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Tim

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Tim last won the day on August 26 2018

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    http://russellsgardencentre.co.uk

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    Coventry UK

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  1. That's a passing plane, with its lights flashing right at the moment of capture
  2. My rule of thumb is....If I am not the scariest thing out there, then I am not out there.....
  3. This was just a test image, 3h 40m with the StellaMira 90mm from light polluted Coventry. Lovely scope!
  4. Yes, very good value, especially considering the calibre of the contributors ( I'm not talking about me ) and there are usually some good value packages available throughout the year, 3 issues for a fiver etc. Now that they have demonstrated that physically reading a book or magazine is better for the brain than passively watching things, a subscription to a magazine can make for a thoughtful gift.
  5. Items reviewed by S@N magazine are loaned to the reviewers for a short term by the suppliers that advertise within the magazine. They are "First Light" reviews, an not intended as an in depth critique such as a purchaser of the item might be able to provide after an extended period of use. In the same way that you are unlikely to send out just any selection of your photos for scrutiny willy-nilly, the suppliers are hardly likely to loan out equipment they think will get a roasting in the magazines. So the very fact that a supplier submits a certain telescope, mount, or other equipment for magazine review in the first place should give you confidence that the supplier is sufficiently impressed by that product to lay it out for review, and so you might rightly expect only 4 or 5 stars items to make it into the magazine. That said, if there is an issue with the item, we will, and do point it out, and often our observations lead to subsequent editions of the item being improved. For the sake of consistency and clarity the stars awarded by S@N reviewers are governed by a set of guidelines, and should only be taken as a basic indicator of how the item performed on its first light. In addition, the articles are limited to a set number of words for printing purposes, so we have to be quite specific and sparing with the text, but everything you need to know, from a first light test POV, will be there. Hope that helps
  6. Ah yes, hadn't considered that, but makes perfect sense. Many thanks Tim
  7. While reviewing a few images from the other night I noticed an odd trail on a single star. Then saw that there is no star there, and then, after heavily stretching the life out of it, noticed that the tail of this thing has a curve in it. It's a 10 minute exposure, and there is no trace on the frame before this one. It was the last frame too, so I don't know if it would have been on the next. The apparent curve is throwing me, and the fact that it doesn't have the drag of the stars, which maybe indicates a short lasting but bright event? Image taken on 8th May at 23:14. I'd be grateful of any suggestions
  8. It might not help you with the rig outside, but in my obsy i find that a fan blowing cool air over my mount and gear keeps the condensation off. Tim
  9. One of the things that convinced me to sell my reef tank was the loss of a Flame Angel who somehow got sucked into the intake for the trickle filter. Back in 1992 he was £55, dread to think what they cost now!
  10. It isn't just that laser collimators may not point to dead centre, even if they are perfectly super collimated themselves, the focuser has to be perfectly aligned and centred and able to hold the collimator centred, and the secondary must be absolutely square to the optical axis, and in practice is is quite easy with a laser to get an apparently perfect result when in actual fact there is considerable misalignment or twist happening. A star test afterwards will demonstrate this, but doesn't really help solve the issue. That doesn't happen with a chesire so easily, and even if the focuser, secondary and primary are all a little offset within the tube itself, you can still get perfect collimation. For a much more detailed discussion of the above, check out New Perspectives on Newtonian Collimation by Vic Menard, it includes ray diagams to illustrate what can happen. It also recommends chesire eyepieces, specifically the Cats Eye system. With practice just looking at a slightly defocused star will tell you if something is amiss, and good collimation makes the biggest difference when observing planets. HTH Tim
  11. I'm very sorry to learn of your loss Peter and offer my sincere condolences to you and your family. The image is beautiful. Tim
  12. OAG for sure, but then I use them for everything, who needs two scopes to muck about with Tim
  13. Also, you need to eliminate the coma corrector while you test if possible. When you get an image with an extra spike, try moving the star around to the 4 corners of the image as well as the centre and see if the extra spike remains all over the field. One more thing, it has been many years since I've used a Baader Steel track, I don't suppose there is a bright or shiny edge or surface internally on it anywhere? I have very vague memories of blacking down the end of a focuser drawtube in the past, but can't remember which focuser it was now. Tim
  14. Any sign of astigmatism when the scope is cooling by any chance? I'm assuming the mirror is properly cooled when it happens?? You can check this by rolling the focuser either side of focus, back and forth. Possible to see it with a camera but more visible with a high power simple eyepiece, or with a Ronchi eyepiece. Look for the out of focus star pattern flipping 90° as you move through focus. Tim
  15. The odd thing for my setup, was no moving parts. If it was warmer I would have assumed an insect was on the objective and moving around, but it was quite cold and I scanned the tube inside and out with a bright light to see if there was anything like that, a spider or something, but no, completely clean. I'm still stumped by what did it
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