DirkSteele

Assuming you paid by credit card, notify the provider immediately, inform them it appears to be faulty and the seller is not abiding by distance selling regulations. They may refund if t d retailer continues to be difficult.

I expect there have been reports on volume / value of sales of equipment that are targeted to AP vs items that would be visual use and the former outweighs the latter. Though I have never seen any hard evidence presented so it could be one of those “facts” that has become accepted without any data to back it up. Has @FLO ever talked about the volume of sales for visual vs astrophotography?

It is a very interesting question. It also feels like observational equipment has some what reached a plateau. The last great breakthrough in eyepieces was the Ethos range back in 2007. The best optic I have ever used (the LZOS 130/1200 triplet) was designed in 2003 and hit the market in 2005 (though we should not discount the emgerence of quality scopes from the far east bringing decent scopes to the masses - 25 years ago, you wanted an APO, it was Tak or AP and that was about it and a fat wallet to afford it). I guess faster focal ratio mirrors have allowed for huge Dobs without the needs for a step ladder which is a relatively recent innovatiion (and useable thanks to coma correctors), and the recent advances in night vision technology if the prices can reach mass market may drive the next stage of visual observing. Increased urbanisation and corresponding light pollution is certainly not helping the visual cause. There is no doubt that what was once a niche backwater of amateur astronomy has now become the dominant force in the hobby thanks to digital detectors and mount advances (anyone want to hyper their film and then manually guide a long exposure for several hours? No, didn't think so). You can see that with production numbers of the LZOS 130 scopes. The 130 f9.2 which is very much a visual use scope has around 130-140 scopes out under the stars. The 130 f/6 which is targeted more to imaging (though still a very capable observing scope) has sold about 3x that number. I do wonder if imaging as we currently know it will also face a big decline. The younger generations (without wishing to be disparaging) are often spolied with 4k images, instant results and a lack of attention / focus / patience which would make long exposures and hours processing images seem like a fools endeavour and those instant gratification scopes that put images on screen for you to enjoy become the dominant force. I certainly see a dominance of the question "can I take a photo of that with my phone?" at outreach events indicating holding the phone to the EP to capture the Moon or Saturn, comes mostly from the younger generation. I tell them to just enjoy the view with their eyes as handheld that is very difficult but you can see they really want to get a photo so they can get some likes which seems more important than actually experiencing and enjoying what they are witnessing. Sky and Telescope had an issue about 15 years ago with a cover photo of 10-year old girl hugging her dobsionian asking the question "where are all the young astronomers?" Perhaps another cover story is coming in a few years..."where are all the astrophotographers?"

That budget given the weight and length of the scope does not present many choices. The iOptron Az Pro has a load capacity of 15kg but as we all know the length of the tube also comes into play. I have used an 8kg refactor on mine which is about 80cm long. Not sure how it would handle your scope. Have you considered rotating tube rings as an alternative? That way you can easily position the eyepiece. You may need to shop around as not as common as they should be. Like these though these are not available anymore. http://scopestuff.com/ss_arrs.htm

If you are prepared to spend, the Panther TTS 160 is by all accounts a superb tracking alt Az. Also agree with the Skywatcher Az-Eq mounts suggestion. If you can live without tracking /go-to, you can add the Tele Optic Ercole into the mix of manual mounts which I use quite often. http://alpha-lyrae.co.uk/2015/05/03/tele-optic-giro-ercole-alt-az-mount-review/

Really good episode.

Beautiful!

There is a reason why I have so many airline portable scopes and get most of my stargazing done in a 2 week period every year! We did pick a hobby that does not always mesh with our weather, frustrating as that is. But I always find an amazing night eventually comes along and washes away the memories of all the disappointments.

Assuming they are visible, Saturn and Jupiter would be the obvious choices followed by the moon (as long as it is not the boring full phase). A DSO pick would be the Double Cluster or M45 if it up (and you can fit in the field) and Albireo for the colour contrast. If it is winter obviously add M42 which is good even if not dark adapted

Reminds of stargazing back in Oman in 2012. First night, one of the best, darkest and most transparent I have ever experienced. Day two, a biblical level sand storm. Seeing a wall of orange slowly approaching is quite something. And that howling sound before it arrived! That night was a write off unsurprisingly. Sadly day three still had loads of fine sand particles in the air and I didn’t want to risk my optics. BTW, Astronomy in your t-shirt (I.e 25C nights) is rather nice in my opinion. Certainly better than dressing like an arctic expedition.

Just looked it up. Seems it is actually a quadruple system but the other two components are unresolvable (one is an eclipsing binary) with one being only 7 au from the visible star (9 year orbit). Will have to check this one out. Always love a colour contrasted double star. Thanks!

Personally I would never (and never have) leave a telescope to the mercy of baggage handlers. And certainly not a soft sided case. The bag could easily end up with hundreds of kilos on top of it in the hold, as well as being thrown around and dropped. If you are adamant to do this, you should remove the primary and secondary mirrors and carry them in the cabin and hope the truss structure is not damaged in transit but I would much prefer a hard case. I have those Geoptik bags and the padding is fine but not bullet proof by any stretch. Personally, I would purchase a smaller scope than can go carry on such as Skywatcher Heritage 130 or 150p and get a simple alt Az mount and tripod, both of which can go in checked luggage with less risk.

Sorry misread, thought the original question was about the DZ. I saw what Stu did to take abroad. Tempting to get a light weight 4" scope. Love the LZOS 105 but the weight means the mount and tripod need to be far more robust.

Quite some time given the source is on a c.130 year orbit and replenishes the debris each time it passes by (last visit was 1992) and the comet is about 26km in diameter. There is a non-zero chance that Swift-Tuttle is a planet killer for us (well into the future). So that might eventually bring the meteor shower to an end. But no one would be around to notice!

Is the DZ actually cabin bag compatible if you just unscrew the focuser? I had always excluded the DZ as a possibility as I would want a scope that can come abroad with me. Assumed that meant DC only.

It should! I once forget the tripod and ended up doing a 200 mile round trip back into central London but was rewarded with a couple of glorious nights around new moon. Don’t forget to say thanks to the clouds gods lest they smite you next time for a lack of gratitude.

So please quit so the rest of us can enjoy all of that!!! 😉

2018. And you will get me in trouble with the CFO! Would love to observe through one and if I thought I had somewhere to mount it permanently with skies that would allow it’s full potential to shine through….

I recalled there was a Beast (though looking a the pic, I would say smaller than your one so let’s call it Beast Jr) at AstroFest about 10 years ago. Though I think there was some smoke and mirrors (should that be smoke and lenses?) going on as I do not believe the actual objective was installed.

Ha! Tell me about it. Last night (yes at night), several baseball cap wearing individuals knocked their hat against the EP as they went for look through the scope on Primrose Hill. No one from the BBC was wearing a hat though, just headphones to talk to HQ i guess.

Does this count? It was technically under ground in the basement but it was daytime at AstroFest. APM actually borrowed my LZOS 180/1260 for their display one year. Just stumbled across the photo while looking for something else. oh and Al Nagler using one his scopes upstairs on the ground floor. Also daytime!

I can resist everything, except temptation… And holy cow, that beast is the temptation!

How do you find it when pointing above 60-degrees? I have tended to find that having the weight offset from the rotation axis tends to pull the scope backwards so it gets harder to point up at those altitudes without some drift.

Welcome to SGL. As others have suggested, ask questions in the beginners forum. Lots of knowledgeable people on here who can help out. If you want some bedtime reading, consider the book "Turn Left at Orion." Really good beginner book.