Heids

I have had a frankly fantastic experience with FLO - they have been really good about helping me with problems with cables and some oddness with a powertank for my dew controller. This has been ongoing for about 4 weeks, and they have been superb. Finally got a replacement from them that we are sure will stop any soggy endings to my viewing nights. Really happy to get this bad boy this morning. Thank you Alex and everyone at FLO for your patience and perseverance.

I remember that the sky got too cloudy to see anything and I was upset. It was in the winter I am sure.

I’ve seen aurora twice. Once was in Newbury, West Berks during what was clearly a very very strong solar storm. I think it would have been around 1986-87ish? Second time was much more satisfying - around 7 hours of it from the window of a plane coming back from Vegas, beautiful dark purple and green hues. Definitely possible this far down south, but I think it was very much a fluke seeing it when I did in Newbury.

Do we need a clicklock appreciation thread all of it’s own?

I saw this on flea bay and did a little research and was very curious, so I hit the button.

I am waiting for a daisy chain of events to happen that will finish my immediate setup. I am waiting on a scope tote to arrive from the US so I can take the temporary handle off my OTA. Once the scope tote is on then I can attach the Telrad properly (I didn’t want to stick it directly to the scope, and the temp handle made the fitting difficult) if the sticky doesn’t work then I have some command strips that should work. Once that is on I can do some proper day time alignment. Then I have to just convince my old and quite confused dog that it’s ok for me to be outside at night when it should be bedtime. This is the difficult one. I am in no rush, the longer I wait the more chance I have to learn the intricacies of the dark art known as eyepieces. All the stars come back eventually (apart from possibly Betelgeuse).

Mine came last week. It feels good and solid. Makes the stock one that came with my 8” evo looks very feeble. I chose the clicklock because I am clumsy and if it can happen it will happen to me. Tried it out on the scope today while I sorting out my new case and it looks reassuringly hefty.

Just testing the water here. Slowly kitting my rig out, I’ve just invested in the Baader 2” clicklock diagonal as I realise that it would be a waste not to use 2’ ep’s seeing as I am at the starting point of curating my collection. I also have the 1.25 reducer so I can fall back on 1.25’s if need be. I got the clicklock because “if it can happen, it will happen to me”. Blank canvas, budget not really an issue as I am patient (read: can save up) and can’t observe that much at the moment so concentrating on kitting out primarily atm (elderly dog with dementia who has issues with me changing his routine by staying outside past bedtime - bittersweet, but this may not be an issue for much longer). I am in a Bortle 4 area, I don’t wear glasses (yay lasik!), and this is almost exclusively for visual (i may dabble in ap at some point but not for a while). Planetary and DSO are both of interest and I would definitely enjoy splitting binaries etc. I have a field reducer as the limited viewing I am able to do I just enjoy deep skies. I have a very tasty Lykus case arriving, not that it makes a difference, but I realise there are some case fetishists here Thanks in advance!

The only modification I have made is to glue a chunk of thick polystyrene under the connector as it is metal and I don’t want scratches on the OTA, but its good to hear it works so well for you. As soon as I anstalled it I knew it would be good! It has eased my mind a lot - now to get rid of the clouds!

Amazon Prime saves the day again. I am awaiting the scope tote chap to get back to me but in the meantime this will help me loads. As you can see Padre Pio is blessing the scope and helping me in my quest for no clouds (this household enjoyed the Gomorrah TV series and enjoyed the sub quest of finding the Pio’s in the background). It’s been pigging cloudy since I got this beautiful bit of kit, so tomorrow I practice dismantling and setting it up, til it is finely tuned like a pit stop.

Yes, this is something I need to look at when (newscopecloudcoveritis not withstanding) I get it out in the garden and actually in use. I did a level terrestrial focus yesterday (scope passed that test very nicely) and the eyepiece height was perfect, but that might need to change when I am perched on my stool outside.

