I did the big swap of one of my WO ZenithStar 66ED Petzvals for a WO Megrez 80SD Mk1 with Morton (here on IIS). He wanted smaller and I wanted larger. We're mutually happy with the result which is great.
I've attached one of my favourite red dot finders along with a heater for the dew shield, finder and eyepiece.
Views are very good for an achromat. Sharp stars and moon - especially with an Orion 1.25" minus violet filter.
Looking forward to making this the travel scope along with the C8 SCT. Should be great for those 4WD trips away into the bush.
to me anything bigger than 20" should be permanently setup in an observatory otherwise it just doesn't seem practical, theres no way id be climbing a ladder in the dark to look through that beast. im sure the views are superb but thats getting dangerous lol.
when i see scopes that large i wonder how often they get put to use.
There is only so much you can keep and still remain married with a social life.
I finally got my wife to agree to a platform in the yard for my meagre 8" F4.
Still its work in progress, both the platform and the wife. I think she regrets buying the first 3" reflector for Christmas. I bought 2 more since then and sold the 3" to one of the scout group members. So this is what I've got.
Finally got the picture thing to work .... I had to change providers to make it happen. So here's a snap of my scope.<p>
bintel modded 12inch, custom rings and mounting plate, ED80 Guidescope, on a losmandy G11 in roll off observatory.
Just finished redecorating the home office (aka spare room) and took some photos of it. While I was at it, I thought I may as well take some
photos of my telescope collection.
1: This is a old (you can tell from the colour!) Celestron 8. Quick to set up.
2: A more recent (well 1991) vintage Celestron C8. This has the Argo Navis attached and the motor drive is from Astromeccanica.
It's on a Celestron/Vixen SP mount
3: Orion ED80 on a Vixen GP mount.
The ED80 gets the most use these days as it's easy to set ip (and I like looking at the moon).
The motors from the SP mount also bolt on to the GP mount but the Argo Navis requires different encoder mountings.
One day, I'll try out some astrophotography, hopefully with better results than these three, that wall is actually yellow :-)
Last edited by snowyskiesau; 23-09-2007 at 05:01 PM.
Reason: typo
I too thought it's about time I updated the photo of my gear.
Apart from my 12" that gets used as a Dob, and placed up on top of the enormous EQ, I do all my Imaging nowdays with the ED80.
Here is an image I took of it in the daylight.
Top scope: Imaging - Saxon ED80 with Focal Reducer and DSI
Bottom scope: Guiding - Saxon 120mm f5 with Focal Reducer and Modified Toucam
Finderscope has Security Camera for GoTo star alignment
Green Laser for SCP alignment
Both scopes have heaters
All perched on top of an EQ6 v2.5a with Autoguiding via Guidemaster
gave the primary/secondary a good clean today, just re-collimated and thought id take some photos.
I'm pretty happy with the AN install since its fairly tidy with no wiring going all over the place
The altitude encoder and battery for the argo navis are on the right hand side so they aren't in the way at all and cant be kicked over or knocked, and the whole lot can be disassembled easily.
still on the to-do list is: flock the tube, 10:1 focuser, sdm style wheels and a stalk for the argo (never ends!)
you might notice everything is pretty much held together with velcro and cable ties
Finally got all the bits to assemble the 14ers back end
All balanced and to semi parfocal , only a laser pionter on the 100 , hiding in this pic, and a modified 40mm with DSI C " crosshair framing hairs fitted"
l've finally finished the latest upgrade to the trusty LX200, fitted an on axis counterweight, added the new dew heater system and power adapter.
l've never liked the Meade blue so a complete strip down and a coat of 2 pack white as well as painting the inside with non reflective flat black, and to top it of a new 10:1 focuser on the ED100.
![[1ponders]'s Avatar](../vbiis/customavatars/avatar45_9.gif){kind=avatar}
So here's a snap of my scope.<p>
look forward to seeing it.
