Very interesting.

Good video Martin ,little question the 120 mm it’s about £200a budget telescope 🔭 but when you start adding things it Becomes a expensive scoop it must be up to £600-700 if not more so now it’s becoming an expensive telescope not budget . Just a thought I started astronomy in 1968 so I’ve got a little bit of experience of these things but still learning 😂love the video thanks 🔭

Tried to do the same. Connected the plate and it did cool. But the heat sink I got was too big and I couldn’t connect it. How do I find one with the right size for the asi holes?

Glad you decided to keep the video up mate its the right thing to do. Another good video mate. Im just beginning me journey into Astronomy and it started with an old camera with 8 secs exposures of the sky and ive been hooked since. Now the next logical thing to do is strap the camera to the telescope :)

Bonjour, pouvez-vous expliquer comment nettoyer l'optique avant ? merci pour les exliquations de collimation .👍

Always delivers with a great tutorial

To me I see a 3D printer Mod to secure these cable connections issues...

Awesome fix my boss speaker system was like that. So i stuck a clamp like that. I also have a scope but not near as beautiful as your scope. Right now im looking for a camera for my Solomark telescope 130eq great fix video thank you

OK ;-)

literally 5 years ago!!!

Great video pal, enjoyable to watch.

Have you ever tried insulating the Maksutov instead of using cooling devices? Some observers claim that when a closed system scope is fully insulated, it can be used straight away. Apparently, the insulation greatly reduces tube currents.

37:23 reference - starts the adjustments.

What I worry the most actually is the electronics, motors and stuff. Do you think dew may end up harming it?

Hi Martin ein Gruß aus München eine Frage wo hast du den automatischen Fokussierer her. kannst du mir die Adresse nennen . ich habe den kleinen Maksutov 100/1400 mm. würde mich freuen wenn du mir die Adresse nennen könntest. bis bald Rudi

For me, in the Northwest, I am reluctant to get the C11 XLT with Starizoner 6.3 Reducer/FF . Simply because of seeing and clear night opportunities. The cost is just not worth it, when a £1000 scope can still get me 2700FL and 7" aperture. Your customisation of the Skymax 180 has been inspiration into this becoming a genuine contender to save me £2,000 (or even £3,000) on a C11 XLT/EdgeHD. I have a Skymax 127 but can't really get the blue planets or 3 available Dwarfs. Not paying £4k for a Vixen VMC260L one trick pony.

I am all for computer-free, WiFi-free imaging. I have never touched a smartphone, but I'm happy with my basic 3g dumbphone. I have no WiFi (or smart boxes/meters) in the house. The Wi-Fi on the router is permanently turned off, I use an ethernet cable connection from the desktop to the router. I use a heavy Skywatcher Startravel 150 with a DSLR on my AZ-EQ6 mount and can track for up to 2 minutes with no guidance issues. I have better things to do than looking at electronic screens all day.

Dude only 18°C i can make a set up for £20 that could probably get below 0. i have made a set up that can get to below -30°C with ambiet temperature being 30°C all for £55

This was a wonderful video. Your stuff is very good and hits the mark. I have a ton of equipment but I still love your efforts to make good astronomy affordable and practical. Great job Martin!

I tried to follow the instructions to fix a slight misalignment on my Skymax 127, and I ended up making it far worse. I have since realised the instructions are completely wrong. It says at about 37 mins to slacken all the bigger screws and then adjust the smaller ones, but surely this is the wrong way round? The bigger screws actually move the mirror, while the smaller ones just lock it into position. So loosing all the larger screws actually moves the mirror an indefinite amount and may destroy whatever collimation you have. What you should do is loosen all the smaller screws first which then gives room for the mirror to move and then slowly adjust the larger screws (tightening one and slacking the other two) until the collimation is right. Simple rule of thumb is tighten the screw nearest the direction where the central disk is closest to the edge of the out of focus image and slacken the others slightly. The image will move away from the centre of the field of view, but when you move the telescope to recentralise it, the collimation should be better. Then repeat as necessary. Then when you're finished you tighten the smaller ones again to lock the mirror into the new position. It shouldnt affect the collimation but check to make sure.

Thank you, Martin, just what I needed ahead of my own flocking challenge. Those rings are a great addition, especially giving not only a good mount support but a better pick up and carry too! I've added a Crayford focuser on the back of mine, powered by a pegasus. It's always cloudy or raining these days, so something to while away the idle hours of the equinox.

