RobertI

3 hours ago, blinky said:

Its a decent enough image but not sure why/how it made the news!

Yes it's a bit wierd that it made the news - slow news day! But I guess it's all good for promoting our great hobby.

1 hour ago, Kon said:

Don’t you worry about humidity in the garage during the colder months? I like the idea of garage storage.

I didn't worry about it until you mentioned it! Interesting question though - my C8 has been stored in various brick built garages for the last 20 odd years and it's fine, so my experience has been good. I don't know what kind of conditions would create humidity in a garage?

It’s a great question but really hard to answer. I think some of the most visually memorable events have been when well known object come together in the sky for a short period - memorable recent examples include Venus and the Pleiades close together and Jupiter , Saturn, Mars and the moon next to each other. One to look forward to is the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn on December 21 when they will be just 0.1 degrees apart! Comets such as Hale Bopp and more recent Neowise are memorable as they are usually once in a lifetime events. 

Great report and nice sketch. I am getting to know Mars so well with all these reports and my own observations. What scope did you use?

Fascinating article thanks for posting. That scope is both awe inspiring and hilarious at the same time! Interesting that it's a cardboard tube, and it looks relatively lightweight when you look at the smallish counterweights. It must have been a challenge to collimate. Would have been nice to hear more about the kinds of observations that were possible - I expected a bit more than "..the whole instrument performs satisfactorily". 

Just in from another quick Mars session, still awesome with some nice detail despite wobby edges. Loving binoviewing but it does mean there are two eyepieces to steam up! Now I need some dewstraps for both eyepieces. 🙄

Great minds think alike John! I was worried that Jupiter and Saturn were disappearing so I had a quick session about 6pm and also saw the grey barge on Jupiter. Both planets were very low over nearby rooftops but I was amazed at what could be seen on Jupiter considering how much the disc was shimmering. A benefit of the modest 100mm aperture I think. 

Nice shoot out Stu. Oh my - that Scopetech is a long scope! I know what you mean about the large airy discs in small scopes - although I split the double double in my 66mm at high power, the airy discs were huge!

On 06/08/2020 at 20:08, Dunk said:

I have been trying to buy a new Skywatcher 10" Quattro recently and just keep getting sorry no we can't even  get you a delivery date.

I gave up waiting for my Skywatcher ED100 in the end and bought an Altair Astro 102EDR which was available immediately. The situation has forced me to spend a bit more than I would have, but as a result I got a better quality scope that I would probably not have considered before, so not all bad! 

Nice report Stu, that 8” F8 must be superb for planets. I was out last night with the 102EDR and binoviewers and observed many of the features you mentioned. I haven’t tried the 150PL yet on Mars so planning of giving it a go soon. 

Sounds like a very successful session. I haven’t observed Orion quite yet although I have seen it peeping over the trees.

3 hours ago, cloudsweeper said:

Most enjoyable, especially as at that time I dodged the blaze of extraneous light from a neighbour's garden conservatory.

One good thing about planetary and lunar observing is not having to worry about neighbours lights!

Had another nice little session with the 102ED-R and binoviewers at about 175x. A bit steadier than last night so I attempted a sketch (I did a rough version followed by a 'nicer' version shown below). When I got in I was quite pleased with how well it matched Mars Mapper (you might disagree ).

Syrtis Major is the pointy bit, Hellas is the pale region between Syrtis Major and the south pole. Sinus Sabaeus is the dark edge sweeping upto two o'clock with a 'fork' like feature below - I thought it had three prongs.

Hope you don't mind me adding to the thread John.

Nice sketch John, very similar to the view I saw, except I think you’ve picked up more detail. Looking good here too so will definitely go out for a squint and might try a sketch. It’s nice to see Syrtis Major, it’s surprising how often it isn’t visible!  

22 minutes ago, AlexK said:

These padded bags are actually for safe transporting.

I need something for transporting it too, so seems to solve both problems. 

19 minutes ago, AlexK said:

Careful with those chemicals on the shelves nearby. Certain vapors or spills might damage optics. Even plastics might emit enough to affect some coatings in a long run.

Ha, I was wondering if someone would comment on that! 😁 It’s a fair point and thanks for your concern. I was actually considering one of those nice padded bags for storing it somewhere - only thing is the bag would almost cost as much as I paid for the scope! 

7 minutes ago, John said:

I've read a number of reports on binoviewers which reckon that the quality of the eyepieces you use with them is less important than if you are observing in cyclops mode. I guess being able to use two eyes is much more benefit than minor differences in eyepiece performance ?

