Shimrod

23 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

This is where mine are kept 

As you can see from the first pic, eyepieces are capped.

That's a very neat solution - can you share where you got the case from? I keep my filters in their individual holders, but it can be difficult to see which filter is which as the cases all look the same.

2 hours ago, maw lod qan said:

 

Why would someone do this, other than to just see if they could?

 

It will most probably be a British astronomer with too much time on their hands and desperate for some clear sky.

My eyepieces have been despatched and should be arriving Saturday. I've also received a £10 off £50+ spend on Svbony from Retevis which I may use towards another eyepiece!

1 hour ago, StevieDvd said:

I had a brief look to see what the sale price ones were and compared with those on Amazon which were still the higher price.  The ones on Amazon had parfocal in the details. The others on Ebay and elsewhere did not mention that.

The dearer SV191 on Amazon are part number EUW9150A, the others W9150B. Whether this indicative of a difference in quality/model I can't say but worth noting or investigating before a purchase.

I have bought from Retevis both on Ebay & Amazon before. They got the new Svbony SV165 40mm for me, on a one-off basis as it had just come out and was not listed on Ebay or Amazon.

 

Possibly just a difference between worldwide and EU coding - there's only one type of each eyepiece shown on the Svbony website which has the 'W' coding.

2 hours ago, doublevodka said:

I've bought from Retevis on Amazon previously on Amazon and not had any issues if that helps put the mind at rest, they often reduce prices on things, I bought 2 helical focusers at £3.99 and £5.99 respectively, they are normally at least £20, both arrived 👍

I've also bought from Retevis on Amazon previously without issue - when I looked at the first listing on Ebay it was a different seller - but Retevis have three separate seller Ids for the different types of goods they sell - with a little cross over amongst some of the ranges. The one I ssaw was from retekess_eu which is mostly selling walkie talkies and a bit of Svbony kit.

On 23/08/2023 at 20:50, Zermelo said:

I just noticed that Svbony have a sale on eBay at the moment for both their 7.2mm-21.6mm and 9mm-27mm zooms.

These have been discussed before on the forum, they are SVBONY's versions of eyepieces that are made under various labels. If you already had your eye on one, or both, now might be a good time.

Confusingly, both versions are called "SV191" - if you search for that, you will find each zoom available separately, or the pair for £46.99 posted.

Thanks for posting this - I have ordered the set of two - don't think I need both, but it gives me the chance to compare at a silly price. Each eyepiece is still selling higher individually than this on Amazon from the same seller (Retevis). I was a bit sceptical of the Ebay listing (too good to be true!) but it is possibly shipping direct from Germany rather than from in the UK. Worst case scenario is reclaiming the money via Ebay & Paypal if nothing turns up. 

I already have the 3-8mm zoom so this gives me a handy 2 eyepiece set to for my travel kit.

11 minutes ago, Matt Ikaruga said:

Thanks Zermelo - appreciate the response. Does seem to have some benefits. I guess I'm lucky that the slewing noise can't really be heard by neighbours and I'm a pre-10:30pm visual observer (my eyes can't hack it any later!) so I'm not going deep into the night.

 

Optical finder, such as a Rigel or are you suggesting a finder scope bolted on?

 

Cheers

What is your issue with the slew speeds? I have both a Skywatcher AZ-GTI and a Celestron AVX - slew speeds are similar and I've not felt the need to use freedom find on the AZ-GTI. While at the fastest speeds both are noisy, it does only take 30 seconds or so for the telescope to move position even if it is a significant distance. That doesn't seem overly onerous. On the Celestron you can set the maximum slew speed to a lower limit to reduce noise - have you perhaps done that?

9 minutes ago, StevieDvd said:

You could try the old engineers hot/cold trick:

If you put just the adapter part (not the whole focuser) in the freezer for an hour or two. And, just before getting it out, gently warm the end of the scope tube with a hair dryer. You may be able to insert the adapter, but they soon equalise to room temp so it needs to be done quickly if it works.

 

 

I think I may have used a hair dryer on the scope to fit the adapter. I remember getting very hot fingers but can't remember whether that was fitting the new adapter or trying to remove the original focuser (before drilling out the screws)

16 hours ago, Elp said:

 

Note you'll also be charged a currency conversion fee by your payment method issuer.

 

You may be charged a currency conversion fee depending on credit card. If you spend overseas it's worth getting a credit card with no currency loading fee. Travel credit cards at MoneySavingExpert.com is a useful starting point for  a list of cards which are suitable.

