bomberbaz

I was looking around and spotted the Vixen VMC200, seems a nice OTA then I read about mirror recoating so it scared me off. So far the best, albeit most expensive option would be an EDGE 8" but there must be others out there for consideration. The vixen would have been a worthy option but for the mirror issue. The Skymax 180 is ok but I would then potentially need a reducer, Antares 0.63 being available for this. There is still the stellalyra CC that would also accept the astro essentials 0.75 reducer. So much to think about. So I am going to mull over the options some more. Read up on specs of a few OTA and reviews that go with them. Cheers all again.

haha, not really, all dutch to me. Just found an article which give the Antares 6.3 reducer would work. Takes it down to F9.45, I will think about this more.

You wouldn't happen to know if that OTA accepts a reducer would you, could be a compromise I would explore!

Received my pair from amazon. Problem now is weather is naff for foreseeable. However I can try them on terrestrial targets, some distant hilltops, tree etc. See what feedback that gives me as well as assess my new mounts stability at the same time.

That is what puts me off, why I thought about the RC at 8" as a good alrounder, although a 8" SCT wouldn't be a bad comprimise.

Sorry John just to clarify, you feel the CC is sharper on axis than the SCT. Which do you feel has better contrast, CC or SCT?

I was thinking at F8 the RC are a bit of an all rounder. One issue I have only just noticed is the weight, at 8.5kg it isn't the lightest piece of kit unlike the edge hd which are 2kg lighter

Recently it has become apparent I may have a gap in my scope armoury. The 80 and 102 fracs are great for most star related work, the 14" dob is a superb DSO hunter but the other day I ended up taking the big dob out to bag an asteroid when something a little smaller might have been more appropriate. I am not rushing out to buy anything, I can cover my needs with what I have but just wondering what anyone else does and what thoughts are regarding this 100mm aperture to 350mm aperture as it is obviously is a big jump. What do you guys do? My head is saying I would need something in the 8" size if I went down this route as storage is an issue, this would also steer me toward the compact designs. The stellalyra RC looks a lovely OTA at the 8". Any thoughts or suggestions for me to mull over would be great. cheers all Steve

nice report, put it on my list, cheers

First off skytee fixed. It was iindeed some grub screws that had either become loose or possibly worn. I shall keep my eye on it and if it works loose again, I shall replace grub screws with stainless steel quality ones. Next the laser was from OpticStar. It is legal and I don't have it constantly on. I flash it on, drop onto where I want to be and switch the laser back off. The cold causes these batteries to fade very quickly. I tried a handwarmer tonight to keep the batteries from giving up but that didn't really work. I have a 20cm eyepiece warmer USB dew tape on order, hoping that will work better. Link here Opticstar/Ascension Green Laser Pointer 5mW

I went out for a quick blast tonight with the aim of continuing my frac shootout, the Tee2 mount had other ideas. It decided to come loose somewhere inside so I wasn't able to mount my F12.5 80. Not sure of the issue because I decided to continue with just the ED100 but that was the "Meh!" I will have a tinker later but pretty sure it will just be some loose bolt (I hope) Also had a blast with a astro laser, cracking bit of kit for when you want to get at zenith without having to get contorted. The "Yay" was I decided to have a play around in my heavily light polluted back garden to see what it was capable of. This was where my mood lifted. Over to the worst area for LP, the east I still managed to pick out the galactic wanderer globular. Wasn't brilliant, but it was a hit. Next I somehow found my way from Menkar, slowly picking my way up using the finder to bag Uranus. I have very few stars indeed to guide by the M1 eyeball so it is often hopping over large distances with a chart and the finder. Quite pleased with that. Did a few other easy ones but decided to finish on Almach and shootout between a Svbony 6m UW, a BST 5mm and a 4mm Svbony aspheric. These between them cost less than £100. All gave increasing magnification of course from x150, 180 and finally 225. All three gave me lovely contrasting sharp views of the double. Well separated, no flaring as my glasses were of (sub 1mm exit pupil) but the svbony aspheric is a little belter. Can't believe such a good view can come from something costing 12 quid. marvellous. I gave in at the end because the LP just dragged me down, plus my neighbours annoying security lamp kept on coming on time and again. Now going to dismantle the Tee2 head and see if I can fix it.

bought a pair from amazon. If they are not as expected I have post free return.

