McEloff

I'll just have to keep on experimenting to see what works for me on Mars (and make sure the other variables are not affecting it). Its a few weeks till it's at opposition, so hopefully I can make the most of that if its a clear night. Thank you, every day is a school day. It is very possible that there was haze/high cloud around, I just need to make sure I cover all the other variables and then learn what affects the rest. I'm lucky in that I've got farms on 2 sides, but have a handful of houses just below where Mars sat. According to an online light pollution map I am only at a 20.4 but its good enough to keep my son and I busy for now and it will get better in winter of course. I've not tried to quantify the NELM here yet, but will make a point of it next time. I'm sorting a battery out at the moment so that we can become mobile and then go look for darker spots. We've got friends who live in a 21.7 area, so planning a trip with the scope there, and I see Slains castle being mentioned as a possible spot, and seeing as that is a bit closer we may take a drive there soon.

Thank you very much everyone. It's possible this added to it, it was quite clear (from what I could see) and there is only a handful of houses between me and Mars but it all adds up... I'm fairly certain my collimation is good, I see the clips and spot in the centre, but will check again tonight. Thank you very much for mentioning diffraction spikes! I googled it, and I do see it, it was actually one of things I wasn't sure whether its an issue or not. Glad to know its a good thing! I've got the flextube, but do have a shroud on it. My backyard is fairly dark... just a few lights I need to look across when viewing Mars, so that may well have affected it. My comparison for that night was M57, M81 & M31 all of which came out quite well. I did have dew on my Telrad, so it was the right conditions for it, but I actually never checked my eyepieces. Will keep an eye out for it next time. On a good night I am easily on a 5, but will make a point now of using this as a reference point

Hi, I've now had my 250px dob for a few weeks and managed to get a few good sessions out of it, but there has been times when the viewing was not as good as I wanted, and I couldn't figure out why... so I was hoping I can be pointed to a resource to explain the reasons for it? How do I tell whether I am being influenced by collimation, focus, atmospheric conditions, dew or light pollution etc? I know this a very broad question, but was hoping there was a resource somewhere that I can look at that explains that if x happens, then it is likely because of y, if that makes sense? As an example, when viewing Mars again this weekend I ended up with a 'cloudy' circle all round it, which I thought may be dew, but none was obviously visible on the secondary (and it went away with dso's). If it was light dew, it may have been amplified as I was pointing the scope over some houses, so maybe the light pollution had more of an effect than when pointing it straight up? Fwiw, I'm in Bortle 5 skies, I let the scope cool down at least an hour and use ES 82's (6.7, 11 & 24) and I believe I am collimated (I do check with a cheshire). Thanks for any help!

Thank you, I am considering 2nd hand, just not found what I'm looking for yet... It'll be a bonus for me if I can snap a few pics of the moon or whatever with whatever scope I get, but it's not a can of worms I want to open just yet!

Thank you for your feedback, appreciate it. I'm considering everything and anything at the moment. I did favour an SCT initially (Nexstar 8SE or even a C8 on an AVX mount), with a Newtonian SW 200P on an HEQ5 Pro mount a close second, but as I am happy to forego AP for this one (as even those will be a compromise) and storage/size/weight is not a major issue for me, I figured I would maximise aperture for my money and thus I swung over to the Dob. The money 'saved' can be used on eyepieces etc. I've been looking at 2nd hand options, but just not found what I've been looking for yet, but will keep on looking...

Hi all, Any chance I can get some feedback on what my options are for a first scope? I am happy to ignore AP for now, and only concentrate on visual for this scope. No preference between planets and dso's at the moment, so want to be as versatile as possible on that. I do want goto on it though to maximise viewing time. I am not fussed about the flextube part of it, but Skywatcher doesn't seem to do the solid tube in a 250 goto anymore? I know Bressier, Orion etc exist, but they are all more expensive. Is there any alternatives I am missing in this price range? The only 'issue' I have read about so far on this scope is how the f4.7 will affect my choice of eyepieces. I was planning on starting off with just the Baader Zoom and a Barlow. I am aware that it may not be ideal, but lots of people seem to get along fine with it in this scope, and I can always get something like the ES 82's at a later stage in the sizes I end up using most in the zoom. Any advice or input appreciated!