13 hours ago, ED Splitter said:

Thanks for the responses. Can confirm that yes the focuser has the detachable collar for fitting to the ota tube. This should fit as it did fit to an 80ed. Am told it was all purchased new in April this year and have no reason to doubt. 

windjammer I think I saw your post on the sanding unless it was another member. Got to be honest not keen on that. Think if that’s the only option I will sell the focuser on and put the money toward my next eyepiece. I realise the ota is made in china but really thought QC there these days would prevent these issues. 
 

grateful of anyone else with advice though suspect the horse I’m flogging is dead. 

I fitted a Steeltrack to my 80ed a couple of years ago and remember it being problematic. I had to drill out  two of the screws holding the Skywatcher focuser in place, and then the Steeltrack adapter ring was a tight fit. I have been very pleased with the focuser since it was fitted - a definite step up from the standard focuser. 

If you haven't thought about it, check how much you can sell the stock focuser for - my sold for around £85 which was a welcome discount on the Steektrack purchase price!

12 minutes ago, mak90fan said:

Hi, I am about to order a SW Star Discovery mount. It has the WiFi dongle in built.

Will I have to update the firmware and if so, can someone kindly send me a link to a step by step guide on how to update the firmware... kind regards and thank you in advance... clear skies 👍

There hasn't been a firmware update for the Star Discovery in nearly a year, so I would be surprised if it is out of date. In any case, I would recommend not trying a firmware update until you are happy that the mount works and only then perform the update if needed to fix a specific issue you are having.

If you want to check your mount when it arrives, the current firmware version 3.40

1 hour ago, AstroKeith said:

I've started to use USB C to 5.5/2.1MM converters that have a PD trigger circuit in them. See below. With a power pack with PD or equivalent outputs I'm getting the rated capacity at a perfect 12V. 

 

 

19 minutes ago, adyj1 said:

Today I learned these existed... 😮

Ordered a couple from ebay 👍 

Ady

Could either of you share a link for these? I also seem to struggle to find my power cables but have a gazillion USB cables lying around! I think it would be handy to have a couple of these in my cables box for emergencies.

Not sure where best to put this, as it could equally sit in an imaging forum.

I came across this (pre-order only) while looking for something else on the Celestron site. It looks very similar to the Staraid autoguider, offering:

• Starsense alignment
• Polar alignment 
• Auto guiding

All without the need of a computer. This would replace my current autoguider, iPolar and Starsense camera - and I do like the idea of just having to run CPWI and image capture on my laptop. Downsides are it is Celestron compatible only - I also have an AZ-GTI and have been thinking about replacing my AVX with a strain wave drive mount. 

Looks like it will be around £800 (again Staraid prices) based on the US$799. I think I'll wait for the early adopter feedback before deciding whether or not to buy one.

Celestron Starsense autoguider

3 hours ago, Domagoj said:

Thanx a lot, I have applied to join group. I hope somebody can help

 

I have sent you a copy of CFM with packages from November 2020 on PM. The AVX firmware has not been updated since 2018, so although this package includes the AVX firmware, are you really looking to update the firmware in the handset?

On 14/06/2023 at 15:41, pipnina said:

Most cities have one or more shops dedicated to just film photography!

There's two in my small westcountry city, and I went to one in my Germany trip too which was sat right up against the Kölner Dom

Your selection of films is limited however, and may shrink further as Fujifilm seems to be having various troubles getting raw material for their existing formulas, and some of their best stock (velvia 100) is actually banned in the USA for containing certain chemicals their agencies aren't happy with.

You can still get film developed, scanned and printed at Boots pharmacies (only specific stores though) but by the sounds of things they aren't as good as many non-chain options.

I switched to a digital SLR in 2006 after I came back from a holiday and realised that the cost of film plus development was around the same price as a Canon EOS 450. I don't miss carrying 30+ films in a little lead pouch either so they didn't get damaged by x-ray machines at airports!

I made some attempts at astrophotography with my film camera but soon gave up as it was an expensive and frustrating exercise - no idea what if anything you had captured and spending £8 (film and development) to find out it was nothing!

Of course, some of the ISO1600 film was also so grainy as to be almost unusable.

2 hours ago, skywatcher1983 said:

I thought this cuts out the need to do a three star sky align. £200 for a device that just adds the date and time to my telescope - not worth it. Is there an accessory that allows me not to have to do sky align? Or is there a way to get the scope to start tracking immediately with this device, (which is why I bought it)?

Assuming you have a Celestron mount, then the device you want to get is Starsense. It doesn't remove the need to perform telescope alignment, but it automates the process for you.

