Mark at Beaufort

I have the same scope and occasionally have few on the secondary. I have 12 volt hair dryer which I use to clear it.

Isaac same as this - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/william-optics-vixen-style-finder-shoe-mounting-base.html Or this - if you don't mind white - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/finder-mounting-shoe.html The cheaper version is out of stock at FLO although you can find them on eBay. If you look at the photo - near the top you will see 4 black tabs. These were original holes that i drilled but I did not like the finderscope placement. So I moved it further down.

No the finderscope won't fit into the RDF bracket. I have the smaller Heritage 130P and I had to drill holes for the finder bracket. It works very well - see attached photo

@Stusome nice images. I did wonder whether you were using your Tak FC100DC. Even though I initially viewed with the Double Stack PST I must admit I do like the images in white light.

Well done John a good list of objects. I have been a bit lazy of late especially since we lost astro darkness. Most of my time has been solar observing. Sunday looks promising so I will try and stay awake.

Really nice image I have just been observing with the double stack On the PST.

The two sunspots are still showing lots of Plage activity. A nice filament on the northern edge plus a few proms. The double stack On The PST really improves surface detail.

Very nice Nigella you certainly picked up the detail.

Very Nice Nik - I like your description 'tropical archipelago with little tiny islands dotted here and there'.

Welcome to SGL. I have a Son that lives in Livermore CA and the last time I visited I was a guest of the Tri-Valley Astronomers. As you may know their site was destroyed by the major fires and they are re-building. I am still keeping in touch with the Secretary on developments.

I am observing today using the PST + DS. Both sunspots showing a great deal of activity especially AR2826 which is extremely bright - is this the start of a solar flare? There are a few small Proms plus a larger filament on the Northern end of the Sun. There is another area of Plage going West from the 2 sunspots. Worth a look in Ha if you can otherwise AR2824 and AR2826 are a good in white light An update - I have set up my Skywatcher 150P with front solar filter + UV/IR filter + Baader ND filter. The sunspot AR 2826 is really interesting in white light. Its a ring shape so the area is quite large.

Nice one Steve. Hopefully one day we will meet up again.

I have made a lot of modifications to my Heritage 130P. changed the secondary collimation knobs Improved the focuser with PTFE tape Flocked the whole tube Installed a finder base to allow a 9x50 finderscope Made a neoprene shroud extra dovetail to fit Skywatcher Pronto mount The attached photo shows the Heritage on its Pronto mount I also purchased a nice metal travel case - photo attached. This case carries 4 EPs - 24mm,17mm,10mm + Nagler 3-6mm zoom When I purchased the 130P the 150P was not available. If it was I would undertake the same modifications but place it on an AZ5 mount. I prefer using an alt/az mount that has slow motion controls.

Really pleased for you Chris. I am glad that we met a few years ago at an astronomy show for a chat and as you know I have always enjoyed your videos. Congratulations to FLO and your new appointment.

Yes I organised the event at the Madlay Environmental Study Centre which was next to BT's International Relay Station. WE had about 700 people in attendance including many SGL members who were from the star party. The event was the 20th March 2015. I had the pleasure of being interviewed by the BBC live at the event. A few pictures to remind you.

Michael you already have some fantastic eyepieces which will work great in your new 10" GoTo Dob. I use very heavy 100 degree EPs in my 12" Dob and its just a matter of using a weight to balance the scope. I have a weight with a large magnet underneath and I just move it up or down to get fine balance.

Thanks Paul. Heavy rain at the moment. Hopefully things will improve over the next few days.

I have 4 of the Steve O'Meara's books and you have missed 'Herschel 400 observing guide'. I found after observing the Messier list the Herschel 400 was the most enjoyable to follow. The Hidden Treasurers has some great objects but there are a number below -30 Dec which cannot be seen from the UK. If you check my signature you will see there are 87 available objects out of the 109. The Secret Deep is another enjoyable book which lists 130 objects (he added an additional 21 objects). From the UK I think we can see 126 but there are a few at or around -30 Dec I never bought the Southern Sky and the Caldwell book was difficult to find. In fact only 67 objects in the Caldwell list can be seen from the UK. So the books listed have different objects although I would guess that the Herschel 400 might be a duplicate in some books. So they are well worth getting. Just out of interest what scope are you using?

I have not committed before but as a fairly experienced observer I still in the main prefer paper star atlases. Sometimes I can observe all night just star hopping from memory. One thing that has not been mentioned is the difference between California and damp UK. I have a Son that lives in Livermore CA and I have observed on Mount Diablo on many occasions in the warm dry air. I have used a laptop whilst there using software especially because some objects are not visible from UK. Back at home sometimes the dew is so bad it's running down the scope. I won't use my tablet in these conditions because the situation might ruin the device. I place a star atlas inside a box. I know I could laminate some charts. So both have there place but we should be mindful of different climate situation which might affect our observing arrangements

Gary thanks for that it's very interesting. To be honest I recently sold my canal boat and several of the Mod team suggested I buy a quality refractor to keep me happy. I have not bought anything yet because the weather has been so poor. However I really took to you Tak 76 as a great grab and go hence my question.

Gary you truly have some wonderful new Takahashi scopes with 60mm, 76mm and the 102mm. I just wondered have you tried these scopes against the StellaMira 80mm on the Moon and/or double stars and decided on an opinion how they compare.

That is brilliant. I really enjoyed your video. So many fantastic objects. Thanks.

Lovely image. I viewed omega centauri from California using an 18 inch newt. Incredible bright.

Brilliant find - there is something magical about these famous refractors. I had the pleasure a few years ago to have a guided tour of the Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton.

Nice observing report guys. I had a 3 hour zoom meeting which ended just before 10pm. Too tired to take the scopes out so laid back in the recliner with the 15x70 binos. I did try to view M83 and found its exact location - thought I could see a glimmer but not totally convinced.