Another ultra-light travel kit project

[badhex]

Funnily enough I actually did manage a quick test about two weeks ago and made a few notes. I thought about posting but hadn't, however I'm now inspired by @grjsk so I finally wrote it up below:

 

Skies were clear-ish so popped out for an hour with the converted Evoguide 50ED on my dreadfully light polluted balcony, as it has been barely tested since I built it last year. Transparency average at best with some high clouds, seeing also distinctly average, so not the best conditions!

Started with the 24mm APM UFF at 10x on Lyra. Not many stars visible; I suspect some clouds to be the culprit. Although it might be a good challenge for another night, no chance of splitting the second pairs of the double double under these conditions, so moved over to Albireo. Split with Pentax XW 10mm at 24x , clear and obvious with the Morpheus 4.5mm at 54x but no nice defined star shapes. Bigger fracs give lovely pinpoints, but some aberrations in here somewhere, seemingly even when on axis - the scope also didn't have time to cool, really. More investigation needed. 

Swung back to Lyra to try for the Ring. Not sure a 50mm scope can do it under London skies, but after some switching about between

10mm and 4.5mm, I was just, really only just, able to pick it up with averted vision. No defined ring shape, but definitely a presence. The ghost of the ring, you might say. 

Saturn still slightly above a building so I suspect thermal disturbance from that did not improve the views. Reasonably sharp with the 4.5mm at times, but not able to pick up any moons. 

10mm much sharper and Titan could be resolved at about the 10 o'clock position relative to the planet. Some phasing in and out of focus. 

Time was up as clouds were moving in so I called it a day. Overall not the best session but better than *no* session. Definitely some mechanical issues to resolve with the 50ED regarding the focuser mechanism; what I have discovered (which should have been obvious I suppose) is that because the focuser is quite low profile, I needed more space between the focuser and diagonal for EPs with longer barrels. I've since rearranged the order of extension tubes etc. to hopefully solve some of that. 

Looking forward to another session! 

 

[happycamper]

Some of you might be interested in a post i made to CN a while back. I was trying to get the weight down to under 5Kgs and a tiny setup that i could tuck into my day-pack whilst traveling. Ended up with a TV60. The initial micro tripod was eventually replaced by a tiny Sirui tripod later in the thread.

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/634162-my-solution-to-international-travel-with-only-a-day-pack/

cheers

John

[badhex]

59 minutes ago, happycamper said:

Some of you might be interested in a post i made to CN a while back. I was trying to get the weight down to under 5Kgs and a tiny setup that i could tuck into my day-pack whilst traveling. Ended up with a TV60. The initial micro tripod was eventually replaced by a tiny Sirui tripod later in the thread.

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/634162-my-solution-to-international-travel-with-only-a-day-pack/

cheers

John

Very nice setup! Once I get the optics fine tuned and tested, I'm planning to start cutting weight with a smaller mounting option, 

I like what @grjsk has done with the ball head, I'm not a photographer so it never occurred to me that when the ball is locked into the side notch it is effectively now an alt-az mount. Fluid heads are also a mystery to me but I've read a few like yourself who have had successes with them so that's another avenue to explore! 

[josefk]

Definitely worth popping into somewhere like WEX and having a play about with a lightweight fluid head @badhex - at the kind of scope weights and magnifications being discussed in here i would be confident even a lightweight one would be very nice ergonomically. I've never used a ball head but if they behave like the ball in a trigger grip (i.e. with a bit of stiction) then i would definitely recommend having a look at a fluid head alternative...

[badhex]

5 hours ago, josefk said:

Definitely worth popping into somewhere like WEX and having a play about with a lightweight fluid head @badhex - at the kind of scope weights and magnifications being discussed in here i would be confident even a lightweight one would be very nice ergonomically. I've never used a ball head but if they behave like the ball in a trigger grip (i.e. with a bit of stiction) then i would definitely recommend having a look at a fluid head alternative...

Thanks, great advice - definitely something to look into!

[grjsk]

In portrait mode and with the tension/clutches fully loosened, it shouldn’t be any stiction with a ball head. As long as you balance it properly you can move it around very smoothly with two fingers.

I have the arca swiss plate permanently attached to the dovetail bar, so that I don’t have to spend time balancing the setup.

A ballhead is also small and light, another bonus in these ultra-light setups. Mine is 300 grams or so, and should not have any issues with your scope.

[badhex]

5 minutes ago, grjsk said:

In portrait mode and with the tension/clutches fully loosened, it shouldn’t be any stiction with a ball head. As long as you balance it properly you can move it around very smoothly with two fingers.

I have the arca swiss plate permanently attached to the dovetail bar, so that I don’t have to spend time balancing the setup.

A ballhead is also small and light, another bonus in these ultra-light setups. Mine is 300 grams or so, and should not have any issues with your scope.

Cheers. At some point I shall venture to a real world shop (imagine that!) and have a play with both options to see which I prefer. The mount I'm using at the moment (AZT6) is about 1kg and very sturdy for the size, but definitely overkill. 

Edited October 25, 2023 by badhex