Andy38416

This looks like it has the answers:

Thanks for reply’s. I’ll have a think and go from there.

Afternoon,

i’m booked to go to Kelling Heath in December and was thinking about taking a scope with me, now I don’t want to take my Nexstar 8SE with me, as cool as that would be, I have a toddler and a 8 month old baby so have to already take a lot of stuff with me in the car etc etc.
 

I was thinking of buying some incredibly portable and cheap as a good grab and go / travel scope. Originally was looking at the Celestron Travelscope 70, but wasn’t sure if it would almost be pointless given the vast difference in optics to my 8SE. So possibly the heritage 130p?

just after some suggestions or opinions if anyone has the travel scope. it’s £80 on amazon with a travel bag. Or maybe I should suck it up and take the 8SE for a chance to be at a proper dark site.

To be honest I think the heritage models are best placed. I had the 130 model as my first scope and Miss is greatly, it was so grab and go.

the other smaller and cheaper option could be the celestron firstscope with is about £50

The celestron starsense explorer range which is relatively new looks quite cool, and when paired with a phone can align itself by using the phones camera.

i have no experience with it, but have seen some good videos on YouTube of people using manually and as a push goto as such.

https://www.celestron.co.uk/shop/celestron-starsense-explorer-lt-127az-smartphone-app-enabled-newtonian-reflector-telescope/
 

A lot of people will suggest Telead or the rigel quick finder, both are really really large and ugly (in my opinion).
 

I have used the below, which I find excellent. Everything is spot on and very easy to find. I’ve had no issues with it at all - so can recommend.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/baader-30mm-sky-surfer-iii.html

I could only see a WiFi version in a quick google search, you can always buy the handset separately, but this obviously adds to the overal cost.

There will always be someone who says ‘spent more and get a bigger telescope’. It might be worth looking at something cheap, like the skywatcher heritage 130p, nothing motorised or goto about it but it’s a good little scope and will see if your interested in the winter months without spending huge amounts of money. It would need a table or something to sit on though.
 

or if you really want a goto the skywatcher you have seen or the celestron Nexstar slt range are good entry levels. It’s certainly can be very confusing, but you definitely need to be outside, not even inside with a window open is any good. I’m a little sceptical of the WiFi only range, I really struggled when I brought a WiFi adapter, when your looking in an eyepiece a proper button to move the scope slightly is so much easier then having to take your eye off the eyepiece to look at a screen button.

my advice would be to have a good think and ask as many questions on here as you need to.

1 hour ago, gtfreight said:

I have just called Rother Valley Optics and the Skywatcher Explorer 130P SynScan AZ GOTO has just sold out and it could be several weeks before they're back in stock. 

You could always try the widescreen centre, they might have one if you give them a call.

https://www.widescreen-centre.co.uk/sky-watcher-explorer-130p-synscan-az-goto-computerised-reflector-telescope.html

39 minutes ago, Geoff Lister said:

Andy has suggested a gti-wifi mount. I have a Celestron "Cosmos" wifi mount, similar to the Skywatcher one, and using my tablet in place of the Synscan handset. I have found it much easier to use a handset, with "real" buttons, rather than virtual buttons on the tablet's touchscreen, particularly whilst looking through the eyepiece.

Good point, I didn’t get on well using the WiFi adapter in my 8se so returned it to continue using the handset.

Gotos are great. I was initially told when starting out not to get a goto from a telescope retailer, but to ‘learn the night sky’, I ignored them and love having a goto - but each to their own I guess.

I can’t comment on that particular scope goto but I’ve owned a celestron Nexstar 127slt, which is very similar, from a mount point of view and found it to be good. 

i think all in all it’s a good scope, there is also the AZ Gti range from skywatcher:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az-gti-wifi/sky-watcher-explorer-130ps-az-gti.html
 

but to be clear I have no experience which this scope setup at all - so hopefully someone else will be along and able to help better than I have.

I’ve had a couple of 130 telescopes, the Skywatcher Heritage 130p and a celestron astromaster, neither of them were goto but optically very good telescopes.

is goto something you definitely want? Based on the telescope you selected I guess the budget is around £300.

are you looking just for visual or do your thoughts turn to astrophotography?

6 hours ago, adyj1 said:

However, if you raise a complaint that doesn't coincide with the upgrade, I think you then deal directly with the council, who are much less likely to spend the extra money fitting a shield.

Does anyone else's experience match this? 

Initially I was passed about a bit by county council, local council, but in the end it was my parish council that sorted it, once I got a contact it took about 4 weeks. I even had the lighting contractor knock on the door and ask what I needed so he understood the problem fully.

