Equipment opninions sort (and hello)

[RAJAH235]

Janos, You only have to do it once. Just be careful laying down the thin cardboard. DO NOT move it around. The concave in the mirror will keep it off the surface, until you press gently to make the texta mark. If nec. get someone to hold the edge of the disc. L.

[Thiink]

Ok well I just got home and its still cloudy, it best not be like this all weekend.

I might have to email Leigh tomorrow and ask him about the Ep's and binoculars. Its not that much of an issue though, I might just have to buy more down the track I guess. Would a barlow make the 40mm more useful or not? Maybe he just gave me what ever wasnt selling..

[MiG]

I think I'm weird because I like my 4 mm EP (on 1250 mm focal length scope). Although it might become almost redundant when my barlow comes.

[Thiink]

Ok well things haven't gone to plan at all so far..

- I started constructing the base this afternoon and realised I was missing one of the wood screws that holds the base together (I only had 9, needed 10). At the moment I have the base held together with one less screw than it should be.
- The primary mirror isn't centre spotted, which after discussing this with Andrews was told it should be.

AND

- The clouds haven't cleared and don't look to be at all.

So that's where I am at so far. I am going to have to call Lee on Monday and go over each of those with him (and ask why he ordered the clouds when he sent the scope to me!) and try and sort the first two out.

[MiG]

Clouds are normal when getting a new scope
My problems were:
Missing finderscope o-ring (but Lee sent me one for no extra charge)
Azimuth axis bolt too short to engage locking portion of nut
Crappy t-nuts pulled out of the wood with little force (used to attach base handle).

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Good greif,

Both of you have certainly had a bad run.

My only problem was that I thought I was getting GS EP's but ended up with series 500's.

Even though my base has had no problems I am going to make a better one anyway (before they go wrong!)

Good luck with Lee.

[Thiink]

First light report (hooray!)!

Firstly I'd like to add a note now to anyone who might read this, and is in a similar prediciment that I was trying to decide what to buy; if it is at all possible, try and get near both an 8" and 10" scope that are setup before making up your mind. The 10" is massive, and a real handful to carry with just one person (at least down a flight of stairs). I can only imagine what the 12" is like to carry! Oh, and if you go the 10" make sure you take a big enough car to go and pick the package up if you miss the courier (see post above). I definately don't regret buying the 10", though its about the biggest I could go, though, and still have something managable in terms of transporting it around (ie. listen to the guys on these forums ). Its not the weight thats the problem its the arkwardness of carrying the OTA.

The clouds have finally disappeared, I don't know exactly when that happened as it had rained earlier in the day and looked like the weather had settled in for the rest of the weekend. I walked out from a friends house at 11pm tonight and jupiter was staring me in the face! Looked up to see if the clouds were gone and realised it was home time.

I got home, assembled the rest of the scope (just the finder and the springs) and started moving the scope outside to start the cooling down period (no easy task getting the scope outside as its stored on the second level at the moment which means lots of stairs ). I waited about 30mins (ok well it was an excited 30mins, so probably more like 10 ), grabbed the EP's, a jumper and ventured outside. I roughly lined jupiter up in the finder, located it using the 40mm (easy enough as it was just about roof level) and set about trying to get the finder half accurate. I spent about the next 30mins or so changing around the EP's testing each one out on jupiter. It's amazing just how fast jupiter can move when viewing it even at just 138x! It was great seeing the moons all lined up, couldnt quite get much detail in the planet itsself though, the colour appeared washed out as though it was too bright. Unfortunately saturn had already started descending into the trees by the time I got the scope sorted out so it is going to have to wait until tomorrow (watch it rain now!). Really looking forward to a viewing of saturn. It has been great looking at it through the 60mm cheapy, if it looks even a little better in this scope I will be wrapped!

I turned over to the cross to have a play around after jupiter. I found a great looking double star in what I think was one of the cross stars (would that be right?!). Moved around the area near the cross with the 25mm GS (50x) just to have a wander, and ended up finding a great looking cluster, which after a little investigation appears to be NGC 3532 (again would that be right? looks to be). I spent a good few mins looking at the cluster (its impressive viewing something like a cluster in something YOU own!), and looking at all those stars was really quite scary, it really made me feel about this big -> .

