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Old 23-10-2004, 06:13 PM
rumples riot
Who knows

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Show us your equipment!

Hi all, I know we have a thread with what gear we have in description, but I think we should have one with a shot of our gear.

Please contribute a shot of your own rig.

Paul

Last edited by rumples riot; 12-04-2005 at 11:57 AM.
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  #2  
Old 24-10-2004, 07:51 AM
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mch62 (Mark)
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Location: Glenore Grove Queensland
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Hear is my new scope nick named Rain Maker.
It's vitals are as follows.
12.5" f6 RF Royce conical cross section mirror ; 2.14"Protostar Uls Quartz Diagonal and 3 vane spider ; Kine optics Helical Crayford focuser ; Mirror mount stud Mark Mickels ; Optical tube and rear cell yours truely.
Total weight 15.5kgs temporarily on EQ6 mount
New Barletised fork mount in progress.
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Last edited by mch62; 29-04-2005 at 08:38 AM.
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  #3  
Old 25-10-2004, 05:25 AM
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iceman (Mike)
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wow mhodson that is MOST impressive! Does that mount handle the weight ok?

Do you have to observe from a ladder?

How much did the whole kit cost you?

Here's my meagre astrophotography setup... except, the camera isn't on the tripod in this shot because, well, it's in my hands

<img src="http://www.iceinspace.com/images/news/imagingsetup.jpg">

I gotta get a steadypix adapter!
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Old 25-10-2004, 03:31 PM
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Saturn%5 (Graeme)
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My 12" Southern Cross (GSO)
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Old 28-10-2004, 08:20 PM
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seeker372011 (Narayan)
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I don't have any pictures of my scopes but here is a picture of my home made mirror mount for my 20 x80 binos.
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Old 28-10-2004, 08:21 PM
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seeker372011 (Narayan)
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and here is my mirror mount for my 7 x50 binos
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Old 29-10-2004, 03:43 PM
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seeker372011 (Narayan)
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Re the Bino mirror mounts

I made the mirror mounts myself , not really following any plans
but I found two sites very helpful in designing my own version

http://www.fvas.net/bino.html

http://home.interlynx.net/~mullers/skybox.html


I first built the mirror mount for the 7 x50s. For this I used a First Surface Mirror that I bought really cheaply -a few dollars-from surplus shed

http://www.surplusshed.com/

Somone in another forum asked for dimensions and details so I made up a little poster and I am happy to post that here if anyone is interested.

This worked so well I decided to build a mount for my 20 x80s Oberwerks

For this I couldnt use the surplus shed mirrors-too small so I had to buy a mirror from FS mirrors in the US

http://www.fsmirrors.com/

Before buying from the US I did a lot of research around Sydney and found it would cost almost double -even if I were to buy optical glass and get it mirrored .

So I took a deep breath and forked out whatever it was-the site above has prices - to buy from the US. Freight is expensive though!! I bought an 8mm thick 6 inch by 8 inch mirror

This mount which is made of pine sits on a computer turntable so it moves smoothly in azimuth. I have a handle that I can use to control the mirror angle-the altitude. A clutch mechanism allows the tension with which the mirror axle is gripped to be adjusted so the mirror stays in place when the handle is released yet moves (rotates) reasonably smoothly

Now how does it work?

Firstly notwithstanding whatever they say in the marketing literature, there is some loss of brightness. So it's not as good as looking straight at an object. Is it acceptable? I think so but someone else may not.

Secondly if your binos are even the slightest bit out of collimation this system is very unforgiving. Its a good test for the quality of your binos!

Thirdly it is harder to find things because your maps need to be mirror imaged

But once you are past these issues, the benefit of not having to crick your neck to look up all the time is enormous. You can scan star fields literally for hours without discomfort. You are looking down, its a very comfortable position, you can sweep across the sky slowly, and take your time enjoying the sky

I really enjoyed observing Comet Q4 through this system earlier this year.

The fact that the binos are mounted adds at least a magnitude compared to hand holding.

So, there are pluses and minuses, but for me it works.
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  #8  
Old 31-10-2004, 09:58 AM
gbeal
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Some of my gear

Hi all,
well in response, this is a couple of my bits. I will redo another one that I am not happy with but this will get the ball rolling.
Imaging is done with this homebrew 10" f5 newt, in G-11 config here, but equally at home in a dob base that I built up as well. A good all rounder.
Yeah, I am the ugly one!!
Gary
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Old 31-10-2004, 10:01 AM
gbeal
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My gear again

Second shot of the latest craze, a Takahashi Mewlon 180. (7" f12 cassegrain).
First impressions are very nice.
I use this and the 10" with Tak LE oculars, 5mm - 30mm, and also with a Denkmeier bino viewer.
Gary
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  #10  
Old 26-11-2004, 03:07 PM
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ving (David)
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eres myn... sorry bout the bloke being it the pic :p

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...b/Dsc03554.jpg
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Old 26-11-2004, 09:07 PM
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Mick (Michael)
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Here's little Brother Paul.
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  #12  
Old 28-11-2004, 04:30 PM
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[1ponders] (Paul)
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The celestrons ok for the moon and sorta ok for planets. Shame about the sucky eq2 mount even with worm drive and adjustments. Thought I'd go overboard with the new unit. Photo adapters/reducerswedge etc and ToUcam not included in photo. Just love the LX200. Just need some clear skys with out a moon to give it a good stretch.

