what should i do

[mattrus]

hi

newby here , well sort of been in to astronomyfor years on and off more off than on ,

i got a 8" orion optics reflector had years and i brought it second hand +12 years ago , dont use it much due to size , you know what its like dragging them in and out of house ,

so i been looking at getting rid of the 8" and treating my self to a etx 125 or simlar , but had a thought i be getting less light with the the etx but id get the GOTO ,

or do i service the gem mount as its getting bit sloppy or buy a new mount and stop being lazy and learn to set up the gem properly:icon_scratch:

plus the orion focuser is a bit sloppy to , so if i do decide to keep the orion , wheres the best place to get a reasonable focser for it

so should i get new toy , or keep my old one ??????

[room16]

Keep the orion, upgrade the focuser via FirstlightOptics and get a Moonlight focuser to fit. That scope will beat the etx125. Goto sounds fun, but to be honest, i would rather know where i am looking without automatic goto....seems like cheating a little?

[mattrus]

hi thanks for the reply , will look at firstlight when i get home from work tonight :-)

[russ]

The ETX125 will cost you a bomb. For the same money you could really go to town with the Orion, replace the focuser and buy yourself a secondhand GOTO EQ. Although the Moonlite will eat a lot of the budget. You could go with one of these instead:

Skywatcher - Dual-Speed 2” Low Profile Crayford Focuser for Skywatcher & Celestron Newtonian Telescopes

Compared to your current focuser it will be silk, a huge upgrade and the money saved can go into others upgrades.

Russ

[mattrus]

well focuser on its way i went for the skywatcher dual speed 2"

so if get chance this weekend im going to strip down the mount and se if i can get rid of the slack in it , if not ill start looking for a new mount

thanks for your help

[greenkat]

Glad you kept the Orion

If you go for a new mount & want GOTO, I went for the HEQ5Pro to put my Orion on and haven't looked back since.

I even dismantled both my ETX's and use the tubes on the Heq5 as I was scared of waking the dead with the ETX mounts

[davew]

Good news.

Would you do me a favour and say how you got on fitting the focuser ? I'm thinking of upgrading mine soon ( 10" Orion ) and have already been advised on the board what to get. I think the bolt spacings don't line up.

Get that mount and scope out side, chip off the rust and use it. You know it makes sense

Dave

[russ]

Dave,

You'll almost certainly have to re-drill the four mounting holes to fit the new focuser. This is a small job really and takes very little time. Although you will need to remove the optics first and off course re-collimate afterwards.

The only bigger snag could be if you currently have a 1.25" focuser. The hole cut in the tube for the drawtube maybe too small for the new 2" drawtube. Which means that hole will need to be cut/filed larger to accomodate the larger drawtube. This is a real crappy job. Had to do it on my current 200P dob and it took ages to do.

Russ

[davew]

Cheers Russ,

It's a no brainer really. Drill, fettle, fit or put up with a sub standard focuser.

Get to it Mattrus :-)

Dave

[russ]

Well done Mattrus on your new purchase, the SW focuser will be incredibly good. Should transform you viewing experience.

Other upgrades to consider from Orion Optics:

4 vane ultra thin secondary - if you still have one of the old Orion 2 vane 'Girder' secondaries, this could be a good upgrade for £40. More hole drilling required.

9 point mirror cell - support the mirror more evenly, better cooling and easier collimation......and they look superb! I think they are £90. I think there maybe even more hole drilling required.

I'll give another thumbs up to the HEQ5. A great combo with your tube.

Dave, best of luck with your focuser upgrade too.

Russ

[mattrus]

hi guys thanks for all the advice

fitting shouldnt be a problem , im a electrical fitter by trade , its only a 4 fixings to drill , and thanks for all the other idea's , i will keep them in mind , istill got some pennies left in my pay pal account after selling some of my diving gear ,

focuser should be here after the weekend im told so , will let you know how things go when its fixed in )

cheers matt

[mattrus]

well next door just brought round a parcel for me )

and just fitted it but i got 2 problems ,

1 : i didnt think about is the different focal lenth as its a low profile one DOH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i have to have it at full lenth and with my camera t adaptor in it to see any thing in focus , can you get extention tubes for it ,???

2 : it seems to go stiff at certain points when i focus it in and out (seems dry) will this disapear in time ???

cheers matt

[russ]

Matt,

I have a 2" extension that i was about to get rid off. It's an Astro-Tech jobby, 47mm extension and very nice with rubber grip and brass compression ring. It will sort out your focus travel problems. PM me if you are interested.

You can adjust the tension on the crayford to get a smooth feel. I'll try and find a link to some suitable instructions..

Russ

[russ]

Hi Matt,

Couldn't find a tutorial as such but did find some links that point out the different parts. I'll keep searching for a tutorial.

http://content.telescope.com/rsc/img/catalog/product/instructions/29316.pdf

You'll see there is a single tension adjustment screw underneath which by the looks of it is adjusted with an allen key.

Russ

[davew]

Doesn't that focuser have the built in adjustable drawer tube extension ? Or am I thinking of another one ?

Dave

[sxinias]

hi

i got a 8" orion optics reflector had years and i brought it second hand +12 years ago , dont use it much due to size , you know what its like dragging them in and out of house ,

so i been looking at getting rid of the 8" and treating my self to a etx 125 or simlar , but had a thought i be getting less light with the the etx but id get the GOTO ,

or do i service the gem mount as its getting bit sloppy or buy a new mount and stop being lazy and learn to set up the gem properly:icon_scratch:

plus the orion focuser is a bit sloppy to , so if i do decide to keep the orion , wheres the best place to get a reasonable focser for it

so should i get new toy , or keep my old one ??????

You've had your telescope 12 years and seldom use it because its a bear for you to drag out of your house and set up. New mounts and focusers will not change that part of the equation for you.

Before spending a lot of money, you may want to see if you can, as you said, stop being lazy first. If this works out for you, then by all means upgrade your existing scope. If, however, you revert back to "lazyness" then you may want to consider something easier to setup and use like one of Celestron's SE series telescopes or the Orion XT6i. As far as cheating with goto, you will be in great company as the things sell like hotcakes. Someone must be using them.

[russ]

You've had your telescope 12 years and seldom use it because its a bear for you to drag out of your house and set up. New mounts and focusers will not change that part of the equation for you.

Before spending a lot of money, you may want to see if you can, as you said, stop being lazy first. If this works out for you, then by all means upgrade your existing scope. If, however, you revert back to "lazyness" then you may want to consider something easier to setup and use like one of Celestron's SE series telescopes or the Orion XT6i. As far as cheating with goto, you will be in great company as the things sell like hotcakes. Someone must be using them.

Another option is to build/buy a dob base for the Orion OTA. Orion Optics sell a complete dob base that your current Orion 8 will drop straight onto.

Russ

[mattrus]

hi again,

now i fitted new focuser ) , just had to open the hole up in scope by about 1/4 inch all the way round , and re drill new fixings ,

next step i thinking of is filter and barlow , as a new mount gone out the window at moment £££££

what is good for light polution and is there any makes of barlows to avoid, im going for a 2" barlow is it worth the extra ,

cheers matt