Ratlet

57 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

Am I missing something? It says on mine that the extra £5 is for shipping from Spain and that it's the free shipping from the US that has custom clearance.

Ack.  No you are quite correct, I got things muddled up.  The extra shipping was for shipping from Spain which arrives quicker.  I in fact ordered from the States and didn't pay extra.  Just finished 2 weeks of 12 hour night shifts and my head is more mince than usual.

QC is always a concern buying direct from China.  This far I've only had minor issues thankfully and they've been resolved by AliExpress quite quickly.

I think svbony are trying to make a push to higher quality gear which is part of the reason I went for the sv220.  I was thoroughly impressed by the eyepieces (the sv215 is an absolute delight)  from them and figured they would do a reasonable amount of due diligence.

It performed well I think in the one night I got out imaging with it (despite only 11 minutes of data).

Really I'm not looking for a revelation but another opportunity to boost my understanding of how things work.  It'll be interesting to compare and contrast the narrower cut Vs the much broader UHC.  Doesn't need to be good, just good enough.

Cuiv the lazy geek did some testing and seemed to get stung a while back so it appears that QC of high performance filters is challenging.  It's a shame that they are so difficult to objectively test at home.

I really appreciate the spectrographs you post @Louis D.  I've got a folder full of them stashed on my computer.

I'm mostly just in it to get a flavour.  SVBONY have a sale on at the moment of some items on a price list and they had a couple oiii filters that were 50% off.  They are 18nm cut.  I had a look and cloudy nights suggested that 10nm was best and I thought that 7nm is pretty close to 10nm.

I've got a 10" Dob I want to try it on as well as a 5" Newtonian.  Had good experiences with both scopes and a 1.25" svbony UHC on planetary so wanted to see if there was appreciable difference.

Also the fact various chats on here have made me realise my 130pds with a 30mm uff will squeeze the entire veil into the fov which is quite exciting.

11 minutes ago, wookie1965 said:

I've just priced one up wow £92 

Get it from their store direct and it's a lot less.  Free worldwide shipping, though I paid £5 extra on the site for clearance at import.  £59 puts it in the realms of the nexyz:

https://www.moveshootmove.com/collections/move-shoot-move-rotator/products/msm-xyz-phone-mount-for-telescope

29 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

I think you gave the answer in the second half of that sentence.

There is no reason why not - and hence, answer is yes.

Dual band filter will pass both Ha and OIII - and while Ha is almost invisible to dark adapted person - so is the sky glow at that wavelength. Filter will act as OIII filter for 99.9% of the time (unless there is really bright Ha source - like M42, where it could make small difference over regular OIII in what it shows).

 

Cheers @vlaiv, you've saved me a chunk of money.

I guess it felt a little too good to be true, like having your cake and eating it.

I feel the answer is no, but I can't work out why...

I've got an SVBONY dual band filter (7nm pass).  I've been toying with the idea of getting an Oiii filter but wondering if I can use this instead.

They're both fantastic

2 hours ago, Louis D said:

When did Telrads start getting sold with built-in pulsers?  None of mine have one.  You generally have to install one of these kits yourself to get a pulsing function.  Are you referring to a Rigel QuikFinder instead?

Yes.  Yes I am.  I'd claim I was having a senior moment but I don't have the milage 😂.

Sound like you've got a plan.  And given me some dangerous thoughts about the FOV with a 60mm refractor...

1 hour ago, bosun21 said:

Sky Safari can be used in night mode with a red screen.

Aye, the only problem I've encountered is if I lock or unlock the screen I get it back on at full brightness.  The acetate also helps dim it down slightly more than just dropping the brightness

2 minutes ago, Louis D said:

I've had issues with multiple Telrads over the years.  They all seem to revolve around the switch (a potentiometer with switch) failing.  I've had some that won't come on at all, some that won't light until at full output, some with limited brightness travel before full brightness.  I generally just buy another because I don't have the spare time to mess with repairs, but you could try swapping out the switched potentiometer to see if that fixes the problem.

When I first got mine I thought it was broken.  I'd accidently set the pulse time for the circle to incredibly slow so that the circle was almost never displayed.  That's what I get for not reading the manual.

1 minute ago, Stu said:

I agree about using and RDF/TelRad in conjunction with an optical finder. The biggest problem can be getting reliably onto a starting star, and that’s where the RDF really helps put you in the right spot. Once the known star is in your optical finder then it’s just the same star hopping game as a usual, but with a few less to choose from.

I know you are perhaps not keen on electronic help at the eyepiece, but I must say SkySafari on a phone is amazing for starhopping in light polluted skies. You can tune the field of view and limiting magnitude visible to exactly match the conditions, then hop away. It doesn’t affect your dark adaptation because that is pretty shot already by the LP! 🤪

If you do want to preserve your dark adaptation you can get some red acetate sheet from ebay and stick it over the screen on your phone and turn the brightness down. I use an old phone so I don't have to take it off.  Skysafari can display the skychart in mono and it's pretty dim once setup.

