Anonymous
Unregistered
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Scott,
Thanks, the grasshopper learned from the master. (By the way, the flames are a joke for Pollux - I pulled a sticker off an one of my son's remote controlled trucks - but it does fit the yard cannon motif)
I REALLY love the Telrad - it's kind of boxy and wierd looking but functionally it's fantastic. It has changed the way I use the scope. Most of the time now I carefully orient the scope on the NCP and then run the "Quick Align" routine - that sets me up for good tracking. I use the GoTo, which will not be accurate, just to put me in the area quickly of what I want to see. Then I use the Telrad, with the handset buttons, to center the object. I can usually get things centered in a 12mm EP without even using the finder.
I bought a piece of cold rolled steel plate 3/8"x2.5"x8" from AllMetalsInc.com for $4 - they have a variety of sizes and are very nice people. The plate weighs 2# so it really helped with the balance. I drilled 4 holes in it - 2 for the rings and 2 for the Telrad, painted the plate with 3 coats of black paint and then baked it in the over for a few hours to harden the finish.
The scope had really been fun to use - for the price, the optics are excellent. Views 2 nights ago I was watching Saturn and was able to see the Cassini division, banding on the planet and 6 moons. I can see why you have enjoyed your 150 so much.
Regards,
Harley
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C6-RGT
Nikon 8x42 Monarch
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Scott Beith
SRF
Reged: 11/26/03
Posts: 33072
Loc: Gulfport, MS
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Thanks Harley,
I have been considering the addition of a Telrad to my setup.
From a value standpoint - not much will match a modern 6" achro. I am eventually going to add the Argo Navis DSC system to the Yard Cannon.
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  Scott
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -- Edmund Burke.
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -- George Orwell
"The measure of a man’s greatness is not determined by what he accomplishes for himself, but by what he accomplishes for others.” -- Some Bald Guy
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Bill Grass
Prince Regent
Reged: 10/07/03
Posts: 11652
Loc: Denham Springs, LA
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Harley, looks great! 
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Thanks Bill - it has provided many hours of fun.
Regards,
Harley
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pollux
Reged: 04/01/04
Posts: 6185
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Tonight I am heading to sub-urban area and the weather seems to be fine (at least in the city, don't know about my destination)
My 6" hasn't been seriously used for over a few months and it's time to take it out!
Oh, by the way, I am thinking about turn the scope from white to titanium grey
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Pollux,
Hope you get good weather - it has been frustrating here for the last few weeks - there are some clear moments some afternoons but clouds roll in each evening. I've had mine out a total of 20 minutes in the last 2-3 weeks.
Regards,
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pollux
Reged: 04/01/04
Posts: 6185
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Last night was the little get-together of my church members. Went there with my yard canon.
The weather last night was clear but a little bit "shaky" due to the turbulance.
It's not very that bad. I rate it 3.75/5
I was managed to pump the power to 333X on Saturn. 400x started to getting blurry due to the not very stable air. Even that low power on M42, M45, M4, Double Cluster were good enough to be seen stably.
Everyone in the get-together was impressed with what they saw. They all love the way the scope looks. Well, it's because it looks tall. When the tripod is fully extened the dew cap of the scpe is about 6'7" high!
Tonight is still clear. This time will be heading to family get-together. This time I will be using the "Black Widow"
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muckworm
member
Reged: 11/19/04
Posts: 12
Loc: virginia, usa
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Here is what I have done with my humble c6rgt since i bought it last june. Comments/suggestions are welcome.
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badsnoopy
One star is enough
Reged: 12/20/04
Posts: 3556
Loc: La Porte, IN
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Muckworm, how is that setup working for you? Looks like you got a lot of equipment there. How are you pictures coming out? How much weight do you now have on the mount?
Thanks,
Robert
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Robert
TV Genesis SDF
Losmandy G11
10x14 Roll roof observatory
Lumenera SkyNyx 2-2m
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pollux
Reged: 04/01/04
Posts: 6185
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muckworm
Can't the CG5 REALLY handle this amount of load??
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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WOWSERS - that is a setup - I second Pollux's concern though - the max load for the C5G mount is about 30# - I know my C6R alone with finders and EP is about 26# - do you hear the motors straining under the load?
I am just getting interested in astro-photography and would love to see some of the pictures you've taken.
Regards,
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Pollux,
Glad you got some time out with the yard-cannon. The 6" refractors are a lot of fun to use and, like you say, very intimidating looking.
You must have have good skies - I still have not been able to get over about 200x without losing fine detail - the best view of Saturn was one night with a 9mm UO Ortho and a 2x barlow. My favorite view of M42 is the 13mm Nagler - I can see the 4 stars in the Trapezium easily but also catch enough of the object to really appreciate the nebulosity. The weather has been so bad for the last 2 months, that I have only found a few nights where I could grab some sky time.
By the way, what new scope did you get? The 100mm ED?
