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telrad replaced by ipad?


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Hello, first post.

I've had a basica 8" dob for years but have never really utilized it beyond the moon & planets. I'd really like to get into seeing some galaxies.

I noticed my telrad was broken & while fixing it I realized in this errr...decade.... it's probably better to supplement it with an ipad or android clamped on to the barrel of the dob - is that the new trend now?

And, I'm looking for a program (android or ipad) that will recommend objects for viewing.

Can anyone shed some astral light on this :)

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Couple good ones for iPad are Stellarium and star chart. If you go for star chart then probably best to get the paid version outright; if you go for the "lite" version and then pay for upgrades, you'll end up paying more to simply end up with the original paid for version (or at least that was the case when I installed mine).

Happy galaxy hunting, it's rewarding :-)

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I prefer to have no artificial lights around when I'm trying to find faint deep sky objects if at all possible. Even the lighted face of a watch can seem bright when you have really dark skies and are dark adapted.

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.......Same here, I've never seen an app that is dark enough,  not to  destroy  your  dark adapted eyes?  Some apps require GPS for  navigation, and strapped to a metal telescope isn't such a good idea.  get the TELRAD fixed/replaced, that would be my consideration.

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I've tried using an android app called SkEye as it can be used as a 'virtual digital setting circle', Basically if you're scope has a steel tube don't bother, the magnetic fields mess up the accuracy.

James.

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Couple good ones for iPad are Stellarium and star chart. If you go for star chart then probably best to get the paid version outright; if you go for the "lite" version and then pay for upgrades, you'll end up paying more to simply end up with the original paid for version (or at least that was the case when I installed mine).

Happy galaxy hunting, it's rewarding :-)

Thank you, can either one of those actually recommend an object for my location & time?

I appreciate the other comments too. My starting point (at this stage) is easy location of deep-sky objects. I'm sure once you know what you are doing it's far better to not have light sources around, but I'm just not there yet.

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I would also doubt if an ipad or android position sensing device is accurate anough or repeatable enough to locate objects precisely. However you may well find these apps very useful (wherther on tablet or Pc) for planning an observing session and for a quick orientation before starting to observe.

Joe

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I too tried SkEYE as JED-E3 mentions, but on a cardboard tube, it may work? Its an interesting idea. The app allows you to align with a target, then calibrate to that target, however, never got to see the final result due to the metal OTA and the layers of plastic bag the phone was in, this also maybe affected the screens touch sensitivity. Worth a try. 

I never gave it a thought to just try and hand-hold the device, and its too wet  just now,  to see anything !

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I prefer to have no artificial lights around when I'm trying to find faint deep sky objects if at all possible. Even the lighted face of a watch can seem bright when you have really dark skies and are dark adapted.

So the ideal thing would be a telrad-type device, linked to a database of DSOs, that showed the objects on a head-up display as you moved your scope across the sky. Wouldn't that be fab?

Fortunately, someone else thought the same, and is developing just such an idea, called "explorad". It's being entered for the Hackaday Prize, and is being developed by a guy in Germany called Christoph - best of luck to him! I hope he wins the prize, and his idea sees the commercial light of day. I reckon it could be very popular. You can follow his progress at:

http://hackaday.io/project/1052-explorad

An interesting project, and well wirth a look.

Cheers

Simon

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Much as I love technology in general, I think this is a pretty bad idea...unless there is some dedicated software with a dark red screen that could protect your night vision, and the iPad was in a weatherproof case. Hmmm...maybe time to write an app for that :-)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Why not replace the telescope itself? Stay indoors in a warm, brightly lit living room and use the ipad to view Hubble images. Personally I'll stick with finder, map, dim red light and eyeball. Works fine for me.

I believe people tried this kind of thing with the Celestron SkyScout but steel-tube telescopes caused interference with the GPS signal.

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A couple of years ago someone at my club's dark site was using one of these devices that basically stuffed his dark adaption and annoyed everyone else.

With my Dob, a Rigel Quickfinder plus Sky and Telescope pocket sky atlas gets the job done for me.

Regards, Ed.

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I use an iPad at dark sites, I've used it in the worst dew and frost that we get in the UK and it doesn't bother it one bit.

If you use it in 'night mode' even with the brightness turned down as low as possible it will still ruin you dark adaption and since your eyesight is the most important thing you have in astronomy you don't want to do that!

I cover the screen with a double sheet of red acetate which greatly reduces the brightness the screen puts out and makes it usable, my eyes don't 'feel' any light but they do when using a red light and paper chart because the light is reflected off white paper.

I think that there is a certain amount of 'tradition' in visual astronomy and that the accepted right thing to do is to carry on using tried and tested methods even when technology has moved on. I'm certainly not saying that everyone should start using screen devices at the EP as I can completely understand why people like to use paper charts.

It does remind me a little of when digital cameras were first introduced and many film photographers shunned digital for various reasons.

Either way its a hobby that should be enjoyed no matter what but I'm quite happy with my dark adaption and iPad. :)

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Well, I'll try it with my mobile first (easier to mount on the tube), if it's not big enough I'll move up to the iPad.

I guess I was curious if the iPad approach has "taken over" - and the answer is CERTIANLY NOT - as you say I think it's a conservative lot that takes pride in finding things the hard way, and there's nothing wrong with that.

I don't observe with other groups, so I'm not worried about offending anyone. If I were to observe in a group setting, the need for the app would disappear since I presume the other ppl would know what they were doing.

Still hoping for a response on which app can recommend objects for viewing.

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