Paul
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  #13  
Old 02-12-2004, 09:11 PM
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Dave47tuc (David)
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Hi All,
I like your scopes. I meet a lot of people who wrorry what Joe down the road has. I say the scope you use is great as long as you use it!!
Best
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Last edited by Dave47tuc; 06-03-2005 at 08:58 PM.
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  #14  
Old 06-12-2004, 08:22 AM
DougAdams
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Hi chaps, just joined this forum site. Good to see an Oz based forum. Looking forwards to tapping into the knowledge base here

Cheers
Doug
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  #15  
Old 16-12-2004, 09:32 PM
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silvinator
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Hey fellas, here's my baby 10 inch. It's my lxd55 with a flimsy dew shield I made myself:
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  #16  
Old 17-12-2004, 09:13 AM
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Robby
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Hi,
My turn to show off my setup!
It consists of.....
1. Celestron C8 OTA on a Losmandy GM8 Mount.
2. Celestron ST80 as GuideScope for Astrophotography
3. No Brand 8x50 Finder.
4. ToUCam for prime focus on Moon & planets & as Guide camera.
5. Canon 300D DSLR for Astrophotography.
6. HomeBuilt Star-Mate RF Remote Control...
- This is my latest project and provides an RF remote control link to control the mount, focus, & camera shutter. The unit also provides an LX200 interface for auto-guiding. I am hoping to commercialise this in the near future. See www.star-mate.com for more details.
7. JMI NGF-S motorised focusser
8. Homemade Dew heater on OTA & finder
9. Palm PC based Digital Setting Circles. Great!!
I think that's about it. Oh I also have the usual mix of Eyepeices, focal reducers, barlows, filters etc. I use a Nagler T2,16mm and a 32mm 1rpd most often as eyepeices.
For AutoGuiding I use K3CCDTools2 and Iris to control the mount via LX200 interface.
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  #17  
Old 17-12-2004, 05:19 PM
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Starkler (Geoff)
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Must be my turn !

My GS 250mm dob with 9x50 RACI finder and Rigel quickfinder.

http://gar.customer.netspace.net.au/scope2/100_0222.jpg


Palm pilot running palmDSC, altitude encoder, OTA carry handle and custom rear counterweight


http://gar.customer.netspace.net.au/scope2/100_0223.jpg

Inside the base are the bits that make palmDSC work

http://gar.customer.netspace.net.au/scope2/100_0224.jpg


Tools of the trade

http://gar.customer.netspace.net.au/scope2/100_0225.jpg


Can you see where the tube ISNT flocked ?

http://gar.customer.netspace.net.au/scope2/100_0226.jpg
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  #18  
Old 18-12-2004, 10:17 AM
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Starkler (Geoff)
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The flocking was adhesive black velvet found in the wallpapers section at Bunnings hardware.

Its nice and black but if you use it, make sure you use strips instead of circumnavigating the tube with one piece.
I did and now its pulling away from the tube due to shrinkage and its damn near impossible to cut with a knife once in place
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  #19  
Old 19-12-2004, 06:26 PM
bytor666
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Thumbs up

Quote:
Originally posted by bytor666
Hi everybody...!!! ...I must say that I'm very impressed with all these scope pics!!! , ( I'm a real gear freak when it comes to telescopes), anyways, I used to own a 12.5 inch f/4.8 Orion DSE and I regretfully sold it for cash so I could buy more music gear,( that was 1999), well now I've got that astronomy bug big time and I went and ordered myself a 12" f/5 GSO reflector from Khan scope centre. Man when it arrived I was so excited !!!...BTW, I just joined this forum yesterday and I'm really liking all these threads on astronomy and equipment!!!...so...here's a pic of my newly assembled 12" GSO scope....(hehe I just had to go out and buy me a new RACI 50mm finder because I cant stand craning my neck for those hard to see places)....anyhoo...HERE IT IS...(I'll post more pics when I start my mods).....Clear skies...from Mark
[FONT=arial]
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Old 24-12-2004, 02:06 AM
bytor666
Cygnus X-1

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ok...I've now added my antares 8x50 RACI finderscope....no MAJOR modifications as of yet because I still need to take this baby outside !!!...the weather just wont give up !!!....we just had a major storm and the ICE is getting thicker and heavier !!!.....( with a little bit of luck, my neighbour's tree which is HUGE and obstructs my view of the beautiful southern sky, will break from the ice !!! HA !!!....)...only then will i see saggitarius and scorpius in all it's glory !!!!!!...
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