paul schofield

Thanks all. Looking forward to first light with my new scope. Only had f5 reflectors up to now, so f10 should be an experience, that is until I focal reduce to 6.3 if attempting deep sky ob's. I'm not expecting too much, but f10 from f5 on planets should show me a slight improvement. Findings to follow. Thanks again. Paul.

Hello all at SGL. I have taken a hiatus for 3 years from star gazing due to various reasons, but mainly due to being extremely unhappy with a newly purchased scope. I have been using nothing but 10x50s for the past 3 years. I decided it's time to trade in and buy a new scope, which I have done. I'm now the proud owner of a Celestron Nexstar SE8 GOTO, Focal reducer and 2 inch diagonal. Great to be back and rest assured, no doubt I will be seeking advices. Clear skies one and all.

Hello Tony and welcome to SGL. I agree the second hand market is a great place to search once decided on what type of telescope will give you what you require. I started off with a 130 Skywatcher Newtonian which was cheep but performed very well for the cost. I then owned the SW 200p dobsonian and bang for buck is the best I've owned, I'm sure the 150 dob would be a great choice too and great for planets and deep sky observations. Good luck with your scope search. Regards Paul.

Hello and welcome to SGL.

Welcome to SGL.

Hello Tom. Welcome to SGL.

Great video indeed. Dartmoor is on my dark sky future short break destination list. I thought the Milky Way had long since vanished 😄 oh no, my mistake, I remember seeing it as a child 43 years ago and not since apart from once in Finland. Excellent video.

Hello and welcome to S.G.L.

Just a quick thanks to all who have helped me with my set up problems. I have finally after almost 2 months got my Exos-2 GoTo mount working, and working well. I received so much great advice from you guys, given that I am a total newbie in the GoTo operation side of things. As expected my troubles were down to my input's, the main one being, I live at E00 and handset was set at E06. (Obviously I overlooked this) also I live at E00 13.11 but was entering as E13.11.00, yes I know, there is a picture of me in the dictionary next to idiot. Also as suggested by many, my slewing speed during star centering was barely moving it seemed, so I increased the speed and it works a treat. Thanks for your patience and help.

Hi Louis, I've only really used it so far for a couple of minutes in a new scope I was having teething problems with. I can't really give an in depth review just yet. I have finally got my telescope working well and so will be able to use my 4 new EPs soon, skies permitting.

Thank you Geoff. Excellent and informative. As always forum members have given me great help and advice. Thanks.

Hello again all. I have almost perfectly polar aligned my mount and start in this position each time. That is as close as I can get in my polar scope. I shall only be using scope for visual obs. I am not shying away from any technical information, just getting my head around it all. And I'm sure when I get a clear night I shall be putting all points into action even if it takes me all night, (yeah who am I kidding) clear all night. In closing, thanks all for your replies regarding my troubles getting my system to perform. I'm 99% sure your advice will get me up and running. Thanks Paul.

Oh really, good spot sir. A bit vague indeed. I have read and read it so many times. My head is so full of astronomical alignments. But I am taking it all as a learning curve. Thanks JOC. Great post and very helpful. I was using my 35mm Aero ED, for alignment, balanced telescope also, but shall keep my rig as light as possible for next attempt. + Or - is yet another new one for me, the more advice I get from you guys, the more I realise, although I believe I did everything perfectly,, I obviously never. Computerised mounts are a whole new ball game for me and the problems I have encountered, (probably not many others have, as I'm a bit behind the times where computers are concerned, ask my work colleagues haha) I'm surprised they ever took off. 😄 🤔 I can't go wrong with all your points of advice. Really really thank you all.

Not really that bizarre when you consider supplied documentation only includes the real basics regarding telescope alignment. The included Bresser documents are ok up to a point but do not contain information regarding something not working or trouble shooting.

Thank you Cornelius for your great advice. I shall use your msg as a check list along with everyone elses kind suggestions. Thank you all very much, you guys rock. I'm hoping for a clear night tomorrow, or Fri, Sat or Sunday so I can put all these pointers into practice. Thanks again.