I see the other problem you have. Your eyepiece cabinets at the back look like they are full of trinkets. You better get that sorted out.
I'm not allowed to touch anything in those cabinets....... Jennifer always rolls her eyes when I mention any astro purchase but thought nothing of spending $1K on that glass bird in the cabinet.....
Now that I have had a few opportunities to test out my new "Grab, Grunt & Go - Planetary and Lunar" scope I thought I might post a portrait or three of it:
Takahashi TOA130NFB with Baader 2" ClickLock visual back, Baader Zeiss T2 Prism diagonal, Televue Binovue and Takahashi LE eyepieces on T/Rex Mount & Berlebach Planet tripod.
Monoviewing is done with the Baader BBHS-Sitall 2" ClickLock and a mix of XW, XF, LVW, Delos and the Termi-Nagler 31.
(P.S. I blame Allan for the idea and Steve for making it happen and Colin for providing a part of the funds for it )
Beautiful thing should be imaging, not staring into space
I am utterly content with my FS-102. I loves me a perfect doublet - acclimates quicker than I can put the camera onto it.I have had more doublets than quads or triplets (though there's been a few quads now!)
Let's see if I can hang onto it at least another month...maybe the skies MAY clear to use it by then (maybe...)
Had to refinish this one entirely - it was in sad condition. Unfortunately meant the dewshield decal had to go, so I drew it up in Adobe Illustrator and had it cut for me - I had enlarged it, as I liked the look of it bigger. OK, it's not original, but it's mine
First shot is before the decal went on, second one is a close up of my new decal applied (quite larger than the priginal, and these are individual decals, not a solid printed sheet like the originals, so won't yellow etc)
So here is the new imaging kit in it's #1 configuration. Consists of:
Orion AZ/EG G Mount
Stellarvue SVR102T refactor
Stellarvue 0.8 Reducer Flattener matched to the scope
Feathertouch 3" rotatable focuser
Atik One 6.0 Mono camera w internal filter wheel and off axis guider and Atik GP guide camera
Stellarvue D Plates
Losmandy DVR105 guidescope rings
Orion ST80 Guide scope with Orion SSAG pro guide camera
A table from Bunnings with a corflute shield
Whole bunch o' cables 'n' crap
One black puss cat for company!!
At this stage I decided not to try the off axis guider, as I had enough to learn with the camera and scope. Hopefully will be able to move entirely to OAG shortly
I have also picked up a second CCD camera with an 8 position filter wheel and a KAF8300 sensor so will have that as an option to do some narrowband in the future.
Also I have found some covers for the whole kaboodle. Bunnings sell covers that are designed for stackable chairs. Although only in brown, they are the perfect size to put over this type of rig and have little tie downs that can be tied to the legs of the tripod. And only cost about $12.
Not sure I really like that weird looking red/black eyepiece thingy on the Stellarvue but the rest of it looks mightily impressive. Congrats, look forward to seeing its produce!
Needs to be some ATM Dobsonians represented here. My 3 current ATM Dobs (actually 4, a 6"f6.5 dob is obscured by the blue 14"er). Also my C102-HD (4") refractor on CG4 mount in the background. All my scopes are visual only.
I've had my 24" f/3.3 SDM for about 6 months, the scope is, in my opinion, the perfect visual setup! not toooo big however big enough for my physical limitations. Lockwood optics and Peter Read know how, offers deep space, planets and moon viewing with snap too focus, this scope puts smiles on faces! I can be viewing in around 10 minutes including collimation and star alighnment!
Hi Graham. Great telescope. I love your photos of the build on your website. Peter has started on mine now. 28" f/3.3 Kororia. I'll post photos once it's delivered and in my observatory.
I am interested to know what eyepieces you are using.
Kind regards
Stephen
Pukemaru Observatory
341 Snelgar Road, RD 2
Kaitaia, New Zealand 0482
+173° 20' 07.67" -35° 05' 39.52"
I lived on Heads road Hauhora for many years , awsome dark skies up there , wish I had a scope like yours when I was there , looking forward to a viewing report Stephen .
My family has land in Awanui be good to look you up when I am there next ..
Brian.
Quote:
Originally Posted by StephenRH
Hi Graham. Great telescope. I love your photos of the build on your website. Peter has started on mine now. 28" f/3.3 Kororia. I'll post photos once it's delivered and in my observatory.
I am interested to know what eyepieces you are using.
Kind regards
Stephen
Pukemaru Observatory
341 Snelgar Road, RD 2
Kaitaia, New Zealand 0482
+173° 20' 07.67" -35° 05' 39.52"
After a lot of perseverance Col its all come together and you've got a great scope. I'm biased of course as my Polarex/Unitron achromats are all f/15 & f/16 and they provide great views. I notice you finally received the tube rings from Peter Tan (Lee Man Ho), mine took some time as well but at least they are custom made and of excellent quality. Off topic, Peter Tan's astro gears website can't be reached anymore, at least the original one. Do you know if it is up and running or can he only be reached by email?
Have been looking to improve my Half Hitch FTX as I'm not convinced the standard saddle attachment to the mount is as good as it could be.
Also I prefer having the rings connect to the dovetail with 2 bolts rather than just the one.
I came up with the idea of a plate that bolts to the mount then a Losmandy style saddle can bolt to that. This is way stronger than standard. Just need to attach the altitude stops now to finish.
All machining was done by Peter from PS CustomMade and he's done a fantastic job.
I have looked at some unique scopes on this page that enthuses me to dust out the cupboard. I have a tasco 20te that I will clean up and present for a photo shute if any one is interested.
John
Have been looking to improve my Half Hitch FTX as I'm not convinced the standard saddle attachment to the mount is as good as it could be.
Also I prefer having the rings connect to the dovetail with 2 bolts rather than just the one.
I came up with the idea of a plate that bolts to the mount then a Losmandy style saddle can bolt to that. This is way stronger than standard. Just need to attach the altitude stops now to finish.
All machining was done by Peter from PS CustomMade and he's done a fantastic job.
Great idea and Very nice work by Peter, the Casady saddles are beautiful also.
Quote:
Originally Posted by thebonz
I have looked at some unique scopes on this page that enthuses me to dust out the cupboard. I have a tasco 20te that I will clean up and present for a photo shute if any one is interested.
John
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