Jiggy 67

A few months ago, I got the 17.5 and was really impressed. As I’ve banged on elsewhere in the forum 😀 I found it be immersive, crisp and sharp to the edges in my F5 newt with no noticeable aberrations so I set out on getting the rest of the range. I’ve yet to really try out the other focal lengths but I’ll update you when I do over the next few weeks

Yeh, the comet ☄️ is the only object I’ve viewed for a few months but now the nights are drawing in I’m gonna start again in earnest in the next couple of weeks. I’ve spent the summer (and the money I’ve saved as a result of the lockdown) purchasing and completing the full set of Morpheus ep’s so looking forward to trying them out 🤞

Love @ian_bird second post 😂😂

Doesn't an eyepiece contain lenses, and the whole assembly is an eyepiece???

Completely agree with @Second Time Around. I love my Baader zoom, easily the most used ep. I use mine a lot on double stars as you can zoom in to watch the double actual split, and fov is not really an issue with objects like stars, planets and planetary nebula. The Baader is a particularly good zoom and will save a lot of money in the 8-24 range. I've acquired fixed focal length eps since but the zoom is still, and always will be used extensively

For the same reason as you I tend to not observe during the summer months which disappoints me as I miss a lot of summer targets but I retire in 18 months and intend to observe the hell out of my summer wishlist!! 😀

I’m the same as you, do very little, if any observing during the summer which I always regret because there’s a lot of summer objects I miss out on, but work etc, make the VERY late summer nights impractical. I intend to put all that right in the summer of 2022 because I will have retired 🎉🎉 I also will begin setting up again in the next 2-3 weeks. Regarding Neowise, be quick and use your bins, I had a great view through my 10x50’s and everyone says the view is better through bins than a scope. Welcome back

Hi Mike, welcome to SGL. Nice photo. I have no experience of your scope but a 2 x Barlow will basically double the magnification of an eyepiece so instead of 3 eyepieces you will have 6 so yes, they are a useful tool to have. I wouldn’t personally bother with the 3x, you don’t want to overdo it and you don’t need it, just the 2x will do

😂😂😂....it may well do, but believe me, it’s worth it’s weight in gold!!

Geoff, if you’re breaking your neck using your polar scope this is a god send: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/astro-essentials-right-angled-eyepiece-for-polar-scopes.html

I sort of half agree. I use a GoTo and find it really simple. I don’t do AP so don’t use ASCOM, EQ Mod or anything like that, I don’t see the point of complicating things for visual only

I understand that your PA will be off but have you gone through any sort of star alignment process, without that Synscan will never be anywhere near a target??....forgive me if I’ve read it wrong or ASCOM doesn’t need that, don’t know anything about ASCOM For visual, you don’t need accurate PA, just get Polaris in the centre of the polar scope using alt/az adjustment only on the mount. However the more accurate the PA the better your GoTO works so use an app like Polar Align Pro and dependent on your reticle in the polar scope you may just have to replicate the view in the app for good PA. The process should be: Polar alignment Scope in correct home position Input all data in Synscan accurately (date in American format) 1 or 2 star alignment Go for your first target

I suppose it is but the cost is for the premium, the basic is free and it depends if you want all it provides https://skysafariastronomy.com/livesky-data-management-and-cloud-sync-service.html

Yes, everything is stored in the cloud. There is however, a small subscription of about £2 a month

Yes, once the handset has initialized you can slew the mount using the directional keys on the handset

Yeh I find this feature a bit slow and glitchy but the sync feature is really good and it also shows you what other people around the world are observing. You can also use it to download observing lists.....not sure if you can do that through the app, haven’t looked yet

