Thanks Laurie, I've been sweating on the StarTrack guys to get it here safely as there are no more available anywhere to replace it if damaged....
Test fitted the Baader ClickLock, Baader BBHS Diagonal and Pentax XW10,
as well as the BV setup of Baader ClickLock, Zeiss T2 Prism, TV Binovue and Tak LE24s.
Just have to wait patiently for some rings or a clamshell........ or make some out of plywood...
Welcome to the club Matt , just got from looking at the moon so sharp, just took this with the iPhone
Thanks Laurie, I've been sweating on the StarTrack guys to get it here safely as there are no more available anywhere to replace it if damaged....
Test fitted the Baader ClickLock, Baader BBHS Diagonal and Pentax XW10,
as well as the BV setup of Baader ClickLock, Zeiss T2 Prism, TV Binovue and Tak LE24s.
Just have to wait patiently for some rings or a clamshell........ or make some out of plywood...
Another sweet setup Matt. At this rate, we could sell tickets to the Tak Star Party for all the poor people without Taks.
Another vote for the beautiful K-Astec products and for the excellent service from Kyoei-Osaka.
I sent payment for my K-Astec Tube Rings (TB95) and a 250mm dovetail bar (DP75-250L) on Tuesday,
The items arrived this morning, so less than 3 days from payment including freight from Japan to Australia
The items are beautifully designed and made, very light and supplied with extra cap screws.
The finish is excellent. The DP75-250L dovetail bar is a perfect fit in my Robin Casady EM Saddle.
The items came well packed, unfortunately while unpacking them I accidentally punctured a small plastic bag that was packed with them.
It was only after this that I read the warning label on the bag
"Warning - Instant Cloud - piercing this bag will release clouds that will stretch from horizon to horizon"
My major items are in my signature. My two main scopes are the Orion XT8i and the Meade ETX 80. I also have the red scope, the Tasco 76 mm newtonian, but that is in the shed and is not currently in use. That will probably be loaned out or given away to help someone else get started.
Picked up a 12" Skywatcher on a homemade dob mount, mount needed some work as it didn't have any real way of keeping the OTA secure and kept sliding and losing balance, I changed it so I could adjust the tension on the top part of the holder and added new rubber, seems to go okay now... Don't mind the scope not being "upright" it was a test run... The finder scope "O" Ring was also buggered so I couldn't align that the first night but that is fixed now.
Viewed the GRS 2 nights ago for the first time, pretty cool.
Picked up a 12" Skywatcher on a homemade dob mount, mount needed some work as it didn't have any real way of keeping the OTA secure and kept sliding and losing balance, I changed it so I could adjust the tension on the top part of the holder and added new rubber, seems to go okay now... Don't mind the scope not being "upright" it was a test run... The finder scope "O" Ring was also buggered so I couldn't align that the first night but that is fixed now.
Viewed the GRS 2 nights ago for the first time, pretty cool.
That is a decent bit of aperture especially in rural WA, hope you enjoy it.
I got a Tak njp wooden tripod adapter from Claude at AEC and made the legs from Tas oak. Saved a fair bit on a full Tak tripod this way.
Peter from PS Custommade machined up a plate to go between the Half Hitch FTX and the tripod. His work is extremely good and he definitely doesn't charge enough for it.
Just have to play a bit more with the balancing to get everything right.