In short:
- seeing was average, transparency was lousy.
- the 25mm GS was easily the most used EP of the night, and the best EP so far. It feels good to use and with average conditions gave the best images of both jupiter, and that cluster I stumbled on (which I also tried with the 9mm).
- the 40mm and 4mm so far have been useless, at least in the conditions I had tonight. The 40mm might be handy for the moon maybe, but for jupiter I may as well have used the 10x25 binoculars (it was handy for aligning the finder though). The 4mm just gave me a big piece of blurry nothing when aimed at jupiter (I was pushing it with the 9mm, let alone the 4mm at 312x in very average conditions). Even then it doesnt feel like an EP I would use even on a good night. The 9mm barlowed seems like a better idea for the planets.
- i need a few hours more practice in moving the dob around, it was hard to get used to the motion of it.

Things I need (already brought a trolley today ready for somewhere to put the scope downstairs):
- red LED torch (badly!). Every time I came inside to get a new EP or use the calculator it stuffed my night vision which meant a few mins outside before I could keep viewing.
- that chair! Astronomy without a chair is hard work! My back and neck are going to be sore tomorrow.
- a printed out map, or book.. or something. Need the torch first.
- a 15mm EP, or a barlow to get the inbetween mags. The gap between 9mm and 25mm is too great.
- some of the ice-mods done to my scope, especially the handle and milk bottle washer mods (ps. I found it much easier to use the base with just one spring on, is that normal?).

The only reason I stopped viewing is because I was getting dewed out pretty badly. It was 8C at 1am though, and this is Bathurst. It was a great few hours of viewing though, very happy with things thus far.

And lastly a note to myself; the OTA when its dewy is extremely slippery! I was bringing it inside after packing up and almost let it slip right out of my hands. The pulse went nuts I can tell you!

ps. If any of that doesnt make sense its early, Im tired but very much awake (ie. excited).

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

it really made me feel about this big -> .

Well done! That's what it's all about!

[iceman (Mike)]

(ps. I found it much easier to use the base with just one spring on, is that normal?).

Yep, I usually used no springs, though sometimes I used 1. Never used both.

Congrats, great first light report. The 15mm and 25mm GSO plossls are the ones I use most. The 15mm barlowed is my best combination for the planets if the seeing is ok. The 9mm barlowed can be a bit too much in bad conditions.

[wavelandscott (Scott)]

From the sound of your first light report I'd say you got it!...

I beleive that you now have the "bug"...

Good Job...enjoy your new "hobby/obsession"...

[slice of heaven]

Cheap substitute for having no red LED torch.Wrap some red cellophane over the front of a torch,how much depends on the strength of the torch and the shade of the cello.This has worked fine for me for years,I use a Dolphin torch and backlight a table behind the viewing area to check starcharts,change ep,grab a drink.Might go modern one day though.

[Astroman (Andrew Wall)]

another way of making a red light is to buy some jar with a red lid, after empying the contents and using the jar for odd bits and screws, use a knife and cut the lid to replace the clear lens on the torch, I did this with a pen light, works like a charm.

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

I'd say go with a red LED lightsource rather than a torch with a filter. The LEDs will give you true red light, and because LEDs are very efficient, the batteries will last for ages. You can leave the lightsource on all night, for many nights, without needing new batteries.

Cheapest way to go is a bike light from a bargain shop for around $5 or less. Just beware of some very cheap ones ($1.50) with 5 LEDs; they have a flawed design which makes them very dim. And make sure that what you get has an "always on" mode, and not just strobed modes.

[rmcpb (Rob)]

Thiink,

Great report

I would agree with you on the eyepieces. the range you ended up with seems a bit strange, I was given a 26mm, 15mm and 9mm and a Barlow. I have since added a 32mm and 4mm but find that the 26 and 15 are my workhorses.

You will only use the 4mm on good nights so don't expect to wear it out with use, more likely rattling around the bottom of your eyepiece box will wear it out first. While the 40mm is huge don't discount it, it will be great for star clusters like the Beehive Cluster in Cancer and the Five of Diamonds (IC2602) in Carina as well as some nebulae, again not the main eyepiece in your collection but very handy to have . Probably would have been better to have a 30mm range wide angle eyepiece but its still a useful eyepiece.

A great reference to use is at this site http://www.rasnz.org.nz/.

Try not to go inside for anything during a viewing session. Take your eyepieces out with you and your list of objects you want to look at, as well as the dreaded red torch.

You are off and running, enjoy your dark skies.

