miguel87

I opted for for 4 wyepoeces and a barlow. I have a TAL barlow which are fairly well regarded but not the easiest to get hold of.

I mainly use it with smaller focal length EP's because it maintains eye relief and is generally a more comfortable experience than a very short focal length single EP.

My smallest eyepieces are 9mm (111x mag) and 6mm (167x mag). So with the barlow I also get 222x and 333x with the same eyepieces and to my eyes the image is not significantly degraded other than the unavoidable dimming.

In actually fact I can also get 250x because the barlow can be unscrewed into two pieces and screwed into the eyepiece as a 1.5 barlow (quite a few barlows do this)

5 minutes ago, Ships and Stars said:

Hi Miguel, it does, but it seems that perhaps an hour each side is still dark enough for a quick look through the scope. I'm near Aberdeen, so fairly far north. Last night we had 1.5hrs astro darkness, but after this moon phase, that will be gone until late August here! I'm still going to try over the summer, but only with the smaller dob and binoculars.

Aaah my bad, I didnt think about geographic location. I'm gonna have to skip ahead on my clear outside and see when if my darkness stops down here at 51.6 degrees north!

That's a very expensive way to see a poor picture of DSOs on a monitor. Why not just google them for free?

If you want to be inside with your feet up viewing remotely then maybe a telescope is a bad choice? 

I may be corrected by more well informed people. But a live view with any camera isnt gonna show much other than bright objects because it has no time to expose the image.

Only my opinion. ✌

2 minutes ago, Ships and Stars said:

Dark Sky Osprey (DSO) love it! Sounds like a good location there on the border. Last night was end of astro darkness, but I did notice a week ago with the unihedron I was still getting largely the same reading an hour after astro darkness was supposed to end, so perhaps I'll be able to view a little over the summer. 

Good to know. I always assumed that the black section on clear outside represented astronomical darkness.

On 27/04/2020 at 18:58, Pete Presland said:

Looks like probably no eyepiece to me.

Could be wrong but I am in agreement with this.

Looks like a view of the secondary missing the left hand edge due to photo not taken perfectly straight down focusser. 

Also explains why position of black dot (secondary shadow) relative to white light could move as stated by OP.

1 hour ago, scarp15 said:

 'Dark Sky Osprey' I think. 

D.S.O.

1 minute ago, apophisOAS said:

But when you align to another star or 2 it will change the mount anyway so no point moving Polaris to the centre before that as its a good idea to align near your target.

Roger

What on earth are you talking about?

Sorry, no offense.

2 minutes ago, Robindonne said:

the need of guiding instead of just tracking

There is no need unless you are doing long exposure astrophotography.

The level of accuracy being discussed here is insanely unnecessary.

Is the OP doing advanced astrophotography or visual observing?

8 minutes ago, Cuto100200 said:

Ahhh great, thank you, do you know if certain eyepieces scope specific? like does the aperture of the scope effect which eyepieces you should look at getting in terms of 6mm 8mm 10mm or even brand etc

I read your review/report on the Vixen SLV John which I thought was really informative so I definitely had this one in mind, quite a good price in comparison to some ive seen upwards of 150-200+ which at this stage im not quite willing to spend

All eyepieces generally work on all scopes (there are two main sizes 1.25 and 2 inch) the magnification with increase as your telescope gets longer.

1 minute ago, Robindonne said:

I agree with all the answers.  And maybe im to confused to see your points.  Or maybe im confused about the polaralign methods using asiair or sharpcap.  Im really just starting astronomy for some months. Im more experienced with making wooden  stairs on my cnc machine.  And if my axes are not calibrated perfectly the straight line im planning to route through wood will always need some movement of my second steppermotor.  
 

So to understand all of your answers.  Polaralignment can never be done accurate through the main scope?  

It could in theory but why worry when you can just use the mount and be done with it rather than worrying how well aligned your main scope and mount are, marking home position etc etc.

Align mount. Done.

1 minute ago, LongJohn54 said:

It's sometimes easier to watch a short video where someone explains why a good home position is required whilst showing you how to do it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fO6hyYtPwM

 

I think we are confusing things here.

Depends what the OP is doing.

For visual astronomy there is no need to mark a home position or even know where one is.

For photography it may be different.

2 minutes ago, Robindonne said:

Yes that’s exactly my point.  Whats the use of polaraligning without a solid homeposition?  

