Some firsts and a collimator question

[esky]

Well, thanks to night shift coming up this week, it has given me an excuse to stay up late and what better way to spend the night than with the GSO 12" Dob. I havn't really had the time to stay up this late since I got the scope a couple of months ago.

Last night, after an epic day of lookouts, shark feeding, go carts and drunken bowling I noticed Jupiter out, but I was way too far gone by that stage to get the scope out.:lol:

Tonight was a different story though, and if I just position my scope in the back yard right, I can watch the giant planet rise above the neighbor's roof. What a sight! Could see the colour bands and everything! Ganymede transitioned in front of Jupitor while I was watching too.

That was the first time I had seen Jupiter with my new scope. But tonight would be a night of a couple more first obs. 47 Tuc was next. Usually its behind the hill and I can't see it. I reckon its better than omega centuri. The other fist was the Andromeda Galaxy. Bit hard to see the fainter arms but the core was very easy to spot.

Anyway, enough rambling on...

I was wanting to ask about GSO laser collimators. Does anyone have any good/bad experience with them? I'm getting pretty desperate for a collimator and have been looking at getting that particular one off the Andrews site.

Cheers everyone!

Guesty

[big_dav_2001]

Hi mate,

I've got the same scope you've got, and I agree, first views of Jupiter and 47 tuc are something most never forget.

You should get yourself a planetary imager and have a go getting some pics, I just got my first shot of Jupiter, it pretty rewarding.

I've also got a GSO collimator, and find it pretty handy, especially if you've got a set of 'Bobs Knobs' which makes collimation a breeze (tool-free collimation, just turn the knobs by hand). There are better collimators out there, but for the money, they're a good price of gear. My advice is to also get yourself a set of Bobs Knobs, saves a lot of fumbling around with screwdrivers and Allen keys in the dark.

What many don't realize is that the collimators themselves need to be collimated to make sure they're pointing straight when they're put into the focuser, if you do a search on here, there's several articles and threads which describe how to do it.

Hope it helps

Davin

[esky]

Cheers for the info, Dave.

I Just ordered a collimator and couldn't really help myself - couple of other things too. A GSO 2" barlow ED 2x and a nebula filter.

Probably looking at getting a decent 13mm to 17mm eyepiece next.

I've been thinking about getting an adapter for a camera. I tried using a lumix afocally to get a shot of Saturn a while back but it turned out pretty ordinary. The moon turned out sweet though.

Next year I'm going on a cruise to New Caledonia and Vanuatu so I want to get a good DSLR camera for the trip.

I asked about Bob's Knobs too, but Andrews didn't sell them. Pretty sure they are from Bintel??? I'll look in to it anyway. Anything to make the job easier and quicker would be great. ;)

[NorthernLight]

hi craig,

i collimate mine with an orion laser collimator deluxe that i bought for 99 bugs at bintel. very user friendly: just centre the secondary until the beam is in the centre spot of the primary and then go to the rear of the tube and adjust the screws until the reflected beam is in the bullseye of the collimator.
i found that the secondary mirror needs alignment only once and the primary every now and then but the scope usually holds collimation.
the orion laser collimator is maintenance free unless you drop on concrete, then its gone.
as for the nebula filter: get an uhc filter, if you can 2". i've got a 1,25" but love the big eyepieces especially for nebulae.
agree with tuc 47, appears somewhat more colourful.
cheers

[Marcus10]

I'd strongly suggest a Howie Glatter 2 inch collimator with the 1mm aperture stop to give you a nice pinpoint laser to collimate the secondary. The collimators are themselves collimated to several arcseconds accuracy. When you collimate the primary, I'd recommend a Tublug which is an attachment into whcih you insert the collimator that gives a reflection of the mirror centre spot. This makes primary collimation a breeze.

[big_dav_2001]

A 13mm EP should serve you pretty well, it's the most common focal length I use.

Also recommend getting a Telrad finder, one of the best bits of gear I've bought to date.

One thing you'll learn pretty quick is that there's always another bit of gear you could use... Lol

it's off-topic, but I'm gunna be doing the same cruise in a couple of months :)

Dav