bomberbaz

Yes never noticed the 6 point mirror fixing to be honest John, another plus point to be sure. I also though did fail to point out the stellalyra roller bearing in the dob base. I know what the SW Alt bearings look like, I would like to see up close the stellalyra bearing. The Bresser and Ursa Major bearings are on full display but you only have a description for the SLyra. I didn't know about the replacement shoe for the Bresser, much better to have a standard type. Add a RACI and Telrad and away you go. I hate those Bresser shoe fixings that come attached. I think with hindsight I would have to see both the Bresser and StellaLyra side by side to make a final decision if I were buying. I think the Alt bearing would be the deciding factor.

What specs is it sporting out of interest?

wow, thats "BIG" whatever it is. What do we have there and is that mount a goto, looks it?

seems my optimism was misguided, the clouds arrived suddenly and quickly, whiteout now. Incidentally, whereabouts you at then?

snap

So I had some spare time and decided to do a basic side by side of 8 inch dobs currently available from FLO (Other dobs are available elsewhere). The information is as given from the website so anyone with more accurate info on stats etc, fire away. The (subjective) results which form my opinion are given below. The Bresser has a lot going for it, I really like that big Alt bearing, the upgradeable focuser a nice touch (pity it's not std) and the glass seems decent quality. If your a W/L solar fan then that is also a worthwhile extra. What I am not so keen on is the adjustable tube ring design, over complicates a beginners scope whilst adding to the price I would guess, might have been better spent on the focuser. I hate those finders, they are cheap and yuk. But that's only my opinion! (prepare for repeats of the last phrase) Skywatcher need to, in my opinion up their game. Firstly I think I was generous giving them 4 from 5. The focuser is pretty basic at best, finder the same, couldn't find detailed spec for glass, weight etc and, wellll they are just falling way behind even at the lowish cost. Note lowish, better options imho are available at a lower price. StellaLyra is the pick of the bunch in my opinion (told you it would be repeated). Just great all round, excellent glass, cooling, dual speed focuser with compression fittings and a base fan. To top it off they have thrown it a very useable 2" 30mm eyepiece. A first time buyer could do a whole lot worse than stump up the cash on this package. Ursa Major are new to me, until recently they were just a bunch of stars but this is the surprise package. Good glass again, only basic finder and single speed focuser although the latter looks a nice piece of kit, better than dare i say the SW? Nice they have added the base fan, would again have preferred a dual speed focuser over that but hey, the cheapest in price of the lot and if on a tight budget, easily the pick of the bunch. (IMHO) So who is the winner? (kop out statement) it's the consumer because competition in a tight market can only be to the benefit we would hope of the end user. Feel free to correct me and/or add your own thoughts. Steve

Looking clear here guys, hopefully going to get a few subs of M13 with new OTA on mount, tracking will be restored and can compare my M13 result with the old 50mm OTA results.

Sorted 0one of these for the main OTA, thanks. Good idea Mike, I actually have a sheet of kits playfoam, very malleable. I will make a foam sock as it were out of it as a permanent sock 😄

Looking for other peoples solutions for dew control for their imaging rigs and suggestions for mine. First here are my scopes that need protecting, the rvo horizen 60ed (built on shield about same length as aperture) and astro essentials 30mm mini guide. Similar dew sheild to horizen. First question is will a simple extention to existing dew shield suffice on these modest apertures. I ask because that what I use for visual and I have never experienced any moisture issues when doing so. If not, I think I would be looking for a simple USB powered solution, much easier transportation and less clunky. I have numerous power banks too. I have looked on FLO but sadly they are without USB type tapes. TIA everyone Steve.

Thanks @vlaiv for the above explanation, I get it all until the last (underlined) equation. However rather than mash my brain trying to really get my head around it, I will accept that you are right and they are not really needed. However I am one of these people who will go out now and run comparisons because I want to see for myself. I guess that is the scientist part in me. I can accept what someone tells me is right but I won't fully believe it until I prove it right. Anthony, now I know what WBPP is (google is ace), I shall watch this as I really do want to get my head around calibration frames fully. As above vlaiv's explanation is very detailed but lost me at the last minute. Maybe this video will help a few pennies drop. Cheers guys. Steve

cheers Lee, that's bang on pal 👌

@AstroNebulee just click next to the serial by baud and it changed over mine, funny setting and needs a little work by development imho

Question. Can someone go into their IP and port settings in the app and tell me what ethernet address is and port number plus either TCP or UDP please. Mine is at IP 10.0.0.1, PORT 4030 and TCP. I have read it should be 10.0.0.10 and UDP but would like to see if mine is the only one defaulting to this. cheers steve

Hi guys. Ok so I was getting a preview from the guide but here's where the problem may lie and only a live test will tell. The tracking button just above the 3 buttons for sidereal, solar and lunar was not ticked. I thought it defaulted to sidereal if left unticked but maybe not. Anyway, I shall give it a bash either tonight but doubtful due to cloud, or more likely tomorrow as it is more likely. Cheers Steve

You got it spot on there Lee. I am wondering if anything has changed that I didn't notice. I shall go back through settings later and see if anything changed during the re-wire boggle when I changed scopes.

tried doiing a test run last night, everything worked fine until tracking, not tracking at all. I tried swapping cable around, changing the baud rate but nope, anyone got any tips or a method of checking the cables?

My bar could do with extending if I am honest, thats why I noticed yours. I was thinking about buying a new one as it is ever so slightly unbalanced. Think I might just try a small bolt into the bottom of the bar, some tape and a large washer, will be cheaper and hidden anyway. 🤔

At home stellarium, sky safari both on the pc and occasionally cambridge star atlas desktop version. In the field almost always sky Safari 6 plus subscribed version but sometimes stellarium, both on a smart phone. Tablets are just a little clunky for my liking. I hope we are not going to descend into an argument about how electronic sky atlases in astronomy takes away from it's appeal, or is cheating, or isn't proper astronomy, or you don't learn the sky the same! Remember goto ? 🤣 Sorry, (not sorry). Steve

Looks ace that, the evoguide setup is such a nice rig Where did you get the bar and c/weight??

For polaris there is SynscanInit on android. It gives you your coords and also a virtual position of polaris. I only use it for coords though. You may need a signal for it to work, not sure.

Just bought the ext cable, thanks for link. Been meaning to look for one for ages.

Have you taken tgese readi gs from a lp map, cos they are not most accurate. However if you can get 21.82, that is black, milky way casting a shadow dark!

Forgot to ask about this, what is meant by scaling darks and why are bias not reallyneeded. I ask because ASI air, SIRIL, DSS etc all ask for them as part of their programme/

Horsehead skies them mate, m33 easy naked eye. Not a lot out of amateur visual range tbf. Not one bit jealous though 🙄

Thank you very much, just found it on the tutorial menu page Siril - Tutorials (along with many others), it's amazing what you can see when you look 🙄 I note it is listed as a 2 out of 5 for difficulty! Challenge accepted 😉 cheers steve