RobertI

Just to confirm, by “run off” shed I mean a small shed or box on wheels, rather than a sliding roof observatory ….. just in case I am using the wrong terminology!

Thanks for suggesting that, sounds like a good option to start with a pier plus soft cover first. It would certainly be less obtrusive than a full run off shed and much easier to construct. I think I would want to leave my scope and camera setup, and ideally not have to polar align or star align each time, as these are the time consuming and ‘awkward’ bits that I want to try and eliminate for EAA! Fortunately EAA only uses short exposures of five to thirty seconds so super-accurate polar alignment is not required. I guess live plate solving could eliminate the star alignment aspect. And thinking about it, many people use altaz mounts for EAA, so polar alignment not required either. Perhaps they are options….. The downside of pier plus soft cover is children in the garden - my 7 year old sometimes invites friends round and footballs start flying!

Thanks for the response. I guess I was thinking of something similar to what I had in my youth, which was 4ft x 4ft x 4ft - ie: big enough to store a pier mounted SCT but not big enough to stand in. Possibly doesn’t even need to be that big? I would go and sit in the garage or kitchen to control the scope/mount/camera.

I have always dreamed of an observatory. Ever since I had a run-off shed obsy as a teenager, I have wanted a ‘proper’ one with a dome and everything. Well, now into my late fifties and with a young child (I started late!) I find myself with a small but relatively dark back garden, a little bit of spare cash, and zero time! My visual observing sessions are limited to one to two hours max every couple of weeks. I used to enjoy EAA, particularly for the Spring galaxies, but I simply don’t have time for the setup, tear down and fettling required of imaging - my EAA equipment is lying dormant in a cupboard. I have a visual setup which is quick to setup and tear down and I don’t have any massive problems with neighbours lights at the moment….although I live in fear of that first security searchlight. Also my garden really isn’t big enough for a large observatory - I could probably shoe horn something in there, but i’d have to make sure I don’t lose enjoyment of the garden, and it would have to really ‘add value’ to my astronomy. Also there is only one place in the garden where an obsy could go, which is not a bad location (can see Polaris through a gap, can see South, West and overhead, but not very low to the west), but of course the obligatory street light is visible from that location, so not really ideal for visual but probably ok for EAA. So what could I do? My thinking at the moment is for a ‘low profile’ run-off shed and a permanently setup EAA rig. This would probably involve creating some hard standing (eg: patio slabs), a permanent pier, electrical ducting to the nearby garage and the run off shed itself. Hmm sounds quite straight forward! 😆 And it would probably be something I plan over a period of time. But what have I missed? Is there something better/gooder that I could do to get my observatory? Sorry it’s been a bit of a ramble! 😉

There is a nice article on EAA by Calum Potter (SGL member?) in this month’s Astronomy Now. A good overview of what’s out there and the best software and cameras for a DIY setup. @Martin Meredith‘s excellent Jocular tool gets a long mention - and deservedly so!

I’ve also got the WO binoviewer and love it. The supplied eyepieces work well, and I found the following when using with my 102ED F7 refractor: It cannot quite reach focus with the supplied 1.6x GPC attached to the BV nosepiece With the 1.6x GPC attached to the nosepiece of a 1.25” prism diagonal, it WILL reach focus and gives approximately 2x (so if you can do this you will not need to buy a 2x GPC) With the lens element of my Baader classic Barlow screwed onto to the nosepiece of the BV I get 5x magnification - the equivalent of 4mm eyepieces but without the problems described in the posts above. I use this arrangement for planetary and lunar viewing and it works perfectly. I believe other Barlows can also work this way with BVs although the magnifications will be different. My SCT was much more flexible due to the long focus range. So basically I have not needed new eyepieces and I would definitely echo the advice above to experiment with what you have first. Enjoy your BVs! 🙂

Very very nice. Indeed.

Prepare to be amazed. 🙂

Wonderful sketch. 👍

Great report Victor, your scope is looking very handsome on the Castor.! 🙂 I also bought a VIP Barlow when I bought my Baader Zoom Mk4 recently and I’ve been meaning to do a head-to-head with my Seben Zoom + Baader classic Barlow which has been my main combination up to now. Trouble is I have a long list of head-to-heads and comparisons I’d like to do, not making much progress!

