Shimrod

1 hour ago, alecras2345 said:

would you pay to use slooh?

I've had a look at the website, and I can't see a membership for less than £100, and if you go for the space enthusiast membership it will cost £160 per year so my calculations above may change the perceived value for money. 

Our situations are different so whether or not I would use Slooh shouldn't really enter in the decision - only you can decide if you get enough enjoyment out of using the service to justify the cost. Looking back to your previous email you mention interaction with other members - you won't get that with a Seestar (or similar) either. I don't know if you are able to travel, but if you want interaction it looks like there are three astronomical societies in North Wales - are you able to get to any of those?

Llandyrnog Astronomical Society

North Wales Astronomy Society

Gwynedd Astronomical Society

28 minutes ago, alecras2345 said:

My membership to slooh has run out which was paid for 2 years by a guy from Liverpool astronomy club.   I like to use slooh to get images from their telescopes.    Is it worth it for me to pay £40.00 for a 12 month subscription?    Their homepage which they call a dashboard is strange,  theres no interaction with other members, they only way to interact with other members is by using discord.    Also they have live star party streams which are like at 4 5 o clock in  the morning here.   So i dont know if its worth joining again.   Like i said i only like the images.

Ash

Hi Ash, I'm sure you've said before you can't observe outside because you are affected by the cold, but if you have access to a garden you might want to consider a telescope like this:   ZWO Seestar It's new on the market (and not available for a couple of months), but it seems to provide all the automation you need in a small, easily portable package. You can set it up outside and connect to it using your phone/tablet and have full control over what it points at. You can view the images on your phone and don't need to do any processing.

The downside is it costs £459, so would be about 11 years of Slooh membership. The Seestar would give you flexibility over what you look at,  but if you are getting enjoyment out of the Slooh membership then it seems a cheaper way to continue the hobby. Only you can decide!

2 hours ago, LukeSkywatcher said:

If and when I get to see them (next year for my 50th), I certainly won't have my eye stuck behind a camera. 

It's Lorna's 50 birthday gift to me.

You don't need to - just set the camera up on a tripod and leave it clicking away while you enjoy the view. You wouldn't be taking handheld photos and with the tripod, you can get yourself with the lights in the background as a bit of a memento photo!

3 hours ago, StuartJPP said:

A very good question....do the northern lights look anything like this to the unaided naked eye even under the most spectacular conditions (as advertised by Icelandic cruises)?

 

 

That image of the northern lights has been heavily processed to get both the lights and the mountains looking like that. Here are two 'out of the camera' images that give an idea of the difference in lights intensity.

Both images have been taken with the same camera and lens , but on different nights (and locations - although both in Iceland). The brighter of the two is actually a shorter exposure - 2.5 seconds and the lights appeared more or less like that to the naked eye - this was 2015 and one of the best displays I have seen - it went on most of the night.

The second image is a slightly greenish fuzz, and was a 6 second exposure. You could barely discern this as the lights and to the naked eye was a greyish fuzz - distinguishable as lights only by the fact it was moving differently to the clouds - it took a photo to confirm there was something there.

1 hour ago, nightfisher said:

Right so we see images of the northern lights usually in a hazy green colour, but if viewed by eye would it still have the same colour or would it be more grey smudge/streak , similar to viewing a Nebulae through an eyepiece ?  

It depends on the strength of the lights - I've seen them as little more than a grey smudge, but I've also seen them as vivid green displays dancing across the sky!

14 hours ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

The current AVX and CGX both have 2" steel legs.

The legs on a SE 6/8 are much thinner.

It doesn't match my AVX tripod - the holes for the peg are two close to the centre - and the centre of my tripod head is cut out rather than solid.

5 hours ago, Basementboy said:

Hello everyone,

I've seen a few discussions of travel rigs with cabin bags, involving some very impressive Tetris-ing.

But I'm wondering what kind of setup I could usefully take with me in my hold luggage on a plane. I'm going on a trip to Arizona in two weeks with a checked bag, and I'd love to have something more than a 3" frac along for the ride while out in the desert – and hopefully some quite dark skies.

