Beardy30

I’m seriously considering the S50 for ease of use , it really appeals to me in terms of its portability to take to a dark site or camping somewhere 

Hi I have a Startravel 102 and i have the 25mm and 10mm EPS and a 2x Barlow - what Ep would anyone recommend to compliment these?

Ideally budget price EPs that perform well.

On 03/09/2023 at 22:07, bosun21 said:

I would definitely go for the 127 for the extra aperture and the fact that the mirror is able to be collimated whereas the 102 can’t. Maks hold their collimation great, but you never know if you would give it a serious bang in the future requiring collimation.

I agree as a Mak owner but go for the Bresser it’s a full 127 and good quality build 

12 minutes ago, LondonNeil said:

No I meant £450 is the price of the gtix mount  AND steel tripod,  that one I think (if it is the same then mount plus tripod package 30 quid less than mount and tripod bought individually https://www.firstlightoptics.com/alt-azimuth-astronomy-mounts/sw_az-gtix_mnt_tp.html?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA5L2tBhBTEiwAdSxJXzzSJNaxPjHAFCEActKUBkMmzxIC8ZItcDAZDq26lgpdaM1tRn72rxoC9R4QAvD_BwE ) 

Apologies- yea this looks very good! 

1 minute ago, LondonNeil said:

Entertaining and showed me that even in London you can get 'wow!'s

Yea they are brilliant videos to watch and I have found them great to watch - even though I have no intention of ever doing AP unless it’s with a smart phone or the Seestar s50, I’m a visual enthusiast and newbie to EAA with my 127 Mak and 102 startravel scopes - setting small targets as I go , great advice you gave also , I agree with every word and could relate to it 

9 hours ago, LondonNeil said:

Hi,

I'm also a newbie astronomer and in week 2 of owning an ST120.  Yes it's got limitations but so far I'm enjoying using it!  I'm trying to take the an approach that kinda applies to most hobbies. 

1. You're new,  don't know much,  will make mistakes, don't fret.  Reading and researching is good but as a complete novice I don't even understand  a lot of the issues let alone the answers,  so I have to dip my toe/ dive in,  try for myself,  make some mistakes.  That's fine so long as I LEARN FROM THEM! 

2.Have fun learning. 

3. There are many who have been in this hobby for a long while,  experienced, knowledgeable and practiced astronomers and likely equped by now with an array of the finest equipment that they know very well.  They choose wisely what to use when,  and get get views,  great photos, great experiences.  I am not in competition with them!  I did not start this trying to match them.  I can USE THEM for inspiration and advice though (thanks to astrobiscuit for getting me interested,  thanks to all the contributors here and at cloudy nights for the advice you will give me!).

4.  Equipment is costly but mistakes need not cost a lot.   Some will cost more but lots of equipment can be bought used (I got the ota and tripod,  remote focuser,  and several quality EPs from various astrobuysell and ebay ads.... I saw a baader Hyperion go for under ⅓ its rrp on ebay last week).  If you buy carefully and  sell what doesn't suit you you'll not lose loads.   Think of the cost as a hire fee.   

Even better if you can get to a club,  trek l talk to other members and take a look through their set up,  you'll learn about some options for free. 

5.  Have fun.   Did I say that enough? 😉

 

BTW OP.  I'm happy to share thoughts on the eye pieces I bought although 2 weeks in I still don't know a good view from tosh!

I’m also a huge fan of the biscuit ! Top fella Rory 

No need to spend such a high amount this is the one I use and it’s solid https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-star-adventurer/sky-watcher-stainless-steel-175-tripod-with-38-thread.html

Thanks - I think that sound advice , think I’ll stick to my RDF 

I have this mount and it’s a good mount no doubt about it and it’s goto features are great- it’s capable of 5kg max I would advise you look at changing the tripod for a steel tripod for stability and consider a slightly lighter OTA perhaps the 102 as you will be potentially pushing it’s capability once you add finder, EPS etc 

Not suggesting anyone’s dissatisfaction with the 102 - my point was you don’t have to spend £500 on a good refractor, the 102  is a sweet piece of kit at half the price 

It was recommended to me over the SW 9x50 

Has anyone ever had one of these ? And iso how do they compare to the SW 9x50

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/stellalyra-8x50-right-angled-correct-image-raci-finder-scope-with-bracket.html

Sorry I disagree - I would high recommended the sw 102 - foot have one and it’s a great scope for visual use 

Personally think there should be an independent channel for robotic assisted astronomy 

Try both and see what happens 

The Doogee looks a great tablet and it’s cheap - good screen  size to

Yea looking to put on a laptop ideally though - I think I’ll get a new tablet, cheers 

Hi, 

does anyone know if you can run the S50 from a laptop or does it have to be an IOS/Android tablet or phone ? 

41 minutes ago, PeterStudz said:

I have a NeXYZ but for me (we are all different) I found it over engineered, heavy and in practice no better than a simple, much lighter £10 adapter. Other than the moon I’ve taken smartphone snaps of…

The Sun

The International Space Station passing the sun

Jupiter

Saturn

Mars

Venus

Neptune

Uranus 

Orion Nebula

Various Star Clusters

A Comet

The Ring Nebula 

Dumbbell Nebula

Various Globular Clusters

Various Galaxies

Probably forgotten something. Basically everything that you can see at the eyepiece. I find it useful to record my observations and occasionally a bit of fun processing especially on those far too many cloudy nights. 
 

To get an idea of what people are doing have you had a look at the “Imaging - Smartphone / Tablets” on this site…

https://stargazerslounge.com/forum/279-imaging-smartphone-tablets/

Thanks I will take a look 

iPhone 13

Welcome Neil 👍🏼💫 great read and great to see kids getting involved, the ST 102 ( have one) is superb , Jupiter and the Moon make great views too f your skies allow - I’d also highly recommend the AZI GTI mount - nice to use and the easy features via the app. Good luck with it all 

It’s a good scope I’ve had the 8se and it was superb at lunar and planetary plus great for star hopping if mounted well - the mount itself is fine for causal visual but not imaging- it’s wobbly so worth investing in a better mount and tripod 

in terms of the scope I’d recommend the 8se over the 6se in term if you wanting a bigger leap from the 130

Sorry having issues with my phone - what sort of thing has everyone managed to shoot other than the moon? 

22 hours ago, Ratlet said:

 

Anyone else watch the starkink train of satellites going across the moon at about 18.05pm tonight? Approx 19 of them counted ,  I saw it from here in Preston, Lancashire, fantastic to watch