What did the postman bring? V2

[wimvb]

Late summer reading.

[josefk]

...so this possibly coulda, shoulda, woulda be a Rowan AZ75 - only time will tell if i've gone down the wrong road sticking with a fluid head concept and that i'll come to regret this.

My GnG scope arrangements will be getting a little bit heavier some time in September (going from ~2kg currently to ~4.5...6kg) and so as i love the Manfrotto MV502 fluid head so much i've stuck with the same concept and simply gone for the higher rated MVH612. Quality and look and feel is fantastic but the proof of the pudding will be at x180 in a few weeks...🤞

 

Edited August 4, 2023 by josefk
grammar

[UKDiver]

2 hours ago, YogSothoth said:

OK thanks. I’ll give it another go.

It does take some grip and effort, but it will move eventually.  Oh, yes, it will.

[YogSothoth]

19 minutes ago, UKDiver said:

It does take some grip and effort, but it will move eventually.  Oh, yes, it will.

It did eventually unscrew. I was just being a bit overcautious, not wanting to damage anything. After much swapping around of various spacers, I managed to bring it to focus with my Lunt solar wedge for a bit of white light observing. For all of 5 mins before it clouded over again 😂. Looked lovely though.

[bosun21]

A couple of 10mm UFF eyepieces for the MBII’s. 
 

[DirkSteele]

3 hours ago, wimvb said:

Late summer reading.

Everyone should have a copy of that book. Almost everyone ends up with a telescope at some point that does not quite meet expectations. This will help you find out what is wrong. And even if that does not happen, it is an interesting read, if a little heavy going at times.

[Space Hopper]

@bosun21

Nice. Do they have the 'twist-up eyecups' ?

I purchased the 12mm versions shortly before they were discontinued, which have this feature.

You sacrifice a little bit of fov, but they are nice eyepieces at a good price point. 

The 12mm give me 212x power, which is a bit too much most of the time, so they don't get used that often. I also have the 15mm 65º flat fields which are good also.

[bosun21]

1 hour ago, Space Hopper said:

@bosun21

Nice. Do they have the 'twist-up eyecups' ?

I purchased the 12mm versions shortly before they were discontinued, which have this feature.

You sacrifice a little bit of fov, but they are nice eyepieces at a good price point. 

The 12mm give me 212x power, which is a bit too much most of the time, so they don't get used that often. I also have the 15mm 65º flat fields which are good also.

No they are not twist up eyecups and will give me 185x with my Starfield and MBII’s with 2.6x GPC. They are 60 degrees flat field  FOV which should be more than enough. When these clouds eventually subside I’ll be able to try out the various pairs of eyepieces I’ve bought.

Edited August 4, 2023 by bosun21

[JeremyS]

9 hours ago, wimvb said:

Late summer reading.

Can you drop the late please. It hasn’t started yet 🤣

[wimvb]

15 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Can you drop the late please. It hasn’t started yet 🤣

Do you mean that summer is late this year? 😜

[Stu]

I was about to spring for a 2.5mm TOE (again 🤪) when I saw this little thing for sale in mint condition to go with my 3.4mm. Helped that I had some cash in my PayPal account! Not sure I would bother with the lower focal length ones because of my floaters, can always use the Zeiss Abbé Barlow with these if I need more power! x433 in the FS-128 which could be fun on doubles.

[Littleguy80]

3 hours ago, Stu said:

I was about to spring for a 2.5mm TOE (again 🤪) when I saw this little thing for sale in mint condition to go with my 3.4mm. Helped that I had some cash in my PayPal account! Not sure I would bother with the lower focal length ones because of my floaters, can always use the Zeiss Abbé Barlow with these if I need more power! x433 in the FS-128 which could be fun on doubles.

Congrats Stu. I came very close to buying that myself. Looking forward to hearing how you get on with it  

[Stu]

21 minutes ago, Littleguy80 said:

Congrats Stu. I came very close to buying that myself. Looking forward to hearing how you get on with it  

Thanks Neil. Should be good hopefully. Too much power for me except for doubles I think but worth it for that. Fun in the Genesis too with its 500mm focal length.

[Littleguy80]

2 hours ago, Stu said:

Thanks Neil. Should be good hopefully. Too much power for me except for doubles I think but worth it for that. Fun in the Genesis too with its 500mm focal length.

It was the small exit pupil in the Tak that gave me second thoughts. I bet it’ll work nicely for you with Genesis and the FS128  

Edited August 7, 2023 by Littleguy80

[Alan White]

Post person aka Parcel Farce delivered my latest smaller purchase, a decent bag for my SD103.
Easier when lifted in and out with great access due to a wide aand a decent top opening, I struggle when tired with a single central zip as most cases have fitted (why?).