Regards,
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muckworm
member
Reged: 11/19/04
Posts: 12
Loc: virginia, usa
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i know i am pushing the limits of the mount but, so far, everything seems to be working just fine. i figure that if the cg5 can handle the load of the c11 (they always show the mount with an additional 11lb weight in the adds, so i figured the c11 must weigh a bit more than the stock refractor) then my setup isn't too bad. i only had to add a 5lb free weight to get balance in ra. the drives to not make any more noise than normal, though they were straining a bit before i removed the ankle weights i had near the ep (the ankle weights were on before i added the extra spotting scope and piggybacked camera). my images have been okay, but only when i use guidedog to autoguide. without autoguiding the periodic error is quite obvious on exposures of more than 4 or 5 minutes. i think a lot of the problems i have had with imaging have to do with poor collimation resulting from the stock focuser. i recently picked up a used burgess which should help. i havn't ruled out a chromacor II either.
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muckworm
member
Reged: 11/19/04
Posts: 12
Loc: virginia, usa
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i will post some of my pictures once my slide scanner arrives. i think some of them turned out pretty good for a novice like me but i hope to have more success later on. i am not too concerned about the mount since it only represents a small fraction of my total investment so far (don't tell my wife i said that). i figure maybe my experiences might help the community really see how much load the cg5 can handle...i'll let you all know when i burn her up! seriously though, i know i've pushed it as far as posssible and, if anything, will reduce the weight over time. but so far so good. here is another view showing the connection to the pier and some of the toys i got to go with it...i am especially proud of the cordless gamepad which is attached to a camera strap using nothing more than two rubberbands. i wear it around my neck so i always have it ready.
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Scott Beith
SRF
Reged: 11/26/03
Posts: 33072
Loc: Gulfport, MS
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That is one serious astro-setup. Very nice!
How do you like the pier?
--------------------
Scott
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -- Edmund Burke.
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -- George Orwell
"The measure of a man’s greatness is not determined by what he accomplishes for himself, but by what he accomplishes for others.” -- Some Bald Guy
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muckworm
member
Reged: 11/19/04
Posts: 12
Loc: virginia, usa
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thanks scott. the pier is a great thing to have. i actually didn't add it until after the observatory was mostly finished. i figured that it didn't really need to have a pad (like a deck pier would). just a 'root' that extended a few feet below ground level; striaght down. so, i simply cut a hole in the floor and used a post hole auger.
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Scott Beith
SRF
Reged: 11/26/03
Posts: 33072
Loc: Gulfport, MS
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You did a great job with that scope. Keep us informed of future changes and modifications.
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Scott
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -- Edmund Burke.
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -- George Orwell
"The measure of a man’s greatness is not determined by what he accomplishes for himself, but by what he accomplishes for others.” -- Some Bald Guy
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muckworm
member
Reged: 11/19/04
Posts: 12
Loc: virginia, usa
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thanks again for the encouragement. it helps. actually, i just got done installing the burgess focuser a couple hours ago. i had to mount the adapter plate onto the outside of the ota as the adapter was to large in diameter for the rgt. not the best way to do it, but it seemed to work just fine. i am not exactly clear on colimation, but i did put the stock colimation eyepiece into the diagonal once i had finished the install, turned the diagonal around 180deg and everything seemed to stay centered...so i assume it is okay. i will be heading out in an hour or so to try a star test but, again, this is not something that i feel overly confident doing. any advice on colimating and/or star testing this scope would be much appreciated. cheers,
ed 
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tlogan6680
super member
Reged: 01/31/05
Posts: 115
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Hi Group,
re; Quick Align
Bought the C6-RGT as a replacement to my 80mm C-Firstscope, actually still use the 80mm most. Wish i had read this thread first. Anyway, it is a great scope, but i sometimes want to use it for a short amount of time, the manual says i can quick align and then use Realign feature to get better pointing accuracy. It says to pick a star, UNDU, ALIGN, then replace an existing aligned star, this is where i am confused, if i have not aligned it, how can i replace.......
thanks for any help
tom in sunny? CA
C6-RGT
80mm firstscope (26 y.o. with great optics)
7x50 Adlerblicks
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tlogan6680
super member
Reged: 01/31/05
Posts: 115
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Hi Group
Forget the previous post, i figured out how to do a Quick Align-Realign. Good feature, for those that want to try it, do the Q.A., then pick a star from the list, like Rigel, let the scope slew to near it, Undo, Realign, Center the star, Enter, Align. Do this one more time to a 2nd star and the scope will be "on."
One more point, i am thankfull to "Hiker" for his detailed review. My scope tried to slew to an object by going thru one of the tripod legs!!! But i was closely watching it and pulled the plug-thanks Hiker.
Did get both "e" and "f" in the Trpazium last nite, so i am again happy with the scope
tom in sunny? CA
C6-RGT
80mm firstscope (26 y.o. with great optics)
7x50 Adlerblicks
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