CDK17 arrives

[RB (Andrew)]

LOL, I've heard of keeping a lid on things but......
Open the box Greg, at least just to check that there's something in there......

My glass ampule just turned green !!!

Congrats mate, can't wait for first light.

[GrahamL]

[gregbradley]

I opened the box!

Inside there was indeed a Planewave CDK17.

Its bigger than I thought:

http://upload.pbase.com/image/124847387

http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/124847281/large


Pier should be arriving within a week, extra counterweight is on the way.

Greg.

[renormalised (Carl)]

Yep, that looks like a PlaneWave

Nice bit of kit!!!

Tell you what, it would look really good mounted on one of those new Chronos mounts.

[bloodhound31]

You opened the box!!!??? There goes our clear skies.. Couldn't you have waited until AFTER the new moon?

Me, jealous? Much!

Baz.

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by renormalised

Yep, that looks like a PlaneWave

Nice bit of kit!!!

Tell you what, it would look really good mounted on one of those new Chronos mounts.

Sure would.

Originally Posted by bloodhound31

You opened the box!!!??? There goes our clear skies.. Couldn't you have waited until AFTER the new moon?

Me, jealous? Much!

Baz.

Hehe, sorry about that Chief.

[MrB (Simon)]

Originally Posted by gregbradley

Sure would.

That kinda sounded like a hint.

[Lester]

What not open yet?? Faster, faster. You are using up the warranty period.

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by Lester

What not open yet?? Faster, faster. You are using up the warranty period.

Hehehe, box is opened, see the pics. Link is a few posts below.

Greg.

[Vanda (Ian)]

Holy moley! The OTA weighs about 48 Kg. Its a monster! My 10" DOB is wimpering in the background!

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by Vanda

Holy moley! The OTA weighs about 48 Kg. Its a monster! My 10" DOB is wimpering in the background!

Its going to take 2 people to get it on the mount. Its bigger than I expected. 17 inches is a lot of aperture (432mm), that's approaching half a metre.

I hope I can do it justice.

Greg.

[Octane (Humayun)]

Greg,

First targets:

Centaurus A
Omega Centauri
M20
M6

These four would be perfect; a galaxy, a globular cluster, a nebula and an open cluster.

H

[MrB (Simon)]

three?

[Octane (Humayun)]

Hah! Leave me alone -- it's late and I'm tired!

It was originally three until I bung M6 on to the end of the list. Post has since been edited.

A+ for meticulous attention to detail.

Get on IRC some time. I'm always on there.

H

Originally Posted by MrB

three?

[renormalised (Carl)]

Originally Posted by Octane

Greg,

First targets:

Centaurus A
Omega Centauri
M20
M6

These four would be perfect; a galaxy, a globular cluster, a nebula and an open cluster.

H

Add these two...UKS-1 and ESO 201-10 (AM1). They should stretch things a bit

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by Octane

Greg,

First targets:

Centaurus A
Omega Centauri
M20
M6

These four would be perfect; a galaxy, a globular cluster, a nebula and an open cluster.

H

Sounds like a plan.

Cheers,

Greg.

[renormalised (Carl)]

Originally Posted by gregbradley

Its going to take 2 people to get it on the mount. Its bigger than I expected. 17 inches is a lot of aperture (432mm), that's approaching half a metre.

I hope I can do it justice.

Greg.

That's where you need one of those small floor cranes. One of them and two people to maneuver the scope into position would make things so much easier.

[Octane (Humayun)]

Or, just hire one strongmanmike for the afternoon; he'll hold the mount with one hand and screw the scope on with the other.

H

Originally Posted by renormalised

That's where you need one of those small floor cranes. One of them and two people to maneuver the scope into position would make things so much easier.

[renormalised (Carl)]

Originally Posted by Octane

Or, just hire one strongmanmike for the afternoon; he'll hold the mount with one hand and screw the scope on with the other.

H

Hmmm...hadn't thought of that

A one man "crane"

[gregbradley]

Yeah I've got an engine crane I may be able to use that perhaps.

But 2 men or 1 Mike should be able to handle it.

Greg.