lordwimsey

Hi, I also use a D5300 and try to learn. I have not succeeded in setting up proper guiding on my oooold HEQ-5 with Onstep-Mod yet, so I stayed at ~30s. I gather about two minutes seems to be the recommendation, may I ask at what ISO and aperture? I read conficting info on ISO-Settings with the Nikons. Thanks in advance, Peter

So, I tried my mask out yesterday evening. Turns out, I got the scale wrong... 😳 Well, there is still left-over acrylic.

It's a 80W CO2 laser, designed by Sebastian END, a german CNC-stuff-youtuber. He offers a free step-assembly of the machine in the video description (asks for a donation). The video is in german, maybe the automatically translated english subtitles work. I built it a bit differently, with a MKS S-Base and Raspberry Pi runnign Laserweb4 as controller.

I was a bit lost during my first tries with my new dobson telescope. I just couldn't find M31 or M13, unlike with my trusted binoculars, that I am very used to using. While reading the excellent pinned pdf on star hopping in the "getting started" section, I found these field-of-view-masks could probably help me. I use the Deep Sky "Reiseatlas" with a scale of 15mm (EDIT: this Info I found online is false!) per ° FOV. So I calculated the viewing angle for each of my eye pieces, i.e. the two kit pieces from the Skywatcher heritage 130p, "Super MA" 10 and 25mm and two Svbony "red line" UW 68° eye pieces, 6 and 15mm. actual fov = eye piece apparent fov x magnification I found that the angles are ranging from 0.6° (6mm) to 2° (25mm), and designed a mask using the corresponding diameters of 9mm (0.6° x 15mm/°) to 30mm (2° x 15mm/°). In my basement, I found some 3mm thick acrylic collecting dust and cut out the mask with my DIY laser cutter. I was quite surprised by the small angle of view, which explained my failure from before. I just did not realise what I was able to see! cheers, Peter

The last days, it was very rainy, so I used the time following this thread: I put black velours into the tube, teflon tape in the threads of the focuser and blackened the edge of the scondary mirror. Also, the hobby-rubber craft mats that I ordered for a shroud arrived. I ordered both 2mm and 3mm and have yet to decide on the thickness. Both feel rather flimsy/not stiff, so I will probably opt for 3mm here.

I should clarify, I bought the telescope used, the finder was missing. Therefore i ordered one new, that is hopefully not a "Red NOT Finderscope" 😉 I tried the new eyepiece (Svbony 68° Ultra-Wide 15mm "Red Line") on a very cloudy moon and a tree (200m distance) at daytime. I am not experienced in this matter, but I can say, that this very cheap eyepiece is easily my favourite among the three. (Yes, 25mm and 10mm were the kit lenses that came with the telescope) The image is brighter, the wide angle is very comfortable. I thought it is clearer than the others, but it does not give the impression of a high quality image, due to a slight blue-ish tint, that leaves a bit "cheap" impression. The eyepiece _is_ cheap however. At ca. 35€ price point, I am very satisfied. The "hands-on" quality is good, it feels sturdy and mechanically well made. Please note, that I tried a collimation with both laser and cheshire, and I think it looks ok, but I am still learning, so that might contribute to whatever verdict I try to extract about the eyepiece. Edit: I'm aware, that I might embarrass myself with this, but I uploaded pictures from the Svbony UW 68° 15mm and the kit 25mm (not sure what type that is). I professionally took them by holding my mobile phone above the ocular... 😏 I hope it gives a reasonable impression of the view. The picture with the wider view is Svbony, and it is is a bit less sharp than I see it from my eye. Cheers, Peter

Just a quick update, I used the scope in the night from Sunday to Monday. Besides the moon, I was able to spot M31, but no luck with M13. With binoculars yes, but not with the dobson, I just couldn't find it. The other nights were too cloudy. Today, the replacement for the missing red dot finder arrived. It fits the strange mount I have there. I hope this is no bad omen 🤣: I also received a Svbony 68° "red line" eye piece 15mm, a collimation laser (by "Seben"?) and a Svbony cheshire, as well, because I would like to try both. Eying the cloudy forecast, I also bought black velours sticky-foil and craft foam mats in 2mm and 3mm. Not sure which to use for the shroud, yet. There is a bin of black board laquer, which I could use for the edges of the secondary mirror. So I am prepared for the rainy nights. Peter

Maybe not as an actual advice, but I am surprised, nobody pointed to /r/miatalogistics for inspiration. A miata has unlimited vertical storage! Cheers from a fellow MX5-owner (NC) with a heritage 130p. Peter

