Category Archives: Astronomy

Skywatcher 127 Mak Focuser Motor Drive Conversion

Posted on February 5, 2012 by james

It seems to be fairly widely accepted that the 127 Mak suffers badly from vibration when the focuser is adjusted by hand on the mounts it’s shipped with as standard. That’s certainly the case with mine. For me, it would … Continue reading →

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EQ3-2 Mount Tune-Up (Part Two)

Posted on January 31, 2012 by james

Whilst I had the mount on the bench I thought I’d have another look at what seems to be a perennial problem with the Skywatcher mounts at UK latitudes: the mounts are at the limits of their design spec. for … Continue reading →

Posted in Astro Equipment, Astronomy | Tagged | 4 Comments

EQ3-2 Mount Tune-Up (Part One)

Posted on January 31, 2012 by james

Having read a posting on Stargazer’s Lounge about converting the EQ3-2 to direct(-ish) drive on the DEC axis, I thought I’d have a go myself. My EQ3-2 mount is one of the older models with a “Sky Scan 2001” logo … Continue reading →

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Observation Report, 27 Jan 2012

Posted on January 30, 2012 by james

Something of a shock, being about to get out with a telescope three nights out of five, but given a decent forecast my intention was to go out and find M32 and M110, the two galaxies close to the Andromeda … Continue reading →

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Observation Report, 26 Jan 2012

Posted on January 27, 2012 by james

It’s been some time since I’ve been out with the ST120 so with a forecast for clear skies last night I decided to have a change and moved it outside to cool down. Unfortunately the weather didn’t live up to … Continue reading →

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Observation Report, 23 Jan 2012

Posted on January 25, 2012 by james

Clear skies were forecast today, so I got the Mak 127 out early in the afternoon so it would be cool as soon as I wanted to use it. Then the clouds rolled in and it started to rain. I … Continue reading →

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A (Relatively) Cheap Illuminated Reticle Eyepiece

Posted on January 23, 2012 by james

When imaging with the 127 Mak and SPC900, getting the target somewhere the webcam will pick it up is one of the most awkward things to do. It’s made more tricky by the fact that if the scope is sufficiently … Continue reading →

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Cleaning a Celestron Ultima Barlow

Posted on January 22, 2012 by james

I had a close look at my Celestron Ultima 2x barlow the other day having spent a few nights out imaging Jupiter and Mars and discovered that it was disgustingly filthy. No idea how it should have got so dirty … Continue reading →

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Jupiter and Moons

Posted on September 27, 2011 by james

Since Jupiter is returning to our skies now I thought I’d take advantage of last Thursday’s clear-ish skies to do some imaging practice with my 127 Mak and SPC900. I’ve not been through all the clips I took with my … Continue reading →

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Google Sketchup on Ubuntu 11.04

Posted on September 13, 2011 by james

For designing the observatory I really needed something a bit more “touchy-feely” than pencil and paper — my usual method of designing bits and pieces I build. A few people had mentioned Google Sketchup, but it’s only available for Windows … Continue reading →

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