#1  
Old 15-02-2013, 03:56 PM
binofied
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GSO RC10 Light at the end of the tunnel

I have owned a 10" GSO RC for over a year now and have just started to get it working properly. I have had a hard road having an SBIG STL-11000 camera, the full frame size is challenging for any telescope. Here is some of the issues and fixes so far.

Problem 1. Really bad collimation. Tried all sorts of ways to get it right.
Solution 1. Got a Takahashi Collimation Telescope and adaptors, WOW really easy now.

Problem 2. The GSO 3" focuser is just not the job of holding a heavy camera and being motorized. Is it possible to use, ummm yes. Would a sane person want to HELL NO.
Solution 2. Lots of help from Ron Newman from Moonlite Focusers. He made me a very low profile 2.5" focuser with a motor attached that I plugged directly into my existing Robofocus control box and cabling. The focuser has a 1.5" drawtube and a M68 threaded top which is important.

Problem 3. Using the 2" compression type fitting to hold the camera is not good enough as there is to much tilt caused by sagging.
Solution 3. Solved by using the Moonlite focuser and some other fittings see next issue.

Problem 4. The field is not flat and stars at the edge of a 35mm chip are to poor to be used without a flattener.
Solution 4. Got a TS2.5-Flat from Teleskop-express in Germany. This has a M68 thread and screws directly into the Moonlite focuser top! They then make a 50mm extender tube to mate the Flattener to the STL thread on the SBIG STL-11000 camera. So a threaded solution all the way, no sag. Very first tests show this flattener is fantastic, more later as I have just got this working last night.

Problem 5. There is funny flat fielding issues and strong reflections in the corners of the image. Here is a video that shows the cause which is the Primary baffle tube being to short and light getting in at the sides of the field. Youtube Video
Solution 5. Not sure yet but I have heard GSO have an extension tube available. Just starting to make enquirys will let you know.

At last I am starting to get raw images that are getting much nicer. Now to actually take some real images!!!!

Dave Moorhouse
Auckland NZ
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  #2  
Old 15-02-2013, 04:52 PM
Mighty_oz (Marcus)
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Wow Dave sounds like u've been thro the fires and more. Glad to hear that it's coming together, be nice to see pics with the STL-11000 camera as well.

Marcus.
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  #3  
Old 20-03-2013, 05:28 PM
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JohnH
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I have the 10" CF and my experince was/is

Collimation - no problem - yours may have been shifted by shipping.
Focuser - I use a motorised Moonlite and yes Ron is really helpful - the stock unit is too weak for AP.
Yup - screw fittings are best for AP work.
Reflections - I sometimes see these when using the FR - try taking all filters etc out of the imaging train. If the problems goes away it is not the scope but the FR/Flattener or filter(s).
Field curvature - All RCs all have this, GSO RC FRs and Flatteners are available at resonable cost - I use the AP CCD67.

In short my scope behaves as I expected it to and I am very happy with it.
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Old 20-03-2013, 07:24 PM
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allan gould
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnH View Post
I have the 10" CF and my experince was/is

Collimation - no problem - yours may have been shifted by shipping.
Focuser - I use a motorised Moonlite and yes Ron is really helpful - the stock unit is too weak for AP.
Yup - screw fittings are best for AP work.
Reflections - I sometimes see these when using the FR - try taking all filters etc out of the imaging train. If the problems goes away it is not the scope but the FR/Flattener or filter(s).
Field curvature - All RCs all have this, GSO RC FRs and Flatteners are available at resonable cost - I use the AP CCD67.

In short my scope behaves as I expected it to and I am very happy with it.
Exactly my experiences except for the reflections. I can use the AP CCD67 but only for FR as the field I have is completely flat to the edges of my 8300 chip.
Love this scope.
Allan
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  #5  
Old 06-06-2013, 11:43 PM
ntk.thava (Hamish Thava)
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GSO RC10 Rear Dovetail Outer Dark Screws Not Secured

I have discovered a design and reliability issue the GSO RC10 (carbon fibber) that most of you might not be aware. If you check the rear dovetail on the RC10 (top and bottom dovetails) you will see that the two outer screws (check with an allenwranch) are either loose or have been over tightened till there are burr on the screw thread. If you check carefully you will see that the rear dovetail section is only screwed by one screw and this can give way anytime due to the weight of the RC10. Please check and feedback to everyone.
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Old 07-06-2013, 05:49 AM
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JohnH
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Originally Posted by ntk.thava View Post
I have discovered a design and reliability issue the GSO RC10 (carbon fibber) that most of you might not be aware. If you check the rear dovetail on the RC10 (top and bottom dovetails) you will see that the two outer screws (check with an allenwranch) are either loose or have been over tightened till there are burr on the screw thread. If you check carefully you will see that the rear dovetail section is only screwed by one screw and this can give way anytime due to the weight of the RC10. Please check and feedback to everyone.
No problems on my unit - bolts are snug but not overtight.
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  #7  
Old 07-06-2013, 10:50 AM
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Dave, there is a baffle extension you can get from your supplier. As I understand it, you are entitled to get it free of charge. GSO recognised there was a problem about a year or so ago and started sorting this problem. So contact your supplier.

Pretty much all the problems I found with the scope, however I used a feather touch focusor with a rack and pinion mechanism.
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  #8  
Old 07-06-2013, 04:33 PM
DannyV (Danny)
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I found the same problem with the front screw - the one that was on my support plate - it came out just with finger pressure as the scope's thread was stripped - I replaced all four front screws with longer ones so they screwed to the extent of the circular support.
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  #9  
Old 19-09-2013, 11:07 PM
ntk.thava (Hamish Thava)
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GSO sent me a new rear cell in replacement of the faulty on that couldn't be screwed to. Now all is good.
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