|
Post by martinus on Jul 5, 2010 15:16:56 GMT
Hello everyone. My name is Martin, I'm a PhD student at UUJ who likes to peek at the night sky from time to time. I'm a beginner astronomer for the most part - I've had a 114mm TASCO reflector for a while now (don't run away, it's one of the better 80's models with a very stable mount). I picked up a Meade SN-10 last week after digging through the internet for opinions and experiences; the optics are in excellent condition and the previous owner upgraded the focuser to a superior Revelation model. I still have to clean the corrector plate and collimate the scope but it's in good order, I might even build a dobsonian mount for it at some point - the LXD 75 german equatorial that comes with it is a hefty bugger. I was wondering if anyone could advise me on good dark-sky sites open to the public near to Belfast or Armagh? I'm sure the sodium-sea that is Belfast covers tens of kilometres outside of the city.
|
|
pook
Member
Posts: 147
|
Post by pook on Jul 5, 2010 16:55:45 GMT
Hi Martinus and welcome to the forum. We tend to use Delamont Country Park near Killyleagh for our regular observing nights as the sky is reasonably dark. Towards Armagh you may find that in and around Oxford Island (near Lurgan) is pretty good as well. I'm not too familiar with dark spots round Armagh but I'm sure there are some. I'll put the brain to work! Hope to see you along to our meetings which start on 22 Sept. in the Bell lecture theatre, Physics building at QUB. Good luck with the new scope! ;>) Pook
|
|
|
Post by martinus on Jul 5, 2010 20:27:46 GMT
Thanks pook. My parent's place isn't too far from Oxford Island and I would have considered it were it not for the infamous 'extra-curricular activities' that are known to occur there when it gets dark. ( -_-)
I'm off to a training course in Italy on the 23rd of September so I may not be able to make the meeting. Thanks for the information regardless.
|
|
|
Post by Paul Evans on Jul 10, 2010 20:44:31 GMT
Hello Martinus and welcome to the forum! Good to see you have an LXD75 - I also have one - have had it nearly four years now - I have 6 and 10" Newtonians and the 8" Schmidt-Newtownian which is my favourite of the 3 options. One thing I should document, as I have photographs, is the fact that the LXD75 does need periodic tightening up of the worm gears, particularly if, like me, you use it for photographic purposes. Although this is a bit scary the first time, it takes two Allen drivers and 10 mins once you've done it a couple of times.
Otherwise, I look forward to seeing you at the meetings or observing sessions - I won't be able to make the first meeting either but I'll be at the second one, and at the Solar Day in Mountstewart on 22nd Aug.
Paul.
|
|
|
Post by martinus on Jul 12, 2010 12:42:17 GMT
Hi Paul, I spent Saturday and Sunday hypertuning* the mount. Was a bit frustrating as it uses the largely unused BA screw sizes and a number of them need replacing - I'm considering retapping some of the holes for the closest equivalent metric sizes. I'm aware that many people consider the mount to be overloaded with the 10 inch SN but even though the weights were not ideal the movements were smooth (previous owner added two 5kg barbel weights which can't be firmly attached to the post). I haven't checked how much backlash there is but I do intend to tweak the gear position soon.
* Well, I cleaned and regreased it with lithium grease, I didn't polish contacting surfaces as I didn't see any major burrs - supertuning perhaps?
|
|
|
Post by martinus on Oct 7, 2010 14:21:35 GMT
Just wanted to say thanks again for introducing me to some of the guys last night Paul. It was a great lecture, good fun and very informative. Got lots of advice and tips from Ken and I finally got talking to Andy McCrea in person who has supplied me with a number of items.
Apologies again for coming in late, it was a bit tricky finding the place.
|
|