Here are a few pics of the scope almost finished, I got an iOptron IEQ45 mount for it from OPT along with the Explore Scientific 24, 14, 8.8, and 4.7mm 82 degree eyepieces.
To finish of the tube I sanded it all down with 400 grit sand paper with lots of water and then polished it with a buff and some cutting compound.
I flocked the inside of the tube with black velvet, it make it really nice and dark, I’m thinking of making a baffle to go just in front of the primary mirror as there is a 10mm or so gap between the mirror and tube were a bit of light can come in.
The mirror cell works well, collimation is easy to adjust and holds perfectly.
You can see that there are two sets of holes for mounting the mirror cell the tube, well one set is for visual and one it for imaging. Moving the mirror and tweaking the collimation again takes about 2 minutes.
The mount works brilliantly, this is the first GoTo GEM I’ve ever used so it took a few nights to get used to but over all it’s very simple to use, with a rough polar align through the illuminated reticule polar scope and a one star align, GoTo’s place every object smack in the centre of the image with the 1100D.
The ES EP’s I’m very happy with also, certainly a lot better than my Hyperions.
I have started working on a coopered wooden 80mm F5 guide scope, it’s coming along pretty well, I hope to have everything finished in around mid February.
Cheers
Jo