RobertI

That’s a great spot John, you must be chuffed.

Fantastic report, what a night, some really interesting and varied objects there. Nice sketches too.

Well done to you, writing a novel is a major undertaking, I hope you get lots of readers. Your first two reviews are glowing!

That’s a lovely little package Victor! Very portable. Looks like you have some room for additional accessories that you WILL get. I have an aluminium case for my eyepieces/filters etc, but currently no case for the 102ED-R, but I’m thinking about one of those lovely Oklop bags. TBH the only transporting I do is from the garage to the garden - all of 15 feet, so hard to justify really!

Wow Chris, that’s fantastic news for you, FLO, and all of us! Exciting stuff.

Ok quick update on this, I’ve had no interest on this despite a price drop (probably not helped by the fact that I don’t want to post, so reduced buyer base). I am now considering the forking the scope which I think it’s just a case of undoing two screws - this will allow me to post just the OTA anywhere in the UK and hopefully should be a much easier sale. Any thoughts on what the OTA may be worth?? I was thinking possibly around the £120 mark? Thanks for any help.

A lovely night last night, perfect temperature, no wind, transparent skies and excellent seeing. Had a lovely and, as usual, short session with the 102ED-R. I sat back in my observing chair and looked at my prepared list of in SkySafari. I am a recent convert to seated obsering and I find it really helps to calm things down, encourage me to take my time and think clearly. First stop was Izar (Epsilon Bootis). I've been seeing this one a lot lately in a smaller 66mm scope and it was lovely to see it easily split with the larger aperture. Just below Izar was HR5524, a lovely double separate

A truly amazing image. I finally worked it out.

Very interesting! Looks like the small aperture has resulted in the diffraction ring just moving past the secondary rather than being on it? Interesting about the colours too.

Thanks for the heads up Nigella. I’ll try and grab a look with my Herschel Wedge and BVs tomorrow. Superb captures by the way, that CaK is quite special.

Excellent range - they seem to have everything covered.....literally.

Great report! I think it's a really good idea to sketch the constellations as you have seen them, you will probably quite quickly have a better knowledge of the constellations than many more experienced astronomers, myself included! Did you manage to spot the 'bowl' of Virgo? To me Virgo is a 'Y' shape with the bowl making the top of the Y. Although quite faint it is very distinctive and contains numerous galaxies. One for next time!

Grim. Horrible. So glad it's insured though and you can enjoy planning your replacement (and we can enjoy watching you spend the insurance money! ). I have to say that dovetail clamps give me the jitters...every single time I use them. Having experienced something similar and got away with it, my set up routine now includes extensive up and down 'wiggling' of the scope while I do the clamps up - surprising how often I can get another slight turn on the bolts with an additional wiggle or two! I then use a torch to sight along the clamp to make sure it is properly seated. A bit over-cautiou

Yes that’s it! Still not sure how it works though. I am assuming the Barlowed nosepiece (long black bit) goes into a guide scope and the eyepiece goes into the eyepiece holder, but what does the illuminated thingy do? Doesn’t project some sort of reticle and if so is the mirror diagonal translucent?

Can anyone identify this bit of equipment? It comprises a mirror diagonal, a barlow like lens, a tiny mirror thingy which is adjustable like a reticle, and possibly translucent, with a red illuminator. I’m stumped.