lvan
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Posts posted by lvan
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On 23/02/2024 at 11:42, Kon said:
I meant he had it out observing 6 times not the primary 🙂. He told me the collimation is very good but when I checked it was awful. He was using a laser only. It was a genuine sale of somebody who never got into the hobby.
I wonder how many newcomers we’ve lost from the hobby due to a misaligned newtonian as a first scope.
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A pipe is less maintenance than a bong, and will get used more, so it stands to reason:
frac > newt
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9 minutes ago, The60mmKid said:
The second picture seems to show that one may use a Newtonian as a giant bong. Try that with a refractor. Another point for the Newt.
Frac would make a better pipe though…
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17 hours ago, Louis D said:
As far as price, you got that right. My 6" f/5.9 achromat cost 3 times what my 6" f/5 Newt cost (both used).
A 4” evostar costs less than a 150p
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Refractor > Reflector
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All good, I’ll shut up now!
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You seem set on a 4” frac but as your observing time is limited, once the initial excitement has worn off, are you certain a mid sized frac on a mid sized / future proofed mount will get more use than your dob? You already have a light bucket, why not something a bit more grab and go?
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On 18/02/2024 at 10:32, ChrisMozzi said:
Hello fellow stargazers,
I am completely new to this wonderful world and I’m excited to say the least but I am also rather clueless!
I have a Skywatcher Heritage 150P Virtuoso GTi Table Top Reflector Telescope and was wondering if you wouldn’t mind answering a few questions for me please…
I recently took my new kit out to Bignor Hill (Dark Sky Location) in the South Downs and saw Jupiter and her moons but what I saw was a little small and not overly clear using both the stock supplied 25mm and 10mm eyepieces. I’d love to see them in greater detail and size so was wondering what I should upgrade to lens-wise?
I’ve done some research and it seems a Barlow lens is the way forward but I am unsure whether to go for a 2x or 3x Barlow lens and whether to go for a 5mm or 6mm accompanying lens also. Or even that my research is correct!
any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to read my post!
Hi there, to answer your question, an inexpensive 2x Barlow will serve you well. You can find them new for £20+. With your 10mm you will see what 150x mag is like. You can also back off a bit by removing the Barlow lens and screwing it on your 10mm eyepiece to give you around 112x mag. Likewise you can do the same with your 25mm to see what results you get on different targets. Take it slow and use what you have. When you work out what you like, and what your conditions allow, you can make a better informed decision about eyepieces to get further down the line.
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26 minutes ago, quasar117 said:
I appreciate your insight. I've been down the Goto route before but for me personally I want to take more of a luddite approach.
Goto/tracking neither here nor there. Heavy mounts get used less. Whichever way you go, don’t get an EQ6 for a 4” frac!
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I find my ED80 the ideal companion to my 10” dob. It’s excellent on lunar and planetary and comfortably rides a lightweight goto mount for tracking. When the skies clear up on a school night I never think twice about observing. I often consider upgrading to a 4inch but the additional mounting requirements limit me to my heavier non tracking mounts…currently gathering dust in the shed. YMMV but going lightweight with tracking was the best decision for me. Then I bring out the big dog for DSO’s on special occasions.
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For me, it’s an ED (at least a 72mm). If not I’d consider a Mak. I have a couple of F10 achro’s laying about. You’d have to pay me to use them but I’ve been doing mostly planetary of late. YMMV.
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I use this Velcro’d to my mount. Highly recommended as long as it’s within your power requirements. It powers my mount, monitor and camera with ease
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An ed80 is an excellent all rounder.
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You might find this useful:
You could probably skip the raspberry build and get an asiair plus if you wanted to simplify the process.
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On 13/09/2022 at 21:21, Second Time Around said:
buy a 70mm Starsense Explorer refractor and retrofit the technology via a finder shoe to almost any other scope. You'd then also have a useful lightweight refractor. Indeed, that's what I did myself.
Would love to see an example of how this fits via a finder shoe. Would you mind sharing a pic of your mod please?
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For your needs the closed tube table top Z130 is a good choice. With the heritage, kids (and some adults, not me of course!) could unscrew the focuser too much that the eyepiece falls out. On grass it's ok, not so hot on concrete. Also, the open tube nature will invite fingers and breath onto the secondary. Yes you could make a shroud but it's not something you'll likely do within the first few weeks/months of purchase. 5" vs 6" is not huge. I would look at it like this, get the 130 and use it. Later, when you decide you want a bit more, you can upgrade to an 8inch, or bigger, but you have the choice. Getting the 6 may make the 8inch seem not as viable in future, which could cost you in the long run.
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What's wrong with the focuser? Sometimes crayfords just need a little tightening to accommodate the extra weight of a DSLR.
For balance, one would mount the foot on a longer standard dovetail plate like this: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/astro-essentials/astro-essentials-dovetail-bars.html
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If you value comfort and ease of use i'd steer well clear of an equatorially mounted 8" newt.
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An 8” dob will give you good aperture at a comfortable eyepiece height and should be light enough for you. Kinder on the wallet too. When you want to dabble with AP, consider a light weight goto mount coupled with an ed80 or something similar. Also a good visual combo. Maybe you don’t even need the 8” cause you already have a 6”. Either way, one scope’s not gonna do it all, so consider one for one and one for the other.
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Should’ve checked power requirements! Sorry, have deleted posts so as to not misinform others
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Choosing between 4" ED Refractors for visual
in Getting Started General Help and Advice
Posted
On a manual mount I prefer EQ for moon and planets due to higher mags. I believe you can convert an EQ5 style mount to Alt Az so you’d have the benefit of both.