 minutes ago, Rustang said:

That's incredibly kind of you, I'm only in Hemel Hempstead so not far from you so that would be amazing. I'm just not experienced at all in this kind of thing so another pair of more experienced eyes on it would be really helpful so thanks you.

I early retired last year so have the time, especially with the current weather.  And to be honest I think you will only need a fixed or replacement focuser and from what I've read collimation of the ED80 is robust and can be tweaked at the focuser end. 

PM me you name & mobile number if your Ok with that, I'll need to add you to my contacts list as uknown numbers are automatically blocked.