Hi Fred, welcome to the forum. I have never used a “tracking only “ mode but a quick look at the manual (V4 Synscan) shows the below. Have you got a Synscan manual??....It appears that you can skip star alignment and track after finding an object USING THE HANDSET manually with the directional keys. If I was you though I would study the manual and start from scratch with star alignment to get it right. There could be a number of reasons why this is happening, difficult to ascertain with the information provided. Once you’ve got that right and using the GoTo to find objects, the mount will track automatically Easy Tracking Mode: The flow chart of the “Easy Tracking” operation is shown below: Initialization Start Tracking Locate a celestial object manually In Easy Tracking mode, the hand control also needs to be connected to a Sky-Watcher telescope mount. The mount must be setup at a proper “Home Position” (refer to Section 2.1 for details) before turning on the power. After turning on the power to the mount, the hand control must complete an “Initialization” routine. Then the user can choose to skip the “Alignment” routine and start the tracking function directly (refer to Section 6.1 “Choosing Tracking Speed”). Users will need to locate a celestial object in the sky, and then use the hand control to manually point the telescope to the target. The object locating function may still be used but it will only give a rough result. The Easy Tracking mode is suitable for quick setup for visual observing of brighter celestial objects, such as planets, the moon, or the sun. If the user does not turn on the tracking function, the Easy Tracking mode can also be used for observing terrestrial objects

Thanks for the response. I actually changed tack slightly and downloaded the SkySafari 6 app on Mac (not the pro version). I can’t explain why I hadn’t done this before, not sure I knew it existed, there’s so many versions. This was only £12 and you’re right, I signed in to LiveSky with my existing account and everything synced to the Mac seamlessly. Have to say I am very impressed with the app on Mac, looks great with loads of features

Good point, I should have mentioned as much aperture as you can get!

Visually you will not see the colors and details you see in photos, expect to see a lot of grey, very dim smudges and sometimes the thrill is actually being able to see anything after using every trick in the book to do so in preparation. Light pollution is the biggest enemy of DSO’s so a good light pollution filter is useful. Having said all that there is still a massive amount of objects to see, some with good detail and some, like the Orion Nebula, with a hint of colour. I particularly like PLanetry Nebula which can be quite easy, bright and often show colour. A good high powered eyepiece is often needed for Planetrys as they can need some welly with the magnification . They are beautiful and breathtaking when you see them. I don’t think galaxy’s benefit from filters really other than the light pollution filter but others may disagree, visually they are always smudges and dark adaptation is the key The Astronomik OIII is one of the best and you may want to try their UHC as well. Personally I prefer the UHC as it does what it says and makes an object stand out of a darkened background. Other than that it’s all about dark adaptation, patience, patience, patience and......more patience.

Hi all, I currently use SkySafari Plus on my iPhone and I have Live Sky on the Mac Air which I access via a browser (Ive never seen this as an application to download, just web based), for which I pay the £2 odd a month subscription. The two can talk to each other and any lists etc I create on Live Sky appear on my phone for use at the scope......all good. However I have noticed that SkySafari 6 Pro is currently half price in the Mac Store. Now the only downside with SkySafari is that I find all the different versions a bit confusing, especially when you throw Live Sky into the mix so I don't want to fork out £25 and find I've lost all my saved data on SkySafari 6......things like observation logs(which I've lovingly kept up to date) so before i purchase can anyone answer the following: Does the app, SkySafari 6 Pro downloaded to Mac include an app for iPhone (SkySafari 6 Pro)? If not, does SkySafari 6 Pro on Mac communicate with SkySafari Plus on iPhone allowing lists etc. created on the Mac to appear on my phone?...Is it just one account across all platforms? I take it I can just log into Live Sky on SkySafari 6 Pro with my existing account and access all my currently saved data, especially previous observation log??....Is that correct? I hope all that makes sense, and I don't sound too thick...😀 Thanks

You don’t have to crawl around looking through the polar scope, just get one of these, they’re a God send https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/astro-essentials-right-angled-eyepiece-for-polar-scopes.html

I apologise for confusing things.....though in my defence, in my original post I agreed with Freddy that good star alignment does not compensate for poor PA

I'm not disputing that or what Freddie says, I'm just pointing out that PA and star alignment ARE related, whereas Freddie said they aren't, the better your PA, the more accurate your star alignment and the fewer stars you have to use

Not strictly true. If you read the Synscan manual it clarifies the position on star alignment. For a one star alignment accurate polar alignment is required. I would suggest that with accurate PA Synscan knows where it is starting from better. For a two star alignment less accurate polar alignment is required, I assume because it can correct any errors in PA with the second star A three star alignment is not required at all unless you suffer from cone error, the only purpose of the third star is to correct for cone error and has no impact on pointing accuracy with no or little cone error Although it is correct that good star alignment does not compensate for poor PA