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michigander

By michigander
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michigander

michigander

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I am originally from Michigan, but crossed the pond 6 years ago to marry a lovely London girl. I've been interested in astronomy since I first saw M42 through a 3X Boy Scout telescope at the age of 10. I've still got an 8" Dobsonian languishing at a friend's house in Michigan; it's just too costly to ship it over here. I had planned to buy another Dob, but I when I saw a 6" F8 Skywatcher on a CG5 GoTo mount on Ebay I'd thought I'd go for it. I had to be at work when the auction ended so my Ebay-savvy wife did the bidding. She got it, making the winning bid with 13 seconds to go. Hope whoever she pipped at the post isn't too disappointed!

I tried it out Tuesday night and was very impressed. Setup and alignment went easier than I had expected. I punched in M42 and the scope swung around toward Orion and then stopped. I looked in the eyepiece and there it was! After years of trying to find things with a Dob (with no finder scope) I can finally spend most of my time observing , rather than searching.

The guy I bought it from suggested keeping the mount outside under a waterproof cover. Considering the humid climate, is this a good idea?

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MikeP

MikeP

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Hi Michigander, welcome to SGL. Congratulations on your new scope.

Not sure I'd leave the mount outside - more from security concerns than dampness. If you decide to, have a look at Telegizmo covers (from Texas IIRC) but obtainable from The Widescreen Centre in London. There's an all year round version - expensive for what it is but should stand up to the sun (ha ha ha) as well as the damp.

Mike

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glowjet

glowjet

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Hi Michigander,

A warm welcome to SGL. If your mount has to be relegated to the outside, apart from a cover a small lockable gardening cabinet may be considered as well, a light dressing of Vaseline, or similar, to all external threads during damp weather could be of benefit, or replace with stainless steel.

John.

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barkis

barkis

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A warm welcome to the SGL Forum, and may your stay be a rewarding one. Well done to your wife on securing that ebay last minute bid on the Skywatcher. Hope you get a lot of pleasure from it.

Much help available if you should need any.

Ron.:)

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michigander

michigander

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Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome! Just waiting for another clear night now. I'm still amazed by the changeability of the weather here. Things are much more predictable in Michigan; if it rains it rains for a week, and if it's clear it stays that way for a while. There's nothing like a crystal clear winter's night out in the cornfields - it's just so blumming cold! Zero fahrenheit is not unusual, and I've been out observing when it's minus 20F.

Thanks for the tips about leaving the mount outside. I sometimes forget what a crime-ridden society I live in now. Wouldn't have worried about it in rural Michigan. I used to keep my carkeys under the driver's seat, just so I knew where they were. My wife was astounded when she first saw me throw them there.

There are good things about the UK, though. Wonderful sausages and cheeses (lousy bacon,though) and I found a great car that is just not available in the States. It's a Mitsubishi Fto - DOHC 24v 2.0 V6, tiptronic shift - oops, sorry, this is an astronomy site...

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