Without wanting to spend a fortune, my first thought was the flextube Heritage 150p! Nice 6" of aperture, fairly compact... but Tiny Clanger pointed out that the Dob base likely can't be disassembled, so would be very awkward even in checked luggage.

Perhaps the 130p is easier?

Has anyone actually tried to dissamble those tabletop Dob mounts?

Or – alternative – a decent 102" frac, with some kind of lightweight mount (a little Castor? Or I have an AZ5 ...) and a carbon-fibre photography tripod that is compact enough to fit into a normal human suitcase?

Of course I would pack the OTA in lots of clothes but clearly it will also get bumped around in the cargo hold. Not sure if that means buying a good ED frac for this purpose is a terrible idea. 

I did also consider a Mak but I'm not sure it would be a good all-rounder to use with some non-astro friends without Go-To / tracking... one of the things I'm most excited about is DSOs! (I get plenty of planetary action in London - in fact that's ALL I get.) Or perhaps I'm wrong about that too? Maybe a 4 inch Mak on an AzGTi?

Too many options ... SEND HELP PLEASE

Chris

 

 

Have you considered a large pair of binoculars (80mm+) on a tripod as an alternative? They'd probably survive the trip in the hold a lot better than a reflector, and if you are truly dark skies even the binoculars will amaze when compared to London skies.

You might also want to check travel insurance for the level of cover if you're going to pack anything valuable in the hold.

1 hour ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

Interesting comparison between thespecs on the  Dawrf and the See Stars on "Rooster Observatory " (YouTube ) .. Certainly looks like the Dwarf is the better option . The guy on YT has the Dwarf and has put an order in for the SeeStars so he has no bias towards either . 

I applaud anyone bringing new gear onto the market as it shows progression . Sure these units might be a bit niche but in my case its a really fun way of capturing the night sky and the Moon and Sun , without the headache ( as i see it ) of teasing details from a program . I can now see the Leo triplet within 2minutes , which is remarkable . 

Also the feeback from reviewers has been both encouraging to the end user but also their critisisms have been listened to by the suppliers . 

Astronomy takes makes many forms . The SeeStars and dwarf can only enhance interest , Surely .

As you say there's a variety of approaches to astronomy and as long as someone is having fun, then does it matter how they observe.

My personal challenge with these devices is understanding why I would use one of these over looking at pictures from the internet. Putting visual to one side, I would suspect that the challenge of capturing the images forms a big part of the enjoyment in AP.

I've just seen this on the the 'new products' page on the FLO website (Askar-V) and while it's out of my price range it really appeals to my inner geek. The flexibility of six focal lengths by changing the objective and adding the reducer or extender sounds really appealing especially as a travel kit - and I find the grey colour scheme very attractive (it would match my space grey ZS61).

It does look like it would increase the likelihood of getting dirt and dust inside the optics though - and I suspect I might spend more time experimenting with different focal lengths that I would observing.

Is this something that would tempt you or would you choose a dual scope mount instead?

13 hours ago, Earl said:

Self aligning mount, self tracking ccds, AI controlled exposure / calibration.

This may already be around now, Im out the loop/

I was going to type a similar answer - enhanced goto that reduces set up time and integrated camera/plate solving in the mount to perform alignment and deliver accurate goto movement.

I have two goto mounts bought about 20 years apart - the technology works the same way in both - there have been steps towards self-alignment with Starsense, GPS and Starlock (Meade), but these still require manual intervention and frustratingly fail to work on occasion. 

1 hour ago, SmokeyJoe said:

Thanks all for your helpful replies, I did look at the 585 Knobby but it gives me an imaging scale of 0. 79 compared to 1.03 for the 533 (although this improves to 0.9 with a focal reducer). Post processing skills are OK I think (I have a partly Photoshop based degree) but all in the eye of the beholder etc.  Don't really want to start mucking about with the hardware as one day I hope to sell it and head down the mono route. 

Guess I was looking for an excuse to buy my new toy now rather than in 8 months. 

With a practical hat on, how often will you get out imaging as we head into the summer months. With the constraints of work and a lack of a dark sky until late, my telescope goes away and doesn't come out again until September. If you buy now, are you really going to get much use out of the camera and will you regret the early purchase come autumn? It also gives you time to keep an eye out for any customer returns on the FLO website which will give you the benefit of buying at a small discount but with the assurance of a warranty.

