Cjg

Yes, definitely!

A short tube 'frac on a lightweight (even) photo tripod is perfect for the changeable weather, packing on camping trips and holidays to sunnier climates.

No worries about losing collimation either.  I bought a second hand Altair 72mm scope, that and a wide field eyepiece on a photomount was enough to see some of the sights in the Sagittarius region in 2018...

Quality varies widely according to price, but can be had for not much ££ and a good way to grab an hour or so of observing before the clouds roll in etc too.

Good luck,

Chris

On 09/09/2022 at 20:46, Greymouser said:

I have been tempted to get one of these for a long while, but the fairly recent price increase put me off. The wide field possibilities just seem to ooze out of it, never mind that red colour! I have also been considering the Tecnosky and Bresser similar scopes. But this is RED!

Can someone please persuade me of the folly of scratching this itch? ( I still have not cut the number of the current flock, despite promising to... )

Not the same, but I love my Altair 125EDF,  the build quality is excellent and the views superb...You do know that there is one of these for sale on the used forum here. Not in red, but white and with a few marks to the tube, so possibly room to negotiate? https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/396465-starwave-152mm-f59/#comment-4257997 (not mine I hasten to add, but always wondered how good the views would be)

Chris

Quite sure that @FLO have seen not an opportunity to make a quick return, that’s not their ‘Ethos’ is it!

Televue used to package an eyepiece and diagonal with their TV 85….no longer. 
Suspect a number of different factors, but have you seen the Pound’s value against the dollar recently?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62817391

Good luck in finding one used etc.

Chris

The 9mm is my second most used eyepiece, after the 24mm Panoptic .  It’s a few years old now, but the views are just superb. 

Congratulations on getting your big frac out! Know exactly what you mean with the "shall I bother or not?" I own an Altair 125 EDF, mounted on the Sabre Mount, they are a delight, but the set up necessitates 3 trips to and from the car to the observing pads, when you get a decent night though, it's well worth the effort.  Hoping that the clear skies forecasted for Seething this Friday hold, with moonrise at around 23:30, there's some observing to be enjoyed. Goof luck! 

Thank you everyone, tested and all working okay. 
Chris

Thank you, that’s very helpful. Is it worth installing the Synscan Pro over the regular Synscan? 
Thanks

Thank you!

Hello, with a first outreach event in a long time approaching, I wonder if someone knows how practical it is to use the synscan app with Sky Safari? When I first purchased the mount, it  was quite convoluted on iOS needing two devices to work with Sky Safari.

Thanks in advance,

Chris

Just a thought the tourism industry in Wales is in need of help, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-62252080 is it worth you asking Visit Wales https://www.visitwales.com to see if they have any sites that they know of? 
 

I know that the camp at Cwmdu is pretty good, and twice a year hosts the Awesome AstroCamp, you might want to use another site, but Visit Wales might know? 
Chris

Thank you.

Makes using the Skyguider so much easier than with the supplied wedge.

It's taken me approximately 15 months since @FLO delivered my William Optics Wedge for me to finally get an image that I like.

Weather, CV19 etc meant that my outings with it were few and far between, but after getting frustrated with the supplied Ioptron wedge, it has made a huge difference to my photography. My Skyguider Pro is over 2 years old, so maybe, the supplied wedge has improved?  The Williams Optic wedge is solid, well built and when locked, the Azimuth controls stay locked.. Works as well at 52 degrees as it did it in Crete at 35 degrees, and makes using the Sky Guider Pro much easier. The downside (apart from the additional cost) is that it's not lightweight. My camera bag with all the kit and spare batteries was close to 10 kilos in weight, but worth every penny and kilogram

Has anyone a decent tutorial that they can recommend, please for stacking widefield images of the milky way?

I'm using a mac, so sequator is out of the question, and Starry Landscape Stacker, I find a bit hit and miss.

I've seen great results using photoshop, ao if anyone has a technique or tutorial that you find works well, please feel free to share.

Thank you,

Chris

I’m not going to be much use here in dissuading you.

My Altair Astro 125 gives stunning views. I use the Altair Sabre Mount, once balanced, it’s a joy to use. 
Difficult to describe as ‘grab and go’ (my AP Stowaway is), as it takes a couple of trips from the car to set everything up.

If ever you’re in Norfolk and want a look through, you’ll find me at Seething Obsy with Norwich Astro.

Chris

12 minutes ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

Wow. Having missed the opener I was surprised by the Guardian review however the majority here seem to express the same views.

I'll watch it on Iplayer later hoping to not be too disappointed. To be fair his last series was underwhelming too although I put that down to the pandemic. I wonder if he's actually passed his peak? 

If I was cynical, I'd wonder if it's just a "warm up" for his forthcoming tour?

Have just returned from a short break at the Wainscott, one of the three Hideaway Huts on the very edge of the Northumberland National Park.

The huts are astro friendly, supplied with Binoculars, a Planisphere and a red light torch. There is a viewing platform, facing south, with an electrical supply too. On  request, the friendly owners (who live locally) will deliver an 8inch dobsonian for residents to borrow, a solar scope is available too.