Starsense

At the other end of the scale have you seen how much a National Geographic branded cruise costs? National Geographic cruises

Maybe the cheap telescopes are all customers can afford after one of these trips!

11 hours ago, wookie1965 said:

With doing double stars I am often doing 20 objects plus whatever clusters, PN`s and Planets but I have just got one from Grover's Optics with delivery £96.99 FLO had none in stock and they are £114 to start without postage  all I can do is try it now thank you very much everyone I really appreciate it.

How about one of these, recommended by @JOC in another thread? Around the same price as the smaller Celestron Powertank but with the capacity of the larger one!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/385390539382?hash=item59bb10f276:g:TGQAAOSwL0tiUVgv&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA8IDUsQUvx7SSsKHP2yr3Mxvc%2B2F1aIjrsLjuFscOr9uWqGBjxruvv0YT0Urd4sw4n6EskMho7%2FPx%2BipwgBVq%2BXkCGqI34rZM2w2czLawbKEFZOLendGxpvoG5gb0yOX8xGc%2BMBtQpMeUCU0qaBXTgIkx2WTk87Z%2FZcyFrykgcBU2lCwoWTEF1Hu2VLLzQz3%2Fbir1FhOf9yj%2Fc%2B2rVLU8izOGNfbjjz7F8%2FNAEHJbI9vycW25wLjuhOnZRboVjhZoNGvq5ZV9HowbOMapU1VNmxhZRzqL2WYr2TzhhNC7qhyK3IRm91dS51RAkjQZQKiHwg%3D%3D|tkp%3ABFBMtPDY8ohi

3 hours ago, Happysolderer said:

Turns out it was a faulty module. FLO sent a replacement, works fine.

Glad to hear you got it sorted!

34 minutes ago, barkis said:

 

Hi Wookie, Thanks for the Listing, but my mount has no usb Connector on  board, and I use a planetarium for my astronomy, I  plug the mount into my Laptop and choose targets from my Starry Night Programme.  Not sure If the list you provided  has a suitable download. I do appreciate your help Mate.

Ron

You may need the Ascom driver from the link provided by @wookie1965 which can be found directly here: https://skywatcher.com/download/software/ascom-driver/

It would be useful if you could describe the issue you are having - in what way the software/mount combination is not working. The name of the planetarium software might also be relevant to solving the issue.

6 hours ago, Happysolderer said:

It'll also be there, and then disappear. 

I am all out of suggestions beyond the usual last resort - try a factory reset on the handset and see if that clears out any odd settings. It may be worth a call with FLO or raising a support ticket with Celestron.

40 minutes ago, Happysolderer said:

The GPS module is the one supplied by FLO for starsense. The starsense camera and handset came with an adaptor for use with the Skywatcher mount.  

Have you checked the handset to ensure the GPS module is set as the source? And how long are you waiting before checking date/time? The menu options for the handset are shown below - it should be the Mode option you need to change.if not set correctly.

7 minutes ago, Happysolderer said:

Ok, I have a starsense camera and GPS (with the adaptor) for my EQ6R Pro. I'm having some issues with the GPS. Sometimes it shows up on the hand controller, sometimes it doesn't. But as yet it hasn't actually given the correct time and location. It's got the latest updates and I have tried it in every conceivable configuration. Is it faulty? 

Which GPS module do you have? I did not think the Celestron GPS module was compatible with the sky watcher mount.

On Celestron mounts there have been some reported issues between starsense and the skysync GPS module. They are often resolved by plugging starsense into the handset port and the handset into the aux port. 

You also have to allow for a longer start up time as you need to wait for the gos module to get a lock on enough satellites.

Final thing to check is whether the GPS module needs to be set as the source for date/time/location in the handset.

8 minutes ago, iapa said:

I’ve been looking at insurance, and that is one thought that I had.

May be over much overheard for a retail company tho’.

Despite their remarkable service, they are only human (I hope).

It's quite a step from retailer to insurance broker - they'd have to be regulated by the FCA which brings all sorts of additional administration to the business.

12 hours ago, alecras2345 said:

yes ive been to North Wales Astronomy Society and felt daunted as they were discussing advanced nuclear physics, so i havent been back there since.   Slooh.com has as student membership which is fifty dollars so around 40 pounds.     

 

Ash

It's not uncommon for astronomy societies to have a mix of talks as they have to cater for people of all levels. IT might be worth keeping an eye on their upcoming meetings to see if there is something more suitable for a beginner.