johninderby

FLO has stock of the new V2 and use the proper image of it. Apparently a lot of other dealers are still trying to shift old stock so hence are using the old photo.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/astronomy-cables-leads-accessories/hitecastro-dc-focus-controller.html

BTW have just sent them an email so hopefully will get a reply and update.

A couple of boxes from Germany. 🙂🙂🙂

The number of vanes makes a difference in the number of spikes that will show in a star image.

Hi

Sent them an email last week but no answer yet. I’ll try again tomorrow. Maybe it’s proving more of a problem than expected. 🤔

Collimation was spot on on mine as well. 👍🏻

And the ££££ ........ ?

Could be this I suppose. 🤔

Bresser makes a wide range of scopes from the cheapish small refractor stuff to some very nice scopes. 

The mak is at it’s best on lunar / planets but also very good on small DSOs. It's the narrow field of view that you have to be aware of. BTW no one scope does it all. Most have a few scopes such as a mak, refractor for widefoeld and perhaps a dob. Dobs are great on the fainter DSOs. You can’t get more aperture for the money than a dob and they are easy for the beginner to use.

I’ve had a couple of the Skywatcher / Celestron 127 maks but have now moved on to the Bresser mak.

Makes you wonder if they are having some of the parts made elsewhere instead of all in house? 🤔

Yes the Baader film will give you the best solar filter images. The problem with cheap glass filters is that they aren’t optically flat unlike the Baader film. Optically flat glass is VERY expensive to make and would add hundreds to the cost of even a small filter.

There are two types of the Baader film. The 3.8 for photography only and the 5.0 for visual. Never ever use the 3.8 for visual. Not safe.

The film is surprisingly tough and can take a knock that would shatter a glass filter.

Better than any of the solar filters is a solar wedge though. The TS one is not very expensive but really good and comes with the filters you have to buy at extra cost for most wedges.

https://www.astroshop.eu/eyepiece-side-filters/ts-optics-solar-prism-with-polarizing-and-narrowband-filter-1-25-/p,53753

No Groats then? 😂

Might work for an alien?  😁

When I first looked at the photo I thought WOW, what a pair of binoculars. 😁

You might want to check out the Bresser 127 mak as well. More expensive but has the edge in performance partly due to it actually being a full 127mm aperture unlike the Skymax 127 that is about 118mm. Has a few other nice touches as well. Hard to find second hand though so buying new is proably necessary

 https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bresser-telescopes/bresser-messier-mc-127-1900-maksutov-cassegrain-ota.html

Don’t know of any proper comparisons but can make the twofollowing recomendations

Excellent  quality and the best buy. Similar perormance to the Lunt. Comes with the TS version of the solar continuum filter as well. Several members on SGL are using it and very happy with it.

https://www.astroshop.eu/eyepiece-side-filters/ts-optics-solar-prism-with-polarizing-and-narrowband-filter-1-25-/p,53753

Probably the best 1.25” wedge is the Lacerta. Still reasonablely priced though you will have to buy a Baader contiuum filter separately. Found the 2” version was a match for the Baader cool wedge.

. https://www.365astronomy.com/Lacerta-Brewster-angle-Herschel-Wedge-with-30mm-Prism-T-thread-ND3.0-1-25-Nosepiece-and-1.25-Eyepiece-Holder.html

good odea to get a sigle polarising filter as well toadjust the image brightness.

Lot more expensive than the Altair new though. About 62 quid delivered from Berlebach.

The ENS price was very reasonable in comparison. Don’t come up for sale second hand in the UK very often though.

None of my immediate neoghbpurs do any burning so not sure where it’s coming from. Smoke can carry quite a long way. 

Fortunately none of my neighbours seem to go in for outdoor parties or BBQs. Mostly retired people. Very quiet neighbourhood. Most of the time all you can hear is the birds tweeting. 

So I suppose I shouldn’t conplain that much.🤔

Oh and they don’t go in for security lights. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

I wonder if anyone else has the problem I sometimes have with people burning rubbish in their gardens and it allways seems to be in the evening up till about midnight. It’s not the smoke obscuring the view but sometimes it’s bad enough to make you cough and your eyes water so you can’t see clearly.

While living in Canada they had a simple solution. A total ban on open fires in ypur garden. 👍🏻

SGK

Star Gazers Kitchen 😂

Agree with the above that not having the original box for Televue or similar price eyepiece only makes a small difference but having the box etc. does give confidence that the eyepiece has been looked after.

More important is that it has the original dust covers. If they’re missing puts me right off and I’ll keep on looking for one that does.

As bread making seems to be catching on here on SGL decided to have a go myself. Been ages since I last made my own bread.

Ingredients for making some dark rye bread. Very hard to buy proper rye bread in the UK. What they sell as rye bread is white flour with a bit of rye. This will be the full on dark and dense bread with sunflower and pumpkin seeds as can be found in Germany etc.

Found a source of old fashioned stone ground rye made in a water powered mill. 👍🏻

These cameras aren’t the most sensitive but should find Saturn although may need a barlow to do so It’s just a case of experimentig.

The camera replaces the eyepiece. Just insert it in the scope like a regular eyepiece.

This seems appropriate.

Curate's egg

A curate’s egg is something that is partly good and partly bad. A curate is a junior cleric. We are fortunate to know the exact origin of the term curate’s egg. It can be traced back to a cartoon published in Punch magazine issue November 9, 1895, drawn by George du Maurier. In the cartoon, a nervous curate is eating an egg at the bishop’s table. The bishop expresses concern that the curate has received a bad egg. The curate doesn’t wish to trouble or offend the bishop so he replies, “Oh, no, my Lord, I assure you that parts of it are excellent!” Obviously, an egg is either fresh or rotten, an egg cannot be partitioned into fresh parts and rotten parts. Originally, the term  a curate’s egg referred to something that is actually bad but declared good. Today, the meaning has changed to describe something partly good and partly bad, something that is not quite