Mark at Beaufort

Nick some good advice on observing. I use a white marker board to make notes rather than paper and pencil. When I prepare the nights programme I list the objects on the marker board. I have also bought some nice plastic boxes to hold star atlas etc. What I have also found convenient is a quality music stand to hold the atlas which has a Rolson flexible twin red light bought from Maplins to illuminate the atlas.

Rob a wonderful piece of work - its a great read. Its great to have you back - I hope things will now settle down for you and your partner.

Yes, definitely in my opinion. I've owned a couple of sets of TV plossls so I know and respect them well. 

For some time I have thinking of improving upon the 25mm Antares plossls which I use in my binoviewers. I thought about the 25mm TeleVue as being the best option but clearly these new Vixen really look the business and provide a quality EP.

I really must have a look at the 25mm to make sure that the main body is not too wide - I need to get my nose between them.

John a very enjoyable read and quality information as always. I recall at SGL9 you had these EPs with you and I thought that they looked a quality EP. at the time.

This is a great facility for astronomers so congrats to all those involved at FLO. It was great to have a demo from Steve yesterday at the IAS. I have bookmarked the site and it will save me looking at various sites to know whether to set up the scope.

Alan I had the 6mm, 9mm and 18mm Hutechs to try out. One interesting observing point was viewing the SN in M82 (2014j) - I could see some fainter stars with the 6mm Hutech than with my Ethos EPs - very marginal but an interesting point. I recall on one night (very frosty) I felt my eye sticking to the bare metal of the Hutech. I suppose if I ever bought an Ortho I would prefer one with a rubber eye cap.

However, if the quality, contrast etc of the Delos is as good as an Ortho then I would buy the Televue - OK its more money but I need to I need to enjoy the viewing experience and not feel uncomfortable.

Alan you do produced some very enjoyable and detailed reviews. I bought a 10mm Delos to sit between my 8mm and 13mm Ethos and I have been so pleased with the quality and eye relief. At the moment to gain higher magnification I simply use a barlow but I am grateful to know that if I purchase a higher mag EP then the quality of the Delos is still the one to go for especially if it is close to an Ortho. I could try a Pentax but because they are so close and considering the focusing situation its best to stay IMHO with Televue.

In the Spring I had the chance to use some Hutech Orthos (thanks to FLO and John) and they were very sharp but in the end I did like the very tight eye relief and the shorter FOV.

Thanks again Alan it will help on future decisions on buying a higher mag EP.

Hope the sky conditions improve in Bulgaria.

I think Panaview are good eyepieces for the money. I have the 38mm Panaview which I use on my 180mm Mak/Cass to give me a mag of 71x - a FOV of 59 minutes and an exit pupil of 2.5. I don't use it on the 10" f4.7 Dob because the exit pupil is 8.

However, on your 8" scope the 32mm will give good mag, FOV and a reasonable exit pupil so your view that it is a good eyepiece for your 8" Dob is spot on.

Mark

Every so often a member produces an excellent thread which needs to be kept so everyone can read it. This is such a thread so thanks for doing this which will be helpful for so many new members and beginners.

Mark

Glad you are starting to use the 180 Mak/Cass Alan. I really like mine which I have had a few months. The views of Saturn and the Moon are brilliant. I agree the accessories are poor and as you know I bought the SCT converter so that I can use my SCT dielectric diagonal which is so much safer when I use my Ethos EPs.

Mark

Interesting product - fancy using one for solar observing and also being able to fit the PST. Does the base have a thread so a standard photo tripod can be used?

Your Celestron 6SE is a f/10 scope so therefore its not so critical when it comes to eyepieces. In saying that other things need to be taken into consideration.

1) the amount of money you want to spend

2) eye relief especially if you want to wear glasses when viewing

3) field of view of the EP

There are some very good EPs which would be ideal for your scope - Hyperions (although they are now about £90), Celestron X-Cel LX (which are £69) - these have good eyerelief and a 60 degree FOV.

Lets us know you price band and we can recommend other EPs.

Mark

Clearly the Messier list was well received. I therefore attach the Caldwell list as an addition. However, some of these objects can be difficult and only 67 of them are visible from the UK.

Mark

The Skywatcher Dobs are great scopes so you will not be disappointed. Which town do you live in? How bad is the light pollution?

As Peter has said there are filters that you can buy - see attached link which can improve things if necessary.

Light Pollution Reduction

Mark

This is a great scope and as you can see its my main instrument for viewing DSOs. Depending on your light pollution you will get great views of all the Messier objects.

I have viewed Jupiter this year and seen the major belts and also watched the shadow transits of its moons. Your socks will be blown off viewing Saturn.

Do you want anything else? I have attached a pdf on the Messier objects to help you find them.

Enjoy the scope.

Mark

I had an Astrozap dew shield for my 6" SCT and the quality was excellent. However, when I bought my 10" Flextube I felt I needed a shroud, dew shield for the front of the main scope and a small dew shield for the 9x50 finder. This was going to cost alot so I made all 3 out of Neoprene for under £10 and it works very well.

Mark

Hello Rik my SGL5 neighbour.

Rik you might recall the dew shroud and shield that I used on my 10" flextube. I bought it from this company - good value.

Economy Neoprene Rolls | Neoprene by Homecrafts direct

Hope to meet up again. Hope the family are well.

Best regards

Mark

Bought my case from Maplins really pleased with the quality.

Mark

Thanks James for the reminder. I leave my two units in the garage and after reading John's (inderby) comments I think I need to reconsider their placement.

Mark