wookie1965

From reading this I should get prism diagonals for my slow scopes i.e two f10s and a 9.3 going cost me a fortune.

A warm welcome to SGL

Yes a Barlowed laser is easier then you can use any laser whether that is collimated or not. Then you can check with the Cheshire just to be sure.

As Pixies said just shine a red torch into the the Cheshire from the side takes seconds.

A lot of laser collimators especially the cheaper ones need collimating. Collimating is like riding a bike once you do it you will find it much easier every time. Once you have collimated the secondary you will not need to touch that again unless you drop the OTA or bang it hard. Take your time follow these pictures and you will get it Astrobaby`s is very good I used both when I first tried. If you have the Cheshire/ Sight-tube if you pull the Cheshire up just enough to just see the secondary you can get that at its roundest which is what you want then the collimation screws will get the tilt right to see the primary mirror clips. I hope this helps.

It's a lovely camp just hope the weather is better than the last time I was there.

A warm welcome to SGL

Thank you for that appreciate it.

All those green and black ones put mine to shame, I have a 20mm SVBONY eyepiece in here now.

Some very fine doubles there thanks for posting.

A warm welcome to SGL

As Lunator has said Struve 1695 is doable "Hass" says mags 6.0` and 7.8` with a separation of 3.8° I have split this in my 4" Hass says Sun yellow and pure Violet whereas Webb says White and Ash. I noted White with the companion having a yellow tinge.. Paul

Do you really want a book as there is a online resource that has them all. https://avila.star-shine.ch/astro/messiercharts/messierTelrad.htm

If its anything like the S10 you can say capture or cheese and it will take photos I do when I am shooting the sun.

A Warm Welcome to SGL, I changed my whole observing after meeting a now a very good friend. I had stuck with galaxies and stuff in Turn Left but like you I was viewing the same things. Now I go for clusters both open and globular and double and multiple stars much more to look at and there are some wonderful different colours in the double and multiple stars systems.

A Warm Welcome to SGL

Brilliant loved that 20" with plate solving if I got a big dob like that I would want to do that

Great report Bootes unfortunately is too far south for me now but there are some doubles in there to try when it comes around again thanks.

Maybe this will help a bit.

The BST`s are a real jump they punch well above their weight and price. I had the all from 5mm to 25mm I still own 3 the 8mm 15mm which I think is outstanding and the 25mm I have used them in F5 scopes both a 6" and a 8" and now use them in my Fracs two of which are F10 and 1 of F9.3. They are very good I will never sell them.

Great list I will check if I have done any of these and write ones down I haven't thanks.

A warm welcome to SGL

Full set of bearings for my EQ5 goto courtesy of Tim (Franklin) thank you very much.

Excellent choice, that size is brilliant on all objects and from darker skies you will be able to see loads of deep sky objects. I was thrilled when I took mine to a dark sky and started spotting galaxies I had never even thought of. The "Whale and Hockey Stick" for two, NGC 4631 and NGC 4656/4657 Stunning in the same FOV.

A word of warning on Lasers the cheaper models almost always need collimating themselves very tricky for someone who hasn't done it before. If you intend to use a laser get a very good one like the Hotech, myself I have had two cheaper ones both needed collimating the first one was impossible and went in the bin. Saying that even a cheap out of collimation laser can be used to collimate the primary using the Barlow method, https://astromart.com/reviews-and-articles/reviews/beginners/show/barlowed-laser-collimation-made-easy I used a Cheshire/ Sight tube mostly I did use the Barlowed method in the field as its quick and easy once learned.