I live in Oxfordshire, not in the US, it’s nice, but a pain for getting stuff sent over here from the US

Those balancing tips are great thank you! I invested in a rhino bag which arrived the other day it’s very nice and I think will do the job, if the handles I have speculatively ordered or enquired about don’t work out. Also looked into paradors options for making handle units, there is possibly a market for these, albeit not so many short amateur astronomers as me about

Hi Davie, yeah the whole walking with it in front of me as I am short means I really can’t see where I am going, so it’s an accident waiting to happen. I have found a company in the states which makes “scope totes” which look to be covers which go around the OTA and then have carry handles, have emailed them to ask about shipping etc. I have the carry handle option someone posted last night on order - 7 quid on amazon! the rucksack option is also a good idea. We have gravel immediately off the steps to the garden, then we have a gravelled area and then law. I am going to suggest to Marital Unit that we get the immediate area by the steps paved and made very level as that will make things a lot easier. The way the cloud cover is looking for the next week, that may be a good option as it will probs be finished by the time this telescope gets stars in it’s viewfinder.

I think I just need to give it that extra time to get it all set up as you suggest. Of course it’s now cloudy til Monday night for me… sorry about that one folks.

Ordered! Bargain! Thank you!

Good advice, thank you

My garden is pretty accessible sadly and whilst I live slap bang in the middle of Midsomer Murders territory, there’s less murders and much more rural thievery. Thanks for the feedback about the straps. Back to the drawing board

Thanks all Yes I have a dew shield, and will be deploying it. The size of the OTA and my stature is the issue. I am 5’6” in my garden crocs and if I am hugging the OTA it’s awkward and I won’t be able to see the steps which will add to anxiety about navigating the steps. Maybe I need to practice with the mount and the OTA together as the carry handles on the mount are useful, but still quite heavy (I am a strapping lass, but still). If the manufacturer says don’t split OTA and mount unless you have to then I don’t want to on a regular basis. I will fit the straps and see how I feel about that from the risk POV and then I may well invest in the handle. Transporting mount and OTA together would be optimum, from the sounds of things. I have done a little reading through threads this morning and I understand the cool down process much more now. Hubby is an early to bed kinda guy so whilst I will have help getting it all in situ, at 3am I am on my own getting everything back in the house. At the moment it is all theoretical and I am possibly overthinking due to being worried about keeping everything as safe as possible. I appreciate you all giving me help, thank you.

Its an Evolution - sorry.

So my new scope lives in our lounge, and will be transported to the garden for viewing sessions. It is a Celestron 8, and too heavy for me to be confident that I won’t take a misstep down the two steps from the back door into the garden and smash it in a therapy inducing way - certainly not all in one go. I don’t mind making a few trips to get it all set up - especially while it’s light at the start of the evening. The OTA is quite awkward so I had a look at handles and straps, Farpoint do a lovely 10” one but it doesn’t appear available in the UK and they want $66 for shipping :O. I have ordered these https://www.amazon.co.uk/Zeltauto-Management-Reusable-Fastening-Organizer/dp/B07K7DGKHN/ref=asc_df_B07K7DGKHN/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309904160813&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15470328780602954635&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1007190&hvtargid=pla-663954981355&psc=1 Anyone have any experience with straps or handles or tips? I am a bit worried about a couple of things: Attaching OTA to mount - I am guessing I need to develop muscle memory for it? The first (and only time so far) I did it, it felt incredibly unsafe and I was worried. Will these straps help? Does anyone use anything that helps? Packing up at the end of the night..again … tips for good practice for the pull down. Should I rebuild at the end of the night in the house to give it a chance to remove any dew etc? I suppose I need good practice tips from you old hands

Hi everyone, Enthusiastic semi noob here. Caught the bug when Halley came over in 86, have and use some wicked Celestron binos I have had for a few years and now decided that 50 is best age to get a really heavy telescope (for me) to enjoy(!!) Picked up a very lightly used Celestron Evoution 8 with Starsense at the weekend (that was a hot 200 mile round trip). It’s now sat waiting for the temps to get a bit more under control tonight so I can hopefully get it outside and calibrated. I have wanted a good telescope for at least 3 decades. My husband is being very understanding (if slightly confused) I am sure I will be picking a lot of brains here in the future so hello and sorry!