#1  
Old 22-10-2021, 12:30 AM
Rod-AR127 (Rod)
Registered User

Rod-AR127 is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2021
Location: Perth, Australia
Posts: 202
My First week Back

So l finally dusted off the AR127L to see how much damage was done when the OTA slid out of the dove tail on the EXOS2 mount and hit the deck.
I did get a foot under it but it still snapped the star diagonal off, broke the finder scope mount screwed to the OTA and put a dint in the dew shield.
A lot has changed since then, mostly for the better I'm happy to share.

I'd bought some EP's from a Sydney shop in the past and they were very helpfull so l gave them a call and bought a GSO 2"dielectric star diagonal which is still in transit to me.
Got the finder scope mount base on it's way also, then l can see if l did any internal misalignment damage, I'm reasonably confident l didn't.

Got the EXOS2 mount and tripod out today, hosed off the dust and grime and gave it a good wipe down.
I had never gotten around to seeing how this thing actually worked with regards to polar alignment so l spent two nights on googlefoo and YouTube and again today really figuring it out.
Not 100% there yet but hopefully I'll do the daytime set up tomorrow ready for nightfall and check through the built in allignment scope to see how l went if the clouds permit.
What else happened today?
Bought a planisphere, dug out my compass, installed an inclinometer on my phone, got the bino's out and saw Venus, Jupiter and moons, possible identified the left side of the coffin OPHIUCHUS and Alpha Scorpio which was bright and red.
Now l have a big backyard which l can build a pier in, l just may do that, but not before l have a good look through my scope to find the best position in my yard.
I have a great SW sky view and N view also, but from different parts of the 300sqm yard.
Now l have another excuse to cut down that pesky 30yr old mango tree which is right in the middle. Turpentine mango's and that's exactly what they taste like.
Thanks for reading.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 22-10-2021, 01:15 PM
astroron's Avatar
astroron (Ron)
Supernova Searcher

astroron is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Cambroon Queensland Australia
Posts: 9,313
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rod-AR127 View Post
So l finally dusted off the AR127L to see how much damage was done when the OTA slid out of the dove tail on the EXOS2 mount and hit the deck.
I did get a foot under it but it still snapped the star diagonal off, broke the finder scope mount screwed to the OTA and put a dint in the dew shield.
A lot has changed since then, mostly for the better I'm happy to share.

I'd bought some EP's from a Sydney shop in the past and they were very helpfull so l gave them a call and bought a GSO 2"dielectric star diagonal which is still in transit to me.
Got the finder scope mount base on it's way also, then l can see if l did any internal misalignment damage, I'm reasonably confident l didn't.

Got the EXOS2 mount and tripod out today, hosed off the dust and grime and gave it a good wipe down.
I had never gotten around to seeing how this thing actually worked with regards to polar alignment so l spent two nights on googlefoo and YouTube and again today really figuring it out.
Not 100% there yet but hopefully I'll do the daytime set up tomorrow ready for nightfall and check through the built in allignment scope to see how l went if the clouds permit.
What else happened today?
Bought a planisphere, dug out my compass, installed an inclinometer on my phone, got the bino's out and saw Venus, Jupiter and moons, possible identified the left side of the coffin OPHIUCHUS and Alpha Scorpio which was bright and red.
Now l have a big backyard which l can build a pier in, l just may do that, but not before l have a good look through my scope to find the best position in my yard.
I have a great SW sky view and N view also, but from different parts of the 300sqm yard.
Now l have another excuse to cut down that pesky 30yr old mango tree which is right in the middle. Turpentine mango's and that's exactly what they taste like.
Thanks for reading.
Best of luck with the scope.
The pillar is a great idea.
Now to watch your progress.
Enjoy your journey.
Cheers
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 23-10-2021, 12:16 AM
Rod-AR127 (Rod)
Registered User

Rod-AR127 is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2021
Location: Perth, Australia
Posts: 202
Well the GSO 2" star diagonal turned up late today, yippee.

I had the tripod and mount out already pointing to the south celestial pole, what Bresser call the "polar home position". As for the second part of procedure using the polar alignment viewfinder, no idea.
I'll revisit another time. I'm not imaging so l don't think it matters.

