drzeus
member
Reged: 01/11/05
Posts: 84
Loc: Athens, Greece
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What a neat little unit, with magnets too and at an amazing price. Well found!
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Higher always be your dreams and desire, to which you aspire,
Higher always, higher always.
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Terry1229
super member
Reged: 04/16/06
Posts: 144
Loc: North, Idaho
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I have degree circles all mounted and ready, but the sky sucks. So I need to ask a question.
I have been trying to calibrate the setting circles, and there is something I have missed. When you set the Alt scale, is 0 sit when the scope is pointing at Polaris?
And is tha AZ 0 set to magnetic north , or off set 
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Terry:
A 6" f8 dob with 14mm Anteres eyepiece
Wixey
Homemade EQ & stepper
QC pro4000
spc900
homemade ele. focuser
New [used] Meade 8" sc ota
New [used]] CG5
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kwalker
sage
Reged: 08/22/06
Posts: 293
Loc: Oklahoma City, OK
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Yes, align your scope to polaris and then move your pointer on the magnet to Zero and your set. Are you using an inclinometer with your setup also?
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Keith
Zhumell 10" dobsonian with $12 "Push-To"
4mm & 9mm BO/TMB Planetary, 13mm Stratus, 17mm Stratus, 32mm Widefield
Orion shorty plus 2x barlow
Catseye Xl Triple Pro Pack
Glatter Laser
Celestron 15x70
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kestrel0222
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 05/21/06
Posts: 2338
Loc: Milford, Michigan
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Well,
I ordered my Wixey angle gauge on Friday afternoon and it arrived yesterday (Monday)!! Wow, that was fast!! This is a nice little devise, it is only 2" x 2" x 1". All you have to do is set the "zero" and you are ready to go. Once the "zero" is set, you never have to do it again, just turn it on and go. Oh ya, it has a magnetic base!
It does take a about a second to stabilize, but I don't see that being a problem at all. I really like this gauge, it does exactly what I need it to do, plus the price is right, $40 (with free shipping). I was considering the more expensive Smarttools gauge, but I kept putting it off because of the price. I’m glad I did, because now I have a gauge that is not only smaller, but it is less then half the price. If you have the extra $40 for this gauge, I think it is well worth the money.
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Tom
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csa/montana
Den Mother
Reged: 05/14/05
Posts: 39594
Loc: montana
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Tom: Great deal! No holding you back with the $12 push-to now! 
Carol
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Carol
AstroTech 16" Dob (Thanks ASTRONOMICS!)
Vixen 80MF/AstroTech Voyager
Masuyama's 7.5, 15, 25W, 35mm,
Pentaxes; 5XW, 7XL, 10XW.
14mm Meade 4000 UWA
TV Panoptics; 22, 35
DreamCatcher Dobservatory, #2
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kestrel0222
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 05/21/06
Posts: 2338
Loc: Milford, Michigan
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All I need know are clear skies and the temp to rise a little!! 
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Tom
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Mr Magoo
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 11/05/05
Posts: 998
Loc: Franklin, Indiana
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Where did you find that inclinometer Spudrick?
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Ken
Franklin, IN
Member, Indiana Astronomical Society
B.S.A. Astronomy Merit Badge Counselor
6" f/10 Dob
Vintage Sears Discoverer 4-6305A 60mm
Vintage Manon 60mm (The Marsha Scope)
Criterion RV-6
My CN Photo Gallery
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csa/montana
Den Mother
Reged: 05/14/05
Posts: 39594
Loc: montana
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Don't know if this is the one you are mentioning: It's much cheaper than the SmartTool, & accomplishes the same thing; it's also much more compact!
Digital inclinometer
Carol
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Carol
AstroTech 16" Dob (Thanks ASTRONOMICS!)
Vixen 80MF/AstroTech Voyager
Masuyama's 7.5, 15, 25W, 35mm,
Pentaxes; 5XW, 7XL, 10XW.
14mm Meade 4000 UWA
TV Panoptics; 22, 35
DreamCatcher Dobservatory, #2
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neoweb
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 12/10/06
Posts: 1482
Loc: UK
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Quote:
Have a look on ebay, here in the UK they go for £30 ($60) I would have thought there would be something similar for cheaper than $100 available
Gordon, do you have a link for a UK store that sells these... i've just started out on the idea of degree circles for my Dob and want to be sure i'm getting the right equipment - i'm not too DIY savvy you see!
