wookie1965

1 minute ago, KevS said:

Tend to carry my 8 x 30's on the bike, but mostly for twitching, tend not to do much astro that far North in the summer. The occasional squint at the night sky is of course allowed; that is if it gets dark enough.

I have 10 x 42`s and they are brilliant easy see Orion`s nebula plus the trapezium, double cluster all Auriga`s clusters so in a dark site see so much more  May even be able take a lightweight tripod.

3 minutes ago, KevS said:

Have not used that one so can't comment.  Normally once I am over or that near to the Scottish border I am on my cycle and wild camping, dropping into campsites every couple of days for R & R. Do you think there is scope on SGL  for astro friendly campsite recommendations?

K

If you are riding your bike I would go for a good pair of binoculars easier to carry. Otherwise you will need a small set up I small refractor with a easy to carry mount and a couple of eyepieces.

2 hours ago, KevS said:

This is a really good site and the skies are A1...……..when it's not raining. 

http://www.stonehaughcampsite.com/

Take lots of midge repellent after late May though.

K

I have looked at that but as I would go March or October making use of the darker nights 6 amp EHU is not enough I need to run a heater for the tent and then he mount it would be tripping.

I was looking at this one https://www.hadrianswallcampsite.co.uk/Home/TheCampsite

I am going have to visit there then sounds like a great place to camp and do some Astronomy.

23 minutes ago, wormix said:

Oooh - Tal 100, that’s the frac I’m holding out for. 

I may sell it.

I'm hoping to bring both my scopes the Meade 5" and the Tal 100rs depends on room.

Great Nick and I are next to each other double stars here we come. 😁

I have this to contend with so I made a shade 2nd photo but that completely blocks my view south I`m now in the process of making a hood to go over the lamp then take it off when I have finished.

3 minutes ago, Grant said:

We’ve still got four weeks to go, way too far off to worry about the weather!

We will have the marquee again this year, even bigger so even if the weather is bad we will still go ahead with the various talks, workshops. Quiz, demos etc.. so it will be a good weekend no matter what the weather does 😀

I know but its the thought of driving 2.5 hrs in the rain putting tent up in the rain and packing the tent away in the rain I do hope it gets better towards the end of the month I have been looking forward to this since I booked, meeting old friends and making new ones.

Cannot see an end to this rain is this meet going to be cancelled like Galloway a couple of years back if not its going be a mud bath so much rain to come all next week at least.☹️

Awful here high cloud Capella looked like it was in water I gave it a miss. 5am I could see Orion and Gemini looked at 7 sisters found a cluster not sure what it was at first thought it was Hyades but it was lower than that only saw it in binoculars.

As far as anything else nothing was on show like a blanket of cloud cutting Orion off from the rest of the sky.

Great sketches as usual.

http://www.astronomyboy.com/cg5/Astronomy_Boy_CG-5.pdf

I used this but be careful there are plastic washers you need to keep in the right place, when putting back together dont over tighten things.

Take photos as you go for reference.

A engineering friend did this smooth as silk now.

Wow you had a good night clouded out here until 4am when it cleared to a beautiful dark sky but I got back in bed. Cracking drawings I love "Hagrids Dragon" hopefully come SGL we will see loads more stuff. Only ever seen M1 in my 8" I will try with the 5" but I dont hold out much hope.

Great sketches again I am bringing my stuff down so I can sketch as well see if we match.

I will be incorporating those objects into a couple of lists thank you for posting. 

Welcome to SGL

As Shane says I have been viewing double stars for 3 years now and still only scratched the surface I could spend two weeks solidly on Cassiopeia and still not hit them all. 

https://www.skywatcherusa.com/pages/support-center

Download or read through the manual pertaining to your scope here.

I have just had a quick read through you can point to roughly north for autotracking but if you want to use it manually it says point to a bright star and go from there it does explain how you may have more luck this way.

I just used Cheshire sight tube really easy.

Welcome to SGL the 200p is a Great scope lots out there to see get a good book i.e Turn left at Orion.

Go to this address and download the right manual for your mount.

http://skywatcher.com/download/manual/

And this one

https://inter-static.skywatcher.com/downloads/Synscan_V4_Hand_Control_Manual_SSHCV4-F-161208V1-EN.pdf instruction manual - Sky-Watcher

A warm welcome to SGL

I am after a diagonal for my Meade 127 achromatic refractor, I'm going to see what FLO have at SGL in my price range I would like to put a self centering adapter in so I don't have to fiddle with thumb screw's in the cold this thread has give me some ideas thanks.

A warm welcome to SGL

I'm visual only I've dabbled with smart phone photography and probably will do that I've just started sketching double and multiple star's so I have a great deal to observe and sketch to keep me busy.

9 minutes ago, Stu said:

Excellent session there Paul. Glad the goto is working reliably now, makes such difference when you are not battling kit problems.

Ive put it down to only using one weight it was on the very edge of the counter weight bar and I thought it was balanced. When I went out a couple of weeks back balanced as usual but the OTA was pulling down not fast but enough, I thought if I put both weights on it would not work but tried pushed both to the top it was balanced. Crossed fingers it seems to be hitting everything now, last night everything was dead centre of the FOV unless I moved the focuser to a more comfortable position when it moved a bit but I just left it there. Tonight same again I have been dancing round the garden anyone seen me think I`m mad.

9 minutes ago, Rob Sellent said:

What a session! You packed in some gorgeous wonders. If you've got the juices flowing, I think some nights it's great to do as you have done and do a bit of a marathon and then other nights to slow down and sketch an object or two. It's been raining and cloudy here (Spain) almost nonstop for a month, so reading through your observations is making me itch to go

Yes a packed a lot in after the first 5 where dead in the middle of the FOV I just carried on I did not realise how many I had hit until I came in to write it up.