Moonlit Night

Well there you go. So the question is why aren’t refractors made in the UK? We do have OO and they do make decent mirrors. Only problem is you have to deal with OO to buy one. Unfortunately their legendary customer service is toe curling. I wonder where they get their correcter plates for their ridiculously overpriced cats from?
 

Interesting 

I know lots of people who live or lived on the boats. A few lived in wagons like we used back in the day, when we were allowed to be free.

I don’t think there’s canals like we have in the UK

1 hour ago, Mr Spock said:

I can also see the IP address 

It happened to me buying an electric double bass. Nasty shock. 

In the long dark tea time of the soul, most definitely…

27 minutes ago, Mandy D said:

I've not heard that term in years! I really must read the books, again.

Oh, they are still very, very good.  Top bloke Douglas, bless him. 

If it was me I would certainly be going with the tried and tested Williams Optics number, but that’s just me mind.

Very much looking forward to seeing the finished project 

Fine here, checked this morning 

On 29/02/2024 at 03:01, Louis D said:

The big three Dob makers are Synta (Celestron, SW, and Saxon), GSO (SL, Apertura, and Bintel), and JOC (Explore Scientific and Bresser).  I would look for a local ES dealer to compare a third option.  The GSO ones generally have the most features out of the box while the ES have the best altitude axis (true trunnions).  Synta's Celestron Starsense Explorer app has been well received, but the scopes themselves are unremarkable with antiquated 2" focusers.  They generally require the most tinkering.

Make sure you see how big a 12" Dob is in person before buying one.  They can be quite an armful.  You might consider a truss tube over a solid tube at 12".

Indeed 

Hello and welcome 

Dunno, maybe you’re right. Are they still making objectives for Skywatcher? They certainly don’t badge their scopes with Schott anymore. 

And TS for that matter. 

Plenty of folks on the other channel buy from FLO

White is the only colour for telescopes. Black is a stupid colour for scopes. I had an old 10 inch black OO Europa some of us may remember back in the day on a later OO dob base. It had an absolutely appalling 1.25 r&r focuser, but that matters not. The point is the entire thing was black and I was continually walking into the damned thing in the dark. It was a health and safety nightmare…

I wonder why M97 is missing from the Messier list? 

52 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

Here's one that caught my eye. At F11 it is still not long by classical standards. And easy to use too! Just point fat end skyward and look through thin end. Simple!!

Yeah, something like that 

On 26/02/2024 at 20:37, JeremyS said:

My Leica Zoom was made in Portugal.

I was mortified to discover Baader are made in China.

I try to avoid EPs from PRC, but sometimes there is no option, like the SVB 3-8 zoom.

My TV 102 was made in America, the objective was made in Japan. Not that’s exactly the same thing. I wonder which country the glass in your zoom was produced in? I am sure it must have been assembled in Portugal. 
 

Do you not have to buy from Russia to obtain glass produced on the European continent? 

I take your point about masking btw, but I don’t think many people would accept it as a long term solution.

I think it has enough for most folks these days not to buy one. Obviously f10 is going to much better than fl5, but still too colourful many. Now if you’re getting in fl15, well that’s another matter, especially a 3 inch frac.

But as they say, CA is in the eye of the beholder.

fpl 51 glass even is a massive step forward. 

Just now, Mr_Cat said:

That fact does not make your original post any less funny or less relevant - it made me chuckle so thank you !

I aim to please…

3 hours ago, Beardy30 said:

Hi - I would highly recommend the Sky-Watcher Star Travel 102, yes you will get some chromatic aberration

Some? At that focal length you would be buying pretty much the most CA you can buy. I am sorry if this comes over as mean, I am absolutely not trolling, but on planets or bright stars you are going end up with a large purple hallo all over the object. Even at fl10 you are going to get plenty of CA

I take it you live over the pond? I would save and buy an Astro Tech scope. Honestly you don’t want to buy a Star Travel, you will absolutely want to upgrade and then you would lose money. Be patient and buy a ED scope. 800 dollars would easily buy one second hand and if you are lucky a mount too. Check out Cloudy Nights forum or whatever Astro Buy and Sell sites you have over there.