+Derbyshire Dave Posted October 18, 2022 Share Posted October 18, 2022 1 hour ago, Bottletopburly said: Dave did you go for the connector that fits to the EFW or without? Hi Dave. I went for the shorter one that allows for the use of the EFW Bottletopburly 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stu Posted October 18, 2022 Share Posted October 18, 2022 3 hours ago, Bino-viewer said: Interesting bit of kit. Pegasus astro had their latest gear on show at last weekends IAS show with their UK head rep in attendance. They were demoing their new harmonic drive mount, and a new electronic micro focuser which looks like the evolution of what you have above. To be honest I've not got round to fitting it yet. It doesn't quite fit my OTA so I need to craft some kind of spacer to sit under the bracket. I probably would've had to remortgage if I'd gone to the show 😄 I do love my pocket power box advance. I was checking that mount out on their website, very nice bit of kit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Bino-viewer Posted October 18, 2022 Share Posted October 18, 2022 They demo ed the mount slewing and its amazing the way it threw the C11 SCT around which was riding on it. It was pretty noisy though, not as quiet as i thought it might be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bottletopburly Posted October 27, 2022 Share Posted October 27, 2022 Canon adapter turned up yesterday to allow connection of my zwo cameras to canon lenses , so the nifty fifty on the zwo533mc should give me the whole Orion constellation and my zwo 585mc also fits nicely, now just need to mount on a plate so I can incorporate my autofocuser which I need to get an adapter for the nifty fifty for that to be able to work +Stu and +Glafnazur 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stu Posted October 27, 2022 Share Posted October 27, 2022 29 minutes ago, Bottletopburly said: should give me the whole Orion constellation Looking forward to that 👍 Bottletopburly 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted October 27, 2022 Share Posted October 27, 2022 Does the 533mc have an APS-C sized sensor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bottletopburly Posted October 27, 2022 Share Posted October 27, 2022 1 hour ago, Clive said: Does the 533mc have an APS-C sized sensor? No Clive 3008 sq sensor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philjay Posted November 10, 2022 Share Posted November 10, 2022 I saw one of these on FLO site and it just took my fancy as something that would reduce the cables to my rig from my warm room. 4tronix rf focuser controller for SW focus motor. 20m range apparently. Nice and cheap and hopefully useful. Seems to work, 4 speeds in each direction from sssslllllooooowwww to a bit faster So the only cables I have running to the rig outside is USB and power now. +Bino-viewer, BAZ, +Stu and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stu Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 Ditching the LPS filter in a quest for better colour balance, thought I'd give this a go. +Glafnazur and BAZ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stu Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 Scopos TL805. Looks like it's seen better days but for under 300 beans it'll make a good grab n go visual scope if nothing else. Couldn't find much about it online apart from a couple of threads on cloudy nights and some images taken with one. I'll give it a go with imaging and see what happens. Bottletopburly, BAZ, +Bino-viewer and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Bino-viewer Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 Interesting scope there Stu. Looks nice. Not seen one of those before. Is it the 80/560 F7 ? I believe they are German, built in the early 2000s. As a refractor enthusiast, i'd be interested to hear how it performs. I've found a review on it, if its of interest. How's your German ?? https://www.photoinfos.com/astronomie/Scopos-Apo-80-560-Triplet.htm +Stu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stu Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 55 minutes ago, Bino-viewer said: Interesting scope there Stu. Looks nice. Not seen one of those before. Is it the 80/560 F7 ? I believe they are German, built in the early 2000s. As a refractor enthusiast, i'd be interested to hear how it performs. I've found a review on it, if its of interest. How's your German ?? https://www.photoinfos.com/astronomie/Scopos-Apo-80-560-Triplet.htm It is the 80/560 F7 version. It's not in my possession yet as my brother went and picked it up for me down near Bristol. Once I get to have a go with it I'll let you know. I found a few things on CN about the type of glass used and whether it's a true APO, but the general opinion was that the views were good regardless. I'll check that review out for sure, thanks 👍 My German is limited to giving directions and counting to 10 😄 My browser should be able to help out. +Bino-viewer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stu Posted March 11, 2023 Share Posted March 11, 2023 Resisted so many shiny temptations, rather proud of myself 😁 *apart from this one +Derbyshire Dave, philjay, +Glafnazur and 1 other 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stu Posted March 15, 2023 Share Posted March 15, 2023 (edited) Nice new home for me visual bits Edited March 15, 2023 by Stu +Glafnazur and +Bino-viewer 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philjay Posted