VinceN Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 (edited) Hello all, A brief intro. Hope it's not too cheeky to say that I have "cut&paste" most of this from my introduction on the main SGL forum. ☺️ I'm from West Hallam, Derbyshire. In my 50's. I'm a complete novice to all things astronomical, although always had an interest since being young. Interested in photography, generally. Now been bitten by the astrophotography bug "big time" Probably made the classic newbie mistake, jumped straight in and bought a 2nd hand telescope & mount. A Skywatcher 200P & EQ5 mount. It's a little bit "used and battered". It needs a little bit of T.L.C. and I think that I am going to need some advice about some repairs on the mount fairly soon. Some time in the past one of its previous owners has removed the front bracket & T-screw for the front altitude adjuster. Not a wise move in this newbie's opinion ☺️ With my lack of experience, I have managed to bend the rear altitude adjusting screw. I have removed the bent screw, but unfortunately this has part stripped the thread. Any advice about any local mount repairers in the Derbyshire area would be most welcome. But, I love the old thing already. Had so much fun already with the scope and playing with Stellarium to see where things are up there, and also some very modest success with images of moon. Have managed to catch a very small image, but definitely was, of Jupiter and the moons on a very clear night. That really was a buzz. I didn't get to sleep until about 3.00 am and on a work day, wow. I've never noticed how few clear nights we get here in Derbyshire. We have had precious few of those since I bought my scope. Now have so many questions about this fantastic hobby. Sorry, this "brief intro" ended up rambling on a bit more than I first intended. Thanks for all of your helpful contributions, they really are very informative and helpful to a beginner. Cheers, Vince Edited June 3, 2019 by VinceN Text Bottletopburly and Smithysteve 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8472 Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 Hi, Vince. Welcome to our little astro community. Many wise folk on here (not me, lol) who can answer any questions you may have. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8472 Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 1 hour ago, VinceN said: Some time in the past one of its previous owners has removed the front bracket & T-screw for the front altitude adjuster. Not a wise move in this newbie's opinion ☺️ With my lack of experience, I have managed to bend the rear altitude adjusting screw. I have removed the bent screw, but unfortunately this has part stripped the thread. Any advice about any local mount repairers in the Derbyshire area would be most welcome. If you know the thread pitch, you could always run a tap through it yourself? A pic might help us see where exactly you're referring to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinceN Posted June 3, 2019 Author Share Posted June 3, 2019 2 hours ago, 8472 said: If you know the thread pitch, you could always run a tap through it yourself? A pic might help us see where exactly you're referring to. Ok. Cheers. Will do with the photos. Was thinking of trying to run a tap through the existing thread. Just need to pluck up the courage to give it a go. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Bino-viewer Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 Hi Vince. A warm welcome. You'll soon have everything running smoothly, i'm sure. Help is always close by on here, and its a very knowledgeable and friendly forum. Hope to meet you sometime...? ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 Hello and welcome to the forum, hope you get your issue sorted, if not, there are a number of people on here who can help and offer advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuckstar Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 Hi Vince, welcome aboard. Hope you get your mount sorted. I'm a dob user so can't really help you I'm afraid, although I do seem to remember your issue with the altitude bolt being raises a few times in the past. I'm sure someone who knows how to sort it out will be along soon. Anyway, enjoy the forum, and ask away with any questions you may have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAZ Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 Hi Vince, a warm welcome to the forum. get some pics up and we'll see if we can help out. That's not a bad old scope there and should keep you entertained for a bit. feel free to ask any questions you might have, someone will help out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+RonC Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 Welcome to the forum Vince ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bottletopburly Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 Welcome, 200p and an Eq5 was may first setup, you’ll need motors on the axis if you want to take photos though , adding a camera ? is a slippery slope ? you’ll never have any money ever again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 Hi Vince and welcome to EMS from me too. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Strings Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 Hi Vince and welcome to EMS, I'm in Belper I've got the same scope and mount and an excellent workhorse it is too. I fitted the motors to the mount and that now gets used with a small refractor as I built a dob mount for the 200P. Accidental bending and thread stripping of the adjusters and their locking bolts is a common problem on these mounts as the metal is a bit cheap. A quick search will find some solutions to the problem as in better quality replacements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Graham Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 Hi vince. Welcome to ems. To sort your stripped thread. Simply re tap the thread the next size up and replace the bolt. If I remember correctly the old EQ 5 was M8 so re tap the stripped thread M10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philjay Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 Welcome Vince Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinceN Posted June 4, 2019 Author Share Posted June 4, 2019 1 hour ago, Graham said: Hi vince. Welcome to ems. To sort your stripped thread. Simply re tap the thread the next size up and replace the bolt. If I remember correctly the old EQ 5 was M8 so re tap the stripped thread M10 Hi. Thanks for the tip. ? This was how I was thinking of going with it. Reading all the positive welcomes and suggestions has given me the confidence to give it a try. Thanks, everybody for the welcome. I'm sure there will be plenty more "newbie" questions coming your way ☺️ Cheers, Vince Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithysteve Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 Welcome to EMS Vince! ?? looking forward to seeing your AP shots in good time. You are getting good advice already with your thread issue. ? i hope you also get the chance to ‘look’ at some of the great stuff on show ‘up there’, using an eyepiece or two as well as astro photography, you might get a few nice surprise wows when receiving photons on the old eyeball from globs, nebulas, galaxies, planets... etc. cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 Hi warm welcome to the EMS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Derbyshire Dave Posted August 25, 2019 Share Posted August 25, 2019 Hi Vince, Welcome to EMS! Lot of knowledge and a great bunch of people. Look into the Dark Sky meets, they are a good way of meeting everyone. One tonight in Wymeswold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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