Newbie

[G00GS]

Hi I am Anthony but everyone calls me Googs...

Congrats to the site owner and posters, its not often you come across a site that has plenty of friendly banter but zero flaming. :prey2:

I have just got into this hobby and have purchased an 8 inch 1200 F/L
Saxon on a Dob. (arrives tommorrow) :prey:

From reading here, I can now expect rain and generally crappy weather for the next month LOL

I have been reading with much interest and wish that I had of come across your site sooner. The wealth of information and home grown ideas is fantastic.

Dont mind me as I read through the forum trying to learn, I just wanted to say hi so you didnt think me rude :lol:

[Hitchhiker]

Hi Googs. Welcome to IIS!

:welcome:

[frogman]

Gidday Googs... So your the one we blame for the trajic weather....:D

[acropolite]

:gday: Googs, welcome to IIS; another dobber I see. If you need to learn, make some friends or simply have a good time, this is the place. Make sure you enter the Christmas competition there are some nice prizes to win.:D

[G00GS]

Thanx for the welcome :)

Yep I am to blame for the weather... Actually I read somewhere else here that all newbies with new telescopes can expect bad weather for ages and I had a good laugh when the clouds started rolling in Friday morn and I hadnt even got it yet sheeeeeeesh.

[Striker]

Googs,

What part of Australia do you live in.....at least then we can point the blame more localy...lol

Welcome to the Family.

[janoskiss]

Welcome Googs! You got a very nice scope. I thought all the Saxon Dobs were f5, i.e. 1000mm focal length for an 8 inch (200mm) mirror. :shrug:

[G00GS]

Striker,
Country Victoria, Echuca... Its starting to clear though :)

Janoskiss,
Its definetly an F6 1200mm :) You did have me relooking at the website to make sure though. It arrives tommorrow. :D

I have had to rename this site in my fav's folder for fear the good wife will chance upon the thread relateing to the costs of some of the setups here...

I of course undervalued my new obsession terribly hehehehe

[atalas]

:welcome: Googs !

[33South]

Yeah thanks very funny, your influence stretched all the way here.:rofl: (http://misc.php?do=getsmilies&wysiwyg=1&forumid=10#)


Welcome.:welcome: (http://misc.php?do=getsmilies&wysiwyg=1&forumid=10#)

[Striker]

That sounds familiar.

I have my Losmandy G11 with Gemini set up on the pool table....my wife commented after seeing all the electronics and control panel hanging off it...she said "that does not look $225 worth".

I told her the G11 with gemini cost me $225 includes postage and it's my christmas present.

So because she questioned the price I decided to tell her the truth...the G11 cost me $225 but I had to pay $75 for shipping so it actualy cost me $300.

She's happy now cause she gets an extra $75 added to her christmas presents.

That was close.....lol

[davidpretorius]

welcome googs,

you nailed it in one, best site in australia and NZ and the world.

see you at march's star camp at snake valley near ballarat (search for the thread), it will be a real hoot.

[hogly52]

Hi GOOGS welcome to this wonderfully crazy group!! :nerd: :welcome: Friendly, educational and some of the farmer's best friends.:lol:

Mmmm .... your purchase is having an influence in Nhulunbuy too, the rain has cleared for a few days, but now we've got this high level cloudy stuff coming in during the night - during reasonable viewing times what's more. :mad2: It could have at least waited until after bedtime!:zzz:

Cheers,

Graeme - Another happy dob owner!

[Robert_T]

Hi Googs, welcome on board :)


Good luck with your new Dob - just in time to see Mars while there's still something to see :P

And I'm shocked... undervaluing new gear purchases... it's a scandal :wink2:

cheers,

[chunkylad]

Hi and welcome Googs.

You will love your new Dob. Plus, you'll find plenty of other "stuff" (eps, barlows, filters etc etc) in the equipment threads to 'undervalue' as well;)

Dave

[ballaratdragons]

Hi Googs and welcome to the nut house!!!!

It's OK to let your wife see this site. We don't mind telling her that Saxon 8" Dobs only cost $99 ;)

[astroron]

Hi Googs, Welcome , Don't let your wife see the thread,How much is your equipment worth, or she probably will have palpatations. :lol: :eyepop: :rofl:

[iceman]

Hi googs, :welcome:!

How did you find out about us?

Good choice with the dob, many happy viewing sessions ahead!

Striker, you're a classic! :lol:

[xrekcor]

Hey Googs,

Welcome to the group, I have the same scope as you 8" f/6 Saxon except mine came
mounted on an EQ5 mount.


regards,CS

[xrekcor]

Tony,

Hope she doesn't start thinking laterally and Google G11 or Losmandy :lol: :ashamed:

regards,CS

[ving]

hi googs :)
welcome aboard :)

[G00GS]

Wow thanx for the warm welcome all :)

Iceman, I happened by Astronomy online and was reading their forums and I saw one of your posts that led me to here... A stroke of luck? hehehe

On a sadder note I am sorry to you all but you may have more bad weather comming... My Dob didnt turn up as promised and after a day of ringing the courier company I am no closer to finding it. :mad2:

It left Melb as promised Thursday morn via courier, I assumed that Friday would see me staring at it in wonder (weather was to bad to be staring through it!) When it didnt show I rang couier to be told its ok relax its Christmas it will arrive Monday for sure... Ok I dealt with it, built my bridge and crossed it.

