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PorkyB last won the day on August 28 2012
PorkyB had the most liked content!
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260 ExcellentAbout PorkyB
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Rank
Proto Star
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Male
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Location
Birmingham
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PorkyB started following How accurate is Stellarium for Satellites? and South Birmingham
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Bromsgrove Astro have a dark site, only 30 minutes from South Birmingham. They meet 1st and 3rd Monday each month.
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Printing Astro-images
PorkyB replied to adavies660's topic in Getting Started General Help and Advice
I've always had good results from http://dscolourlabs.co.uk/ They're cheap too, £1.15 for 16x12. It took a bit of experimenting to get the image brightness right. I found the prints a bit dark so now I make the images a bit brighter for printing. -
Last school year I did talks for 9 year olds and 5 year olds. I took a telescope and lots of photos. The children had clearly been well prepared by their teachers and knew a lot before I spoke to them. Most of the time was taken up with a Q&A session. The older children asked a huge variety of questions, from "have you ever seen a UFO?" to "Do any of the exoplanets found by Kepler have a breathable atmosphere?" (yes, really!). The younger children mostly wanted to know what the sun and planets are made of. It was a hugely enjoyable experience and I have been invited back to do th
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MONTH BY MONTH OBJECT LIST
PorkyB replied to DAVE AMENDALL's topic in Getting Started With Observing
There's a list on the front page of the Bromsgrove AS website (about a third of the way down the page). Not surprisingly it is tailored for central England. There is no distinction between easy / difficult or visual / imaging targets, but it's a starting point. http://www.broms-astro.co.uk/ -
W&W Astro are on ebay as "Dewheater". They sell dew heater bands and cables. I have bought several heater bands from them. All have arrived quickly, worked perfectly and are very competitively priced. My latest purchase is a heater to wrap around the secondary mirror of my Newtonian scopes - it works a treat. It's good to see a small supplier entering the market and doing such a good job.
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Cricket bags on wheels - telescope transport?
PorkyB replied to noah4x4's topic in Getting Started General Help and Advice
Cricket bag and a couple of cheap pillows - just right for my 130PDS. I used to use a hockey kit bag for my bins, small scope and tripod. -
ED80 DS Pro / HEQ5 Pro / Eyepiece set
PorkyB replied to PorkyB's topic in Sold / Expired Classified Ads
All sold -
ED80 DS Pro / HEQ5 Pro / Eyepiece set
PorkyB replied to PorkyB's topic in Sold / Expired Classified Ads
I could post the eyepiece set at extra cost. I think the size and weight of the HEQ5 would make it uneconomic to post. -
ED80 DS Pro / HEQ5 Pro / Eyepiece set
PorkyB replied to PorkyB's topic in Sold / Expired Classified Ads
ED80 sold. HEQ5 Pro and eyepiece set still available -
Skywatcher ED80 DS Pro (dual speed focuser), comes in original metal travel case with the following accessories: 50mm finderscope, 28mm (2”) LES Skywatcher eyepiece, 2” Di-Electric Star Diagonal. Telescope is in excellent condition. All accessories in excellent condition. Travelcase does have some marks and scuffs as would be expected from use. £300 Skywatcher Synscan HEQ5 Pro. Excellent condition, with Maplin’s shockproof, waterproof case. Original tripod £550 Celestron Eye Piece and Filter Kit. Eyepeices and filters in good condition. Travelcase does have marks
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I had a bit of a change of plan and ended up buying the Maxvision 16mm and 24mm. I thought the exit pupil of the larger EPs would be too much for my 50+ year old eyes. I am very happy with them, they are my most used eyepieces. I recommend them to anyone, the views are lovely and crisp.
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For prints I use http://dscolourlabs.co.uk/ Print prices are cheap enough that you can afford to experiment a bit. I find their Pro service the best (that's where they don't do any adjustments). Make your images quite a bit brighter than you would for display on screen as they always come out darker than you expect. Quality is good and I have had orders back in less than 24 hours(order at lunch time and they arrive in next morning's post). For calendars I use http://www.saxoprint.co.uk/ Don't be fooled by the uk web address, they are in Germany, but they still turn orders round in less th
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Alternative processing software
PorkyB replied to craigb1970's topic in Getting Started With Imaging
Photoline http://pl32.com/ is my main image processing tool. It has many features of Photoshop, but at 59 Euros is much cheaper. -
Processing is more art than science, I think. Subtlety is not my strong point, so I do sometimes overdo the red. That's why I never process images when I get in and I'm tired, I always have a good sleep first.
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I like the dark background, but I do take your point about clipping out the detail. I am surprised I got so much done, I can't remember the last time I had an all-nighter. I don't have an observatory, all my gear gets packed into the car, driven 30 miles into the countryside and setup in a field.