DirkSteele

Been doing this since I was a child so racked up quite a few, but off the top of my head, and in no particular order, some of the highlights include:

The Total Solar Eclipse in 1999, as seen from France.  Was cloudy until a few minutes before totality, and then the entire sky cleared.  Very lucky!

Hale Bopp was amazing, and I got to meet Tom Bopp a few months after it faded from view.

Seeing M42 for the first time through a scope.  It was my first Messier in a telescope and it blew my socks off.

One night in the desert in Oman stands out as probably the single most impressive night of stargazing I have ever had and I have had a few!

My first time exploring Argo Navis (Carina, Vela and Puppis) from Namibia.  Eta Carinae just W.O.W!!

Seeing 47 Tucanae for the first time.

The 2003 Mars opposition.  It was high in the sky and the closest approach in a very long time!

Seeing Saturn for the first time in a scope (imagine everyone has that on their list).  Also using Saturn to propose to my wife with a scope pointed at it in Namibia.

Working as the resident astronomer in gold rated NamibRand Nature Reserve in Namibia for a couple of weeks in 2014.  Certainly made the most of a 12" scope and those skies.

Edit: cannot believe I forgot the transit of Venus in 2004. Took the day off work, headed to my parents in Hampshire where my C11 lived at the time and had completely cloudless skies for the entire event.

I bet I could go on and on!  But I will let someone else have a go.😉 

7 hours ago, McNewt said:

Have you had to do any service to it?  Does it still operate as fine as it did when it was new?   

Still just like new, though the engraved serial plate has faded a little, but otherwise still like day one.

14 minutes ago, McNewt said:

I'm happy that they still offer them.  AFAIK there is no other non powered mount that has the same payload capacity.  Do you still have yours?

 

Yep still have it. It is a great mount. No other Alt Az out there I can find which matches it’s capabilities.

A finder is pretty integral to my star hopping and quite frankly I was getting fed up with the mediocre optics found in pretty much all 50mm finders. My Takahashi 30mm however is superb. Fancing a bit more of that action I placed an order for this.

Yes it is expensive (cost more than my first scope bought 25 years ago) but a quick peak at the moon this evening tells me it is a fab piece of kit.

On 08/10/2019 at 18:27, McNewt said:

I just got it through the door an unboxed. 

It has been an anxious wait to see how APM would solve my request on getting a hybrid version that can be converted between single and dual mount.   It turned out just perfect!   It is supersolid but still not at all hard to carry thanks to the integrated handle.   Since I'm not that heavy it is likely that I can sit on it and swing around with a scope mounted.    🙃    Clouds covers most of the sky tonight as usual.  I don't care.  I still contemplate taking all the gear out and watch the coulds just to get it out for a first spin.   Rain would be bad though.  

Wow they don’t sell many of those! I bought mine in 2013 with my APM LZOS 180mm triplet and the serial number is 0708. So 10 in about 6 years.

I have purchased from TrueTek Astro (previously known as True Technology so Mods please aggregate with that thread) and always found Nick very helpful and knowledgeable about Takahashi equipment.  This time was no different.

i decided I was tired of mediocre finders and believing the Tak 6x30 finder to be the best I have ever used, I felt the 50mm would be the same. Prices at the moment are around £315 on the internet but without prompting Nick offered it at £299 including shipping. He was expecting a new delivery within a week so I paid and he shipped out as soon as it arrived and it was delivered this morning. Just took a quick look at the Moon, it is very good!

Nice easy transaction as it should be.

I was also going to suggest digitizing them as well.

Some rather exciting kit listed so far! Wish I was coming so I could see all those scopes in the flesh.

Not that I am able to attend this particular star party due to other commitments, but for future reference, are those "glamping" pods/huts/cabins that are on the campsites webpage available to hire during SGL star parties?

21 minutes ago, Whistlin Bob said:

A few years ago, at our local club meeting (which is rural), a few of us had stayed into the small hours and the police turned up responding to reports of shifty looking characters hanging around the forestry centre- us!!!

They had some fine views of Saturn and Jupiter before departing 😁😁😁!