When it didnt show by 2pm Today I rang them again and went through the same "I will ring you back" speil. By 4 pm with no ph call I rang them again... I was told that the driver from the Shepparton agency had the con note since Fri morn but no parcels so they didnt find out till I rang the first time.

My first question was, well if thats the case why didnt you call me back as promised? She said and I quote "look luv, its Chrissy things get lost, get over it, it will turn up eventually" :confuse3:

Since then I have spoken to the dealer I bought it off and the supplier who both tell me its at Shepparton and it will turn up by Wed. Me, I am a little peeved right now... Its 221km from Melb to Echuca its 74 Km from Shepp to Echuca. If its in Shepp why another 2 days? Anyone would think it was in the next country. Maybe I am being unreasonable?

I rang Melb head office for the courier again and this time asked for a manager and explained to him the whole story again. This time quoteing him his own "on hold" speil about how they are a 5 star service and care for their customers.

He was rather ummm embarrassed -would be the word- and has since called me back saying one way or another he will find my scope for me.

:prey:

Sorry to unload like this but I am frustrated...

[ballaratdragons]

And I don't blame you!!!!!! :mad2:

Not very good service.

[davidpretorius]

welcome to the family mate, this is what we are here for, the bad and all the really awesome stuff you are about to tell us about your scope when it arrives.

you will ask us how to collimate, we will confuse you

you will ask us ask us what eyepieces to upgrade to, we will confuse you.

just jokes,

you have the best mount in the world - a dob, all you need is a toucam and you are in the legends club. you can change your name to dave and you are in 7th heaven.

you have got in at a great time. saturn is getting earlier each night, orioin nebula is there with mars from very early, jupiter on its way.

one look at the orion nebula with or without collimation and you will be looking at it every night you get a chance. trust me it is addictive.

hey, **** happens, but by the weekend, once you are lying in bed at 5am after a very late night and you still can't get to sleep as your brain replays everything you have looked at, these little hassles you are experiencing will be a world away

[G00GS]

LOL Dave thanx I needed to laugh a little last night and you did the trick well.

Great news the scope turned up! Unfortunantly the Dob base is still lost...

Still the greater part of it I can now see so I am a little relieved!

Hopefully I should get the base soon! Thanx for listening to my woes :)

[davidpretorius]

just explain to the dob base what its function is in simple language and it should get it.

They get a bit kranky being on the bottom all the time with the tube getting all the attention.

If that does not work, a cordless drill with a wood drill spinning around really fast usually gets my base sorted out and into place!!!!

My wife uses the same small words and simple language with me and i usually come around!

[G00GS]

:lol: Your a funny man Dave!

[davidpretorius]

This is a little summary of what you need to do when you collimating. I am going to suggest you do a run through, but without doing any adjusting or with anything actually in the focusser. This way, you will get to know a little about your scope!

It is based upon this one http://www.schlatter.org/Dad/Astronomy/collimate.htm

Do my little run through first and then go back and read this link

Get a piece of a4 paper and some sticky tape. Put your scope standing up. Take off the caps off the focusser and tube.

Look thru the focusser at the secondary mirror, and then put your hand over the main opening and notice the reflections. Also try and identify which mirror is which in the reflections. It is very hard!!
Without touching the surface of the secondary mirror (the mirror at the top near the focusser), stick the piece of paper say 2" or 3" under the secondary by using the sticky tape to attach the paper to the inner wall of the scope tube. It should now be is in the way of light reflecting off the primary (the big one down the bottom) and the secondary.
go back and look thru the focusser and see the difference. You can now see the mirror of the secondary. It will most likely you may need to adjust the secondary and you need to be able to see it, to a piece of paper helps identify it!
You will need to make a sighting tube or buy a sight tube to help align the secondary first and then a cheshire to align the primary. There are many threads on collimation, but that link above is very good for mine!!

Also have a look at the bottom of the tube (not the bottom of the mirror cell) and look for 5 or 6 screws. These screws when removed will detach the tube from the mirror cell. If you are going to centre spot your primary mirror later, then you need to remove these.

Collimation is then finished off with a star test which i like this link for
http://legault.club.fr/collim.html

Do not fret about collimation of your dob, it can be done to refine your viewing experience and ultimately consume you, but to start, you will see heaps with out good collimation.

Thats about all for now, but please ask the guys here anything, they are all so great with help!

[G00GS]

Dave,
Many thanx I have printed your instructions and saved the links...

Once kids are asleep and I have some peace and quiet I will go over everything you have suggested. i will prolly be too scared to actually adjust anything right now. But I will eventually and as you said its a good way to learn about my new found obsession lol

I was actually going to ask about this collimate thing when you mentioned it earlier...

