Space Hopper

@LukeSkywatcher No my duck. It was October 25th. And it was pretty much clear for the most part 😀

Gorgeous 🔭👍🏼

No, its the Questar 7. My thoughts echo Mike D's : someday (who knows) I'm just imagining it on an AZ100. The Q7 on one size and my 140 refractor on the other...........😛

Looking through this beautiful assortment of telescopes on this thread, i asked myself "what no Questars" ? BUT THEN I FOUND IT ☺️ Its just a beautiful work of art isn't it ??

Like Shania Twain used to say.... 'That don't impress me much' 🙄

@JeremyS how does the µ210 compare with your refractors on the planets ? Tonight was a Lunar and Planetary session (5 outer planets, although Saturn is nearing the end of this years apparition.) Despite ropey seeing, i had some nice views of Mars and Jupiter

(wet and windy ? Its clear as a bell in Derby tonight?) Welcome Mr NoFlyZone. I envy your weather and high altitude, clear, transparent sky's. I've heard of Salt Lake City, but not Cedar City. I bet you get some great views.

........and you'll probably need deep pockets.

'Tring Astro' might be worth a look.

Great capture Leo, By chance, i saw it too in the Chinley area with a dark sky. The timings are about the same if i remember. I also saw a red /orange meteor going in the opposite direction (same area of sky) a few minutes before. Possibly a sporadic ?

Not heard of HDEW before. Interesting. Although the 15x50s are not listed ; only the 18x50 model. Perhaps they've sold what they had. My own 15x50 is are a 2004 model, also my oldest piece of astro gear. They are in excellent nick, the rubber and optics and IS are like when they were new. A bit heavy for me now, particularly on my neck which has a bit of arthritis in it (i'm getting old ! 😟) What i'd really like to do is turn them into the 10x42is 'posh model'......

I've used AuroraWatchUK (the iOS app) for quite a few years now (I've still not seen any proper aurora myself yet though 🤫) You can set alerts if it goes amber / red And you can also access the Shetland webcams and keep an eye on whats happening up there (usually bad weather 😀) All in all, a decent app.

Just my 140 refractor presently. Its been a pleasure to own and use so far, and even though it can't really compete with big aperture on DSOs, its still no slouch in that department. I may at some point get something a bit smaller ; something in the 80 - 100mm range. I quite like the unusual : something rare that not many others have. That goes for mounts too.

Not quite Steve, but i've had 12" and 10" Dobs before and enjoyed some memorable views at our local dark 'ish' site. I kind of feel 'i've been there and done that'. A bit. If i had the skys and a really dark site i'd have some sort of scope to take advantage of it. But i don't and i need to be realistic about what i can see with my local conditions and my 55 yr old eyes. Then theres the physical challenge as well that comes with owning a big scope. Its a struggle for me now lifting up my Planet tripod and mount !!

Respect to you Carl Au I'm nearly at that point too. I used to tell myself i need a bigger aperture scope to go with my refractor, but the reality is i don't really need it at all. Not with my local conditions. And i bet i'd hardly use it and sell it on in a year or two.

@Saganite sweet setup Steve. I've got to get myself one of those mounts...... I have an EMS buddy who like you has ordered his motors, and will be picking them up very soon. So hopefully i'll get to see it in action first hand.

This one (look no further) The Coast HL4 . Its used by Trevor Jones over in Canada. And me !! 😀 Ticks all the boxes. https://www.torchdirect.co.uk/coast-led-head-torch/coast-hl4-led-head-torch.html

Very nice purchase John. And it looks very well cared for considering its age. A true heirloom scope. Yes, tomorrow night try it on Jupiter. Theres a double transit event : Europa and Ganymede. Around 21:30hrs i think. I'm impressed the AZ100 can handle it with no counterweight. Also impressed that you can binoview with it with the HW. Not many scopes have the back focus to do that. I take it you are using a GPC ?

Absolutely. I think the concrete base is the issue here. Moving the rig onto the grass (even with the rubber feet) should be a big improvement. I use rubber feet / Planet / DM6 on grass regularly and have no issues with wobbles at higher powers (unless i start jumping up and down) and i'd expect the AZ100 to be the same. The DM6 creator (Tom Peters) actually recommends having no rubber feet or spikes etc at all and even supply their own tripods that way. Just the bare wood (its not tapered at the bottom of the legs) standing on the grass or whatever.

It could be the screw-in 'rubber feet' on the Berlebach, causing a few wobbles (more noticeable with a long focal length) Can you swap them for the spikes, and set up on the grass and see if that improves things ?

Hope you don't mind me butting in, and not wanting to take the topic off course but, how do you find the DZ compared to your earlier DC ?? Much difference apart from the extra 80mm fl ?

Its nice to have the versatility to be able to remove that section and have all that extra backfocus. Not many scopes have that option, and i think its sound thinking from Takahashi. More manufactures should do it. Versatile and all bases covered. I'm sure you'll be fine putting a load onto it ; those rack and pinions can take a fair old load. Nice scope, and really well made like all Taks. I had a good look at RVOs Taks on display at last weekends IAS. Very nice indeed.

The Vic was my first PC as well. 1982 or was it 81 ?? Followed by the C64 and an Amiga after. Those were the days ! 😃

Simply because of their superior thermal management characteristics. A 2" HW has over the double the size (in area) heat dissipation window that a 1.25" wedge has. To users of scopes 4" and above thats important. If i was to use a 1.25" HW with my scope it would very quickly overheat enough to be a burn hazard, or even be destroyed entirely. But if you are only using a 60 or 70mm refractor you'd probably be ok with a 1.25" A bigger scope though demands a suitably sized wedge. And thats a 2"

It makes the sun go green !! 😃 Mainly it enhances the contrast of sunspots, especially the penumbra area. It enhances the granularity as well. To me though i find the enhancements quite subtle. It also makes sense if you have an achromat refractor rather than an apo. But whether its worth £160 on its own is open to debate.