23 minutes ago, ONIKKINEN said:

Actually not a bad price compared to the vanilla 2600MC (but expensive compared to non ZWO imx571...).

SC2210 is the chip used in the 220MM, so should be workable for fast scopes in narrowband too.

I guessed right on the chip combination! I wonder if I win a free camera as a prize?

27 minutes ago, wimvb said:

There's the catch. You would be guiding through any filter, which limits the number of usable stars, especially when imaging away from our own galaxy. Even with an osc, using lp filters or dual band filters can be a problem.

May be they will have a new range of clip in style filters that cover the main sensor but not the guide sensor - after all it's a way to make more money!

And as it's fun to speculate, I'm going to guess the launch model is a combined ASI2600 and ASI220 - so IMX571 and SC2210 sensors.

1 hour ago, DaveS said:

This is the back of my old 183 camera

 

From the photo it looks to be a bigger diameter.

Your camera has the same casing as my ASI533 - the render looks like a 2600 or 6200 size casing and if you compare with images on the FLO website you can see that the front of the camera looks like that of the 6200. That makes sense as it has to accommodate two sensors - as to which sensors I guess we'll have to wait until April 12th!

24 minutes ago, powerlord said:

if not an april fool, not a bad idea?

Seems like launch date of April 12th at NEAF, and first of a new range of cameras. Not sure I can justify replacing what I have, but an interesting concept which would remove some issues such as spacing when using an OAG. 

1 minute ago, Knighty2112 said:

Was there a reason you needed to set the mount so high that you had to put the diagonal in sideways rather than the normal way of straight up? I have a Nexstar SE goto mount whichis similar to your mount, and never set it up at maximum height as this impedes viewing through the EP when viewing things low down in the sky,  unless of course you are a 6’ 10” high basket ball player! 😆

Tezz is a wheelchair user and also has his mount in roll off observatory - I suspect it is a combination of those factors that causes the issue with the eyepiece.

16 minutes ago, tezz said:

 

Could you advise on a eyepiece to make the image bigger?

Thank you very much.

There are two ways in which you can make the image 'bigger'. One is to see a wider field of view (so you see more of the tree) and the other is to increase the magnification. You can of course combine both of these at the same time. To increase  the field of view you are looking for eyepieces with a higher field of view, measured in degrees - the Celestron 40mm eyepiece is probably around 45-50 degrees. You might want to consider 68/70 degree eyepieces or 82 degree eyepieces. To gain increased magnification you want an eyepiece with a lower mm measurement - there is a trade-off though at which the magnification is too high and you don't gain anything in image quality.

You might want to start off with a cheaper set of eyepieces while you work out what sort of objects you prefer looking at - the Svbony 68 degree range are well regarded at the budget end and a full set is £144 on amazon. Alternatively the BST starguider range from FLO would also be a good choice.

16 minutes ago, tezz said:

 

Thank you for your answer.

The image I see is very small. And yes it's the 1.25 thatcame with the scope.

If I do as you say, will the image become bigger?

What eyepiece should I buy to see a bigger image?

Thanks again.

 

The image should become a lot bigger! If the tree is very close you might not be able to get it into focus - try and pick something at least 100m away, and preferably a lot further - when testing my telescope I use a water tower around 3 miles away. 

On a SCT it can take a lot of turns of the focus knob to travel the full length of the focus range so don't give up if nothing immediately changes - it can feel a like a really long time when using the focus motor!

1 hour ago, steamin63 said:

here in australia we pay the "australia" tax .... everything is very much more expensive than the UK or USA . wifi dongle .... $280 , no thanks . id rather bin it . and no , if you purchase something online you are stuck with it unless it is faulty . its either a solution involving a laptop or the bin . 

Probably the cheapest option you may be able to find at $59 US dollars https://astro-gadget.net/gadgets/wifi-adapters/auxfi-new-aux-port-wifi-adapter-for-celestron

Again, check for what model you have to see if it is compatible. Otherwise you might be better retaining the OTA and using it on another mount with rings and a dovetail. 

