Sydney "Seeing"

[RonM48]

Hi All,

I am new to this forum and I have got my GSO 10" DOB out for the first time in a coule of years and Im not sure if I have a collimating problem or is the "SEEING" particularly bad in Sydney the last few nights.

Defocusing produces lots of sparkles

My scope has never been collimated but was excellent the last time I used it and stored well.

Any thoughts would be appreciated and what a fantastic resource this site is.

Thanks

Ron

[Liz]

Hi Ron
Glad you have dragged the scope out, hope you get some good views, though would depend how much pollution you have :whistle::whistle:
Yes, your scope probably needs collimating - good luck with that :rolleyes::rolleyes: its a chore I do badly at.
Am sure there are a few threads around on it..... and on Google.
Looks like we have the same scope :)
Good luck!!

[lacad01]

Gday Ron, :welcome:. Yep, per Liz would check collimation first but I think in Sydney (depending exactly where I guess) seeing isn't going to be that fantastic. Living in the Inner West, for me isn't an ideal location for observing but on a clear night after 11PM or so things tend to improve somewhat.
Don't forget to use the mirror fan to equalize the temp of the scope i.e. minimize tube currents.
cheers
Adam

[DavidU]

Check for fine spider webs in the main tube & focuser.

[Robh]

Ron,
The weather's been that bad all along the eastern coast, I don't know how you were lucky enough to get clear sky. I saw a few "clear" patches last night but noticed there was a lot of thin cloud even through these. I would say that the sky is playing monkey business with both seeing and transparency. Frustrating weather! :tasdevil: (no monkey).

Regards, Rob.

[AdrianF]

If you dont already know about this site have a look at
www.andysshotglass.com/introduction.html (http://www.andysshotglass.com/introduction.html)
Good instruction on how to collimate.

Adrian

[RonM48]

Thanks for the advice I did collimate and got a brief break in the weather and saw an improvemnt but will need better conditions to really know.

Regards

Ron