Well padded and ballistic type nylon material.

It is a Calumet lighting stand bag, others use them for tripods, next month I might be doing the same.

 

Edited August 7, 2023 by Alan White

[cajen2]

1 hour ago, Alan White said:

Post person aka Parcel Farce delivered my latest smaller purchase, a decent bag for my SD103.
Easier when lifted in and out with great access due to a wide aand a decent top opening, I struggle when tired with a single central zip as most cases have fitted (why?).

Well padded and ballistic type nylon material.

It is a Calumet lighting stand bag, others use them for tripods, next month I might be doing the same.

 

And no doubt a reasonable price because it doesn't have the word "astro" in its name! 😛

[Alan White]

8 hours ago, cajen2 said:

And no doubt a reasonable price because it doesn't have the word "astro" in its name! 😛

Actually no, as its a Photographic case its afflicted by the same thing,
but in reality the price feels'reasonable' for the quaity, very well padded and very soildly built.

[Piero]

I recently received a kineoptics HC-2 focuser (https://www.kineoptics.com/HC-2.html) shipped from the US to replace the Antares helical focuser currently fitted on my 12" f6 dob (aka Phoenix). This new focuser should allow me to use non-parfocal eyepieces more efficiently - my plan is to use my 30mm APM UFF and Zeiss zoom +/- VIP in addition to my small set of 24Pan and 3 naglers T6.

I will soon receive an aluminium plate so that I can create a custom base for this new focuser (to shorten the story, I cannot change the UTA plywood panel and the new focuser mounting holes kind of overlap with the current drawtube hole on the plywood panel so I need to make a custom base).

I also received a couple of metal bars to update the counterweight system so that this will be neater and a bit more flexible. These bars are removable and will be attached to the mirror cell directly. They will also compensate for the extra weight of the 2" eyepieces I intend to use.

After fitting the new focuser, I will need to cut the truss poles, slightly decreasing the height of the telescope.

[JeremyS]

4 hours ago, Alan White said:

very well padded and very soildly built.

Sounds like a few of us, Alan 😊

[Alan White]

2 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Sounds like a few of us, Alan 😊

Indeed it does, me included, but more on the well padded side of things.

[bosun21]

Delivered today was a pair of Celestron Omni 32mm plossl’s for the MBII’s. A Baader Neodymium and variable polarising filter. I was going to buy more expensive 32mm eyepieces but I recall using one of these years ago and found them to be relatively sharp to about 85% of the FOV. Would I benefit from upgrading these in the future? 
 

[powerlord]

Got a bit of a bargain on ebay. Canon L f2.8 70-200 IS Usm fer 400 nicker since it was a bit scruffy.

Arrived today.optics and functionality faultless. And a got a wee tin of canon l matched paint which will have it looking as good as new.

I plan to try it at around 135mm alongside my sy135.. Have the sy135 and asi2600,L-ultimate shootp nb, and the canon on either the other asi2600 or the 6d shooting rgb.

I mean in addition to it being amazing for wildlife.

[IB20]

Ooh goodies… 😃 AZ75 with add-ons and a Tak cradle. Astro account blown to smithereens.

[HollyHound]

On 07/08/2023 at 14:09, Stu said:

I was about to spring for a 2.5mm TOE (again 🤪) when I saw this little thing for sale in mint condition to go with my 3.4mm. Helped that I had some cash in my PayPal account! Not sure I would bother with the lower focal length ones because of my floaters, can always use the Zeiss Abbé Barlow with these if I need more power! x433 in the FS-128 which could be fun on doubles.

Congratulations, that should be lovely... I have the 2.0 version and it's superb in the FC-100DZ 👍

[HollyHound]

21 hours ago, powerlord said:

Got a bit of a bargain on ebay. Canon L f2.8 70-200 IS Usm fer 400 nicker since it was a bit scruffy.

Arrived today.optics and functionality faultless. And a got a wee tin of canon l matched paint which will have it looking as good as new.

I plan to try it at around 135mm alongside my sy135.. Have the sy135 and asi2600,L-ultimate shootp nb, and the canon on either the other asi2600 or the 6d shooting rgb.

I mean in addition to it being amazing for wildlife.

That's an amazing price for such a superbly capable zoom 😮

Should be great for wildlife too... which is something I'm doing a lot more of recently, as a break from work in the daytime (until the nights improve more 🤞)