The paid version lets you set an FOV for your equipment/eyepieces and you can tune the minimum magnitude for the stars so you can dial in the display perfectly.

1 hour ago, bosun21 said:

2.5 degrees FOV assuming you took the 32mm plossl to be 52 degrees.

I'm not sure what the FOV on the eyepiece is.  It's an svbony sv131 and I've seen as low as 42° and as a high as 55°.  I gave it the benefit of the doubt 😁.  Manufacturer claims 46° on their website and 48° on their website.

Works well as a finder eyepiece though.  Must admit I'm glad you pointed this out as I've been vastly underestimating how much of a step up the 2" superview is for a finder eyepiece.

21 minutes ago, The Lazy Astronomer said:

There's something I find very amusing about this statement 😆

You're a bridge builder all your life...

53 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

Skies are often bad here - mag 3.2 the other night and 4.5 on the best nights. Some thought it was amusing I use a 30mm 70° or 42mm 72° in the main scope as a finder. Well, a traditional 9x50 finder is useless - I can barely see any stars in it.

What I do is find the nearest bright star with a RDF, then hop from there. Charts oriented for the scope with diagonal help and I can usually find what I want easily enough.

I also don't like goto - takes out half the fun and doesn't necessarily find what I want.

I've got good skies but terrible eyesight even with glasses and seldom see below mag 4 without an an optical aide.

I've only ever done the same as Mr Spock.  I guess it will depend on the FOV you get but I found it easy enough with a 32mm plossl in my 130pds with a 2.8° FOV.  

I do use skysafari though with it setup to display the scopes FOV with my eyepieces so I can easily find my way around.

I think I've used my finders about once, telrad and a wide FOV eyepiece the rest of the time.

24 minutes ago, Stu said:

They are great! The more I use mine, the more I like it. Sorry Celestron, but it is way better than the NeXYZ, you need to up your game now!

Seems very well made and I suspect you can get a decent amount of torque on it.

Awake now here's a picture of the bag.

On 17/03/2023 at 12:05, Stu said:

Well done chaps on picking up the MBIIs, they really are excellent. So good that I’m thinking of picking up a second pair for Solar Ha observing alongside the white light. That’s if I can ever be quickest on the draw with stock 🤪. Didn’t expect them to be at the show, but glad they were for you guys 👍.

For me, it was the arrival of a long awaited smartphone mount. It is called an Accuview by MoveShootMove and looks excellent. All metal construction, great range of movement in three axes, it’s like a non floppy NeXYZ! It just about fits on my 17mm Nag so has its limits but still pretty good.

I’ll post up more about it separately but seems like it was well worth the wait.

My accuview turned up.  This thing is solid!  I'd post pictures but I'm working nights and the posty woke me up when he rang the bell.  In a fit of supreme lazyness I'm going to link Stu's pictures since I'm burst.

Came with a rather nice (cotton?) bag.  

It never occured to me that you would need averted vision for a double.

Fab report!

Have you tried a different power supply?  Could be it's not getting enough power.

Not the post man but the optician.  Got my contact lenses!  Got very mild astigmatism in one eye and profoundly shortsighted in both, but I don't like observing with glasses.

About the only frustration I have when observing is constantly taking my glasses off and on when check charts, coordinates or sketching so I'm hoping this will be a big force multiplier (for the approximately 3 hours and decreasing of darkness I get )

In the absence of observing, observing reports are the next best thing!

Glad you enjoyed it and cheers for the report.

Baargain Contrast booster:

Cheap yellow filter stacked with a cheap moon/skyglow filter.  Massively boosts contrast on planets for me and costs about £10 total.

20 hours ago, Stu said:

Not a 7, but I’ve got a 6 Pro. I’ve only used it a couple of times due to the weather, but the results are astounding! Once mounted on the scope (or on its own on a tripod) it enables the long exposure mode and takes a series of images which it stacks giving a 4 minute exposure (may be longer on a 7 Pro, not sure)

Here are some images I took with mine through a 4” scope I think.

If I could get this quality of imaging out of a phone I'll probably sell my astrophotography kit.

1 hour ago, bosun21 said:

The guide for the one from Simply bearings states that it should be the inner ring that is secured and not the outer. Whether this makes a difference I ain’t sure, but why would they state that otherwise.

Ah.  Mine was not from there but is mechanically identical but did not come with a guide on installation.  I would defer to bosun @wookie1965

49 minutes ago, wookie1965 said:

Did you screw the lazy Susan down there doesn't seem to be any holes to screw into without removing the plastic bits or do you rely on the centre bolt hold it in place thanks. 

I removed the little white plugs from the outer ring then screwed it to the ground board with a small washer between the ground board and the  lasy Susan.  The top boards just sits on top of the lazy Susan and is held by the centre bolt.  You might have to remove the small washer that goes with the centre bolt.