Space Hopper

@GavStar Ok........... The handset. I can't get to grips with it. I struggle with the alignment procedure every time. I've done 2 star alignments and slewed to an object and its been nowhere near it. You have to be careful with the cables which can easily get caught. And the main power lead is all too easy to accidentally catch and pull out. Its unbelievably heavy. I'm glad i go to the gym ! The counterweights are hazardous to fingers ! The edges of the tightening wheels are razor sharp (as well as the bars) , and i've cut myself on them several times. Its a gloves on job now for me when i handle them. Other than that.....😀 The reality is, i'm not very savvy with things like this, and just need someone who knows the mount show me the ropes. Neils has just started an online user group, so hopefully i can get to grips with it. I must persevere, as it's stopping me doing any sort of imaging. Then theres the fact then when i actually do get a clear night when i'm not at work, its all too easy just to grab the DM-6 and be observing in no time at all. That i can use, and i have no problem at all using the DSC Nexus, unlike the Panther.

Thanks, its been one of my best astro purchases. And Tom Peters who runs DiscMounts in Florida was a pleasure to do business with. It cost me a bit, but i was fortunate enough to buy it in 2014 when we were getting $1.70 / to the pound.

Here are mine : I'm one of the few UK owners of an American made Discmounts DM-6, purchased new in 2014. Many feel its one of the best manual Alt-az mounts there is (I'm biased) Towards the end of 2018 i purchased a new TTS-160 Panther mount from 'Track the Stars'. With a slightly red face, i must confess to hardly ever having used it.......thats partly due to my preference of my DM-6 for easy manual alt-az. The other part is that i need to 'fall in love' with the Panther. And i'm afraid i haven't. I actually dislike it, and have thought about selling it.

All that aside, i'm certainly impressed with the website. Very well presented with all the info right there. I was just drooling over the 90mm Coranado's.........

If its any consolation, i was in Munich in the Fatherland for the same event. Lovely clear day for the most part, except for it clouding over for 30mins either side of totality 🙄 Had i been in Stuttgart instead, i'd have seen it all..... However another of my favourite astronomy memories was the amazing fireball meteor event on the evening of March 4th 2012. I was ultra lucky to see it......i was actually at work and I was driving a train at the time, fully dark adapted and in a good area of dark sky a few miles to the west of Uttoxeter. By chance i was heading in the right direction and i spotted it in the north sky as it was heading southwards. Those 10-15 seconds i followed it will live with me forever. Never seen anything like it before or since. It must have brushed a lower part of the Earths atmosphere at some point because it looked like something out of a Hollywood movie just for a few seconds I thought for a second it was coming down Chelyabinsk style, but it didn't ; it seemed to climb and passed overhead and gone forever all too soon. Unforgettable.

I've used my 2x 2" (and 4x 2") to take Prime focus images of the moon and sun a few times before. The results have been pleasing. Although i'm not much of an imager either (just a wannabe one !) I have the 2" Powermates as i'm using a FF DSLR The Powermates are excellent in every way, and you can often pick them up second hand with decent reductions. They hold their value as well if you sell further down the line. I'm sure the ES version is just as good though Be aware that they throw the focus plane out quite a bit (certainly the 4x) and i remember with an old refractor i had to employ extensions on the focuser.

I'd have been interested as its not far from me, but it clashes with the PAS, and i don't want to miss that. If i go in the future, do they allow camper vans and provide EHU ?

Good to hear Michael. I knew a chap who has a 10" Schmidt Newt. Pretty rare beasts nowadays, but an interesting design, and you wonder why they discontinued them ?

I never knew that was an issue @Louis D My 15x50s are rubber armoured and date from 2004, and they are as good now as they were back then. Mind you, i live in Derby UK, not Texas !! It's a bit cooler (make that about 20ºC cooler) here. They're not going to melt here in any hurry, believe me ! 😄

I think they'd be too heavy. If they were viable, i think Canon would have done a pair by now. They've been around for about 20yrs. My 15x50s are nice to use but they are on the heavy side. And optically i don't think they are that good. Ok but not that good. I've always fancied the L series 10x42's but the price of them puts me off. I'd certainly look in a second hand pair though. I also have 10x30's which are great although i tend to use them terrestrially more than for astro.