Due to a change in schedule, I was able to get the telescope home today already. I'm stoked to try it, but today appears to be the first cloudy night in what feels like weeks. Let's see how it will be when darkness sets in. Just wanted to report progress on the first steps and share my happiness. 🙂

Thank you! Wow! What a plethora of resources! I will definitely come back to that, thanks for the link! Thank you! The planetarium is nice! Prof. Dr. Susanne Hüttemeister offers an astronomy course (2h once a week) that is supposed to be aimed at the general public with an interest in astrophysics. I felt quite confident going there, but was immediately humbled by the niveau there. The class seemed to be constituted from mainly retired physics teachers (that was my impression, probably false), already bringing immense knowledge to the table. I enjoyed it very much, Prof. Hüttemeister is a splendid talker, so while the lessons lasted, I felt like I could follow easily, but once out the door, I was utterly confused. 😉 There is also an observatory in Bochum, which I only visited once for a "day of open doors". I am not sure, if they offer regular events for the public, but now I am going to find out. Edit: they do very much! I am shocked to have missed that for so long! https://www.sternwarte-bochum.de/2-1-observatorium Thanks! Thank you. Let's see how the two hobbies will intertwine. 🙂

Hi, thanks for the image. I used www.lightpollutionmap.info for this. As I said, I just live with the conditions here for spontaneous sessions on my terrace. Any blue spots on your map require ~5h driving, that needs to be planned long in advance. I could definetly see me doing that one day. I think this is about where I would look for a spot for a "normal" session. That is ca. 1 to 1.5h to drive from Bochum. (I hope the pasted picture shows) The challenge remains to find an actual spot to set up.

Thank you! These are exactly the options, that I am exploring. I am keen to have the scope here to assess it's condition. I will have a look at the focuser, and I think the shroud is a must. I am also a bit into the so-called "maker"-scene, I own a self built CNC-Router, a laser cutter and a 3d-printer (of course). I am planning to make the shroud of thin hobby rubber sheets with the lasercutter, just for the sake of doing that. An observing chair is on my project list as well, that should be a nice project for my router. I am going to gift that to my former neighbor, given the size of the heritage 130p 😉 I have a rather sturdy table on my terrace which I am planning to use with the small dobson. Thank you! My hometown of Bochum is the smaller one nested between the huge cities of Dortmund and Essen. And although I am surprised that people enjoy spending their vacation here, I must admit that there is a lot so see. The mining museum (10 min. walk from my home) is very nice, if one is interested in mining (which constitutes most of the region's history here). They recently made a complete overdo of the exhibition. I recommend going for a visit, if possible. The night sky on the other hand is very bright due to light pollution. The closest "darker" places are in the Sauerland, which is about a 1.5hour drive from here. I would very much enjoy hints for good locations... 🙂 Peter

Hello, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Peter, I'm 41 and located in the Ruhr area in Germany, so unfortunately rather plagued with bright night sky. My physics teacher kindled our interest in astronomy, which he always seemed especially eager to teach with a passion. Later, a friend of mine (and luckily neighbor at that time) happened to have bought a 10" Dobson with 1250mm focal length. We enjoyed using the scope to find the easier nebulas, galaxies and planets of course. This was possible, even from our light polluted backyard. At the time, I had a strong desire for my own scope, but the price tag held me off. But I decided to buy binoculars, figuring I could use them for other activities (hiking, and eventually/not really while sailing) if I chose a good compromise between portability and aperture. I decided for a 8x44 from a German company called Minox after fantastic service and a special discount opportunity on the phone. I used it a lot in the beginning, my go-to objects are M13 and M31, easy to spot. In the last years, I used it more while hiking, but the sky in the mountains made me take the opportunity for spontaneous star gazing occasionally. (I was happy to see Neowise in 2020 from the black forest, I hiked up the "Feldberg" at night for that) My small box with the binoculars, a red torch, my sky atlas travels with me on all vacations, and I enjoy it deeply. I still want a 8-10" Dobsonian after all these years, but I came across a cheap opportunity for a used skywatcher 130p heritage that I hope to collect on monday. I understand, that it has its shortcomings, but I will try to work around them as a step up to the binoculars. The small size makes it easy to take it out onto my roof terrace, so I hope to get much use out of it. Thrilled for the new scope, I am already investigating in optimization options, for which I might need a little help. After reading so much, I decided to join your splendid community, although my future contributions are going to be more on the side of questions than answers... Thanks for this great forum and for having me, Peter