Thanks John, I hadn’t come across this, but sounds right. I did try cyclops viewing without the BV as a comparison, and I can’t say the BV image was any sharper, in fact it might have slightly softer, but it’s just easier to keep the eyes  trained on the disc and easier to discern the detail with BVs, cyclops viewing seemed very strained by comparison.  I’m sure most of the reason is that the brain just works better in stereo mode, its more natural.

16 minutes ago, John said:

I just wish that I could get on with the things !

That’s frustrating - what problems do you get? 

13 minutes ago, Space Hopper said:

 

@JeremyS they are the standard WO 20mm pair that come with the bino.

 

Correct. I had feared some abysmal views based on reports of the eyepieces, so to get good views at 175x and be able to merge the images was very satisfying. 

Well, I finally got to try the bino-viewer with the 102ED-R on Mars and the Moon. To cut a long story short - WOW! Why didn’t I do this years ago? The viewing experience is so much more enjoyable with two eyes, no eye strain, no screwing up the other eye, easier to discern detail, it makes such a difference.

With the 1.3x element from the Baader Barlow screwed directly onto the BV nosepiece I was getting around 175x which I have to say seemed perfect. There was about 25 mm of focuser travel left. 

The seeing was not particularly good, there was a gusty wind and quite a bit atmospheric turbulence. The edge of the Mars’s disc was shimmering but a large amount of detail was visible, including Syrtis Major, the Southern Polar Cap and quite a lot of subtle shading  in the dark band - definitely the best view so far through this scope. One of the key differences is that with this setup I would have been able to draw the subtle features - they were that clear - with cyclops viewing it always seems to be a case of - have I seen it or not? 

Moving on to Luna and it was equally thrilling, such engaging views and relaxed viewing. I think the comfort and relaxed viewing afforded by BVs adds to your ability to discern detail and encourages you to stay at the eyepieces for longer. 

So far, so good, I think I have lucked in on a good combination. Can’t wait to get out for another try! 
 

I managed to secure a large roller fronted book case when my employer closed an office - it’s in the garage and is perfect for storing various bits of astro equipment including my C8, RC6, Tal100RS and 100ED-R. 
 

The poor old 150PL is not so cosseted, sitting on a shelf wrapped in plastic bins liners!

My Zenithstar 66 sits on a bookcase in the lounge so I can admire it. 🙂

Ok, I’ll be honest here, I’ve never taken any of my telescopes to bed ....... but I’ve wanted to. 😉

I have to confess, I find the pink colour very slight through my 100ED, and once observing I don't notice it all and it just seems almost white! Through my Tal100R achromat it does have a distinct deep pink colour though.

3 minutes ago, Dantooine said:

What eyepieces was you using?

Looking back at my report, it was at x220, so I would have been using a 7.1mm eyepiece (a 10mm Hyperion with 28mm fine tuning ring) with the 2.25x barlow -  surprisingly good view given all the glass!

3 hours ago, Fozzie said:

and what I believed to be clouds over the NP area, almost luminous blue, very delicate..   I don't think this was a colour cast as I tried a semi apo filter and they still showed the same intensity..

I also saw clouds over the north polar region with my 102ED-R - first time.

5 hours ago, markse68 said:

This is very sad  

Soon after I started,~ 1.5 yrs ago, I purchased a nice looking 12” mirror on ebay. Posting on here led to me contacting David Hinds Ltd and a very helpful email exchange with Daniel who even went to the trouble of asking his dad about it and confirmed that it was the 3980th mirror David had ground and by the looks of the original packaging likely unused. I still have that beautiful mirror and intend someday to build a nice big dob with it

Mark 

Does the serial number have a suffix 'A' on it? Either way, it's a mirror deserving of a very nice OTA.  

10 hours ago, Fozzie said:

Interesting to see how you get on, but from my very limited minimal experience, if it works for you, then it WORKS for you!

Thanks Fozzie, I'm desperate to get out there and have a proper session - last night was clear for a couple of hours but sadly the demands of a small boy and Halloween had to come first!

6 hours ago, Surreydocker said:

Hi Rob, I'm very interested in this thread as I have the 102 ED. Were you using your 2" diagonal with your binoviewers and 102 ED-R ?

Yes I was using the 2" diagonal - I do have a 1.25" prism diagonal which I could try - it's a cheapish and oldish celestron, and I'm not sure I trust it to hold too mcuh weight, but worth trying I guess just see whether I can reach focus.