What did the postman bring? V2

[Pixies]

A Vixen SX half pillar and AP-Z base and counterweight from @Emperor!Takahashi!

[Pixies]

And finally...

A bit of a risk, getting this untested (but relatively cheap) in an auction. 

There's no Starbook controller but I can use the one from my AP mount for now, and get the new wireless controller if I want to get into goto.

I was annoyed that I hadn't noticed there was no counterweight bar. Until I realised that it telescopes inside the mount!

[900SL]

First, these arrived a few weeks back courtesy of Auntie FLO.

 

 

Then this morning there was a knock at the door. From Bresser in their 20% off sale. Postage from Germany was unbelievable, something like 6 Euro with UPS

My first reflector. 150L 1200mm, f8. On first glance it looks nice, blackened inside, seems well put together, and a look down the focuser indicates all is OK

 

[Stu1smartcookie]

21 hours ago, globular said:

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 

Hi , I'm afraid they don't .. but they are quite cheap , which begs the question why not supply them . Having said that I didn't buy the mount new so I can't be 100%> Everything working as it should

[maw lod qan]

Decided to give this a try.

Now to get it hooked up and tested.

[Dave scutt]

Postman brought me a surprise present from my wife.

It's made from cork and the pin's are for where you have travelled.

[Nigella Bryant]

Some space memerobelia from the 1980's Space Shuttle era. From fleebay. To add to my collection, lol. 

[Nigella Bryant]

11 hours ago, Nigella Bryant said:

Some space memerobelia from the 1980's Space Shuttle era. From fleebay. To add to my collection, lol. 

On January 28, 1986, the last coin in the collection, the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, killing all seven crew members aboard. The spacecraft disintegrated 46,000 feet (14 km) above the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 11:39 a.m. EST (16:39 UTC). It was the first fatal accident involving an American spacecraft while in flight.

Edited Wednesday at 23:59 by Nigella Bryant

[John]

8 minutes ago, Nigella Bryant said:

On January 28, 1986, the last coin in the collection, the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, killing all seven crew members aboard. The spacecraft disintegrated 46,000 feet (14 km) above the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 11:39 a.m. EST (16:39 UTC). It was the first fatal accident involving an American spacecraft while in flight.

Those medals look very like a collection that I used to have marking the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions. Mine were in very similar cases with information cards that were similar to the ones that you have.

If they are the same, they are made by a company called Galaxy Medals which is based in Titusville, Florida just a few miles from the Kennedy Space Center.

 

Edited Thursday at 00:06 by John

[Alan White]

7 hours ago, Nigella Bryant said:

On January 28, 1986, the last coin in the collection, the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, killing all seven crew members aboard. The spacecraft disintegrated 46,000 feet (14 km) above the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 11:39 a.m. EST (16:39 UTC). It was the first fatal accident involving an American spacecraft while in flight.

Something burned into my memory forever.
I was and still am space flight and exploration obsessed (not a surprise in this hobby), I always did and still try to watch launches on a live feed.
The real tragedy is that it could and should have been avoided 😢.

On a brighter note, love the memorabilia you have Nigella, I do hope you have a model Shuttle though.
I have one, its not perfect, its been molested over the years.



 

Edited Thursday at 07:29 by Alan White

[Dave scutt]

26 minutes ago, Alan White said:

Something burned into my memory forever.
I was and still am space flight and exploration obsessed (not a surprise in this hobby), I always did and still try to watch launches on a live feed.
The real tragedy is that it could and should have been avoided 😢.

On a brighter note, love the memorabilia you have Nigella, I do hope you have a model Shuttle though.
I have one, its not perfect, its been molested over the years.



 

Love  the space shuttle 

[TiffsAndAstro]

World needs one more shuttle flight so It can retrieve my future guide scope.

[Dave scutt]

Postie brought a few nice items today.

Thanks to @F15Rules for the Pentax zoom and a Baader click lock.

[Dave scutt]

12 minutes ago, Dave scutt said:

Postie brought a few nice items today.

Thanks to @F15Rules for the Pentax zoom and a Baader click lock.

Would this be a problem, the Pentax zoom stick's out slightly from the click lock, just don't want it hitting the lens of the diagonal 

Edited Thursday at 13:09 by Dave scutt

[Alan White]

@Dave scutt I think it will be an issue and hit you prism.
If it sits beyond the shoulder as it does, then hitting a prism is very likely and a mirror likely on one spot.
Sorry to be bearer of bad news. 
Perhaps all it needs is a short t2 extender?

[John]

30 minutes ago, Alan White said:

@Dave scutt I think it will be an issue and hit you prism.
If it sits beyond the shoulder as it does, then hitting a prism is very likely and a mirror likely on one spot.
Sorry to be bearer of bad news. 
Perhaps all it needs is a short t2 extender?

Yep - I have a similar issue with the Nagler zooms and use a 15mm T2 extension tube between my prism diagonal and the click lock adapter. I might get away with a shorter one but I wanted room to fit a filter on the eyepieces as well. Not taking any chances with my zeiss standard prism !

 

 

Edited Thursday at 13:55 by John

[Dave scutt]

6 minutes ago, John said:

Yep - I have a similar issue with the Nagler zooms and use a 15mm T2 extension tube between my prism diagonal and the click lock adapter. I might get away with a shorter one but I wanted room to fit a filter on the eyepieces as well. Not taking any chances with my zeiss standard prism !

 

 

Thanks John.

I was going to get the 7.5 one but didn't think about filters 

[Littleguy80]

Finally bit the bullet and got myself a Baader Coolwedge. Looking forward to seeing how much improvement I get from it ☀️

Edited yesterday at 11:11 by Littleguy80

[Alan White]

1 hour ago, Littleguy80 said:

Finally bit the bullet and got myself a Baader Coolwedge. Looking forward to seeing how much improvement I get from it ☀️

I will be interested in how that goes, looking forward to you posting about this.
Nice bit of kit that.

[Littleguy80]

30 minutes ago, Alan White said:

I will be interested in how that goes, looking forward to you posting about this.
Nice bit of kit that.

Thanks Alan. Will definitely post some updates comparing it to my TS Optics Wedge  

[Martyn87]

First step into guiding thanks to @cosmos! 

[JeremyS]

Recently published:

[John]

22 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Recently published:

Such a haunting photo, that one.

Interesting read though, I'll bet 👍

[JeremyS]

1 hour ago, John said:

Such a haunting photo, that one.

Interesting read though, I'll bet 👍

Classic portrait by Julia Margaret Cameron, 1867 👍🏻