Agreed on zoom binoculars. Avoid them. If only you lived a bit closer, i'd let you try out a pair of my Canon's. Image stabilised binoculars are well worth looking into, and when i let others try them out they never fail to impress.

Nice work. Let us know how it performs 😀

My order went through on December 18 just over a month ago. (a new order : i didn't do a Mk 1 trade-in) I have 2 Tracer cells and also a Celestron Powertank for when i'm out in the field. Hopefully they will be ok. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/batteries-powerpacks/celestron-lithium-lifepo4-powertank-pro.html

Ooooh...had an email from FLO to tell me mine is coming in the post tomorrow !! How exciting.....!! 😀 I'm not entirely sure what to do with it though.....😉

Currently have 3 pairs Canon 15x50 is : now my oldest owned astronomy kit : purchased 2004 from new and still going strong. Canon 10x30 is : not enough juice really for astronomy, but they are truly excellent. They accompany me on nature walks, are great for bird watching and for when i'm at a cricket game. Fujinon 7x50 These are also an old pair, (2002), which i purchased used. Fabulous quality, build, and optics ! Star colours are beautifully rendered, and are exceptionally sharp. They're just a tad on the heavy side.

After a run of 15 consecutive visits, i'm giving it a miss this year. I've been a bit disappointed the last 2 years ; there were hardly any vendors last year, and they hadn't got the lecture programme sorted in time. To me, the show is not what it was. But last years PAS made up for all that, it was excellent in every regard, as was the IAS in November. I'll be there for that on March 21, no doubt.

The C9.25, 11 (and 14) are a big big jump up in price and makes the 8" seem like a good buy in comparison. I've seen the 8" in the £1000 - £1100 sort of territory at Astroshows. At that price its a good scope and a compelling choice.

As John said : alt az equals comfortable viewing. A good observing seat is essential as well. I use a Mey 'musicians' chair. FLO used to sell then, although mine was purchased direct from the Fatherland. It goes up and down in seconds, and has a handy tilt feature if you need it.

Currently averaging 1 clear evening / night per month in Derby ; sometimes 2. And sod's law, i'm at work on those occasions.......😶

Excellent image with a phone Stu 👍🏼

I'm wondering if we may see a very slight 'dusting' of the edge of the moons limb at max eclipse ? (19:10hrs) It passes pretty close to the Umbral shadow at that time. Maybe.....maybe not......? 🤔 I'll have the DSLR ready in any case ; you never know.

I wish Saturn was -2.0 !!

Btw, this is the link for the 'real' event https://europeanastrofest.com

Yes, its early this year by about a week. Its usually on the second weekend of February. I have to say i've been disappointed with the last 2 Astrofests, and bear in mind i've attended the last 15 shows since 2005. Not nearly as many vendors there, it really was noticeable last year. Booking lecture tickets was also problematic last year, due to them not confirming who was speaking until virtually right up to the date of the show. At one time, all talks were sorted before the end of November or December, and there no longer seems to be any forward planning (hence : talk tbc) The American lecturers from Nasa etc no longer appear on the program, which i find a disappointment. I'm probably going to give it a miss myself this year. The end of an era. Alot of that is down to the logistics of travelling down to Kensington from Derby. But its also down to the fact we now have the PAS show in Kettering which was excellent last year and a lot closer to home, as well as the IAS to look forward to in the autumn.

I had a 13 month wait for my TEC, which while a tad frustrating, gave me plenty of time to sell and save. Expect the wait time for that particular scope to eventually fall to around 6 months though once TEC have sorted out all their back orders. Not sure when that will be ? Maybe its worth sending an email to Uri at TEC to get a better idea ?