Nikolai De Silva

We brought some new things!

First, a GoPro Hero 12 Black. Its cool! 

We were looking for a cam to take on the way when we go on trips. We were looking for camcorders, like handycams, but we got this with a great recommendation and bought by paying a little more! Still didn't have much times to look this up. Hope this is really good. Anyone have used a gopro? What are your comments?  Are they nice to use? Can i use this for astrophotography? (I mean, not serious, but some) Here is it.

And also bought a laptop, a Lenovo LOQ Ryzen 7 RTX 4050. My brother is doing animation (still 13), and he is now catching up things with it. 

Dear everyone, 

I was a little inactive for more than a month's time.  We had some changes in life and had just limited time to contribute here.  Now, we're looking to reach out to a great work. 

We thought of locating somewhere away from Colombo (where the skies are better) to start something new! Thought of building up a mini public observatory. It's new for people because astronomy is not popular here. This will surely help astronomy in Sri Lanka.  All are OK, but short of equipment, these days searching for some affordable deals (No much money to spend). 

Anyway, now refreshed and looking for a new journey.

Hoping start the observatory soon!

Nikolai.

Hi @Sky_Raider!

Welcome to the forum and this will help you much for sure👍

Nikolai.

16 hours ago, happy-kat said:

Lovely to see images as well in your review, where they afocal images?

Thank you very much!

 The Saturn's and Jupiter's images are not my own. Because I don't have such a good cam. Therefore I posted a picture from the internet in the way that I see them for real. 

But the moon pictures are completely mine. Yes, they are afocal images. I have also more prime focused images which are really good. These are my first prime focused images.

Thank you.

Nikolai.

On 09/04/2024 at 20:48, TheTaz said:

Great write up. I have just got hold of one of these although it came with the motor. Some lovely photos which rekindles my enthusiasm. It has rained every day since I got mine so I have set it up, collimated the lenses and am ready to go. 

Motor is an additional option. It'll be great and hope you enjoy this scope! 👍

Nikolai

On 10/03/2024 at 01:59, 900SL said:

Can you video it?

Here's a video similar to what we saw. What is it really?🤔

This is how we saw it. @900SL I made a small video (location isn't the same).

@GenoRokTok, was it like this?

Thanks,

Nikolai 

12 hours ago, GenoRokTok said:

I don't think a satellite or string of satellites would do that.

I, my father and my mother also saw something like it on Sunday. But it was near the star Aldebaran. Really like a star was switched on and off in a flash.

Even earlier I saw one and also it was near Aldebaran. 

This was taken last Sunday when we went to Colombo. This is the lotus tower in the evening night sky. Not a good cam, but satisfying I think.

Thanks,

Nikolai.

Hello everyone!

Spent a beautiful, but Cloudy evening last Saturday (17). The sky wasn't nice, but the times were nice 🙂. Altogether there were seven (with our family of 3) last Saturday and all enjoyed it laughing and sharing their views. 

The whole sky was cloudy, the moon was seen only through clouds, but still blur. Our friends were very much excited to see through a Telescope (Telescopes are rare over here). But unfortunately, the skies weren't there to help them that evening. 

These are some pics. These were taken finally, therefore all seven aren't there. 

This is (From the left) me, our best friend and my brother.👇

Our father and our friend Malisha

Our friend (Imash) and Chethuka in the backMy brother (Deran)This is me 

Our friend (Malisha)

Thanks for going through this.

Hope you enjoyed! 👍

Nikolai.

Agreed with @Second Time Around👍. @Billy Bob tell us a little more 😊.

Welcome @SunLadMai . You'll really have lots of things to get from this forum for sure 👍

Dear @Ricochet, @dweller25 and @Spile, 

Last days we didn't have good skies. Yesterday night we had good skies and I did the star test. Fortunately it is in collimation 😊. It's ok as @dweller25 has told.

Thank you all for your kind responses! 👍🙂.

57 minutes ago, PeterStudz said:

Somewhere. And a still have a few down my shed. Will see what I can do!

Hoping to see some 😀

Hi @Cyc! I saw your questions today.

I think the Astromaster is not a reputed scope. I don't own it, but it doesn't have good reviews. If I had the chance, I'll give up the Astromaster. 

What about the Sky-watcher Heritage 130p or 150p? Those are great reputed scopes. Not expensive and you can go for the biggest heritage, the 150p. But you'll need a stable table for sure!🙂

If you like eq mounted scopes, the Sky-watcher explorer 130p is good. It has the same optics as the heritage and it'll be satisfying. 

And if you need a grab-n-go Eq mounted scope for a reasonable price, a Sky-watcher Starquest 130p is good. We have it, it's easy, user friendly and well made. 👍

Best luck with your decision!

Nikolai.

Hi @scitmon! We also saw it once. It's rare for us here in Sri Lanka. These are the topics.

2 hours ago, PeterStudz said:

The tube I used was meant for model aircraft - fuel supply to a glow-plug engines - from the days when I made model planes.

WOW!😀 I love model vehicles! Do you have any pics of those planes? Really love to see!!!🙂

Welcome @CPH to the forum! You will surely enjoy your scope and the night sky.👍

Great idea and thanks @PeterStudz!👍 I tried it, but with a black colour tubing. Hope will work!

Hi,

Is it normal for a Slow motion cable to loosen after using?🤔 Our Telescope's Slow motion cables are loosening after using for a little time. Then it is needed to be tightened again. 

Is it really normal?

Thank you for replies in advance.

Nikolai.

Thank you very much @Bruce Leeroy, @josefk, @mcrowle, @Zermelo@dweller25, @Peter Drew, @inedible_hulk, @saac, @fwm891, @MalcolmP, @Mr H in Yorkshire, @tomato @johnturley, and @Whistlin Bob for looking and liking this 👍😊.

On 14/07/2020 at 20:27, Khephren said:

I saw a youtube video that mentioned the mounting could be switched from EQ to Alt-az is that true?

May be this late. But I saw this now🙂 Yes you can switch from eq to alt az. We have the Starquest 130p and satisfying.

9 hours ago, Urumiko said:

As such I've decided to opt for the skywatcher 130x900 with Eq2 motorised mount and see how I go.

How about a 130/650 Parabolic mirrored Telescope?🤔 I think it may be better than a spherical mirror. You have choices from Sky-watcher; Explorer 130p, Heritage 130, Starquest 130p, ... We have a Starquest 130p which you don't need to collimate (I haven't found any issues though). It gives sharp views with no notable aberrations, and also the mount is easy and satisfying (you can either use it as an eq mount or an alt az mount). 

Also the heritage 130, a well reputed Telescope with the same optics. The advantage of this is you don't have the issue of a wobbly tripod. 

The explorer, really the same tube of the Starquest, but the mount is different (eq2) and is collimateble. The design is also changed.

The Explorer, Heritage and the Starquest come with the same Parabolic optics and I think they are better (Your choice, right🙂). They are also not expensive and you can surely afford. 

Hope that this helps you!😊

Nikolai.

Thank you very much for the explanations @josefk and @bosun21! They are very helpful. We didn't get get clear skies yesterday. Will surely try today for the pup star. 👍🙂

Hello @John this was what I got. Is this the pup star?