StarryEyed

Its a annular eclipse not an eclipse, am I getting picky in my later years? or more likely just bored on a cloudy Saturday evening with nothing else to-do. At least I can see some sunspots on the sun in the video FROM Mars more than I can see from SE England. Weird that the Sun should look so small compared to Phobos given their relative size.

You'll get an enormous list of things from everyone here. My personal suggestion would to upgrade or build one thing at a time you would be surprised at how much of you dream setup will be up for sale in a couple of years. Some things you can keep for life, most things not. So put everything aside for now and ask yourself. If I could get one telescope that even if I have others for particular purposes what would be the one best suited for me. You find that everything else will follow on from there. Your budget puts you in a position that very few are ever in. It might be your one time chance to pick up that particular telescope. So look at it this way one item from SBIG Astrophysics Takahashi TEC Software Bisque could eat up all of your budget so spend wisely and for the long term you lucky fella.

Isn't this why we have children. When they ask you what your doing you tell them its Easter and your waking up the rabbits, they are already late with the Easter eggs! At which point they ask if they can do it. Its perfectly legal if their your kids Im sure.

Hi and welcome.

Two nights ago making a snap decision to observe the moon in between the clouds and laughing whilst looking through the eyepiece because the moon looked so good. I cant belive this still happens to me Ive been looking at the moon through telescopes since I was twelve you'd think at fifty five the novelty would have worn off. But no its still a lot of fun. Happy nights and found memories.

That is true and it gets mentioned on solar herchel wedge instructions.

Hi James

Your hands must be as steady as a brain surgeon's to track things at those magnifications. I was wishing I had put EQ5 with it motors on my tripod last night rather than the Ercole Giro which I favour. I had broken clouds slowly blowing through but the moon looked great in the big gaps. I was chuckling to my self from time to time. It made my evening.

That will kill it for sure! maybe overkill, might be a lot of energy in a small area. But getting the whole scope out in the sun is a good idea and will treat all the glass and surfaces distribute the energy evenly and in any case a bit if solar projection makes it bit if fun as well. On a nice sunny day doesnt even need to be a warm one I also give my refractor a nice clean down with a soft cloth and all that. Since I had that problem care and maintenance has become part of the enjoyment of getting the scope out on a sunny day and making sure I am looking after it. Its prevention but also good fun.

UV will kill it but you need a powerful source which the sun is so putting it in you telescope on a sunny day will also do what a telescope does best and concentrate the UV. I had some on a diagonal and a scope lens some years back and since I started storing everything with decadent packets and lots of them the problem has never repeated. They are cheap and you can never use enough. I put them in everything telescope related. Its a small price to pay. Forget about the pennies it might work and makes sence or just unclude them in the mix if you like.

That's good news and bad news but the bad good news is that can be fixed later on in life. I remember my mother telling me that she spent a lot of her time cleaning and dusting then when she had her cataracts done she discovered that her house was in fact spotless and sparkling. Her cataracts had made her see otherwise.

The worm in my EQ5 has an o-ring and a thread shaft at opposite ends of the worm housing. I have typically found less backlash by attaching the the motor so the gears are at the end with the threaded shaft with the locking nut. But as ever whatever works for you.

Thats excellent work. Appriciate your metal work skills. If the plates came of a milling machine it would be a quality upgrade that might even have a market.

The late Sir Patrick Moore always recommended an eight inch newtonian or four inch refractor. From a young boy to grown man I always took his advice first last and always. or Read this from the British Astronomical Society https://britastro.org/2018/what-is-the-best-telescope-for-an-adult-beginner

I noticed this in the beta version which I recently switched to. Is the same functionality in the sfandard version? I wont be going back to the standard version the exoplanet plugin is just so easy to use its a game changer.

I'm not in front of the computer but from recollection there is a setting in plate solving for retries and a delay between them. I have used this and it resolved this problem for me. Didn't stop the trailing but allows you to get past it. As I don't guide I also break the session down into twenty minutes duplicate the session so NINA preforms another goto the same target and recenters. Not much time lost other than a couple of minutes for plate solving and a small slew. Keeps things centred and makes everything almost self checking.

I love the fact that gravitational lensing was a theory then observed and has become a tool to be used like this. Similar to the images published of black holes you just wouldnt have believed it possible some years back.

I love the speedy wanted one for the last thirty years but never could spare the cash. Right now I would rather put the money towards a high end eyepiece than one of these. A novelty watch, but I have to admit there has never ever been a better looking one and it reminds me how much I appreciate great design great craftsmanship and the people at OMEGA who have great pride in their work. Same way I feel about my Takahashi which I bought for my fiftieth birthday a speedy was on the list but my passion for astronomy goes back further than watches. I suspect this would end up unworn unloved and have lost much of its value and spoil my life long appreciation of the speedy.

The cost of an education for young people from underprivileged backgrounds is heartbreaking. Even as a well paid professional I baulked at the costs of pursuing a higher degree with the OU some years back. Its still heartbreaking the thought that I didnt keep going but what do you do. When I took my eldest to an open day at Southampton where he is studying now we meet a young lady who was starting her PHD in astrophysics on gravity waves by way of conversation she told me she had not had any financial help from her family as they were not in a financial position to help and had got that far on the student loan and her wits only. She was such an inspiration.

like lining up passing sats to spell COCA-COLA Wont be long..

I have wanted one for more than five years. I traded up to my current refractor and picked up the right eyepieces and the Ercole Giro two years later with a lucky break and had to wait another three years for this but finally, all good things come to those those that save and wait. I never had a tripod that felt so strong. Sunshine and clear skies came with it. So I am of out now.

Gary. A lot of views no replies I tried searching for those scopes here on SGL Some previous threads came up so you might try replying to them to resurrect those threads and see where that leads you. or Tweak the title to 12" f4 astrographs for exoplanet hunting" or something. That might draw the right people in.

Hope it doesn't sound like a house fly or a mosquito ! I lived on Borneo SE Asia for a couple of years and the sound of a mosquito makes me involuntarily go into scan and attack mode. Trying to swat an invisible mosquito in the dark with a flip flop is a recurring nightmare.

Software being code to make the controller board behave in a certain way. Hardware the controller board Software stored on the hardware is referred to as firmware. This software doesn't disappear when the hardware is turned off. Its still there when you turn it back on. That's really the definition of firmware There might be other software that runs on a computer to upload the firmware to the controller board. So it all depends on the context. Often people use these words software and firmware interchangeably. Which can make things tricky to follow.

Eduard. Outstanding work. How well does the HEQ5 hold up with a metre dish? Kevin.