RobertI

I’m a big fan of binoviewers in my 102ED F7. I have the WO with the 20mm eyepieces and they transformed my viewing of planets, moon and sun. I use the Baader Classic barlow screwed directly onto the end of the nosepiece and get around 170x which I find perfect for moon and planets. With BVs I can spend so much longer viewing and teasing out those fine details. I have a massive ‘mesh’ floater in my left eye but it’s not much of an issue with BVs and I benefit hugely from using both eyes. Can also be used for doubles stars or lower power viewing of DSOs at 57x (it JUST reaches focus with the 1.6x GPC) but I prefer cyclops viewing for these.

If you think THAT’S bad, just try asking what the definition of EAA is!! Post the question, stand well back and watch the thread explode. 😆

Manual 99% of the time for me. I occasionally use my SkyProdigy for fun. My CG5 only gets used for EAA, not for visual. I have always hankered after a Celestron C8 Evo with Starsense - that could possibly work for me as minimal set up time (no cables, polar alignment, counterweights, etc), but for now my manual setup is fine, especially with my 4” APO. Interesting to see which way the voting is going at the moment.

I’m not very well informed on top end scopes, but the Astrophysics Starfire 130 seems to have an almost mythical status and reputation for being unobtainable, and I have been well and truly seduced by it. I realise there may be better high end scopes out there, but it would be wonderful to own one. Does that make me shallow? 😆

I also have a number of portable scopes and mounts, probably the most portable is the Zenithstar 66mm on the Mini-Giro mount and tripod, followed by the Heritage 130P on the same mount. My everyday scope, the 102ED on an AZ4 is also very quick and easy to set up, being easy to carry ready assembled.

Yes I would echo the warning about the Skytee. I have a solid ADM clamp on mine which clamps onto the puck with very solid M8 bolts, but the puck is bolted onto the ‘soft’ metal of the mount by three tiny M4 or M5 bolts which seem to only screw in a few millimetres, which looks like a huge weakness to me. I tapped in some longer bolts but still not happy to load it with more than my C8. Sorry to divert, thought it was worth mentioning for the sake of your beautiful new scope.

Just read your book Kevin, and I have to say I REALLY enjoyed it. I love the way you have managed to mix in descriptions of your favourite objects (some of them not so well known) with interesting backstories about where you were and what was happening at the time. And it seems like you have travelled plenty and seen much. I also like the way the book can be used either for reference or just as a good read. I think anyone on this forum would enjoy your book, whether novice or experienced. Well done and more please. [Five star Amazon review submitted 😇]

You have got a really fine scope there. The 9.25” was/is considered the ‘jewel in the crown’ of the SCT (Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope) range. Feel free to post more images including the mount, etc.

Just ordered “A decade in stargazing”. 🙂 Also thinking about getting ‘Demystifying’ for my friend who is just starting out - I have lent him my Heritage 130P and he’s had a squint at the moon already.

I was thinking exactly the same!

Great review @Sunshine, gives a good taste of what this book is all about. Congratulations @kev100 on a fantastic achievement. Will probably place an order myself. I certainly agree about the joys of “two in a view”!

Nice capture, and I agree that having Capella in the same frame provides a really nice contrast.

We wait with baited breath. Good luck. 🙂

Good to see you posting again Gerry. 🙂

Super animation - how long was the time period?

I could be wrong, but I think Sirius B is positioned on the East side, following the direction of drift?

Interesting read, thanks Louis. I also tried some filters on the comet over the weekend with a bright moon washing everything out. I didn’t have time to do a proper assessment and the bright sky was a pain. The Astronomik UHCE has been sold as helping view ion trails but sadly not a hope! The best view was no filter with a higher mag to darken the sky, but I’ll try again when the moon has gone, assuming the comet is still around!

Finally saw the comet tonight. Bright moon rising, but still easy to find and easily visible with my 102ED at 30x. Can’t say I could discern the fan shape, even when zooming in to darken the background. I showed my 8 year son, partly to dispel the myth going around his school that comets shoot across the sky! I have to say though, I remember being his age when Kahoutek’s Comet came in 1973/4, and me and my brother would rush to window whenever we saw a flash in the sky or a plane overhead, hoping to catch the comet streaking across the sky! 😆

I think this is fab, you rarely seen full moon sketches. I was about to suggest you enter this into the sketching competition but I am pleased to see you already have. 🙂

Beautiful sketches Mike, will hopefully inspire lots of other entires. 🙂

Good luck, I really hope your friend catches the bug. Sounds like that little scope is a good beginner’s scope. A friend was recently asking me for advice about what scope to get to see the comet and a how to take photographs. As is so often the case, he had found an obscure piece of rubbish on Amazon and asked me what I thought. I told him to forget it and forget photographs - instead I lent him my Heritage 130P which I know to be a super capable scope, if a little quirky I really hope he gets on with it and catches the bug!

This is such an important part of the hobby for me too - glad you are enjoying your scope!

Really amazing Timelapse, that’s on a par with the black hole image, seeing something so long predicted actually come to pass. A real wow moment for me.

I had a play with this at the IAS last year and it was a really superb piece of kit, very ably and enthusiastically demonstrated by one of the FLO gang (who I believe designed it?). I think it will sell well, very interested myself…..

I would say, with the 1.75” steel tripod, 5kg is very conservative. It holds my bulky C8 without problems, though not really designed for such wide scopes. It appears to be designed for 4” F7 refractors! 😆