Oh I will ask dont you worry :)

Thanx again, its muchly appreciated!

[davidpretorius]

i agree don't adjust anything, just the paper and sticky tape. getting your eyes trained to recognise the secondary even when the paper is not there is a trick to learn.

[ballaratdragons]

haha! A NEW scope!!! I remember the feeling of being to scared to touch any screws, nuts, adjusters or anything. And I would carefully carry my OTA out to the base and very gently place it down in the circular bearing. Give it a gentle wiggle to make sure it wasn't going to fall out and then carefully slide an EP into the focuser and then gently tighten (not too much) the EP locking screw. Then carefully rotate the focuser knob to get the best focus I can. Every time I wanted to look at a different object I would very slowly swing the OTA around being careful not to knock it against anything. At pack up time I would reverse the whole order as gently as possible, turn the fan on for 5 mins to dry the mirror, when dry I would cover it up and say goodnight to it.

NOW!!! I plop the OTA on the floor, carry the base out, chuck the OTA on it, grab the screwdriver and fiddle with the collimation (if it needs it), pop in an EP or the TouCam, rapidly swing the whole scope around to the basic area where I want to look and then go inside for about 10 minutes to let the mirror cool a bit. When viewing I grab the end of the tube and swing it around like a dance partner, twist the focuser like mad and enjoy the views. At pack up time I plop the OTA on the floor, shake the water of the base and take it inside, drop the OTA back on and forget about it for an hour or two. Then I go back to it and if there is no condensation on the mirror I just wack the cap back on and shut the door.

I am not rough with it but I would've been horrified if I had seen someone do this when mine was new. We just get used to what hurts it and what doesn't!

Enjoy your new toy Googs, and be vewy vewy gentle :lol:

[G00GS]

I think Mr Ballaratdragons just descibed to a T exactly how I was unpacking and placing it oh so very carfully on the kitchen table. Yes I also fitted the EP's exactly how he said I would as well. Very scary to read later what you have just carried out.

Of course all of this was carried out while I was ignoring the very dark threats of removing every single one of my eyebrow hairs one by one with a pair of pliers, if I scratched the table surface.

Thankfully I wasnt caught eyeing off the new "fluffy bath towels" she just bought for a resting bed for it... :D

[ballaratdragons]

Wait until the first time you drop it Googs! (hopefully never) Mine was at Camp and I yelled at the top of my lungs. But the scope is undamaged and works perfectly.
Scared the willies out of me though. :scared:

Fluffy Towels!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't forget to tuck it in :lol:

[davidpretorius]

i still say hello to mine and to any planet that is up when i wheel the bub out of the garage. also a quick nod of respect to orion!!

[davidpretorius]

hey ken, i notice rocket boy sniffing around.

it reminded me about when he first joined and the captain. poor old mike must love us jumping on the new guys and corrupting them before he has even had a chance to edumacate them!

we are the guard dogs!!!! ooooooowwwwwww, the bouncers, the first thing they hit when they join the site!!!! ( oh jees mike i am so sorry, when i think about what you have to put up with!!! )

come on in, have some fun, but if the mods are watching, asi did it, quick lets run!!!

[ballaratdragons]

"Hello Telescope". That's Gold Davo!!

Might be worth doing to your eye lashes!. Then you won't scratch the coatings on your EP's with them :lol:

[ballaratdragons]

Haha! I still laugh at poor Rocket boy. We suckered him real good. Well, not laughing at him, more like laughing with him. ;)

[ving]

not very inventive with your telescope names are you davo?! :P

how bout "ethelgord the galaxy slayer"? sounds very manly doesnt it ;)

[davidpretorius]

did you by any chance play dungeons and dragons????

[ving]

actually yes, at school. why? you dont like the name? too masculine for you? :P

[davidpretorius]

"peaches" my scope my get offended if i call her that!!!

i have a thing about cuddling and caressing a masculine object!

[Eardrum73]

My scope is called.... err.... scope....
If I gave it a name my neighbours would think me mad.

BTW, Dungeons & Dragons rock.... they should make an adult version! (For er..mature minded players....)

[ving]

AD&D was advance enough for me thanks... or do you mean a adult version ;)

[ballaratdragons]

Now, that's a worry!!!! :scared:
Were are you sleeping at Camp? Over the other side of the Viewing area?

[RB]

Did someone mention my name? :P

For heaven's sakes, I'm still laughing at me Ken.......:lol:

You gotto watch these guys GOOGS.

:wink2:

[G00GS]

I am trying to watching them, trouble is I am laughing to much to be able to concentrate.

:D

The mount arrived! Yayyyyyyyyyyy

[ving]

sweet!
you are not complete... now get out there and look at the clouds!!! :poke:

[G00GS]

Ving thats about the size of it here too, I cannot believe that it was actually getting worse as I assembled the Dob. sheeeeesh

Oh well I will do that collimation thing tonight then...

That ought keep me entertained for a little while hehehe