Horse Tradin'
Posted: Tue Nov 19, 2019 1:51 am
Day 3 of my 9-Days Off from Work. I am still checking my work email but I'm not answering any of it. I can't or I violate my 9-days out. 
Anyway, kinda fun watching everybody go. I had two issues left on the table Friday night, so I did as much as I could do on my own and left the rest to be handled by others. I had things set up nicely so all that needed to be done was the execution. Fun to see everyone running with it.
So I'm sitting here earlier today and was thinking I might like to have me one o' them ED80 scopes from Explore Scientific. Unfortunately, I've already got my Christmas present for the year with the Optolong l-eNhance filter, and I've already got my birthday present in the form of the ZWOEAF focuser. Hmm.
And then I got to thinking that I wonder if I can work out a trade. I've got a couple of OTAs that I haven't used in a while and have been made sort of redundant with other purchases. Namely, my long focal length AR127 (1200mm). This scope hasn't seen much sky time at all since I got my C6-R (also 1200mm). Then there is my long AR102 (1000mm). I enjoyed this scope more, especially on doubles, but the SV102T kinda fills that role even better due to the crisper apochromatic optics. And then there is the manual EXOS-2EQ mount. While being a manual mount wasn't a problem (I really enjoy manual star-hopping), I never really fell in love with this mount. It is cantankerous when it comes to balancing and it's a bit too short for my height, even while seated. Plus, anytime you are looking south, the darn slo-mo RA cable is way out of reach. Not fun to use. My AVX is so much better, even with the clutches un-limbered and moving it manually.
I got on Facebook Messenger and sent my buddy down atES a note inquiring if they had any ED80s on their Silver Grade program. Yup, sayeth he, they had a pair of them. I inquired if they'd do a trade. Might, he returns, depending on the condition of the gear. Well, I try to take good care of my stuff, so I told him I'd see him in a bit.
I loaded up both OTAs and the mount and drove down toES .
When I walked in, my buddy was on the phone assisting a customer, but theES president, Scott Roberts, was in the lobby. If any of you have ever met Scott, you know that he is one of the nicest guys around and he loves to talk about astronomy and equipment. We started talking AP and he was really excited about some things they are doing and a conference he'd just returned from in California. He said, "Come back here to my office, I want to show you a video!" So we went back to his office and watched some footage from the conference that he'd made.
Once that was done, I went back to the store area and grabbed a seat. My buddy Kent finally came out and we brought my gear in. He and Mike gave it all a quick inspection and deemed it all worthy. I brought home my little ED80.
It's a hefty little bugger, but man, it's so awkward looking with the big dew shield. Heck, I bet if you remove the lens cell, you'd see the socket in there to screw the light bulb in!
It is a brand new scope, never been used. The only reason it was marked down was because of a very small scratch on the dew shield collar. You have to look for it to see it.
While still at the store, I asked Kent about balancing it. Since it has the dovetail bar attached directly to the focuser ring, by the time you hang extension tubes, a guidescope, and a couple of cams back there, its gonna be very tail-heavy. Kent said no problem, just turn the dovetail around.
When I got home, I got it all configured and sure enough, quite tail-heavy. So I tried to turn the dovetail around. Yeah.
One of the little allen bolts stripped out very easily. It appears that the dovetail is only attached to the block under the focuser ring by two small allen bolts, and these only get in there about 4 threads deep. That gave me the hee bee jee bees.
And now I've got a stripped one. The sky was clearing up too. Not quality clear, but toy-playing clear. Dang it.
Thinking hard, I pulled the rings off my ST80. They fit the diameter, but the dovetail they were attached to was too short. I pulled the rings and bar from the Premium 80. This dovetail bar had an extra set of threaded holed that would allow for proper spacing between the rings and enough dovetail left over to achieve properDec balance.
Unfortunately, the bolts that thread through the dovetail and into the rings had the wrong thread size to thread through the extra dovetail holes. Dang it.
I found my drill and it miraculously was still charged. I added the correct size bit and drilled out the threads in the extra hole on the dovetail. That worked nicely. Now I have a long bar with narrowly spaced rings. Got that installed, the scope mounted and all hooked up on the AVX, and then the clouds swarmed in.
Waiting on that stuff to go away right now. Not sure it is going to. It has a rather hellish red cast to it.
Anyway, Day 3 so far...
Anyway, kinda fun watching everybody go. I had two issues left on the table Friday night, so I did as much as I could do on my own and left the rest to be handled by others. I had things set up nicely so all that needed to be done was the execution. Fun to see everyone running with it.
So I'm sitting here earlier today and was thinking I might like to have me one o' them ED80 scopes from Explore Scientific. Unfortunately, I've already got my Christmas present for the year with the Optolong l-eNhance filter, and I've already got my birthday present in the form of the ZWO
And then I got to thinking that I wonder if I can work out a trade. I've got a couple of OTAs that I haven't used in a while and have been made sort of redundant with other purchases. Namely, my long focal length AR127 (1200mm). This scope hasn't seen much sky time at all since I got my C6-R (also 1200mm). Then there is my long AR102 (1000mm). I enjoyed this scope more, especially on doubles, but the SV102T kinda fills that role even better due to the crisper apochromatic optics. And then there is the manual EXOS-2
I got on Facebook Messenger and sent my buddy down at
I loaded up both OTAs and the mount and drove down to
When I walked in, my buddy was on the phone assisting a customer, but the
Once that was done, I went back to the store area and grabbed a seat. My buddy Kent finally came out and we brought my gear in. He and Mike gave it all a quick inspection and deemed it all worthy. I brought home my little ED80.
It's a hefty little bugger, but man, it's so awkward looking with the big dew shield. Heck, I bet if you remove the lens cell, you'd see the socket in there to screw the light bulb in!
It is a brand new scope, never been used. The only reason it was marked down was because of a very small scratch on the dew shield collar. You have to look for it to see it.
While still at the store, I asked Kent about balancing it. Since it has the dovetail bar attached directly to the focuser ring, by the time you hang extension tubes, a guidescope, and a couple of cams back there, its gonna be very tail-heavy. Kent said no problem, just turn the dovetail around.
When I got home, I got it all configured and sure enough, quite tail-heavy. So I tried to turn the dovetail around. Yeah.
One of the little allen bolts stripped out very easily. It appears that the dovetail is only attached to the block under the focuser ring by two small allen bolts, and these only get in there about 4 threads deep. That gave me the hee bee jee bees.
And now I've got a stripped one. The sky was clearing up too. Not quality clear, but toy-playing clear. Dang it.
Thinking hard, I pulled the rings off my ST80. They fit the diameter, but the dovetail they were attached to was too short. I pulled the rings and bar from the Premium 80. This dovetail bar had an extra set of threaded holed that would allow for proper spacing between the rings and enough dovetail left over to achieve proper
Unfortunately, the bolts that thread through the dovetail and into the rings had the wrong thread size to thread through the extra dovetail holes. Dang it.
I found my drill and it miraculously was still charged. I added the correct size bit and drilled out the threads in the extra hole on the dovetail. That worked nicely. Now I have a long bar with narrowly spaced rings. Got that installed, the scope mounted and all hooked up on the AVX, and then the clouds swarmed in.
Waiting on that stuff to go away right now. Not sure it is going to. It has a rather hellish red cast to it.
Congratulations Bryan, hope you don't neglect the Moon now haha.