What did the postman bring? V2

[Zermelo]

Another prezzy arrived. As a non-imager, I can only marvel.

 

[Littleguy80]

3 hours ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

The problem now of course is that it has given me the payload capacity for a 4" refractor.  Please pray for my bank balance.

That’s how it started for me. Fortunately I kept a large stock of baked beans for eyepiece photos so I’ve still been able to eat 

[CraigT82]

This was a total impulse purchase but the price was too good to pass up… ex-demo FC100DC from FLO’s clearance section. And a little Svbony 8mm-3mm zoom not from FLO (shock!).

Was thinking of selling my Starfield 102ED but might actually keep it as a dedicated white light solar scope because I’m not sure I want to point that lovely fluorite crystal at the sun. 

First light for both just now, on Vega, and a lovely view of epsilon lyrae. Now to bed because the rugrats will have me up before 5am. 
 

[Stu]

7 minutes ago, CraigT82 said:

This was a total impulse purchase but the price was too good to pass up… ex-demo FC100DC from FLO’s clearance section. And a little Svbony 8mm-3mm zoom not from FLO (shock!).

Was thinking of selling my Starfield 102ED but might actually keep it as a dedicated white light solar scope because I’m not sure I want to point that lovely fluorite crystal at the sun. 

First light for both just now, on Vega, and a lovely view of epsilon lyrae. Now to bed because the rugrats will have me up before 5am. 
 

Lovely! Don’t worry about pointing at the Sun, I’ve been doing white light solar with mine using a Wedge for years with no issues. Get yourself a CoolWedge and be amazed! 👍

Enjoy 😊

[CraigT82]

2 minutes ago, Stu said:

Lovely! Don’t worry about pointing at the Sun, I’ve been doing white light solar with mine using a Wedge for years with no issues. Get yourself a CoolWedge and be amazed! 👍

Enjoy 😊

Ah thanks that’s good to know, may well sell the starfield then to try and limit the financial damage! 

[JeremyS]

17 minutes ago, CraigT82 said:

This was a total impulse purchase but the price was too good to pass up… ex-demo FC100DC from FLO’s clearance section. And a little Svbony 8mm-3mm zoom not from FLO (shock!).

Was thinking of selling my Starfield 102ED but might actually keep it as a dedicated white light solar scope because I’m not sure I want to point that lovely fluorite crystal at the sun. 

First light for both just now, on Vega, and a lovely view of epsilon lyrae. Now to bed because the rugrats will have me up before 5am. 
 

Congratulations Craig. Looks superb!

[GrumpiusMaximus]

31 minutes ago, CraigT82 said:

This was a total impulse purchase but the price was too good to pass up… ex-demo FC100DC from FLO’s clearance section. And a little Svbony 8mm-3mm zoom not from FLO (shock!).

Was thinking of selling my Starfield 102ED but might actually keep it as a dedicated white light solar scope because I’m not sure I want to point that lovely fluorite crystal at the sun. 

First light for both just now, on Vega, and a lovely view of epsilon lyrae. Now to bed because the rugrats will have me up before 5am. 
 

Please don't show me 4" refractors.  Dear God no.  Please.  I won't have a house or an understanding partner if I fall into temptation...

[Emperor!Takahashi!]

28 minutes ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

I won't have a house or an understanding partner if I fall into temptation...

I routinely mention "in passing" the many scandalous vices on which I could be spending the money 😇 The list is so long. And then it seems so lovably benign when another telescope just shows up 😁 

[Captain Scarlet]

24 minutes ago, Emperor!Takahashi! said:

I routinely mention "in passing" the many scandalous vices on which I could be spending the money 😇 The list is so long. And then it seems so lovably benign when another telescope just shows up 😁 

She positively begs you to get it, no?

[Mr Spock]

1 hour ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

Please don't show me 4" refractors.  Dear God no.  Please.  I won't have a house or an understanding partner if I fall into temptation...

You'll be fine. I bought mine and I still have the house. I've no idea where she is these days though... 😜

[TiffsAndAstro]

19 hours ago, TiffsAndAstro said:

So excited I forgot to take photo: 2 x 5/8th 1/4 unc 20 countersunk bolts.

Because I previously ordered 3/8th 

These new longer bolts worked fine for my red top bar btw. I re re wired things again a bit.

[Ratlet]

17 hours ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

Please don't show me 4" refractors.  Dear God no.  Please.  I won't have a house or an understanding partner if I fall into temptation...

Don't waste your time, they won't listen to you on here.  I buckled and got the 102ed this year to cheers and applause from the forum.