The location makes them perfect for holiday astronomy, and of course Kielder Observatory is about a 45 minute drive away too.

Ther huts are compact, so you'll be very good friends if not going with your partner, and are spotlessly clean and equipped with a bluetooth speaker and a TV with a set box for netflix, etc for cloudy nights.  Theres a compact fridge and combined oven / microwave with an induction hob.

The owner, Helen, bakes, and my "welcome baskets" included fresh baked bread, cakes, some local beer as well as the usual milk, eggs and bacon.

Highly recommended, enjoyed my time so much, I rebooked on my last day to visit in August! (  https://www.hideawayhuts.com/ )

4 hours ago, Ken82 said:

How much did you pay for the insurance for importation ? Is this done through UPS?

also I’m assuming the import duty was about 20% ?

thanks for your answers,

ken 

An additional $117 for UPS for Shipment and Insurance and (from memory £777) at Stansted for Import Duty / Customs /VAT.

4 hours ago, KP82 said:

Availability/Waiting time. People who have the budget for refractors of this price class usually will not worry about the additional import duties.

The extremely long waiting time of the AP scopes make them more like collector items than tools for astronomy.

Hmm, think lockdown and poor skies the reason that my Stowaway has spent more time in the case than the Tak did. 
As to the import fees, I was ready for them, but it still hurt the wallet hard. 

I’ve a few things to sort out with my life this year, but plan on getting back out under dark skies as often as I can. 
 

Stowaway owner here!

n.434 of the 3rd production run. Sold my Tak 76mm upon receipt of the Stowaway.

Had to wait 2(3?) years, and the email from Darleen telling me my number had come up was a complete surprise.

Just vary rare, and not available 'off the shelf' so less seen and talked about. For the price I paid UPS, and the £770 import duty at Stansted, there's an substantial cost on top of the $3500..

The views are wonderful, but with lockdown, the Observatory at Seething has been closed to all, I've not used mine this year...it's going with me to Devon next week though, in the (forlorn) hope of clear skies..

Congratulations, I have the slightly larger brother (125) love the views and build quality.

Hope you have first light soon.

Chris

Didn’t one of the Greenwitch chaps end up with Hinds when Greenwitch closed a few years ago? Sad to see another business close down. There’s usually a negative effect in the local community too. 

Given the unsettled weather we seem to have had over the past 2 years, I wonder if people are spending money on other hobbies? In my case I spent my cash not on aperture, but on portability with a scope that will go in an overhead locker, and isn’t too heavy.  I had more clear nights observing in 2015/2016 that last year and so far this year...Hopefully we have a decent winter and get the use of of our scopes.

Excellent, thank you!

Chris

Managed to pick up a lightly used Skywatcher AZGi, for those of you with this mount, could you please recommend a cable to go from the Powerbank (mine's a Tracer with the cigarette type lead) to the mount?

Had a quick look, but couldn't spot anything out there.

Thanks,

Chris

5 hours ago, RobertI said:

A couple of months ago I ordered a new toy - a Skywatcher ED100. My reason for choosing that scope at the time was that I have seen how people rave about their 4" apo's for visual and I have never owned or used one - I really want to find out for myself. Also I had never been totally happy with the 'yellow' colour cast in my Tal100R and want to see what a decent ED can do. I was planning to use for mainly planetary, lunar, doubles and clusters. I am not really expecting it to better the 150PL for planets, lunar and doubles, but I am expecting a better 'aesthetic' experience, and interested to see how important that is to me.

Unfortunately I am still waiting (due to long lead times) and have started to look at other options, and my new shortlist is below:

1. Skywatcher ED100 (£757, £555 for essential version) - Pros: Amazing value, proven performer, very low chance of a dud, light, good resale.   Cons: Questionable focuser, long scope with no sliding dewshield, low quality materials
2. TecnoSky 102 F7 FPL53  (£900) - Pros: Shorter with sliding dewshield, good focuser, better materials (more premium feel?), F7 gives wider fields, in stock I think.  Cons: Unknown quantity, probably harder to sell. 
3. StellaMira 80ED F10 (£900) - Pros: Superb build quality and focuser, top quality optics, zero chance of a dud (checked by ES Reid), looks gorgeous, something different, probably easy to sell, its in stock! Cons: 80mm might prove limiting, less good for wide fields, possibly expensive for what it is. 

I believe option 2 is also available branded by Teleskop Service and Altair Astro, so would expect the quality of optics to be good.

I am currently really keen on option 2, as F7 seems much more versatile (and portable) length and with my 38mm Panaview eyepiece, gives a 3.8 degree field and 5.5mm exit pupil, making it a really nice 'richest field' scope and also capable of fitting in the entire veil complex and other large objects. But also still capable for high power planets and doubles.

So head says option 2, heart says option 3 and wallet says option 1!!

Whatever I get I am hoping to use it at the dark skies of Kelling Heath in October.

What do people think? Are there any considerations I've missed? Are there other 4" apo options?

Rob

Just throwing you a different option. There was a used version of one of these on Astrobuysell UK last week. https://www.altairastro.com/starwave-152-v3-red-tube-achromat-refractor-telescope-461-p.asp It’s a very good achromatic, plenty of aperture?