March 28, 2023 Share Posted March 28, 2023 Here we go again :-) Its been a few years since I did any antique scope restoration. Saw this on marketplace and picked it up yesterday. Too interesting to miss this one. Its A 3" achro contact doublet of standard design for the era. Its engraved Franks of Manchester but is obviously a Broadhurst Clarkson. BC made them for resale by instrument suppliers/dealers for decades. Its difficult to date these because they were made exactly the same for decades but I suspect this is early 20th c. Comes with 3 RAS eyepieces with filter caps plus a terrestrial eyepiece. However the eyepiece tube is missing, ( the last owner didnt realise this when he won it at auction). So today I have been sorting bits of metal out to make the missing bit. This wont be a keeper, its just a project to keep the brain cells working and an excuse to play on my lathe. +Glafnazur, BAZ, +Stu and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stu Posted March 28, 2023 Share Posted March 28, 2023 1 hour ago, philjay said: Its difficult to date these because they were made exactly the same for decades but I suspect this is early 20th c What are optics like from that era? Would it satisfy someone who's used to modern scopes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philjay Posted March 28, 2023 Share Posted March 28, 2023 34 minutes ago, Stu said: What are optics like from that era? Would it satisfy someone who's used to modern scopes? They vary in my experience Stu. Broadhurst Clarkson prided themselves on their optical polishing over the years. So much so that even into the 1970s when they were having to compete with Japanese coated optics they still used highly polished uncoated optics. Not tested this one fully yet but first impressions are good. I had one a few years back which was superb optically and with modern eyepieces and planetary cameras performed superbly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stu Posted March 28, 2023 Share Posted March 28, 2023 2 hours ago, philjay said: into the 1970s when they were having to compete with Japanese coated optics Did it come down to cost in the end? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philjay Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 BC were struggling in the 70s and 80s to compete with cheaper japanese imports. They were still making scopes in the traditional way so werent competative, the market was changing also. Then Dudley Fuller brought them out and gradually BC&F as they became stopped manufacture and became box shifters only. Unfortunately a story repeated throughout a lot of British manufacturing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stu Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 6 hours ago, philjay said: Unfortunately a story repeated throughout a lot of British manufacturing I've seen that happen round Northants with the shoe factories closing. Good to see there's still some of these old scopes out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Bino-viewer Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 Did anyone on here ever go into the BC&F when they had their shop in Farringdon, London ?? I'd just got into astronomy properly and went there a couple of times before it eventually shut : it must have been 20 years ago now. I believe it shut around 2014. But it was a bit like the old curiosity shop ; such a quirky little place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 Yes, I visited a few times when I occasionally went to the monthly BAA Wednesday meetings in the late 80s to mid 90s. Not too far a walk from St Pancras. +Bino-viewer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philjay Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 (edited) On 29/03/2023 at 16:56, Bino-viewer said: Did anyone on here ever go into the BC&F when they had their shop in Farringdon, London ?? I'd just got into astronomy properly and went there a couple of times before it eventually shut : it must have been 20 years ago now. I believe it shut around 2014. But it was a bit like the old curiosity shop ; such a quirky little place. Yep, I was served by non other than Dudley Fuller. It was around 1982 I think. I brought a focuser for my 6" newt/cass. The 6" refractor on cast iron pillar in the window was a thing to behold. I walked there from St Pancras as well Edited March 30, 2023 by philjay +Bino-viewer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted April 3, 2023 Share Posted April 3, 2023 (edited) On 30/03/2023 at 18:14, philjay said: Yep, I was served by non other than Dudley Fuller. It was around 1982 I think. I brought a focuser for my 6" newt/cass. The 6" refractor on cast iron pillar in the window was a thing to behold. I walked there from St Pancras as well I was born London and often visited the shop around the same time as Phil did in the early 80's. I even remember the large 6" refractor on the 6" cast pillar, it looked awesome and had me drooling for ages. I used to work in Chiswick and caught the tube to St Pancras and then a bus to South London so it was an easy walk from the station. Edited April 3, 2023 by Doc BAZ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bottletopburly Posted April 8, 2023 Share Posted April 8, 2023 Zwo OAG and helical focuser off Astrobuy looks as new condition to fit on the camera using the 200pds +Stu, BAZ and +Glafnazur 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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