Brainwave!

[A.S.I.G.N_Baz]

I had a cheap mount for an old Tasco refractor lying around. So I decided to use the 60mm OTA as a cricket stump and use the GE mount to piggyback the ED80 on top of the Celestron.

So now, I can point my Celestron (Guidescope) at a nice bright and easy to see guide star, while the ED80 on top can be pointing in an entirely different area at a DSO.

How's that for recycling scrap? Thats pretty much what the old Tasco was anyway...

Baz.
http://i16.tinypic.com/4zatxtv.jpghttp://i17.tinypic.com/4zks3za.jpghttp://i6.tinypic.com/4zkxg5h.jpg

[Radar]

Hi Baz,

Nice idea mate. Those kinds of ball joint setups can make life a lot easier, but sometimes that type of config can have mild flexure or slip issues. Also the guidescope can become more susceptible to vibrations. Road testing is only the real way to find out though. It looks like a solid enough mount, so hopefully, it'll work nicely.

Also, those photo's are massive! I have to slide sideways quite a bit to view them. Probably be better to reduce them in photoshop if you can. Let me know if you need a hand with anything on that side of things.

Are you shooting anything tonight? If so, keep us posted on how this new setup works.

Cheers

Ray

[A.S.I.G.N_Baz]

Sorry Ray. I'll try to remember that. I posted the same pics elsewhere an they werent so big.....

I did have a go with the new setup and it went VERY well. I got 19 exposures of 3 minutes each on the Tarantula. I pointed the 11Inch at a bright star nearby and used the illuminated crosshairs to manual guide.

I then used the little mount on top to centre the Tarantula in the ED80.

All went perfect.:thumbsupmate:

Only problem now is, I had Deep Sky Stacker 2.6.1 and have had had no problems with it.

Now that I have updated to 2.6.3, None of my subs will align anymore. Whats more, I keep getting the top left quarter of the image blown up in DSS with all the stars as doubles. I checked my light frames and they are each perfect in themsleves. The problem seems to be software, not my light frames.:hmm:

[rogerg]

I've never seen someone put a telescope mount ontop of an OTA before! I can see it would work well though (assuming flexure and balance aren't a problem). More precise adjustment would be possible than a ball joint head, and easier adjustment would be possible than a 6 point ring system. Hmm, not such a bad idea. I wouldn't have a hope using something like that, too much weight and off-centre weight too, for my setup.

Using what you have lying around in a new way is always a good thing.

:-)

[Tenacious Del]

very inventive Bloodhound. I like that idea.

:thumbsupmate:

[rmcpb]

Great idea Baz :welldone: