RobertI

Such high quality sketches Mike, inspiring. Love the high power view with the spiral arms.

I definitely will John, thanks!

Interesting to hear that you are now using the ED103 for your observing and have sold the 10” dob. I can see the logic as I am currently using my ED102 almost exclusively and would be perfectly happy with that as my only scope. It’s now mounted on an AZ4 with lighter tripod so even easier to set up. The only trouble is, with DSOs, I do sometimes think I’d get a better view if I hauled out the C8. Of course you don’t have that worry as you have sold your big scope, so you can enjoy your ED103 worry free. 👍

Sounds amazing, you’ve certainly sold me! I am seriously thinking of a holiday in Northumberland now.

Incredible detail John, fantastic stuff. There’s a lot to see on our nearest star!

Amazing shots. Inspiring.

Impressive Stu, that’s a lot of kit in a small package. You haven’t packed twin eyepieces for your binoviewer though!

Fantastic, enjoy your trip! Last time I was in Amsterdam was a friend’s stag do - unfortunately he had under-booked the hotel rooms and I had to share a double bed with a bloke I hardly knew. Awkward! 🙂

Nicely captured Reggie. 👍

What a lovely cake and present(s) - your fiancé has done something special there. 🙂

Great report, sounds like you created some great memories there.

Where do you go in Suffolk just out of interest? I have been planning an evening at darker skies in Suffolk which is close to me - anywhere between Rendlesham and Dunwich looks really dark.

Nice to see these videos and pics as I was sad not to be able to make it at the last minute. It’s really great to see astro retailers thriving and an abundance of mouth watering products. Could have been an expensive trip!!

Lovely descriptions of different flavours of red. Must have looked superb through your 6” achro. 👍

Thanks for the pics Paul. Shame i couldn’t make it in the end, the AZ75 was one of the things I was interested in seeing. Are they revealing the price yet?

Very nice! Not quite so good here but still looking promising. 👍

Two sessions today with the 102EDR, in part to see how it rides on my new AZ4. Some nice sunspot activity and some shadowed craters starting to emerge from the full moon. Very happy with the AZ4.

New AZ4 on steel tripod. Super super pleased with it. Very simple design but works a treat, very solid. The 1.75” tripod was heftier and more solid than I expected, yet the whole lot is so much lighter than my Skytee on 2” tripod. The rubber coated feet was a nice touch too. It seems able to cope with scope imbalances without too much stiffness or stiction in the alt axis. Plus it seems to have been designed specifically for 4” F7 refractor! All for £190 (or £155 in my case) - a bargain! Had a nice session observing the sun at 170x and the mount was steady and smooth.

Yes it started well, but seemed to deteriorate to a wobbly mess by the end.

Hi Gav, yes it’s Moon Phase Photo Maps, my bad. I found it nice and simple for a quick low power view when I haven’t prepared a list.

Yes it is bright, not so bad with a 4” aperture and binoviewers though- seems to be worse with just one eye too. I might try a polarising filter next time, looks like another clear night tomorrow. 🙂

I've just been out on a rare clear night even though it's a full moon. What to observe? Well, I got out the 102ED and binoviewers and observed ........ the full moon! At 85x the whole moon fitted easily into the field of view and I decided to get to know the lunar geography a bit better. I started by using the Concise Guide to the Moon, Mars and Venus (Rukl) but found it a bit clunky for low power observing, and ended up using an excellent iphone app called Moon Maps which gives you a map of interesting things to view at each day of the moon's cycle - perfect for what I needed. At 85x it was easy to identify the key features, including some smaller features such as Messier, Mount Pico and Vallis Schroteri. I tried upping the magnification to 175x but really didn't feel like I was getting much more interest, and reverted back to full lunar disc, which seems very large anyway through binoviewers. After spending a wonderfully peaceful and relaxing ninety minutes finding craters, mountains, valleys and rilles I packed away a happy bunny.

Not sure but I'm always surprised how much 'stuff' there is up there. Just been out observing the moon for a good 90 minutes and amazed at the number of birds flying across the field of view even at midnight.

Congratulations Mike! 🥳 Penelope - what a lovely name. 🙂

I can’t really say how noticeable the difference will be, but please share your side by side comparison when you get around to it, should be interesting. 👍