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Celestron 180 Mak

Discussion in 'Telescopes and Mounts' started by Scopejunkie, May 23, 2019.

Celestron 180 Mak

Started by Scopejunkie on May 23, 2019 at 2:24 PM

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  1. Scopejunkie

    Scopejunkie Well-Known Member

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    New toy and the clouds won't go away :(
     

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  2. Orion25

    Orion25 Well-Known Member

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    Ain't that always the case, lol! Nice package. I know you can't wait to get into that. I have an Orion 180mm SkyView Pro and it's a real planet killer. It's great on the brighter DSOs as well. And, of course, it'll put you right on the lunar surface ;)

    Reggie
     
    Last edited: May 23, 2019
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  3. Scopejunkie

    Scopejunkie Well-Known Member

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    We are up and operational. Awaiting sun breaks in the clouds so I can do a preliminary star test with one of my land based targets. Initial land views reveal next to nothing for image shift. Love the fit and finish. Good looking scope. Currently have a shower passing through.
     

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  4. Orion25

    Orion25 Well-Known Member

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    Sweet! What mount is that?
     
  5. Scopejunkie

    Scopejunkie Well-Known Member

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    It's a mutt. The CGE dovetail clamp (designed to hold a C14) is from "astro shopping" about a decade ago and it was precision bored to fit a 1"shaft. The mount head is an old restored Cave 1" GEM. The clock drive is a old reworked "wolf drive" unit. The counterweight is from a Meade Starfinder mount. The mount support is a home made "Sam Brown" style pier (will paint soon). The legs have radiused grooves cut into them so they lock into place when installed. I added wheels so the whole assembly rolls out saving my back. Hope to test tonight to see how well it works with the 180 cass.
     

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    Last edited: May 24, 2019
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  6. Scopejunkie

    Scopejunkie Well-Known Member

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    The clouds finally began to dissipate after 8pm. Got in some good views. The previous land based star tests were confirmed as well as the Ronchi test. I took a look at Izar to start the evening. I was greeted by a well split double showing clean round airy disks and the differing colors of the pair. The first diffraction was broken up but the view was quite good. M13 was resolved across the core. A very nice view at 180x! The Double-Double was well seen revealing the 4 airy disks and displayed the different magnitudes of the stars. I looked at the Double-Double not as a resolution test but to see the clean symmetry of the stars. Textbook! The airy disks were tiny! The two 12th magnitude stars in-between the Double-Double were also seen. The Ring Nebula was well seen including the 12th magnitude star on its edge. Didn't notice any temperature affects. We shall see how this goes as the temperatures rise for summer. Had fun!
     
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  7. Orion25

    Orion25 Well-Known Member

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    Sounds like a great night out with the kit! I'm glad you got in some quality - and FUN - observing :D
     
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  8. Scopejunkie

    Scopejunkie Well-Known Member

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    Thanks Reggie,

    I just came in from observing Jupiter. Though the seeing was just good enough to allow me to split the Double-Double, Jupiter was spectacular even though it was only 25 degrees up. I can't wait for a good night to see what this scope can really do!
     
    Last edited: May 30, 2019
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  9. Scopejunkie

    Scopejunkie Well-Known Member

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    As shared elsewere last night 9:38 PDT:

    Out at the scope: Just split Theta Crb, 0.8" 4.3 & 6.3 mag. Well seen at 225x and reconfirmed at 340x. This clean of an image is in the large refractor realm. The simulated image is exactly what I was getting at the eyepiece minus the small tremors in the atmosphere. Stunning! Only good optics can get away with splitting this tight of a separation and two full magnitudes of difference between the stars!

    Well... back out to the scope!

    Update 10:36 PDT: Just split Zeta Herc, 1.4" 2.8 & 5.5 mag. More seeing sensitive than Theta Crb. Going for Jupiter now it has cleared the trees.

    Update to the update: Jupiter, though low (20deg) was well seen. Counted 11 zones/belts even though the moons were bouncing from the seeing. Jupiter was in color and of high contrast despite the turbulence. Details were visible in the belts/zones. Not bad at all!
     

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  10. Scopejunkie

    Scopejunkie Well-Known Member

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    Celestron 180 Mak and Meade 10" LX-90 fork mount were mated today. Will this union produce happy GOTO's, or have I entered into the "land of the shakes?" Hope to have the system attached to the pier tomorrow. Syetem testing should start later in the evening. Fingers crossed again!
     

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    Last edited: Jun 5, 2019
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  11. MDearingJaxFL

    MDearingJaxFL New Member

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  12. MDearingJaxFL

    MDearingJaxFL New Member

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    Keith,

    How is the fork mount project going with the mak 180?

    Mark in Jax
     
  13. Scopejunkie

    Scopejunkie Well-Known Member

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    Hi Mark,

    I have spent a bit of time fine tuning the mount. It is working well now. I also had to make some tweaks on the yoke. I had some vibrations in the altitude axis to deal with while focusing at high power. Will submit an update about the changes soon. I'm enjoying the 180. Truly refractor like performance :cool:
     
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2019
  14. Scopejunkie

    Scopejunkie Well-Known Member

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    Added side plates to the yoke plus two 1/2" carriage bolts for the Losmandy "D' plate mount block. Hope to test tonight.
     

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    Last edited: Jun 19, 2019

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