Got it, little monkey didn't get away this time. Although it wasn't as bright as I expected. I tracked it past two very faint stars that were only slightly dimmer than the asteroid and both these were around mag 13 according to stellarium. As you said earlier @Stu, it is tramming it along . I was using the 14" dob at x100 then x136. At 136 it stood out readily. Straight after I packed up and left, a stiff breeze was blowing and the temp was given at 1 degree #windchill

Seems they have some good admirers and are not to be sniffed at, thanks for that @Zermelo

Hello everyone. I have noticed a few comments on here regarding the Svbony UFF which are the same as several more expensive EP's from other providers I have my mind on buying two 10mm for the bino's but wondered if anyone has managed to give them a thorough workout or even a side by side comparison against some of it's more expensive cousins. TIA. Steve

Thanks stu, that's good to see what your viewing and fov stats were. I have a printed chart of stars surrounding the area where I will hopefully bag it. There are several in the 11-11.7 range so should help me choose a suitable EP. Given what your experience is I may be able to be a little more relaxed on magnification for a larger tfov trade off. 👍

Deeply disapointed with the weather forecasting. clear outside, bbc (who are usually very good) & ventusky all seem to have mis-judged it. However I shall forgive them if the reports they currently give for tomorrow are right and I get a second chance. Tomorrow as it passes through pegasus it passes between HD 332 which is part of a two star cluster. (Looked at Cambridge but the map and index are contradictory as to if it is a double) Anyhow, the pass is at 7.25pm and it passes the double at 1/4 of a degree. My intention is to bring out big guns and technology. I have bookmarked the star on SS6 and this in conjunction with my dobs DSC system will allow me to sit on top of it and wait. (feel like a hunter now) The 12.5mm Nikon will give me 0.75 FOV to allow for deviations in path forcasting and give x136 so short of another cloud festival, I will have my prize.

Celestron are quite a bit more expensive than the APM version though. The others are not available in the UK as far as I can tell although I may be wrong.

blooming weather man got it so wrong here. Just got back from a 1 hour, 35 mile drive. Both places I know predicted to be clear were wall to wall cloud. A lot of micro climate areas round here due to topography but so fed up with this.

Good point well made. aS @Louis Dpoints out the ES 62 degree version are not well corrected in an F5 scope, the 24mm UFF, of which I own and can confirm for the extra few quid would be a much better buy. APM 24mm UFF are available in uk from widescreen centre, there is a wait though.

There are certain limits Alan, the link here explains them. Tax and customs for goods sent from abroad: Tax and duty - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) But I think I am right in saying as long as you say they are sold for less than £39 there will be no duty.

Cheers Stu, pretty much matching what I got. Another FYI if your thinking of having a bash. According to stellarium, next to 63 cet there are several stars at 11+. one right up a tad but right next to it, 11.25, a little higher 11.4 and one below it at 11.75. Hopefully this will help you in the hunt.

Bit of playing around gives you this. It will almost (but not quite) follow this line passing Mira circa 5.30pm and onto E pisces around 9.45 pm. That distance in degrees is around the 8 mark so it is covering roughly 2 degrees of sky every hour. It should be sat next to 63 cet if this is correct at 6.30pm, that is my aim all being well. HTH

Yes well to be fair I didn't say it was cheaper, just from my perspective it would be the way I would go. Just a difference of preferences. TBF not much can be got these days without a wait. I am still waiting a pair of EP's for my bins, they have been on back order for a while too.

App available on Android called "star walk 2", has a 7 day trial period and will show you location of 7482. I have just checked the location given with those given by Stu's SS6 pro and it matches so if you want an app to check, there you go. BTW looking at the app it isn't much good for other work, kinda fiddly so I doubt I will be keeping this going after the trial. Think I will try mounting two scopes and differing magnifications like stu did assuming sky plays ball, looking 50/50 here.