John

2 minutes ago, Stu said:

🤣🤣🤣🤣 strangely I could see it perfectly!

I’ve reposted it as plain text now, is that any better?

Perfect, thanks Stu 🙂

4 minutes ago, Saganite said:

I have got a completely black screen, nothing .

I'll spill the beans - Stu's perfect setup is a 1960's Tasco 60mm 😉

Hi Stu - it's a great post but could you change the colour scheme ? - I'm seeing it as black text on a dark grey background - hard to see !

Thanks 🙂

Great images of an amazing looking active region 🙂

I wonder how large the largest AR observed was ?

Each time that I arrive at the conclusion that my gear needs to be "rationalised" I let one or two things go but then have some moments of weakness and add some more stuff, usually with the effect that I end up with more than I had before rather than as intended, less.

So I'm trying to give up on having ideas about downsizing my gear - it seems to have the reverse effect and I'll run out of room eventually 🙄

I'm a sucker for nice stuff that is well priced and that I've not tried yet - I ought to bar myself from UK Astro Buy & Sell and the SGL classifieds really 😬

I'm pleased that somebody has some views 🙂

Rain here though ....... as if we did not have enough water about 🙄

6 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

...Height is fine for me. Must be a different focal length.

My dob was F5.3. The base was designed to put the eyepiece at the height that I wanted - I prefer to stand while observing. The EQ platform added around 7.5cm to that which just put the eyepiece too high when observing objects high in the sky.

Otherwise it was an excellent EQ platform, sadly out of production now though.

5 minutes ago, rl said:

....I've never tried a platform or go-to with a Dob. Something about it gets away from the beautiful simplicity of the Dob concept for me...

Yes, I came to that point of view as well.

I had a good UK made EQ platform which I used with my 12 inch dob for a while but eventually found that I preferred using the scope undriven and that the additional height that the EQ platform added just put the eyepiece a little higher than I wanted.

My 12 inch dob was based on an Orion Optics optical tube mounted on a bespoke plywood dob mount. I owned it for a decade and got loads of enjoyment from that scope on a wide range of targets. 

Posted a thread on the scope and EQ platform setup way back in 2013:

My 12" Orion Optics Dob with Equatorial Platform - Members Equipment Gallery - Stargazers Lounge

Another issue to throw into these comparisons is that I've noticed that some eyepieces excel at one type of target whereas others show an edge on another. Double stars, lunar observing, the planets (which have their own differences), small galaxies and planetary nebulae all seem to present slightly differing challenges. Depending on what has been observed, the "winner" from one session might be a runner up on another occasion.

Is it any wonder that we end up with such crowded eyepiece cases ? 🙄

How do you think a couple of the Svbony zooms would fare in a binoviewer Mike ?

22 minutes ago, John said:

Algeiba looks lovely tonight, bathed in moonlight. This was my first ever double star 40+ years ago (with a real Tasco) so I always have a look when I'm in the Leo area 🙂

 

Also, Iota Leonis (Tsze tseang) below the Lions' rear belly. Nice uneven pair with 2.2 arc seconds between them.

Algeiba looks lovely tonight, bathed in moonlight. This was my first ever double star 40+ years ago (with a real Tasco) so I always have a look when I'm in the Leo area 🙂

Out with the 100mm refractor again. Hazy thin clouds everywhere apart from where the moon is, so that's what I'm looking at 🙂

Snap with elderly mobile phone looking down the throat of the 21mm Ethos eyepiece:

17 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

He did! I believe he used a 6" refractor. I'm sure I have pic's of his scope's and observatories. What a great and funny guy!

I've read quite a lot about Will Hay and his scopes. My dad was a fan of his railway comedies and had a live steam model railway running around the garden with little dioramas of some of the famous scenes modelled (complete with miniature Moore Marriot and Graham Moffatt figures !). My interest comes from the astronomy angle of course. I expect you have seen this piece by Martin Mobberley and Kenneth Goward:

martinmobberley.co.uk/WillHay.html

1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

..... May be consider half cut glasses. It helps to make you look more intelligent, or at least I think it does in my case. 

He discovered a white spot on Saturn as well ! 😁

1 hour ago, Mumia said:

I only recommend the Kruppax tube because it is 2x lighter than CNC

Plus, it's immune from dew 🙂

46 minutes ago, Saganite said:

...I recently parted with my Pentax 3.5mm feeling that I was perfectly at ease with the Svbony zoom  I have used  for several months now and I am happy with my decision.

I have not quite reached that position yet but I can see the logic of it. I parted with the XW 10mm last year then missed it quite soon after so I had to acquire another - that experience is probably holding me back from moving on the XW 3.5mm 🙄

Very interesting to read about your experiences with these eyepieces Mike. Thanks for posting them 🙂

I have owned 3 of them (and still have the 2 of those) but, thus far, I've not tried a Vixen HR.

4 minutes ago, Nik271 said:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/telescopes-in-stock/stellamira-125mm-ed-doublet-f78-refractor-telescope.html

OTA is only 4.7 kgs. I don't know of anything lighter among the 5 inch refractors. 

But it's obviously long (almost a meter at F7.8)

 

Just what I was going to post !

My ED120 is around 1kg heavier than that.

Borg make very lightweight refractors and the 125sd might be a touch lighter than the Stellamira 125 but I've no idea if they are still available.

17 minutes ago, Louis D said:

Especially when you consider you need to subtract the 20% VAT from the new price.  It's highly unlike the seller is going to collect it again, so you really need to work from the pre-tax price to establish the tax-free used price.

Over here we tend to work on the basis of around 60% of the retail price, including VAT for private sales of pre-owned equipment. 

If we knock the VAT off before that calculation we would be looking at used price expecations which are perhaps unrealistically low ?

39 minutes ago, Saganite said:

Never thought I would hear you say that ...ever, about 'ship's funnels'  Dave....🙂

Antidote to a "ship's funnel" 🙂

U.K. Astronomy Buy & Sell (astrobuysell.com)

I sketch very occasionally, usually motivated if the seeing, and the view, is particularly interesting. My results are never in @mikeDnight's league but the process does help me to observe more carefully and note details that I might otherwise miss. So I ought to do it more often just for those returns 🙂

Despite the rather rotten weather we have all been putting up with in the UK there were 2 occasions when I put pencil to paper back in January. I was using my 100mm refractor on both occasions:

I had one that looked just like that. It was from the 1990's. Mine could perform very well but it suffered from "mirror flop" which meant it lost collimation when pointed in certain directions. This was rather frustrating so it's worth being aware of with these older SCT optical tubes.

5 minutes ago, Gfamily said:

Handy hint: if observing with young people; - put a chair backwards onto the telescope, tell the observer to put their hands on the chair-back, and they won't grab the eyepiece to look through it..... 

That is an excellent hint. I will use that approach when I'm next doing outreach with younger observers (and I think it might be useful for some older ones as well !) 🙂