Phew !
Having spent the last 3 nights outside I thought I would add an update to my journey so far.
The kit -
Bresser Messier AR-127L, refractor, 1200mm FL, 127mm dia. gives me f/9.4
Sky Watcher HEQ5 Pro EQ mount & tripod.
TASCO EQ mount Extension tube
SCA 8 cylinder jump starter battery
GSO Super Plossl EP set - 4,6,9,15,25,26,32 and 2x Barlow. (why 25 and 26? - the 26 is marked Bresser, same as the scope so maybe that came with the scope?)
First things first. As if the initial expense of buying the gear, fuel to drive to Canberra from my daughter's in Surfers and shipping it up to Cairns wasn't enough, I then found out that as I live so far North I had to buy an extension tube for the mount as the counterweights hit the tripod leg, so another $189 inc shipping. I know I could have ground off and relocated the locator on the mount to the other side but it would have made the balance dodgy and the extension means the eye piece on the scope is at a slightly higher location when viewing straight up.
Weird though, the recess in the bottom of the extension tube for the existing post has loads of slack ? so even when tightened the tripod bolt as much as I can you can still move it. I'll add a couple of pics showing the recess and my fix
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4304/...c746835b_z.jpg2017-07-22_02-40-09 by
AndyMacDougallPhotography, on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4298/...32c7bc21_z.jpg2017-07-22_02-40-31 by
AndyMacDougallPhotography, on Flickr
On the subject, it's still very low and not good for the old neck !
Transferred the Polemaster over, glued it onto the cap/cover for the polar scope - that's $40 saved ! Doing the polar alignment is now much easier to do more accurately, the weight of the kit means the view is very stable and the adjusters for RA and alt. precise and easy to use.
Here's where it starts to go wrong ! Doing the 1,2 or 3 Star Alignment for the GoTo is a nightmare ! The view even when using the 32mm EP is so narrow, all the stars look the same, it takes AGES to move the mount across any kind of distance using the arrows on the hand controller.
I am getting better at it, using binoculars and/or the finder scope first, (upside down, back to front compare to the scope. FFS!!) but man what a ball ache ! Even doing 2 star alignment the resulting GoTo movements are quite far off (in the view @ 32mm but nowhere near dead centre)
Is there a way to change the slewing speed when using the direction keys ?
Is it ok to loosen the clutches, move the scope by eye , tighten clutches and then use the direction keys ?
Why aren't ALL the stars in the list when doing a 3 star alignment ? e.g. I did Alnair (I think) as 1st star, then 2nd star the list to pick from is WAYYYY shorter and doesn't include any that I recognize/know the location of.
Do I have to do this 1,2 or 3 star alignment EVERY time ? Even if I don't move the rig ? i.e. just turn off the mount and turn it back the next night - does the handset remember ?
Regarding expectations - Had a good look at Saturn and Jupiter and it's moons which was cool, but generally, it's just lots of stars, all pretty much the same to me, at least it is when viewing from my suburban location.
Not seeing any nebulae, space dust in the MW, nothing through the scope.
I'm assuming that is to be expected with an f/9.4 aperture in LP skies ?
What should I be looking at? Obviously, if/when my GoTo is aligned properly !!!
Sooooo, it's onto using the mount with a dslr attached next, (in dark skies) but that's a whole different set of *****ing / annoying questions
Sorry for the long post. Comments/help welcome/needed !
Andy