[Thiink]

Ok well I called Lee today. He is going to send me another screw so I can finish putting the base together. On another note he didn't seem interested when I brought up that when I spoke to him last week he told me; that the primary would be centre spotted, and that I would get 10x32 binoculars. I'm a bit annoyed at that, especially after I was told it should be spotted. He did say though that I could take it down to him and he would centre spot it outside of normal hours. I might just do it myself. O well, can't win them all I guess.. can't complain about the price.

On the red LED torch front I was told to try our local ammo/gun supplier here as they normally carry red LED torches, no such luck though. Also tried a camping store, but no luck either. I might go with the red celo option for the time being, and then build up an EP box with red LED's in it, in the long run.

Ended up having another good viewing session last night between about 9:30 and 11:30 last night. We were using the maps from skymaps.com as a guide for general areas of interest, then scanning around with the 25mm, swapping to the 9mm when we spotted something faint and fuzzy (). The bad part is the girlfriend ended up finding more things than I did (though my role was downsized to 'in charge of changing EP's!' from almost the start!). She found the Tarantula Nebula in LMC (great area!), ETA Carinae Nebula and the Jewel box cluster. We also had a look at saturn through the 4mm which gave mixed results, jupiter wasn't up yet. We intend to keep searching for each of the points of interest in the skymaps.com maps to find each one for the month.

Reason we stopped viewing was a horrible industrial/sewage smell that seemed to blanket the whole town last night. Apparently one of the food processing plants out here was the cause (great..), and that it had made the papers last week. We lasted about 10mins with the smell and then had to pack up and retreat indoors. If that keeps up it might be time to clean the primary mirror when it comes out to centre spot it already! Makes me wonder, though, how mirrors go in industrial areas, or near the ocean?

Does anyone keep a record (bar Ice ) of their viewing sessions? Could be an interesting forum option in the future (a place for people to keep a log of their sessions). Might need to whip something up in my webspace so I can keep track of myself!

Thanks to everyone for the positive messages.

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

Sorry about the cold response you got Thiink. The binos, who cares! but good that you let him know. The EPs are the biggest letdown. Did you ask about them? I would not send the scope back for centre spotting. It's more risky than doing it yourself.

Did you mention you're from iceinspace? If a dealer is smart enough, they'll realise that anyone from here will share their experiences (both good and bad) with the rest of us and eventually, thru the magic of google and the like, the rest of the world.

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Thiink,

I know what you mean about the dew making the scope slippery. I have learnt to dry mine with a towel now before I pick it up.

As in the carrying method, I don't know how you carry yours, I carry mine (12") vertically and I hold the Alt spindles. I find this method very easy. Horizontally is a nightmare.

Mine is longer than yours and it doesn't hit the top of door frames carried in this vertical position. But you may be taller than me!

It might take a few trips in and out of the house with it to work out which way is easier for you.

Glad you are enjoying the views. Ain't it a Buzz!

[Thiink]

janoskiss: I was thinking about that, I should probably take the comments about Andrews out of the post. Other than the conversation today they have been good, ultra-quick delivery and good prices. I wasnt really worried about the binoculars, I probably wont use them anyway.

ballaratdragons: Actually taking a towel out with me is a good idea, making sure the OTA is dry solves half the problem. I have just been carrying the scope by holding it on either side cupping it in my hands trying not to put too much pressure on it, which I now realise probably isn't the best way of carrying it. I might use the spindles from now on after making sure they are dry. I normally sit the scope upright inside on the carpet, take the base out and then the scope, reverse when taking it back inside. And I'm not tall, only around 5'10, might be how I am carrying it.

There has since been some space cleared outside under the stairs (under cover on concrete but open air) so it can now live down there which is MUCH easier. Just have to find some way of keeping the dust and other crap out (the dryer lives under the house as well, but lots of air between it and the closet the scope is going to live in).

[RAJAH235]

For ALL concerned. If you want a red LED globe for your torches, I make them. They can be put in any torch that uses the prefocused/flanged globe, at up to 6 volts. Please specify # of batterys/volts tho.. Nom cost is $6.50 + post. L.
If you want one......
Just the facts m'am.

[iceman (Mike)]

I carry my 10" tube by using my right hand at the base end near the mirror holder, just wrapping my fingers around the end of the tube, and my left hand/arm curled under the top end of the OTA.
Have to go through doorways sideways, or tilt it up at the same time, still holding in the same position.
It's not that heavy so I can pretty much lean it against my body in the vertical position while my right hand holds the main weight.