Shimrod

There is a new version of the software available for this polar alignment camera. Notable in the fixes below is an improved virtual pole calculation and display. Like a few people on here, I've had different alignment results when comparing iPolar to software like Sharpcap and not known which to believe. I'm looking forward to trying it out should I ever get a clear night! V2.60 November 10, 2021 Improved virtual pole calculation and display Other optimization Now only support 64 bit Windows operation system

Both scopes are quite heavy (I have an 8" LX90) and as the OTA and mount are a single unit can be quite awkward to get the mount onto the tripod. While you say this will be your one and done telescope, I would suggest going for a separate OTA and mount as it would give both easier set up (less weight to move in one go) and flexibility in purchasing a new scope at some point in the future without also having to buy a new mount. You may already have done your research, but if you indicate what you are interested in viewing then there are plenty of people on this forum who can advise on suitability and possibly suggest better alternatives for your preferred targets.

I haven't heard of them before and the website has only been up for a year - they don't have much in the way of stock. Looking at the website it is an offshoot of Outsideology.com who make observatories amongst other garden buildings. Outsideolgy are mentioned on SGL a few times which may give you an indication of the company.

...and check the retaining ring inside the reducer is still tight once you've removed it from the scope otherwise you risk the lens elements falling out.

Do you have a reticle eyepiece you use when aligning? I have a different mount, but I was surprised at how far out from the 'centre of the eyepiece' I was when aligning with a normal eyepiece, especially if lower power. The more accurate alignment using the reticle eyepiece has improved the goto accuracy on the mount.

My reducer fell to bits when I unscrewed it from the back of my Edge - the retaining ring on the inside of the reducer came undone as I removed it from the scope. Fortunately the lens elements fell out into the palm of my hand and I was able to re-assemble but it would have been a nightmare had they fallen to the floor.

My ZS61 saw far more action as a spotting scope than it did pointing at the skies on a recent trip to the Isle of Skye. Small scopes are great for to use as spotting scopes indoors or in the garden, but I wouldn't want to use one as a regular spotting scope. The latter are a lot more rugged and generally have some level of water protection - plus they don't have sharp, knobbly bits that dig into you back when you are walking around!

There are someADM Losmandy dovetail plates in stock at FirstLightOptics

It's worth noting that the 8" EdgeHD comes with a 1.25" visual back and diagonal, so 2" eyepieces may require replacement of both of those as well.

So...you could buy direct from Orion (UK.telescope.com) for the same price, and if you went through topcashback you could get a discount. The problem is that Orion have the xt8i and xt10i listed as no longer available on their website. If you bought through Amazon you would still be buying from Orion (not Amazon direct), so you may have missed the opportunity to buy new. The xt12i is still available.

Looks like it will be shown on CNN (presumably US only) on 20th November. https://realscreen.com/2021/11/01/cnn-films-acquires-the-hunt-for-planet-b-ahead-of-nasa-mission/

Is the camera attached to a USB hub? When I got my ASI533 I had what sounds like similar problems - it turned out the devices on the hub drew too much power when they were all active and one of the devices (normally the camera) would drop the connection. I put the camera on its own USB port and everything has been fine since.

Assuming you have the same model I do (Hi Tec dew Controller) I use two of these cables for powering my ZWO cameras . Note the connectors on these cables are quite short and are not long enough to stay in the sockets of my battery pack or mounts so may not be suitable for your kit.

This open evening seems to be a weekly event at the Chesterfield Barnett Observatory - Barnett Observatory You might want to check the events map on the go stargazing website to see if there is anything else relatively easy for you to access Go Stargazing Events Map

It's worth noting that Svbony tends to be cheaper on ebay than on Amazon - even when the seller is the same. This is the 20mm 68 degree eyepiece at £30 on Ebay and £40 on Amazon. The only difference is if you have Prime on Amazon you can get it delivered a bit quicker, but delivery is free on both. 20mm Amazon 20mm Ebay edit: just noticed Sunshine is in Canada - price difference is certainly true in the UK

Forecast is looking good for tomorrow solar wise... and probably some clear skies for a change too! https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/3-day-forecast

£29 and in stock on the Opticstar website - Messier guide

I think it depends which version of the software you are running, but it should be something like Settings, and then in the next dialogue box there is an option to 'clear centre of camera'. That should then let you do the calibration process again.

Title says it all really - not sure how well a book like this works on a kindle reader, but if you use kindle on a tablet or PC probably more readable The planets - kindle edition

The Glendale app (and website) are a good source of current activity - people post weather and any sightings of aurora. You can also have the website send you alerts so you never miss a chance to look up at clouds aurora again

Good to hear you got it fixed! I have yet to get out with any telescope since the nights started drawing in - and the forecast is for clouds again all week!

What mount are you using it with? There was an issue with the Celestron GPS module which required a bit of boot up time (and I recall being finicky about splitters and/or ports used on the mount) - this was fixed with a patch. Could this be causing the issue? Worth checking the firmware version of the handset.

And what do you do if something happens to your NAS? Even if the drives are fine, you may well find you can't just transfer them to a new NAS as it uses a different algorithm for reading/writing to disks - You've still lost all your files. In our household, the PCs back up to local external drives, and also to a server (which also has an external drive) and the server itself is backed up to the cloud (Backblaze). The local hard drives provide rapid access to data with the server and cloud providing extra resilience and file versioning - but none of that helps unless the first action of any workflow is to back up the files - and when I am capturing images, I use a laptop which isn't connected to anything except mount and camera. My simple suggestion is just to improve the chances of data recovery in the case of accidental file deletion.

It would be worth partitioning your hard drive and saving all the images to the separate partition. This would avoid any accidentally deleted files being overwritten by windows temporary files and increase your chances of recovery should you have the same mishap in the future.

I have this bag - the internal dimension of the main pocket is 54cm (at a squeeze). It's not clear from the pictures but the end of the bag is a separate zipped pocket for bits and pieces (with a couple of velcro dividers). It accommodates by EdgeHD 8" with dovetail, clicklock and Celestron focus motor attached, but will not zip shut with a finder attached to the OTA.