I might consider that, but I'm not too keen getting any kind of adhesives near optics and I can only effectively use my left hand for most things. So it looks a tad sticky and problematical to me lol.

Some undercuts seem OK when extracted from compression rings. If they are wide and shallow, or some brass tubes if they have sufficient weight. It's the aluminium ones that seem to cause the most problems.

 

I dunno, the way the weather looks at the moment it'll be summer before I get the ST80 out lol. I can't think of many more accessories for the ST80 but a powertank and dew control will probably be a necessity.

https://www.amazon.com/Celestron-18...83191657&sr=8-1&keywords=celestron+power+tank

Happy New Year/Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!

 

Goofy New Fears, all!

A fist-fight has broken out in SGL - with no Mod-Squad in sight. I tried to break it up, but as a friend of mine so accurately said at a riot: "When 2 drunks want to fight, there's nothing anyone can do."

The Pigs are flying by my window -

Dave

 

It's raining here on New Year's Day ... doesn't bode well for the evening.

*Blwyddyn Newydd Dda is Welsh for Happy New Year. I have Celtic roots and lived there a few years and picked up some of the language.



Not enough of the language though unfortunately. I used to watch Pobol Y Cwm (a Welsh soap opera) with English subtitles but it didn't help that much lol.

 

'A fist-fight has broken out in SGL'

This doesn't surprise me. It's getting more like the Rowdy Fights forum every day lol.

 

I'm not so sure it can only power dew strips for four hours. You initially charge the tank for 14 hours or so. I've only used mine about four times since its initial charge and it is still pretty fully charged. All four sessions weren't longer than two hours though. Admittedly it's only been a few weeks since I first charged it, but the yellow low charge warning light hasn't come on yet when I switch it on and the main torch/flashlight is still incredibly bright. If you power a GOTO and a laptop with it it probably depletes the battery much more. I might charge mine in a couple of weeks just to make sure but I don't want to overcharge it. Apparently, they can be stored unused at room temperature for three months fully charged before needing to be charged again.

I'm not sure of the weather in Long Island but I assume it's similar to here in many respects. In 2015 for most of the summer I didn't get any dewing with the Skymax. But as soon as autumn approached and especially early in the morning the dew came. It's difficult to dew a Newtonian like the Bazooka as it has no objective lens. I also once used reflex sights a lot, which aren't so prone to dewing or can be easily cleaned off in the field. A lot of refractors have built in dew shields which help.

Whatever you do, don't attempt to clean dew off either of your refractor's objectives with a cloth as they'll smudge. Allow them to dry naturally. That goes for the finders too. I have a heated strip for the ST80 and the 9x50 finder. I reckon I'm going to need them until summer at least.

 

I guess so. I have a 3" Astrozap dew heater strap and it is plenty big enough. Remember, it has to go around the ST80's dew shield as close to the objective as possible. The shield is slightly bigger than 80mm (3.15") but my heater strap is big enough.



https://www.astrozap.com/scripts/prodList.asp?idCategory=57

You'll also need a controller. I have a HitecAstro controller like this below:




I'm not sure if you can get these Stateside. There should be an equivalent.

https://www.astrozap.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=238

http://www.hitecastro.co.uk/

In my experience this type of dew control with the heater strap, controller and powertank works. I'd get a 50mm heater strap for the finder as well. The finder's usually the first to dew up.

 

I've never needed to go the 'heated dew-strap' way myself up here, Ray. The dew-cap on the Orion ST80's are plenty long. The UK is downright soggy, though. I'd try it down there on L.I. before buying one. See what your weather tells you.

Having a good power-tank on hand is always a good idea though. And not just for astronomy purposes. I have the 17aH version of that Celestron you show above. It could save someone's life if we lose power up here, and a neighbor's ventilator goes out.

Dave

 

I think Dave's got a point, it might be best to give it a session or two and see if you get any dewing. If you don't it will certainly save you some dosh. It's pretty rare in the summer for me, although late August around 04:00 onwards it can get dewey. With the Bazooka it's the finder that normally goes.



The torch/flashlight is useful with the powertank though.



This has two outputs so I can put one on the finder.



If the finder dews it makes things difficult as you either have to revert to a reflex sight or a low power wide angle eyepiece.

 

I think the knurled ring is a bit like a visual back and connects the eyepiece holder to the focuser. That's the bit on mine that unthreaded with the weight of the bino lol. I'm pretty sure the extender will cause focusing problems, although they're often needed to get a bino to focus. Otherwise you would have to use a glass path corrector/thread on Barlow on the bino nosepiece. I think the ST80 should hold the WO diagonal and eyepiece/Barlow combinations well. You'd only have to worry about the diagonal rotating. This is why a lot of visual backs have a provision to thread diagonals directly into them. You'd only need it with very heavy bino's or 2" diagonals though. My WO bino is only 520g without eyepieces. With EP's and a GPC I doubt it would even be a kilo.



I've been looking at Jupiter for a bit with the Apex. It does well for a 90mm scope, I'd put it on a par with the ST80. No dewing though as it's too frosty lol.



The Galilean moons were visible along with the EZ, NEZ and SEZ. I missed the GRS as the seeing was dodgy until it was high enough to get a clearer view. Mind you, the GRS isn't easy to see with less than about 13cm of aperture. I've also set the Orion 6x30 RACI up on the Apex. It will be useful if I try the Apex for splitting doubles. Speaking of which, you can see the big blue Spica under Jupiter at the moment. Although that can't be split with a telescope apparently.

 

I don't think you'll have any real problems with the ST80. I think changing the focuser is the only way to get a 2" drawtube. One thing that I just noticed today is that one of my focuser screws was loose which makes the drawtube jiggle.



Not only that, some paint seems to have come away. I've tightened it but I don't know if the screw is dodgy. I have a feeling it worked loose after I tightened the altitude control a little bit on the Vixen mount. I had to manipulate the OTA pulling on the focuser housing. As I have to do this with one hand I may have strained the entire focuser assembly slightly. Tightening the altitude control can stop drift and backlash. The same with the azimuth for backlash. I've also learnt to balance the ST80 better now. Anyway, I've decided to try a new focuser, possibly a Crayford as a future project as I want to examine these screws and the focuser unit more closely. I have no idea what or which Crayford to get yet. So, I decided to order an Orion ST80 OTA in the interim. It's under a hundred quid as it has no accessories with it. I have all the accessories anyway lol! At least, being white, it will match the Vixen mount. Which will help no end with my OCD.



I saw the Moon today, along with Venus and Mars, at around 17:30 GMT. I couldn't resist testing the Apex with it.



Hercules and Atlas looked good. I could see the ghost crater behind Hercules (or is it Atlas?) lol.



Fracastorius D looked very dramatic.



I had to pack up after only a short while. I'm in a lot of pain now but it was worth it. I do hope you get to test that ST80 soon Ray.

Lunar pictures by Starry Night 7 and VMA.

 

I really don't know Ray. I'm not sure what it would thread into. The Big Cat has a Celestron visual back like that.

 

Found this archive from Rowdy Fights, looks like it can be done.

http://www.cloudynights.com/topic/16623-st80-visual-back-from-mercury-systems/