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Tucked away on a business park in Tring, you’ll find an Aladdin’s cave of Astronomy! I’d met Neil and Jane the owners at the Star Party’s in Cwmdu, and had chatted over their display of Altair Astro Scopes last year. Emailed over last week an enquiry for a quote for the Altair ED 125 and a Sabre mount ( the mount is made here in Norfolk, so an extra incentive ) and finder. The quote came back the following morning, a discount off the scope price and I think the other prices were rounded down in my favour. Phoned, paid and agreed to collect the followwing week (yesterday), as I wanted to see how the Sabre mount was put together. Neil had put my purchased ready to go, but had set aside a Sabre mount to show me how they fitted together and set mine up for me. I’d also asked about a case for thre Scope; Neil and Ian at Altair sourced a slightly used aluminium / wooden one for me, that was ‘no charge’....superb customer service. Great sevice, great pricing, Jane makes a fab cuppa, and Buster their dog is friendly too. Well worth the trip from Norfolk. Chris

Great idea, maybe an SGL camp abroad? Given enough notice / planning am sure there'd be enough 'Loungers' that would be up for this?

Congratulation Jeremy on your Tak, the travel set up looks superb. The 24mm Panoptic and 9mm Nagler are the two most used lenses with my set up. Am hoping / planning to take my kit somewhere hotter and clearer this year. This report from Stu makes a return trip to Samos very tempting. Trying to fit in a holiday around work committments and new moon proving a little challenging. Good luck! Chris

I've had both Skywatcher and Celestron Alt-Az go to mounts. My Nexstar mount had to go back twice for replacements; a power board and then a motor. The Skywatcher is still going, but had a lot less use. The major difference for me in the software, was that the Celestron could be set to tour all the objects in a constellation. You could, say align it and send it to go to all the Messier and NGC objects in Virgo. For me, it gave me the chance to focus on a constellation at a time. The Skywatcher can tour the skies, but not by constellation, it would do its own thing! There's also one significant advantage to the Celestron, in that you can align it just on the moon, and then send it to a planet that was up. More than once at Seething during group visits, I've aligned on the moon and then showed visitors Saturn r Jupiter through the eyepiece, despite them being lost to the evening sky. Not sure how good the importers of Skywatcher are, but Hinds, who look after Celestron were utterly c**p. I'll never, ever, buy anything that they import again. Thankfully FLO sorted it all out for me. 3 years I've had my Tak, but still rate the 5SE as a great scope. Good luck. Chris

Thanks everyone for your interesting comments. I think that this is the way that astronomy will progress technically. I can quite easily envisage a group of cubs / guides / group gathered around an iPad as the scope points to a deep space object. It's true that it's a lot of money for an 80mm frac, but it's more than just an 80mm frac...an 80mm on an eq mount is better value for money, but I don't think that this is aimed at astronomers like those found here. I'm betting that it won't be too long before SkyWatcher or Celestron have a similar version, and at a lower price point. Cheers, Chris

Am wondering which UK Astro retailers will be stocking the Stellina Telescope, and how many on here would consider purchasing it? I think it will be a great outreach tool for many Astro Societies / Clubs, and could draw new people into astronomy, despite the high price. https://vaonis.com/telescopes Thoughts anyone? Chris

@Littleguy80 Here's one I found http://www.perezmedia.net/beltofvenus/templates.html Never used. And at Seething, it gets so freezing cold that I can barely change eyepieces let alone write anything that might make sense a few hrs later! Be interested to see what you settle on!

Good question. i just use Sky Safari 5 and if i get a challenging target or two after a nights observing, make a quick post on a forum. Have nowhere near the talent to sketch, and think after some cloudy months, looking at a non existent observing log could be depressing. i tend to add targets to see into Sky Safari, plan the session and then tick them off....think that the British Astronomical Association has a template for a recording log? Chris

Great idea! This site lists a very good search sequence for a Messier Marathon from the Northern Hempisphere. http://www.messier.seds.org/xtra/marathon/marath.html Chris

Thanks @reddoss for the recommendation on FB, I've just booked. Looking forward to meeting fellow SGL'ers in October. Fingers crossed for clear skies! Chris

Congrats Piero, super looking scope! Clear here tonight, but of course the moon is bright for another two weeks, you might still get some good views of the interesting objects in Sagittarius. Will look out for your first light report. Chris

Trashed my red-light torch "battling" the voracious Norfolk Mosquitoes....replacement ordered on Monday, shipped the same day and delivered today! Slick, service, thank you! Chris

Congrats Piero, Of course your incoming beauty explains all the cloud we are experiencing here in the East ? Look forward to reading your first light report. Chris

I'm watching his thread with interest Piero! My Tak 76 is two years young, and I've often wondered what the 100 would be like. Came from Ian King, who was excellent to deal with, if i do buy the 100 (probably next year), I'd use Ian again without hesitation. Chris

Interesting comment that your ED120' doesn't show deep sky Jules. I've managed 103 of the Messier Objects in my 76mm 'frac and some of the brighter objects in "Hidden Treasures." I'd echo what others have said about taking it to dark skies, perhaps a star party or a local to you Astro Society? It' really does make all the difference! Good luck, whatever you choose to do.

I needed yet another dew heater, and having had my HiTech one fail, looked for another brand, and came across the Dew Zapper range on the Altair Astro website. A quick tweet to ask them if they were in stock on the afternoon of the 24th, they replied within an hour that they had stocks, so I placed the order, and today the 26th the FedEx van has pulled up with my new Dew Zapper; the real test will come from using it, but the cabling and contact points look substantial and well made. Delivery was super quick with emails at each stage. Very pleased.

Not quite "at night" but dusk before a great session at Seething. Just checking that the RDF was aligned and a look at our moon. Chris

Totally understand that Nicos; 'dad's taxi' duties tonight, I sold my 10"Dob (hope the dob mob don't read this!) for a scope that was easier to transport and set up. I forget who it was that said "Your best scope is the one you use the most" but that's so true. Am fortunate to be able to use the dark skies of Seething whenever life and clouds allow. Good luck, hope you get some quality eyepiece time this season. Chris

Alan, I found the same with the TV 40mm Possl. Eye relief is just too much to get comfortable. I passed it on. If you can exchange it, I can recommend the 24mm Panoptic, I know it's about another £100 or so, but that's a magnificent eyepiece and the most used with my refractor. Good luck, Chris

Last month purchased two flexible slow motion control cables for my Porta 11 mount, they've been great right up until I lost a screw, in the dark and grass. I emailed on Wednesday asking if I could order a replacement - my local hardware store here in Wymondham had "never seen a screw like it" . The parcel from FLO with the replacement screw arrived to day, free of charge with FLO's compliments. Top service from a great supplier, 'Thank you!" Chris

My Takahashi FC76D before and after an all-nighter at the AstroFarm B&B st Confolens. A lovely warm evening turned into one of those cold, crisp nights where the dew froze on the dew shield! Chris

Delighted to have made it to France flying with Ryan Air, the flight to Limoges was £29 each way, I paid the extra £29 for a seat for my Tamrac bag containing the Tak. You have to book the seat as Mr.Item Seat. Here's the pic on the aircraft! Last night managed 65 Messiers having started at 11pm when the clouds cleared. Report to follow from the AstroFarm B&B sessions. Chris