Polar align so that I can follow things across the sky using just the motor or turning 1 axis.

Without polar aligning my mount wont track stuff and I have to fiddle with tow knobs to keep track of things.

Just now, Robindonne said:

Yes i have the same small map of the area around the celestial pole in my polarscope.  And of course i use it and align it as perfectly as i can with my ps-align app.  It gives me a accurate position of polaris in that “clocklike map” in the polarscope i hope.  But my initial question was why we all have to mark our own homeposition on our mounts? Unless you have damaged or bent the bracket on top or the dovetails on your scope, and need to re-align both parts.

 Dont we all have our home position on the same spot?

Great method, exactly as I use.

So I dont understand why you need a home position?

I dont have one marked, dont need one.

My scope could be pointing due west when I align the mount. Doesnt matter, it is still polar aligned.

5 minutes ago, Carbon Brush said:

Some polar scopes have internal markings to help with alignment.

I have seen (or used) one with a circle, size to represent the circle of polaris, another with a rough map of bright stars near polaris, with a small circle where you put polaris.

HTH, David.

Your skywatcher mounts have this in the polar scope. Makes it super easy, just get polaris in the circle.

2 minutes ago, Robindonne said:

So the asiair and sharpcap polaralignment methods make no sense?

You are just adding another potential cause of inaccuracy (finding the home position PRECISELY).

If you can polar align with the mount it is a better option as this dictates the position of the RA and dec axiis. And the scope on the mount is automatically aligned.

If you align via the main scope and you are not exactly in home position then the RA and dec axiis will be lined up wrong.

10 minutes ago, Robindonne said:

But when you polar align through the mainscope?

You should never be polar aligning through your main scope. 

If your mount is aligned then your scope WILL be pointed at the north celestial pole in home position.

I mean affordable is very subjective but I use the 6mm Vixen SLV in my 8inch newt. About 75 quid I believe.

Zenith is great and does make a noticeable difference.

I always try to leave it until the end of the session tho because it brings on the dew pretty quick!

Yeah, more accurate using the polar scope in the mount. I know its awkward to look through (I sit on the floor!) But you can buy a 90° attachment that makes it a doddle.

6 minutes ago, Shooting star said:

Wonder what you all think of SVBONY eyepieces. Not heard of them so cautious about quality...?

Never heard of them, sorry.

There's much easier ways of stealing 500 quids worth of equipment 😂

Plus its heavy and hard to get to without being noticed by alot of people.

But fair enough, im not too worried

17 minutes ago, geoflewis said:

Hi @miguel87, well now we know exactly where you live - you need to be careful about posting those GPS coordinates 😉.

I agree with you though, but then what you can actually see is largely affected by the quality of your eyesight. What I could see when I was 10 years old is vastly different than what I can see in my mid 60s... I know the skies have deteriorated, but as I child I could count naked eye stars in the Pleiades in the high teens (I think either 17 was my record), now I just see the main 6 or 7, sometimes 8.

I have an an app on my phone called 'Loss of the Night Sky' (http://lossofthenight.blogspot.com/2015/01/brief-introduction-to-loss-of-night-app.html). It gets you to look at a series of stars of varying, but gradually diminishing brightness and calculates what your personal limiting magnitude is. I get a very different result than what Bortle suggests I can see. My skies are Bortle 4, bordering on Bortle 3 (typical SQM 21.2-21.4), but the best I can see in seemingly perfect conditions is something like mag 5.5, so not even close to the suggested NELM of 6.1-6.5.

I will have a look at that app.

I dont mind people knowing where I live, all my neighbours know, my postman knows, my amazon delivery man knows, my employer knows, my friends know.

I dont understand the risk of somebody knowing where I live?

I see alot of paranoia online ✌

This is me, very low down.

I'm not sure about this bortle scale and naked eye limiting magnitude.

The worst score, 9 I think, says limiting magnitude of 4, described as inner city.

I used to live in central birmingham and there is NO WAY I am seeing coma berenices naked eye from there.

So I think it could do with some tweeking.

I am listed at bortle 4 and should be able to see magnitude 6 or higher but to be honest, a clear view of all main stars in cancer can be a challenge, and these arent even mag 5.

Just my thoughts!

If you have a skywatcher polar scope then 'polar finder'is the best and simplest one.

Depends what setup you have because aligning is a different process with different mounts.