Several years ago I was observing on Wimbledon Common with a few others and a policeman came up to us and asked if we would be long as he wanted to "release the dogs."  Tried not to laugh as I thought of Mr Burns saying "release the hounds."  However, we did pack down shortly thereafter though were coming to the end of the session anyway.  Sadly he declined a quick peak at Saturn.  His loss.

Didn't stop me taking a small scope to Mozambique on my honeymoon a couple of years ago! 😉

Though I did restrict it to three sessions at different times of the night.

Hope you have a great time!

AstroCamp dates in the Brecon Beacons are already announced for 2020.

http://www.astrocamp.awesomeastronomy.com/

Definitely beginner friendly.

Just wow.  I love the idea of this thing more and more every time I see more pictures that you have taken.  And that is after playing with your NV and already being very impressed with it.

Thanks. I felt like I was on borrowed time from the start so I was certainly speeding around the sky. Fortunately pretty good at star hopping but I spent less time with each object than I otherwise might have.

Ohh... That looks nice!

Great image!

2 hours ago, RobertI said:

Lovely report, the screenshots were a nice addition. APMs and Televues - sounds like heavenly observing equipment to me! You did really well to find the Veil and the Flame on a moonlit night. 👍

The Flame Nebula in particular was a huge surprise as the Moon was in Gemini so not far away. Fortunately Cygnus was on the other side of the sky and hence not being impacted anywhere near the same degree. UHC is definitely very helpful though. I suspect without would have been far more difficult.

On 24/09/2019 at 18:47, mark81 said:

That was a very enjoyable able read.  It's always amazing to hear what details can be pulled from objects with good skies, a good scope and some decent EPs... And of course a bit of skill.....

Some great objects there - many of which never get old - the clusters in Cassiopeia and Auriga being top of the list.

Nice report.

Mark

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed reading it.

Honestly, and this is coming from a hardcore refractor guy, I would not choose either of them as my primary visual instrument for planets, DSOs and clusters.  While you will need to consider mount choice, I would suggest Skywatcher 200p newtonian.  It will have better reach and performance on DSOs thanks to larger aperture, and will also beat both on planets.  The only drawback is the diffraction spikes could be a distraction but they do not bother me that much.  It is about the same price I believe as the ST120.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-200p-ota.html

If your friend is dead set on one of those two instruments, I would go with the 120 but he must be aware that in will show some substantial chromatic aberration on planets and bright stars which is compromising its performance slightly.  But on DSOs, the larger aperture will win out, even if the absolute optical quality is below the 80ed.

Mother Nature certainly knows how to antagonise astronomers. After almost a week of glorious blue skies, the forecast for AstroCamp this past weekend was not great. Clouds did roll in over blue skies on Saturday late afternoon. Chances of some stargazing looked slight. However, I decided to trust one outlier forecast (thank you Accuweather) and was treated to 2 hrs of cloudless skies from about 2am to 4am on Monday morning. Sadly missed by almost everyone at the camp.

Given the soggy weather yesterday, I was able to write up the session immediately and is on the link below.

http://alpha-lyrae.co.uk/2019/09/24/a-brief-stargazing-session-at-the-autumn-2019-astrocamp/

Hope you enjoy it. Feedback always appreciated.

As Stu suggested, I think you probably find the Delos superior due to the increased eye relief.  It makes them a far more relaxing eyepiece to use.

That is an envy inducing line up of small scopes!!

The Epsilon 130 is certainly another viable choice if you are happy to consider mirrors as well as lenses.  I have not heard any negative concerns on Takahashi myself, but even the best brands will let occasional sub standard scope through the net.  If you buy from a dealer who you trust to rectify any problems, then this should reduce that risk.

I am afraid I am a visual only guy so cannot really comment on the imaging side of things with the APM LZOS 105, but I have seen many images taken with it on line and they have been excellent.

As for mounting on the Gitzo.  It has a standard 3/8 photography head connection.  I do not know what mounting the Avalon uses but if it is not that, you should be able to have a small adapter fabricated quite easily.

32 minutes ago, kev100 said:

I was led to believe Astrocamp came with a 'clear skies guarantee' ...

haha.  I believe you will find in very small print on the welcome pack (think font size 2) there are no guarantees!

Front surface rejection filter like Baader solar film, should be fine.  Herschel wedge, definitely not.