So the inclinometer will give a reading showing the altitude at which the telescope is pointed?
And all credit to Carol for starting this thread! 
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Celestron StarHopper 8" f/6 Dob
38mm Burgess 2" SWA | 30mm Ultima | 20mm Omni
17mm Hyperion | 12.5mm Baader Ortho
8mm TV Plossl | 6mm TMB/BO Planetary
Orion Shorty Plus barlow
15 X 70mm Skymasters
Saturn-like: desktop image
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csa/montana
Den Mother
Reged: 05/14/05
Posts: 39594
Loc: montana
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So the inclinometer will give a reading showing the altitude at which the telescope is pointed? (Quote)
Yes, then when you want to find an object, you look up their location; Azimuth & Altitude, from any astro program, put your base & tube to these readings, & there it is! (Be sure to first center Polaris, then put the Azimuth dial to zero).
And all credit to Carol for starting this thread! (Quote)
 Thank you for the kind words! I'm very glad so many have installed this easy & economical system to make their viewing more pleasurable!
Carol
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Carol
AstroTech 16" Dob (Thanks ASTRONOMICS!)
Vixen 80MF/AstroTech Voyager
Masuyama's 7.5, 15, 25W, 35mm,
Pentaxes; 5XW, 7XL, 10XW.
14mm Meade 4000 UWA
TV Panoptics; 22, 35
DreamCatcher Dobservatory, #2
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neoweb
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 12/10/06
Posts: 1482
Loc: UK
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Quote:
Yes, then when you want to find an object, you look up their location; Azimuth & Altitude, from any astro program, put your base & tube to these readings, & there it is! (Be sure to first center Polaris, then put the Azimuth dial to zero).
Thanks, Carol! For the inclinometer do i just need to put the Dob tube exactly vertical and set the inclinometer to zero or zero it after I've centred Polaris?
If i used software like Stellarium (which i can quickly and easily access on my PC from my viewing location) would it simply be a matter of entering my exact location by way of latitude and longitude and then looking up an object's position? Is Stellarium accurate enough for something like this?
Of course, i still have the Azimuth circle to worry about, but one step at a time... i'm still reading the posts in the thread. 
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Celestron StarHopper 8" f/6 Dob
38mm Burgess 2" SWA | 30mm Ultima | 20mm Omni
17mm Hyperion | 12.5mm Baader Ortho
8mm TV Plossl | 6mm TMB/BO Planetary
Orion Shorty Plus barlow
15 X 70mm Skymasters
Saturn-like: desktop image
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Mr Magoo
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 11/05/05
Posts: 998
Loc: Franklin, Indiana
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The azimuth circle is actually quite easy to make if you have AutoCad or some other drawing program. I drew one today in a very short time. I have been thinking about drawing up a whole bunch of different diameter ones for people to use and posting the files here. One thing I'm not sure how to do is how to convert the AutoCad files into PDF files that folks can easily work with. I'm sure it is something very easy to do. I only have Adobe Reader so that may be a problem. Can the copying centers such as Kinkos print from a dwg file?
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Ken
Franklin, IN
Member, Indiana Astronomical Society
B.S.A. Astronomy Merit Badge Counselor
6" f/10 Dob
Vintage Sears Discoverer 4-6305A 60mm
Vintage Manon 60mm (The Marsha Scope)
Criterion RV-6
My CN Photo Gallery
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Mr Magoo
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 11/05/05
Posts: 998
Loc: Franklin, Indiana
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I saw the link for that one Carol. That is a great deal and I will be ordering one of those. Spudnik has a different one on his that looks good too. I've also been considering putting on DSC's using David Ek's plans and a Palm Pilot.
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Ken
Franklin, IN
Member, Indiana Astronomical Society
B.S.A. Astronomy Merit Badge Counselor
6" f/10 Dob
Vintage Sears Discoverer 4-6305A 60mm
Vintage Manon 60mm (The Marsha Scope)
Criterion RV-6
My CN Photo Gallery
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neoweb
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 12/10/06
Posts: 1482
Loc: UK
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Quote:
For anyone interested in the pdf file from SkyArcher for the degree circles; here is the file:
http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/attachments/944499-Alt-AZ_Setting_Circle.pdf
Very useful. That gives a 19" circle... i don't have the measurements to hand for my Dob base but i suspect it is a little bigger than 19" in diameter. If i just enlarged the image in that PDF file proportionately would that be OK?
