SionR25

When you post a link by clicking the insert link box it comes up in a pop up window. Put your link in here and click ok. The link then gets put in the text box and a bit of text is highlighted. You can change that highlighted text to whatever you want it to say. Hope I have described it well enough . Sion

You should be able to see quite a lot. I have had pretty much the same scope for a few months now and it has shown me a lot, you can check my signature for what I have seen. I am sure there is also a lot more to see as well. If you look up the messier list you should be able to see most of them from where you are, not to far from me in Llanfairfechan . If you wanted to upgrade something I would say the eyepieces as it looks like you have the standard scope ones. The BST explorers are recommended on here, they are £41 each and for sale by a trader on ebay - Sky's the Limit. HTH, Sion

Ok, thanks for the replies . Which is the earliest camera that offered Live view? Thanks again, Sion

I've been looking at doing the same and have found these neoprene rolls. From the pics the look like they can be rolled up and description says 2-3mm thick so looks good for a shroud. HTH, Sion

I'm hoping to see it from Anglesey, wondering if anyone else around here is going to and if they could recommend a somewhere good on the island to view it from? Sion

Ok, thanks for the reply . Any suggestions on what to make a shroud from? Thanks again, sion

Hi everyone, As I am about to buy the 200p for my planetary and DSO viewing I was thinking of making my heritage 130p into a solar viewer but I don't know how safe it would be. This is mainly because of its exposed secondary. If I bought solar filter I would but it at the bottom of the scope, where it becomes solid as I have a round easter egg box lid that slots in perfectly but I'm worried about the secondary being exposed. Will the angle of it stop any unfiltered rays or should I make a shroud? Thanks in advance, Sion

Can only think of this for about £400: Skywatcher 200p on EQ5

Hi Steve, If you want short tubed ones the DS version have shorter tubes but are more expensive. These will have a lower f ratio for astrophotography. 200p DS: http://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-200p-ds-ota.html 250p DS: http://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-250p-ds-ota.html The nebula themselves don't move but the earths rotation makes them appear to move so will still need tracking. HTH , Sion

I've just seen a used 200p for sale in Warrington and I may be heading to Crewe tomorrow so its looking tempting. Is there anything I would need to look out for when buying a used scope. I guess mirror scratches and tube damage would be obvious ones but is there anything subtler that I need to check? Many thanks, Sion

Sounds like a good idea . Thanks for the suggestion about setting circle and wixey Stevetynant, looks a good way of finding your way round . Sion

Thanks again for the replies everyone If you were to pick a scope for imaging what would it be? I should be able to get around £1000 to put together an imaging setup by xmas. Thanks again, Sion

Thanks for the replies, will look into the suggestions . Sion

Hi everyone, After buying my Heritage 130p a few months ago I have become hooked . Now the inevitable has come and I have got aperture fever . Been saving up these past few months and have about enough to get a Skyliner 200P. First question, may seem obvious, but will there be a big improvement on visual from the 130P? Second, can this scope be put on an equatorial mount at a later stage? I would really like to get into DSO imaging in the future and was thinking of saving up for a HEQ5/NEQ6 for xmas and was wondering if this scope could then be put on that or is the explorer 200p slightly different so it can be mounted? Third, and last , are there any must haves you would recommend? I have bought Turn Left at Orion (great book ) and will be looking to buy a Telrad finder for the 200P so is there anything else? Thanks in advance, Sion

Ok, thanks for the quick reply Sion

Hi everyone, Does anybody know if the nexstar AZ slt handset would work in a skywatcher SUPATRAK mount making it a GOTO? I understand that both celestron and skywatcher are owned by the same company so presumably the mounts contain same system and gearing? Many Thanks, Sion

Yes, definitely much faster and really impressive. Don't know if I am imagining things but it also seems to make the battery last longer as well. Sion

Thanks for all the replies everyone . Hopefully I should get some shifts after my exams and start earning some money and see how my budget goes. For now though my laptop is coping OK with Ubuntu (a lot faster than windows) so will hang onto it for now. Thanks again , Sion

Thanks for the suggestions, will just have to wait a few more weeks for the next clear skies Sion

Thanks for the reply, got the internet up and working now. Downloading stellarium through software centre and will have a look at Wine, is it something on the software centre or do I need to google it? Thanks again, Sion

Have installed Ubuntu and quite like it, seems to run everything ok. I have two questions though. First, does SharpCap run one Ubuntu or will I need another program. Second, does anyone else with Ubuntu have a BT home hub? It won't connect to mine and just keeps asking for the password. Thanks in advance, Sion

Was clear all day hear yesterday and thankfully the clouds stayed away until 12am last night. Seeing as I had no school to wake up for today I stayed out all night using my new Turn Left at Orion and went DSO hunting. First thing was first, I made sure my RDF hadn't been knocked and lined up on Saturn and spent a while viewing that (once started its hard to stop ). Happy that I had seen all I could I turned my attention to M3 seeing as M13 was still just behind the corner of my house. Took me quite a while to find, about 15 minutes, but once I saw the faint grey smudge in my 25mm and got it centred I worked up through my eyepieces until I managed, just, the 7.5mm barlowed. I preferred just the 7.5mm so took the barlow out and carried on viewing. By this time M13 had rounded my house so I swung to that. Have looked at its location extensively on Stellarium so knew exactly where to go for this and got it centred and moved to the 7.5mm. Really impressive, nice round grey smudge filling up about half the FOV. All still clear and clouds just appearing on the horizon but I still had two objects I wanted to tick off my list, M81 and M82. Once again two objects I had looked at on Stellarium so I found it easily and got it centred. Moved to my 7.5mm and got one in the FOV. This again was impressive being the first two galaxies I had seen through a scope. Just knowing what you are looking at gives you a big wow factor. Cloud cover kept growing so I decided to call it a night and head in. All in all probably my second best viewing session, second only to seeing Saturn for the first time. Sion

Thanks for the replies . I will try installing ubuntu on my laptop and see how it goes. Thanks again, Sion

I would recommend Turn Left at Orion. Recently bought it for the same reason as you, new to astronomy and wanted to find my way about. I looked around on the forums and it seemed to be the most recommended book. I find it very helpful, detailed info on what to see and when to see it, a good lunar map and a chart of when/where to see planets. HTH, Siôn

Hi everyone, At the moment I have a 5-6 year old Acer Aspire laptop that is struggling to cope with SharpCap, Stellarium and Registax. I have been thinking of upgrading for a while but as it could still run internet explorer and other basic programs I put it at the bottom of priorities. Now though as mentioned it is struggling and I'm not getting a good nights observing out of the battery so am tripping over myself and others in the house on endless wires . I'm not looking to break the bank but would like something that could run these programs smoothly and keep a good charge of battery for a night or two. I have a budget of about £100-200. Thanks in advance, Siôn Edit: Accidently put my budget up to high, always the optimist