42 minutes ago, steamin63 said:

here in australia we pay the "australia" tax .... everything is very much more expensive than the UK or USA . wifi dongle .... $280 , no thanks . id rather bin it . and no , if you purchase something online you are stuck with it unless it is faulty . its either a solution involving a laptop or the bin . 

If it makes you feel any better, $280 AUD dollars is around £150 which is the price we would pay for the wi-fi dongle here!

15 hours ago, Ags said:

I see these can be picked up for about €200 second hand. Would it be a good idea to get one and have it Astro modified? I would use it with a 500 mm focal length APO. I am guessing getting a bigger sensor is a better idea than getting a smaller telescope?

https://www.mpb.com/en-eu/product/canon-eos-5d

A Canon 5d is nearly 20 years old! You'll be hanging quite a lump of weight off the back of your telescope and getting a very small screen at the back. It would be worth spending the extra few pounds to get the 6D which had a much better full frame sensor (although lacking many of the Pro features of the 5 series). Of course if your telescopes can't provide an image circle for a full frame sensor you'd be better with a much newer and lighter APS-C format camera.

On 04/04/2023 at 22:11, bomberbaz said:

UPDATE.

Correcting first off my previous statement that these are F2.6, I think that is not correct and do not know the correct F ratio despite much searching however they are probably around F6.

I spent half a day on birding, looking in trees of course and chromaticity is apparent but not excessive. I guess it depends what is acceptable to you. 

WHat I did also do was follow an incoming passenger plane faultlessly and also managed to easily track a helicopter at great height where because of the stability, was able to identify it as a police one. 

Great to see you're enjoying them! After a  bit of thought, I ended up getting the Canon 12x36, partly because I was probably going to buy two pairs but mostly because of the £150 price difference - the extra reach of the Bresser binoculars was an attraction though for wildlife. The IS is really a game changer for handheld binoculars - I have it in a number of camera lenses but can't believe I hadn't considered it for use in binoculars as well. It always sounded like a bit of a gimmick.

19 minutes ago, malc-c said:

Unlike Skywatcher mounts where the handset can be removed and an EQDIR connection made, be that a physical connection or via a wifi / bluetooth dongle, Celestron appear to use the handset in a dedicated PC-DIRECT mode to pass through the commands from the PC application, with the PC connection being via a standard RS232 port.   You can do this with the Skywatcher handset, but for some reason Synta who make both brands don't recommend the PC-DIRECT mode of connection other than for updating firmware in the mount.

Whilst UK consumer law does allow the return of items, especially those bought from an on-line supplier, but on this occasion I can't see the point given the information on the Celestron support page

I use a Celestron Skyportal wi-fi dongle with my AVX to control the mount with my PC - no handset required! @steamin63 doesn't mention what version of Nexstar mount they have been given (the name covers several models and a long history!), so it might be an option worth exploring. There is a list of compatible mounts on the Skyportal product page on the Celestron website here:  Celestron Skyportal wi-fi

If it is one of the older models, then I agree the wi-fi dongle will not be off much use.

2 hours ago, steamin63 said:

i thik you are right . im just floating the idea . i normally dont do celestron . i think its an over rated product for its price . 

 

Could you get the wi-fi module from somewhere like Amazon to test the mount? If it works, you've got a relatively cheap mount and if it doesn't you can return to Amazon for refund. I'm assuming Australia gives consumers similar rights to the UK, allowing you to inspect and return goods bought online within a short period of time.

I've just checked Amazon.com and if you filter by seller, you can buy from Explore Scientific at the sale price, with $11.32 shipping to the UK. Not all eyepieces appear to be in the sale - as always, buying from the US (even Amazon) gives a headache if you end up with a faulty product.

Here's a link:  https://www.amazon.com/s?k=explore+scientific+eyepiece&i=photo&rh=n%3A499158%2Cn%3A499164%2Cp_6%3AAVCJM6VIMRYT&dc&ds=v1%3Ad%2BIIEUjM7I0QD8LAsJPDuAlfg%2BmmHKfciplt4j6YIWI&qid=1680902803&rnid=303116011&sprefix=explore+sc%2Caps%2C172&ref=sr_nr_p_6_3