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Celestron StarHopper 8" f/6 Dob
38mm Burgess 2" SWA | 30mm Ultima | 20mm Omni
17mm Hyperion | 12.5mm Baader Ortho
8mm TV Plossl | 6mm TMB/BO Planetary
Orion Shorty Plus barlow
15 X 70mm Skymasters
Saturn-like: desktop image
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csa/montana
Den Mother
Reged: 05/14/05
Posts: 39594
Loc: montana
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There's a post somewhere, in this thread, on how much to enlarge the pdf file for different size bases; can't put my finger on it right now, but it is there. 
Carol
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Carol
AstroTech 16" Dob (Thanks ASTRONOMICS!)
Vixen 80MF/AstroTech Voyager
Masuyama's 7.5, 15, 25W, 35mm,
Pentaxes; 5XW, 7XL, 10XW.
14mm Meade 4000 UWA
TV Panoptics; 22, 35
DreamCatcher Dobservatory, #2
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neoweb
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 12/10/06
Posts: 1482
Loc: UK
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^ That's OK... got Photoshop to do it.
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Celestron StarHopper 8" f/6 Dob
38mm Burgess 2" SWA | 30mm Ultima | 20mm Omni
17mm Hyperion | 12.5mm Baader Ortho
8mm TV Plossl | 6mm TMB/BO Planetary
Orion Shorty Plus barlow
15 X 70mm Skymasters
Saturn-like: desktop image
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kingjamez
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 10/03/06
Posts: 991
Loc: Washington D.C.
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To print the PDF in the correct size in tiles:
All you need to do is (using windows) click on print then select the "current view" option. The preview window will change and display the percentage scale of the document. Change your view percent scale until the print percent scale is the correct percentage of 19" to fit your base.
-Jim
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C8 on Atlas with EQMOD
ETX125 UHTC
Celestron Onyx 80mm
Meade Walmart 60mm guide scope
Canon Xsi Modified w/IDAS LPR
Gen 3 NightVision Eyepiece
Aspiring Optician
Watch my Wiimote control Atlas:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnmkygmGNiM
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csa/montana
Den Mother
Reged: 05/14/05
Posts: 39594
Loc: montana
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Jim: Thanks for helping the other member out!
It's appreciated.
Carol
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Carol
AstroTech 16" Dob (Thanks ASTRONOMICS!)
Vixen 80MF/AstroTech Voyager
Masuyama's 7.5, 15, 25W, 35mm,
Pentaxes; 5XW, 7XL, 10XW.
14mm Meade 4000 UWA
TV Panoptics; 22, 35
DreamCatcher Dobservatory, #2
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jayscheuerle
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/16/06
Posts: 4034
Loc: S. Philadelphia, PA
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Finally got mine done. Along with the Wixey Angle gauge up top, my azimuth circle rotates fully independently of the scope. I can set the scope up, point it at Polaris, and then move the circle with one finger until the arrow (which is on the side of the scope) points to 0.
It's been a month since the scopes been out, but I can't wait to use it (along with all the other mods I've done....)
Great idea! - j
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Walk purposely with a concerned expression.
The Green Goblin - 12" of dobsonian excellence!
The PortaBowl-a $100 4.5" f/8 ball-scope YOU can build!
Eero2-a 6" f/5 ball-scope you probably can't.
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csa/montana
Den Mother
Reged: 05/14/05
Posts: 39594
Loc: montana
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Jay: Great job, looks like a professional job!
Thanks for posting the pic.
Carol
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Carol
AstroTech 16" Dob (Thanks ASTRONOMICS!)
Vixen 80MF/AstroTech Voyager
Masuyama's 7.5, 15, 25W, 35mm,
Pentaxes; 5XW, 7XL, 10XW.
14mm Meade 4000 UWA
TV Panoptics; 22, 35
DreamCatcher Dobservatory, #2
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