Was out viewing Luna last night with the 102ED plus binoviewers at both 170x and 75x. The area around Aristarchus and Schroter’s Valley was very interesting to explore. Also looked at some carbon stars in Lyra and Cygnus. It was fun and quite challenging tracking them down in the moonlit sky, in binoviewer mode at 75x. They stand out like dark glowing embers. T Lyrae was the reddest of the lot, genuinely looking blood red, rather than dark orange colour. I looked up the colour indexes and most of them were around +3.0, whereas T Lyrae was +5.5!! As a comparison Betelgeuse (orange) is +1.74 and Vega (white) is 0.0. I really like the binoviewers for lower powered views and looking forward to sweeping the Milky Way when the skies get darker again. Oh dear, frustrating, but funny! I got out my White Light setup to show the neighbours during the recent Jubilee Street party. There was a lovely sunspot visible through the binoviewers, but the most common reaction was “What exactly am I supposed to be looking at?”. I rapidly put the scope away again and went back to my champagne and scones! The moon is always a winner though, always get plenty of “oooh”s and “aaah”s with that.

Lovely - so much pleasure can be had from a simple but quality setup. I’ve been out viewing Luna with a very similar setup just now - 102ED plus binoviewers at both 170x and 75x. Just wonderful. Also looked at some carbon stars in binoviewer mode at 75x - some really amazing colours, even in the bright moonlit sky.

Love this. 😊

I currently only subscribe to Ed Ting, Astro La Vista (Chris), Refreshing Views (Marco Radice) and Astro Biscuit but clearly need to widen my net based on the great lists above. I also love the Actual Astronomy podcast - if you love visual it’s definitely worth a listen and broadcast weekly.

Nice report. 👍 Zeta Hercules can be very tricky. I had a look on Wednesday evening with my 102ED when the seeing was amazingly good. The best I could manage was a clear and unmistakeable brightening of the first diffraction ring in the right place - it almost looked like a separate companion, but not quite - it took a power of 320x to get this!! I looked back on my previous reports and found that, with my 6” F8, I had to go to a ridiculous 500x before the companion was clearly defined from the diffraction ring - I suspect the seeing was not so good then. So well done on your split with your lovely David Hinds optics. 🙂

A really bright comet with a spectacular tail or two would be great - each one is so unique they are almost like living things, as they grow, brighten and change shape over time. But I think a supernova visible during the day would be something to behold, although a bit of a pain at night perhaps! Which one? Hmm let’s go for the mega-comet. 🙂

Very nice looking scope John. Interesting to hear the build quality is a step up from usual SW scopes, bodes well. Some really nice features I like the look of: Nice long dew shield with locking screws Two finder shoes - very useful Single tube ring and oversized focuser thumbscrews are reminiscent of Tak Handle - luxury Looking forward to seeing what the “Exclusive” lens design” yields out in the field. 👍

Square rings? Sounds like quite an innovation from the StellaMira! 😆 Well done @johninderby on your new purchase. 😊

I think i would struggle to squeeze that long list of job responsibilities into 37.5 hours! Looks like a great job though. I’ve been looking for a change of career and it would be great to do something where I could actually use my astronomy skills and finally put my astrophysics degree to good use (however long ago it was ). Sadly it’s just too far away and relocation not an option. 🙁

I may well do the same. I have Ed Ting’s advice ringing in my ears “….if you get the opportunity to buy an Astro-physics Starfire, just go ahead and buy it.” 🙂

I’ve been meaning to do a comparison of views with and without my 0.63 reducer for some time. Interesting that you find it gives sharper stars, sounds promising.

I mainly use Sky Safari for planning and in the field, both phone and tablet. I also have the Interstellarum atlas which which is lovely to use when I want a nice ‘chilled’ planning session with a cuppa at my desk. I do feel I would benefit from a smaller pocket guide for those brief ad hoc grab and go sessions - perhaps I’ll treat myself to S&T Pocket Guide.

Thanks for the cautionary tale @rl, it’s good to know it turned out well for you and a good reminder to us all to be aware. I had a vitreous detachment 18 months ago which manifested as flashes in the corner of the eye - apparently this is fairly normal once you are into your 50’s - I now have a permanent ‘cobweb’ floating across my vision as a result, which is very irritating and distracting, although strangely does not seem to affect my ability to resolve doubles or see fine detail on planets. I throughly recommend binoviewers for people with floaters, it makes them much less noticeable imo, and are especially good if you have floaters in your dominant eye.

Thanks Nick for reminding what it’s like to experience a truly dark sky. 👍

My 102ED refractor is definitely my most used scope since I bought it 18 months ago. Simple, quick to set up, no quirks, perfect optics, great focuser, versatile and lovely views. Maximum viewing pleasure, minimum fuss. Binoviewers are the icing in the cake. I still get the C8 out for DSOs and often run them side by side.