bomberbaz

well you got lucky Michael, all I got here was cloud despite a promise of clear-ish skies. As I type this both the BBC and ventusky show clear skies, but its a real murk and can barely see the 75% moon.

Yeah bit of a cocktail of issues here, transportation, photography etc. Another half cock idea is the virtuoso scope and mount here. Sky-Watcher Heritage-114P Virtuoso | First Light Optics Quite a clever bit of kit although I have never used one. Will provide tracking once you find an object for the scope and it can mount cameras so very short exposures of 10 seconds can done although not sure about compatibility for your camera. You would have to do further research as I am not fully up to speed as I said but it has a lot of flexibility and only you can decide if it might work for you.

good point, well made. I missed the tube bit 🙄 This only comes in at 7.5KG and packs down much smaller with a still gecent 150mm aperture Sky-Watcher Heritage-150P Flextube Dobsonian Telescope | First Light Optics

You have hit upon the usual issue that people come across when wanting to start up with astronomy and astrophotography, the two really are very different animals and need very different equipment. Usually for viewing dobsonians are recommended for ease of use and getting the best value for money. Something like this is a brilliant all rounder for viewing only Sky-Watcher Classic 200P Dobsonian | First Light Optics For photography your looking at powered EQ mounts capable of holding a good weight, a decent scope which is aimed more for photography and other various bits and bobs, (I am not a photography type, others will tell you more) but you are looking around £1000+ to get you started. You can get eyepiece attachments to take pictures with a phone at the eyepiece of visual scopes though. Merry Christmas to you.

Some may know I recently sold my 2 x powermate, partially down to weight and length issues. I replaced lengths lost with a 8mm delos and 7mm pentax xw. Now I am realising I still have gaps in the set but they are not going to be a regular used size so don't really want to add premium glass and so was considering a lower costing Barlow but weight is still a consideration. Alternatively my frac case has a couple of lower costing EP's (BST & Svbony) along with a 1.25" / 2x ES focal extender I can take if high powered viewing in planned but just thinking things through. I did think about this one from FLO > stellalyra which is roughly 70% the size of the recently sold PM Anybody got any other ideas on what I can possibly get that is 2" and x 2.

I have never done the gamma before, turns out it is nicely hidden in levels, 🙄 😅 thanks.

Would you mind if I asked you to outline your process please vlaiv, I use gimp for processing images and I can't get it anything like your effort. I am obviously using the wrong tools.

was debayer unticked in debayer raw image files in input options or the debayer monochrome files option. Sorry best I can offer cos not really my area.

John. Out of interest for my own purposes, plus anyone else considering cleaning the primary. What solution do you use to clean the mirror? Think I used warm water with a little baby shampoo last time I cleaned one but with my memory that might just be wishful reminiscing 😅

well done @John, I managed Titania, Oberon and Ariel at Galloway but Umbriel evaded me. As I remember I was at x340 so maybe I should have pushed my magnification a little more. Something to aim for. Impressive work 👏

Biggest mirror I have actually seen is a 750mm at tod obs, still not had chance to use it. Hopefully if there is an open day next year I will get that chance.

i wanted a bash with my little lunt but by the time I got home the clouds had rolled in, nice image

You would need a big hydraulic pier to put the mount on! Still be rather hard work. 🙃

it went for 68 quid thzat scope in my opening link, higher than I wanted to pay. I have my eye on some others but most are lacking a good view of the objective. I have requested such and will not buy unless these are forth coming.

That looks mental John, the views will no doubt be staggeringly beautiful but as you say the practicality of using such an OTA would be a major issue!

I think in terms of scopes I am quite happy with what I have. I love my dob as a perfect balance of weight/portability vs aperture. My new frac combination rig gave me so much fun the other night, if the clouds can do one and then I can continue with the shootout. If money was no option in the following order I would buy a house in the sticks with a cracking south aspect, then in the grounds of said aspect building myself a observatory and add a APM LZOS ED 254 OTA and slap it onto a suitable mount, maybe a HOBYM like this bad boy. mount I would want to piggy back a decent astrograph like the Vixen VSD100 F3.8 or similar for remote viewing/imaging.

I have a tripod that came with the SW AZ GTI outfit, The tripod is very flimsy. So I was thinking of using the wooden legs for that, not sure if the tray assembly would transfer over though but thanks for this.

Thanks for the info everyone, as mentioned by @@malc-c it is for a charity and in good order. I will have a go but not spending a fortune.

Any thoughts on the tripod, visually it looks nice and sturdy

I have found a few of these of the interweb for sale. They look to have a decent wooden tripod but not sure if this is adaptable to be able to take modern mounts, see here https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/373826188789?hash=item5709c6f5f5%3Ag%3ADLUAAOSwH2Nht63q&LH_Auction=1 Pictures are not the best but just wondering if anyone has played around with one and has any feedback. It is mainly the tripod I want but I will also play around with the OTA and adapt to take 1.25 eyepieces if I go for it. @Peter Drew have you come across them? Thanks everyone else for any help they can give Steve

this would be my option if you have the funds, the slightly cheaper alternative is the 62 degree version at 26mm, main difference being a slightly larger exit pupil at 5.2, both EP have very good glass Explore Scientific 62° Series Eyepieces | First Light Optics I like using barlows, some don't. In this case the 9mm that you alluded to one would give you the 4.5mm (x 167) and the 12mm you already have a very useful 6mm (x 125). I use the ES focal extender, (work differently to a barlow but gives the same result) lovely bit of kit and imho well worth the money. Explore Scientific 2x / 3x / 5x Barlow / Focal Extender 1.25" | First Light Optics This would give you five ep equivalent. 1 low power, 2 medium and two higher.

something about coloured OTA's just makes me drool. Seen one like this from @moriniboy, beautiful looking scope. Also seen a lovely blue one but can't remember where but just that it looked amazing. Aesthetics, offering nothing but beauty but just hmmm.

I had to do a google search, then spent 10 minutes laughing hysterically. 😂

Not sure if this is any of our members work or if it has been picked up before but this review for a counterweight on FLO deserves some credit. Excellent and it is the one dated 4th May from Tim 🤣 iOptron 4.5kg Counterweight for iEQ30 / MT / AZ Pro / ZEQ25 / CEM25 / CEM40 | First Light Optics

Yeah I have never used a frac longer than F10 before and it is something of a revelation to me. I doubt I could get away with an F15 though, Mrs Bomberbaz is getting a little shrewd these days around my astro gear and has been asking questions 😂