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First light after mods


Guest devil74

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Guest devil74

Sunday 19th Jan.


 


Just thought i'd share first light viewing now the setting circle and various other (smaller) mods are now finished.


 


Firstly the sky was really nice and clear Saturday afternoon (for once the weather apps were correct) so off i trundled into the garage ad stated getting all the gear out (i say 'all' because its ridiculous how much i have accumulated in just a 1 year).


 


Anyway as my back garden is facing bang South i knew it would be tricky getting far away enough from the house that i could see back over it to see Polaris but not too far down the garden near the fence that I wouldn't get a decent South view either. Anyway decided on a place and it turned out just right.


 


So everything was set up for about 4.30 so i put the covers over for a while and wen back indoors. About 6pm i went back out, took the cover off and fired up all the dew heaters. I gave that about an hour or so and went back out again, this time properly wrapped up.


 


Right, so i thought here goes lets get PA. Firstly I put Polaris i the center of the FOV, this was just to make the next step easier. The 'pointer' was a few degrees off '0' so i turned the scope until i was on '0' ..(of course now Polaris was not in the fov). I then turned the whole setting circle until Polaris was again bang in the centre. I would say PA took me about a minute to do so was pleased with the ease of that.


 


So PA, the wixey on, I tought lets go for something obvious you can't miss - Jupiter. Opened Skysafari (an absolutely awesome app might i add) and got the Az/Alt coordinates. Turned the scope to the correct degrees, the the tube up until the wixey was correct (by the way i was using a 22mm Vixen LVW) and.....


NOTHING...


the glare from Jupiter was not even on the fringe of the FOV. I was dreading this moment..that i had made an error in the design. Anyway, not one for being thwarted easily I turned the scope back to '0' and put Polaris back in the FOV. So i tried Jupiter again and same thing... the coordinates correct but nothing. OK i thought, i can't be a million miles off so 'manually' had a little wonder around and just beyond the FOV it was there. i was probably 2 degrees out but didn't know where it was coming from...so I had an idea...i know our latitude is about 52.966 degrees so i delved into the app settings and sure enough, even though GPS was enabled, it was wrong. I disabled GPS, turned it back on again and it was a couple of degrees different.


 


Now fingers crossed i got Jupes coordinates again and did the business. looked through the EP and there it was, near centered in the FOV. The joy was immense..it worked...i couldn't believe the system worked out of the bag (the app was not my fault folks). I suppose i made the error of not checking the wixey altitude coordinates of Polaris with Skysafari when initial PA'ing, had i done so the 2 degrees would have jumped out at me immediately.


 


Anyway now working, i started zipping round the sky and it was just so much easier to locate things now. I had a quick look at the Messier objects around Auriga, each time moving the scope away from the constellation so i had to 'start from scratch'. Had a look at a few more objects which were easily located. Both axis seemed to be bang on..the wixey was only .1 of a degree out so well chuffed with its performance and the system as a whole.


 


As it was a Sunday night and was now about 9pm i wanted to finish off back on Jupiter and see IF the the new focuser would improve viewing. IT SURE DID...it is just so much more sturdy than the stock R&P. Being able to micro adjust was brilliant..made the image so much better for the eyes to concentrate on the detail. Just before I packed up i swapped the 22mm for the 8mm Vixen just for comparison from previous viewings really. Again the view was so much better. I shouted Jessica and step son Kilian out to come and have a look...Jessica's first words where WOOOOOOW thats unbelievable (even though she's seen it loads of times now). I think a bit more mag, maybe a 5mm and the moons would have to come into focus better too.


 


Just a quick point here that I have noticed...I have to agree with Mick (Doc) though that using higher mag EP's is better than barlowing...the 8mm unbarlowed view was better than the 22mm barlowed. My barlow is a TAL...i mean ok its not a powermate (not strictly a barlow anyway) but certainly not rubbish either. Maybe using the Vixens you need something like a PW to do them justice...that's just my opinion.


 


Anyway thanks for reading folks and if there's a lesson to be learned its to CHECK your app is where it thinks it is, mine was somewhere down south...maybe its telling something you know.


 


Damian


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Guest devil74
Glad It's all worked out matey. hows your back coming along?

It's a bit better than it was Andy but certainly not right. Have to keep seeing the chiropractor but that costs an arm and leg every time.

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That's brilliant Damian - a Wixey and a setting circle is all you need really on a dob. The goto systems are total overkill considering the cost. Though I must admit, electronic tracking is dead useful.


 


Nice report. :)


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Great write up Damian I'm glad everything is working as it should.


 


Just one thing you say everytime you move away from your object onto the next you have to start again. What do you mean?


 


Once PA'd it should last the whole night. Just view an object then move on to the next.


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Guest devil74
Great write up Damian I'm glad everything is working as it should.

 

Just one thing you say everytime you move away from your object onto the next you have to start again. What do you mean?

 

Once PA'd it should last the whole night. Just view an object then move on to the next.

I think because it was the first time I tried the system Mick I just wanted to 'prove' to myself it was working. I wasn't PA every time I found an object just pointing the scope away before I tried the next.

Before the night was done I was just going from one object to the next which worked a treat..I just didn't put that in the report.

Well happy with it though Mick..best mod ever.

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Thats good news, what you have to do next is make a list of objects beforehand so you don't spend time just thinking what objects to see next.


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Great job Damian. It's a dead simple system, but seems to work very accurately. You can get an object in seconds.


Doc beat a GoTo on a list of twenty objects, and the GoTo couldn't find two.


 


You made a real tidy job of it as well, so you have the right to feel chuffed.  :thumbsup:


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Nice write up; even more impressive considering you are from Ilkeston :)

I am looking forward to seeing this bit of kit in action. I have no idea what a Wixey is, but looking forward to you showing it to me.

I recon this time next year you'll have an NEQ6 :)

Glad it has all worked well. Look forward to catching up and seeing it.

Jd

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"Yeah I remember that well Martyn, who owned the go-to scope?"


 


Ahem.... might've been Di - but more likely coulda been me lol :lol:


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"Yeah I remember that well Martyn, who owned the go-to scope?"

 

Ahem.... might've been Di - but more likely coulda been me lol :lol:

 

For the life of me I couldn't remember that. I thought you were watching not operating the go-to scope.

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Guest CodnorPaul

I recon this time next year you'll have an NEQ6 :)

 

 

Already has a camera James - wont be long before he is doing guiding... ;)

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