Hi Guys,
This is my first post with this site. I have been into Astronomy since 1991 but only recently got this equipment.
As you can see I am a bit of a Takahashi nut.
I am a member of the ASNSW and was president of the soc in 2002 and 2003. I generally only use it up at Ilford each month but I am trying to get better set up for use in Sydney. I hope I can contribute as much to the IIS community as I think I'll get from being part of it.
It's great to have another skilled imager in the IIS community. Whilst I don't know much about imaging, I have seen Monte's set up at Ilford working by remote control from the house, combined with petrol generator and it's a pretty cool bit of gear.
Mike can just let you know how impressed I am with the functionality of the site? It is a pleasure to use and I haven't found anything that doesn't work or make sense. Congrats.
Thought I'd post a few of the 22" - this was the last time out before the goto stuff goes on it, taken last weekend at the Spring Equinox star party here in the UK. Yes ,it was foggy
I've had the 60mm refractor for about 15 years, named the Tennerscope as it cost $10 complete with GEM from the recycle guy at the local tip. The finder and mount screws were all missing and no eyepieces but, being a fitter, they were manufactured during lunchbreaks (or when the boss wasn't looking). The first eyepiece was the lens from an 8mm cine projector turned down to fit the focuser, and it gave me my first views of the moon and milky way through a telescope. Optics are first class with no signs of chromic aberation. The tripod was a donation from some friendly surveyors
The 150 reflector was bought a couple of weeks ago so hasn't had a lot of use yet. It has taken a bit of fiddling to get the mirrors into better collimation, and the purchase of a few more eyepieces. Looking forward to getting it to a dark sky site and putting it through its paces.
about the mount. it looks like a vixen polaris or not far below in quality and plent
Quote:
Originally Posted by Glenhuon
I've had the 60mm refractor for about 15 years, named the Tennerscope as it cost $10 complete with GEM from the recycle guy at the local tip. The finder and mount screws were all missing and no eyepieces but, being a fitter, they were manufactured during lunchbreaks (or when the boss wasn't looking). The first eyepiece was the lens from an 8mm cine projector turned down to fit the focuser, and it gave me my first views of the moon and milky way through a telescope. Optics are first class with no signs of chromic aberation. The tripod was a donation from some friendly surveyors
The 150 reflector was bought a couple of weeks ago so hasn't had a lot of use yet. It has taken a bit of fiddling to get the mirrors into better collimation, and the purchase of a few more eyepieces. Looking forward to getting it to a dark sky site and putting it through its paces.
she looks very nice. sorry bout the last message [having problems with ice in space web site] anyway that mount looks like one i braught in christchurch 10 or more years ago,it carried a 60mm f15 refractor as well i was impressed with the quality shame i sold it.you just dont see them like that any more .clear skies
This is my current imaging set up of 8" celestron side by side mounted with 70x500 mm guidescope. All on HEQ5-Pro SynScanV3.1 mount. Have added a WO fine focusser to the 8" so that I can use a parfocal ronchi eyepiece and diagonal which slips out and the camera slips in - perfect focus for the DSLR.
The label on the scope marks it as a Vanex. I believe they were imported by an optician in Perth WA and rebadged. Here's a pic of the (rather agricultural) drive made for it 10 or 12 years ago. Its a stepper motor from an old computer disk drive, the ones that were about the size of a brick and weighed as much, grafted to a reduction gearbox salvaged from an old photocopier and drives the mount through a rubber tyred/knurled setup. The controller is a variable pulse 555 timer feeding into a 4017 decade counter and pulsing the stepper through small switching transistors. Worked reasonably well but some slippage on the rubber tyre. Might look out for a couple of gears to replace it now that I've dug it out of the box.
Last edited by Glenhuon; 30-04-2007 at 09:30 AM.
Reason: more info
Here are pics of my imaging and visual setup showing:
1. A TOA 150 refractor for general viewing and photography.
2. An 80mm guidescope on the guiding mount,
3. A Canon EOS 350 with a 20 - 200mm lens(USM) for widefield shots.
to IIS.
