GSO 12" F4 Newt

[Tandum]

I got one of these big newts and was hoping to shoe horn it into my tiny dome on an EQ8.

Well the EQ8 didn't arrive as promised but the 12" newt did and just squeezes in :D

The arse end hits the shelf for the mouse when pointing NW but not by much and I can shave a little off the shelf.

That's 4 x 5Kg eq6 weights and 2 x 2.5Kg dumbell weights to balance it. Poor old eq6 :P

[RickS]

What a beast, Robin! Will be interesting to see how it performs.

[Tandum]

Long road ahead to get it working properly I think Rick, but I was pretty worried it wouldn't fit. I was having visions of cutting a chunk off the top to get it in :P

[Moon]

Love it - welcome to the imaging newt fan club. Here's a pic of mine in her home. I wonder if a 16 inch would fit? Perhaps not.
James

[2stroke]

The eq8 wont be available to march 2013, lol are you getting a prototype engineering sample or something? I don't think we will see them in Australia till 2014 or later :/

[Tandum]

Cheers James and thanks for lending a hand via email.

Jay, Sirus Optics where told they'd get 2 in December so I paid a hefty deposit to secure one of them and someone else did the same for the other.
Apparently they received 2 eq6 alt/az mounts instead, which they didn't order. I guess something was lost in translation :sadeyes:

[2stroke]

That kindia blows Robin, hope they do get one for you but from what news i've herd its very unlikely. I think there's going to be a huge demand and low supply at first until the dust settles, though hearing they got the hands on 2 of the new alt/az is very promising :)

[Tandum]

Yeah, Bugger it, but I got my money back and will push ahead with the 12" Newt project and hope I can find a mount that will carry it.
I don't think the old eq6 is up to it to be honest but I've been told that serveral people are using one on an eq6 :rolleyes:

We will see. Must cost da bomb in fuel to get all those counterweights to a dark site ;)

[pmrid]

Wow. That's some beast. It'll be interesting to see how the EQ6 handles it. I just had a look at the image scale with the ATIK 11K and it's right in the sweet spot isn't it? If you can get a reasonably well corrected field, you should produce some great images.
Peter

[Tandum]

I ordered an Orion Optics 3" wynne corrector but when I went over everything I found it's not 3" it's 3.2" and won't fit in the focuser :rolleyes:

Looks like I have to get an ASA corrector which makes it a little tight on backfocus but I believe they are pretty good correctors and it should work well with the atik 11000.

Ozstockman (Mike) is still laser cutting bart masks so I got one of them coming too.

[gbeal]

Looks good Robin.
Can you re-tube it with a shorter/lighter C/F tube, or a C/F truss?
Gary

[Tandum]

Funny you should say that Gary. Found this response (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showpost.php?p=697787&postcount=24) to a CF thread I started a couple of years back and missed.
I wonder if he's still doing them, the website is in German.
Too soon for me, I'd prefer better mirrors first.
Not to mention a mount :(

Put bracing around the focuser today.

[Moon]

Speaking of mirrors, with that size CCD chip, you might want to get a bigger secondary down the track. The standard one is a bit undersized.
James

[Tandum]

It's 88mm, I have it out of the tube just now.
I think that should be close to good enough.

[Tandum]

And here's a new one from Protostar, FlockBoard (http://www.protostar.biz/flockboard.htm).
Roll it up, stick it in and it pops open and sticks to the inside of the tube, no glue at all.

I just had to get myself some of this stuff :)

[gbeal]

Maybe think about the Protostar stuff, but in a card tube already (I'm doing this from memory so could be wrong.
Get the lightweight cardboard tube, with the flocking, and then slip a layer of C/F on it yourself. It can only make it stronger. If you think the card and CF is an overkill, peel off a layer or two of the cardboard, then apply the C/F.
Basically what I did for my 10", although not Protostar, but humble SonoTube.
Gary

[Tandum]

Gary, protostar will not / can not send their tubes offshore. They claim they are too long to post these days.

I got the flockboard today. It's a stiff black plastic with their flocking material on one side. I rolled it up, put it in the tube and it sprang open against the tube. I had 2 sections of it so it covered the length of the tube. It overlaps itself and appears to stay in place just fine, so far. Amazing stuff compared with the glue on versions...

Here's a pic of the focuser bracing before flockboard and a pic of the holographic laser image after the flockboard installation to get an idea of the difference. It really is very black.

[Tandum]

Also, I need to shim this GSO focuser along one edge. What should I use to do this?

Never had to adjust a non adjustable focuser before. I was thinking alfoil?

[MrB]

A cheap feeler gauge set from supacheap or Repco is great shimstock, bonus is you get a whole heap of thicknesses to try.

[Tandum]

Cheers Simon, I was thinking I should use my gauges to get the measure but just snipping off what I need might be the go.
I haven't used them in many years.