I do have some advice regarding making your partner more understanding about a 4" apo refractor:

Tell them you are looking at a 5" triplet.

[MarsG76]

What do 3 kidneys and 4 arms and a leg buy????

I finally got my Hyperstar kit... time to vaccum up those photons...

Edited July 19 by MarsG76

[Vroobel]

On 18/07/2024 at 14:55, wookie1965 said:

I have just got one of the these and it's brilliant. 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/tripods/astro-essentials-2-tripod-leg-grips.html?_gl=1*lrqb1t*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTUwMTk5MzU2LjE3MjEzMTA4Nzg.*_ga_F6VGWQ0MW9*MTcyMTMxMDg3OC4xLjAuMTcyMTMxMDg3OC4wLjAuMA..

 

Sorry, I couldn't resist. 😁 Just printed using PET-G filament. Will test it when a time-lapse ends. 

 

 

Edited July 19 by Vroobel

[Space Oddities]

Postman delivered this little red gem! It will replace my trusty AZ-GTi as a secondary rig.

I couldn't resist making a family portrait! It's surprising but the AM3 is the same size and weight as the RST-135, despite the maximum payload difference (13 vs 18kg). Kudos to RainbowAstro for making such a little mount.

The AM3 looks much easier to use though: I like the joystick, the fact it comes with an app and the bluetooth. Being familiar with the ASIAIR, it seems very easy to control and perfect for outreach. I mean, it's way cooler to show a planetarium on your phone than a hand controller with lots of weird numbers! It's also way more quiet than the other 2, which both produce a horrible grinding sound when slewing, especially the AZ-GTI.

 

 

 

[Gonariu]

I saw it last month in an online market of used astronomical material in Italian and for the price I couldn't resist and it arrived a few days ago, the Vixen Polaris 90L which I want to try out on the Moon after the full moon of these days (then it will be the planets' turn ......). The mount and tripod are not original, they are the Bresser EQ5 equivalent (so I think).

[Gonariu]

On 19/07/2024 at 00:04, GrumpiusMaximus said:

Per favore non mostrarmi rifrattori da 4". Dio mio, no. Per favore. Non avrò una casa o un partner comprensivo se cado in tentazione...

I understand you very well, with the Polaris 90L I really want to get to grips with it and no longer take other lenses: I no longer have to put myself into temptation (difficult!) ......

[Stu1smartcookie]

A pier extension to make levelling the AZ Pro mount easy  , as adjusting the tri-pier is a real pain , purchased from FlO and hopefully making it's debut tonight (Sunday) . A bit fiddly to set up but once there it's a breeze to level . 

Edited Sunday at 19:04 by Stu1smartcookie

[cajen2]

4 hours ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

A pier extension to make levelling the AZ Pro mount easy  , as adjusting the tri-pier is a real pain , purchased from FlO and hopefully making it's debut tonight (Sunday) . A bit fiddly to set up but once there it's a breeze to level . 

Nice. Look forward to seeing that in action at Astrocamp, Stu.

[Martyn87]

Not the postman, but @CloudMagnet kindly dropped this beast off for me today, EQ6R-Pro which makes my scope look TINY!

Edited Sunday at 22:08 by Martyn87

[Stu1smartcookie]

28 minutes ago, cajen2 said:

Nice. Look forward to seeing that in action at Astrocamp, Stu.

Set it up tonight and it worked well ... Saves a lot of time and a backache too

[globular]

19 hours ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

A pier extension to make levelling the AZ Pro mount easy

I've been thinking about an AZ Pro - can I ask a question?

I thought the AZ Pro had the adjusters, not the pier extension?
Or was the problem that the connection of the AZ Pro direct to your tri-pier didn’t allow the adjusters to be fitted? And so the new extension fitted between the two fixed that?  Nice solution if that's the case 

Edited Monday at 12:49 by globular

[Alan White]

DPD rather than postie, just been.
Typical in that the skys now solid dark cloud today 

A long awaited Solarquest for my Ha Lunt.

[Pixies]

Some goodies from Japan

 

A box of spare goodies. 4 or 5 of which I was after, the rest might go up for sale later. 

2 vixen counterweights with cute little padded bags. A flexible slomo control. 2 SLV eyepieces, 2 NPL eyepieces and Vixen EP case. A vixen polar meter and an SX polar scope. A spare Vixen AP manual DEC slomo module. 

And the infamous Vixen 100mm finder eyepiece!

[Vroobel]

Hopefully, the last missing thing in my nighttime photography setup: a powered from USB adjustable 240mm long heating band perfectly matching my Tamron 17-35mm. Perseids ahead! 🤩

 

 

Edited Monday at 14:22 by Vroobel