So what did l see?
Lots!
The 2" SD is so much better than the cheap plastic 1.25" the scope came with. Still using 1.25 EP's but the difference is vast.
I was very surprised at the physical size of it, it's big.
Venus was up, tons of CA looking at that.
Jupiter had me sitting on a sheet of plywood on the lawn looking straight up for 15 or 20 mins.
Best view of Jupiter l have managed thus far.
I swung back to where Venus was and looked around the Sagittarius area, lots to see in there. A nice size smudge is what first caught my attention but only having a 15mm EP l couldn't see much more.

Speaking of EP's, l have the 26mm which came with my scope, and a 20 & 15 GSO superviews and a GSO Edge-On Planetary 5mm for the planets. I should have tried it out on that smudge.
I do have a GSO 2.5 Barlow lens but for some reason it just would not slide into the SD, strange.
After packing up l realised the problem, the Barlow was still attached to part of the old SD, that will do it. On closer inspection l think one of the elements in the Barlow is cracked on the edge, I'll have to surgically removed the old SD with a Dremel as the locking screw is broken off, hence l didn't know what was wrong until l got inside.
All in all a reasonable night.
Going to cost me a few 2" EP's now to get even more out of the scope and a night away in the bush somewhere.
That mango tree is definately going, kills my views from the back yard.
Thanks for reading, looking forward to meeting some fellow Perth sky watchers one day.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 23-10-2021, 05:50 AM
mura_gadi's Avatar
mura_gadi (Steve)
SpeakingB4Thinking

mura_gadi is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: Canberra
Posts: 829
Hello,

Nice to hear the girl got up and running and she manage to deliver a good night from the sounds of it.

Re: the ep's, ep's with ED coatings help reduce CA on brighter objects.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 23-10-2021, 11:25 AM
Saturnine (Jeff)
Registered User

Saturnine is offline
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Wollongong
Posts: 2,134
Hi Rod
Glad to hear that the damage was not significant. Among my collection of telescopes, I have an 127 X 1200 achromat, not E.S. or Bresser but is similar enough. These scopes perform well enough, not apo quality but I use it or have used it in the past for public nights when you don't want to use the more expensive gear.
One item that will improve the CA in your achro is an Minus Violet Filter, there are several brands available with the pick of the bunch probably being the Baader Semi-Apo Filter. Not cheap but works very well at taming CA, some colour fringing will still be visible at high mag on bright objects but is not as annoying as some people would like to allude to. Also, some eyepieces also introduce their own chromatic aberrations so it can get a little confusing at times. Good quality Plossels are good performing eyepieces, without breaking the budget though the 50 deg AF is a bit narrow for some tastes these days.
Wider field eyepieces, unless premium brands may have some chromatic errors of their own or be a bit soft at the edges of the field of view but you may already know this. The 2" diagonal teamed with a good 2" widefield eyepiece is great for nebulae and star clusters on dark of the moon nights too.
Enjoy the ride.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 23-10-2021, 12:38 PM
floyd_2's Avatar
floyd_2 (Dean)
Registered User

floyd_2 is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Cecil Hills (Sydney)
Posts: 545
Regarding your AR127 slipping out of the dovetail, that has always been something that worried me. I’ve made a small addition to my AR127 to reduce the risk. It’s just a stopper of sorts to stop the scope from being able to slip backwards out of the dovetail. See attached pics for ideas. I’ve done a similar thing for my C9.25 too.
Attached Thumbnails
Click for full-size image (8E5DD357-9C17-48C4-AE7C-FB8001C8B18B.jpeg)
25.0 KB20 views
Click for full-size image (14A3B33D-611B-4A80-B0A6-BB9C12C5DD92.jpeg)
17.7 KB21 views
Click for full-size image (EE77C360-4DF9-4ADC-AAFF-8A2A87EFAF61.jpeg)
31.2 KB24 views
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 23-10-2021, 02:19 PM
Rod-AR127 (Rod)
Registered User

Rod-AR127 is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2021
Location: Perth, Australia
Posts: 202
Thanks gents, yes some new 2" EP's will be slowly making their way into my hands. Need to get my research right on these as they are not cheap.

I like the mod for the dovetail, will look into something like that, hmmmm, l have a tube of JB weld.

I am definately open to suggestions on 2" EP's, l have never looked at how much they are, l know it's well into the hundreds.
One for planets, a couple for nebula and star clusters and the like.

Cheers, off to work now.
Toot toot.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +10. The time is now 09:17 PM.

Powered by vBulletin Version 3.8.7 | Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Advertisement
Testar
Advertisement
Bintel
Advertisement