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Stargazer51N

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  1. Welcome to SGL Liam. Glad you've shared your first experiences with your new scope. You mention using a mains adapter to power your mount; bear in mind that water (i.e. dew) and mains voltage do not mix well. I would recommend using a leisure battery as a power source so you don't have mains electricity involved. Search on SGL and you will find lots of advice on how to put together a power pack using a 12v battery. At the very least you MUST make sure you are using an RCD breaker for safety when using mains electricity in the garden.
  2. Hope the weather holds and you both have a great day Nick. Stargazer51N :)
  3. Noticed the moon was nice and clear while it was still light so decided to have a go with the DSLR and SLT102 refractor. Started off quickly aligning using just the moon and the setting lunar as the tracking rate. Watched in a cheap 25mm eyepiece for a while and it was tracking nicely (isn't it always the way - no real effort in the alignment and good results, try hard to get an accurate one and it drifts :p ) Replaced the diagonal with a 50mm extension tube and t adapter to connect the camera. Took loads of shots at different ISO / shutter combos in RAW format using an IR remote release. Happy with what came up on the LCD - will choose best ones and process another time. As moon was so clear I switched to visual using a Nagler 9mm. What amazing contrast along the terminator. I don't usually spend much time on the moon but I was mesmerised for ages. Upped the mag using a Revelation 2.5 x barlow (which I bought for webcam imaging) and it worked great. Seeing was good and image very stable. Probably spent more time looking at the moon tonight than I ever have. I noticed that when I went back to the diagonal and Nagler from the extension tube and DSLR the focus remained sharp - that'll make focusing the camera easier next time going the other way :hello2: Packed up all the gear - early start tomorrow . Was well worth the decision to get the scope out for an hour or two :D
  4. Friday night I took 2 'scopes and a pair of 15x70 binos to a local OAP home so that some of the more able bodied residents could have a look through them. Took just over an hour to set up - luckily I had arrived in plenty of time to get set up before dark. We started off with the moon through the SLT102 refractor with a 10mm eyepiece. They were surprised by the details in the shadow along the terminator. Unfortunately the moon soon dropped too low for the height of the tripod on the SLT (large conifers surrounding the site) so we moved to the bino's on a camera tripod - they were equally impressed. Next came Saturn in the N150 reflector and that really impressed them. Surprisingly, nobody commented on how small it was in the eyepiece, but all said it was a sight they would not forget. We then tried mars but conditions were not favourable - could only make out a small bright disc. Then moved on to Messier objects through the SLT with a 21mm eyepiece. We saw M13, M92 (a new one to cross off of my list), M81 & M82. All were visible but not too good due to poor seeing. All in all, everybody enjoyed themselves and it was well worth the set up / take down time. Shame the seeing wasn't a bit better, but you can't have everything!
  5. Very clear sky at home tonight following some rain and sleet this afternoon. There was already a thick icy frost on the cars by 6 o'clock! Went out in the back garden with my Revelation 15x70's to see if I could bag a couple more messier objects. Got two open clusters M34 & M35. They were both clearly visible in the bins. I could also just make out M34 visually. Verified both objects by comparing with pictures in 'Deep Sky Companions: The Messier Object' by O'Meara. Both lovely objects that I will definately return to with a scope when I have more time. Although I only had an hour or so free to pop out and look I'm glad I did. Just goes to show - you have to take every opportunity when conditions are good.
  6. Stargazer51N

    Planetary

    My attempts at planetary imaging with an SPC900
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