Hi Martin. Just looking into this as I've just bagged a Heritage 114P for only £10. In another comment someone said that this is now an F3.6, but the focal ratio hasn't actually changed. The shorter tube only moves the focal plane out further towards the camera sensor but the F-ratio is pre-determined by the mirror itself at F4.4. In other words, the mirror is closer due to the shorter tube but the focal plane moved out the other end, keeping it all the same.

@MPAstro Great video Martin I like your attitude using stand-alone tec, Keeping it simple to use is my way of doing things!

A Cheap Upgrade for a dew shield is Laminate flooring underlay it,s flexible and can be cut to any size a great insulator! Also very cheap.

Ha - Fancy leaving the Bahtinov mask on when imaging, I had a good laugh. Over the years I have done the same, many times, and the older I get the more often I do it. The DSLR battery would also be brill for my Canon 600D but I prefer your cooling box, which I made and use all the time.

its far better to use an ASIair Pro...and a tablet ..far more accurate than the Celestron stuff! you can see all the tracking , Histogram, and it WORKS out of the box ...give it a try you will find it so much better..I started were you are and wish i had a ASIair to begin with

That was worth watching, at least for the possible pitfalls I have ahead of me. I have a 180 Mak that looks like the inner lining is shedding from the tube resulting in black flakes on the mirror and the meniscus. Not looking forward to taking it apart, but I guess means must!

Exactly what I need for inspiration, thanks for sharing :)

These are great videos and still relevant today for beginners. Thank you for taking the time to do these videos as the older equipment your featuring is what the beginners today are buying and we need these videos. Thanks mate.

Great Cooling Camera DIY vlog.

£40 for that 1st piece of junk ? I wouldn't pay 40p for it.

muy buen trabajo con ese mak 180, das esperanzas a crear otras posibilidades. para mi mak 150 y una canon reflex seria posible un reductor de 0,5x. un saludo

Wow this is great, I want to try it on my 662mc so I just ordered my beer cooler while watching the video LOL One question is bothering me though: Will the fan transmit vibrations to the cam? I think I'll try to ad some kind of tiny silent blocks between the fan and the rad to avoid this possibility.

I have had a Mac Cass, the OMC 140 Deluxe. Great views of the moon and planets however, the cool down was ridiculous so I sold it and purchased a refractor instead

nice job explaining setup. I think I’d be ready for a pint and a mattress after assembling.

Great video, Martin. I've watched it several times as a guide to tuning my own solar rig, which includes the Daystar Reducer. It's an invaluable reference on how to set up the imaging train for full disk imaging.

Jesus. This is way more complex than I imaged! xD Thanks for the great tutorial!! :D <3

As far as I know, Backyard universe is one guy in germany with his CNC milling machines. He seems to be very limited in options since this seem to be a side project for him. But I also found a similar spider vane plus primary baffle ring plus primary cover (aluminium) with fan for the primary on a Aliexpress at a budget. So there seem to be some options.

I bought one of these almost a year ago and I'm hoping to use it this weekend at the ASV star party. I will have to cut a hole in the floor to fit it over a pier, though. Can't wait to try it out. Thanks for the great, informative video, Mark :)

Loved the video. In depth and no nonsense. Showed every step clearly and with no ambiguity so anybody can actually understand and do it right. Great job! Love the channel. Luis from NY

Great vids as always martin.. i must add though,that sometimes the collimation laser can sometimes be out of collimation if you get what i mean, my friend had a dob and a laser and he alinged it to perfection but the mirrors wasnt allinged. So i bought my laser round and both primary and secondary was out, so i put it down to the laser,so i took home his laser and did the same with my scope,and definitely the laser was out... you come across that yrself martin?

I use the 10 inch quattro on an EQ5 - have added 20kg of extra weight and it works like a charm.

Hi Martin, sound's you are talking about the channel starts with C? Also adding the flocking media, I would use the "Worlds Blackest Matte Paint 3.0" won't add any thickness. I have some to apply to anything that is inside the scope.

Okay.

I bought an identical secondary mount and clip cover from Ali express for like £50, even came with a collimating eye piece lol. The Backyard Universe stuff is more expensive than getting CNC stuff custom made i.e. a one off...bonkers pricing.

👍

Nice one Martin , My only gripe with the stella Lyra was the cheesy spider, so its FLO or Teleskop express when Ive got the lolly. whole different world of hurt is a newtonian, lol