New toy(s) inbound

[Tracy]

For grins and giggles.... and seeing that they get decent reviews for an intro level scope....
I've ordered an Apertura 72 mm Doublet APO Refractor with tracking scope and flattener from HighPoint Scientific. This is basically the same scope that William Optics sells as their ZenithStar 73mm (@ $713 for base scope for) and many others rebrand them with their brand line.
This will basically be used for captures of wide field targets like the Andromeda Galaxy and Peliades to reduce having to do mosaics (of course, I need to get a new camera also!)...as well as use with the local astronomy group I plan on getting started.
The nice thing, since it's a 2" setup, I can use the same lenses /diagonal that I purchased for my ZenithStar 103mm for it (since WO ZenithStar 103mm & 73mm can use the same hardware). I may even be able to use the same camera rotator for it.
Since I have this one on order, I've decided to keep the Celestron mount to use also for the local astronomy groups, as that will give me 2 actual telescopes I can use towards that and then I'm ordering the Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 binoculars and the tripod mount for them...so that will be 3 levels of different devices that they can look through.

That will give me two decent scopes (the Celestron on it's mount for planetary and live viewing of DSO objects) and then the Apertura for use either live view or capturing when not having a sky party and then a more "common" type of equipment that even a beginner can use, the binoculars.

 

[Tracy]

Telescope came. Missing the flattener, which should have been with it, and the guide scope is still in shipping status. Called High Point Scientific and hey are supposed to be resolving the flattener issue
This image has the old ZenithStar 103mm camera rotator on it (a MUCH better one than what ships with it) and the Williams Optics 2" Roto-:Lock tied in with the William Optics 1.25 Roto-Lock. The equipment is interchangeable between the William Optics ZenithStar 103mm and the Apertura 72mm, which is not unexpected since the Apertura 72mm is basically the same scope as the William Optics ZenithStar 73mm.

One unusual thing... the screws that attach the Vixen bar to the ring... uses an SAE bolt!

 

[OhNo]

You'll find you need a full set of wrenches and Allan wrenches in both SAE and Metric if you're gonna be in dis game.

 

[Tracy]

You'll find you need a full set of wrenches and Allan wrenches in both SAE and Metric if you're gonna be in dis game.

I have a wealth of both, and in my "camera" hard case I have a box for SAE and metric tools, in addition to what's in the garage tool chests (rolling tool boxes for SAE and metric)... I found it rather ironic that a telescope that is manufactured in China was SAE in this day and age of metric.

 

[OhNo]

Depends of the specs of who made the order. US is a wee bit slow in the process. I have a 1990 IHC Highway tractor, Everything is SAE and the friggin' wheel nuts are metric.

 

[Tracy]

Owned a 1996 F-250 with the PowerStroke 7.3L and a 1999 F-350 diesel SRW that was like that.

 

[OhNo]

We had a '78 F150 Super cab that was metric on one side and SAE on the other. Trudeau switched to the metric system just in time for me to have to write Grad 12 Final in the sciences using the metric system ('76).