Only got a very quick photo as was raining quite heavy, it’s definitely an improvement.

21 minutes ago, Colossal Plossl said:

I actually filed a light pollution issue with my council.  Hopefully they will do the same.  Same light type LED.  

Wow that’s worse than the moon! Hopefully you get a decent result. Of course I may be kidding myself and the shield do next to nothing when it’s dark later 😆

45 minutes ago, procky1845 said:

Would be interested to see an after post to see what sort of impact its had! We have one at the front of our house which is quite bright and I've considered contacting the council before. I tend to observe from the back garden predominantly so haven't bothered yet.

I will take one and upload it

I honestly thought I would never hear anything or it would just drop down some black hole within the council. Especially given the current Covid 19 climate. I think it will make a big difference to my viewing and looking forward to seeing when it’s dark.

genuienly hope it is useful or encourages others to ask questions of their councils.

Afternoon all,

not really sure where to put this post but thought it might be useful for others to know and may help other people.

So when I moved into my house I knew the huge streetlight outside would cause issues with my telescope hobby, but we moved anyway.

the lamp used to be an older sodium type (really amber / yellow light) and a light pollution filter took away most of the issue. However it was recently upgraded to LED which is great, uses less energy, bulbs last long etc etc, however it caused significant light into my view.

i contacted my local council a few weeks ago and to my surprise they took the request seriously and have today fitted a shield over the lamp to stop stray light going into my garden.

how effective this is remains to be seen in darker skies, but it will defiantly do something to help so I am pleased.

I thought I would post a couple of photos of a before and after plus what it was like at night previously. The dot in the sky to the left of the bulb is in the night photo is actually Jupiter.

2 minutes ago, Mick H said:

Hi Andy, I also have Nexstar 8se.

For future reference you maybe should be looking at some Messier objects with your scope.

I have just acquired a Astronomik UHC filter, and last Saturday manage to see M27 Dumbbell Nebula which stood right out.

Also M13 Globular Cluster and the Double Cluster, I'm starting to go through the list.

I’m trying to get out and about when I can. I only brought the 8se a few weeks ago and already invested in a dielectric diagonal, 3 BST eyepieces, a dewshield and a new red dot finder. 
I just need a decent session time with it, I’m also getting used to aligning, which I have found easy and works every time, but I did have a Nexstar SLT before which helps.

28 minutes ago, johninderby said:

My neodynium filter is left just about permanently in the diagonal as it’s such a useful all round filter and not just for planetary. 🙂

Well that settles it, I think I’ll start with the neo filter and possibly go from there.

I don’t want to spend a load of money in an area I don’t know much about, so maybe more research is in order. But the neo filter does sound like a great all rounder from your comments and something I will look to buy.

thank you for your help.

Andy

In terms of the neodymium, would you generally leave the filter screwed into the diagonal all the time for planetary viewing or is that just OTT?

Afternoon all,

I’m looking for advice on any visual filters and and recommendations you might have.

My scope is a Nexstar 8se and I only use 1.25 inch eyepieces. I mostly look at planets but not completely limited to this area.

ive done some research and a neodymium one pops up every now and again as a good all rounder, but I know nothing about filters.

i seem to have a set from a long long time ago (I don’t even think I have ever used them, or remember buying them) - photo attached. I just think these are cheaper colour enhancers I guess.

just after a bit of advice.

thanks

I have this scope and it is amazing, really really good bit of kit. But like others have said, planets and moon for astrophotography should be ok, but any DSO’s will be very hard on the alt azimuth mount.

the scope isn’t the issue, just the mount for astrophotography.

but it is a very good scope.

52 minutes ago, Alex_o0 said:

Thank you for you response , I’ve read that locating something like Saturn is quite difficult and it moves out of sight very quickly. This is based on something I read and not experienced.

Personally I dont think any of the main planets are hard to find in the night sky. I recommend an app called SkyView, you basically hold your phone up to the night sky and it tells you where things are, you can even select a object, like Saturn, and it will tell you to move your phone around till you find it. It also plots a projected path and estimated time where it will be in the sky - so you can see what path of the sky it will be in at roughly what time. I’ve included a screenshot below.

I also have had this scope a long time ago and fully agree with Nikolay’s comments. It’s a good little telescope but will not ‘goto’ for you, you would need to find them yourself but with the motors will track.

is goto a ‘nice to have’ or a ‘must have’ for you? Gotos will cost more money. Obviously what you will see will depend on many circumstances, light pollution, atmosphere conditions or often called seeing conditions, but should be able to see the things you mention above.