bomberbaz

The title actually says it as it is. It has been a good while since I got my eyeball proton wetted and with a trip to galloway coming up it seemed tonights clear sky was an ideal opportunity to give the dob a whirl around and check all my other equipment. First thing before getting started I checked any equipment that used batteries, good job I did. Both red torches and my observing head torches batteries were goosed. One set especially looked as though it was ready to leak. One thing I have noticed when panning around it the dob moves a lot easier in AZ when pointing low down, this I assume will be the bearings taking the weight differently and so this affects it freedom to move. Not a major issue but something I need to be aware of for high power viewing. The DSC system is a dream to use now I have got to grip with it, even with a slight slope to contend with I got within 1/4 of a degree everytime with it and I didn't carry out a particularly good alignment compared to my usual OTT aligning method. One thing I particularly like about DSC over GOTO is you are still looking at where things are as it uses the skysafari app on the phone and really without trying I find I am learning more as I go. It has a great viewing red screen filter and you can setup your viewing list on a planner. Moving on, tested out my new TS 28mm UWA eyepiece and it was as I would expect, a very good quality piece of glass. I didn't go mad but a view of Albireo and the double cluster was enough to tell me it is well up to the job. Now I have never used my new viewing hood until tonight, I found it slightly awkward to use as there is so much stray light around so it needs to be a good seal or the slight light intrusions are more annoying than the flood of light from many directions without it, yes my garden really is that bad. Anyway I tested it out on a few objects including albireo, and the double cluster as well as M31, M18 and some others. The one that gave me the best result was without doubt M18 which, cranked up to x200 looked exquisite. I am really looking forward to observing with the hood in a darker setting where extraneous light is not going to be a problem, observing with both eye's open is far more relaxing. Other things checked were a couple of nebula using filters, these being M57 & 97. I have a UHC-s filter from baader, useless on the owl although ok-ish on 57. The astronomik filters (UHC-OIII) were both far better on the owl but on the night under the heavy light polution is was the OIII which performed the best. I quickly switched to M27 dumbell and the OIII worked superbly on this, really got a great shape with hints of additional structure. I don't think the baader filter is a poor filter, it just doesn't perform very well under bad LP skies. So all in I am pleased with my little session and feel confident for my trip to galloway, here's hoping the weather is kind. Steve

I can confirm it hasn't to add to the other comments, I spoke with Mike this morning and brought my arrival date forward to Wednesday #mostpromisingnight

Just reread my post John, didn't mean my reply to sound negative if it came across as such, so sorry if indeed it did but like you was just giving my own point of view. 🙂

read the blurb about the HG lasers, the guy throws them several times to shock them to see if they hold collimation, if they do then they pass. For me that is why I would get one now if starting out. TBH this thread is making me reconsider buying one of them again! @johninderby "The Hotech laser is perfectly collimated and stays that way but not cheap but still a good buy when you consider how good it is. The crosshair beam makes colimating easier than the simple red dot type." Trouble is they don't though. Mine may be an old one but collimation has slipped and although a 5mm donut at 3500mm isn't too bad, it is still there and I would prefer it to not be!

I hope not Ian, I need to call them tomorrow anyway so will find out. There is nothing on the website to suggest as such. Galloway Astronomy Centre Maybe there is more than one such centre with similar names? Assuming all is good, I hope to meet with you again sometime next week all being well. steve

I think if I was starting out afresh I would be using howie glatter gear, never heard anything bad about it. I believe the lasers hold collimation extremely well and are very versatile plus extremely accurate. Howie Glatter | First Light Optics However the HG laser and any accessories are quite costly and when I bought my gear I didn't have the funds so bought a Hotech collimator laser. Slight problem with this is it doesn't hold perfect collimation itself and so needs collimating itself occasionally. I did this today and couldn't quite make a perfect laser collimation, I had a donut with a diameter of about 5mm at a range of 12 feet/3.6M. IMHO this is going to give you a pretty good collimation. However I do double check this (light permitting) with a concenter eyepiece and a standard cheshire for good measure. Back to the start, if I had to start again, the HG route would be my preferred option.

I noticed this earlier and may bring my own dates forward to take advantage of this. The following 3 days do not look as promising, however this gives me more time to pay a visit to your camp site.

I have to admit I found this first episode a rehash of previous stuff and at times I was thinking, " get on with it". However I also think it is not aimed at people like astronomers and others with an established interest in the cosmos.

Hello all. I am stopping at Galloway astronomy centre, about 12 miles from you from 4-7 November, this has been booked for a longggggggg time. So if you don't mind I shall endeavour to pop up and have a brew and a chat with you one afternoon all being well. Would be nice to meet some more of you face to face. I have already met estwing and I think uplooker (Ian) didn't we once meet at dunsop bridge?

If you look on bbc iplayer you can binge watch the entire series

My latest addition, my current 30mm casts to big of a exit pupil in my dob where as this brings it in at under 6mm

I still say it looks like a bat but thats just me.

+1 for a crosshair eyepiece, although I use a slightly longer 20mm eyepiece with a slightly wider FOV but in an F1700 scope that is still x85 with the crosshair. That is with pushto also, not goto but still the same idea.

I have bad astigmatsm which is above 1, I cannot remember exactly what it is but according to the chart above from televue I need glasses or diopter down to about 1.5 degree exit pupil. However my own experience is that I am happy viewing once the exit pupil hits 2.5mm or less in my F4.9 dob. When using my F9.8 frac I don't bother at all usually.

If storage isn't a huge consideration, this would be my choice.

The classic 150p dob had a focal length of 1200 so it's a near F8 mirror so actually better for planetary. Agreed about the shroud, that is a cracking and fairly simple mod, the ptfe also a worthwhile upgrade. I just watched the video and was impressed with how sleek the shroud mod looked.

The thing with the pictures is they are probably taken with a phone or one shot camera because the 150P is not designed for astrophotography, so that snap is pretty reasonable. It will easily work for planetary viewing and the moon. It will also be OK on many of the other objects available such as nebula and some galaxies but your comment re: taking it to a dark sky site is what you should be aiming for DSO work. You cannot underestimate the difference a dark sky makes to what you see when you are viewing a faint object.

Revisiting this since my first much earlier post to see how it has expanded <( see what i did there). After pouring over all the posts, hypotheses and videos, not to mention the beginners class to early computer science 😉, I have found the above post from @space_master meets my own level of understanding and I am happy to leave it at that until the LHC or similar experiment tells me otherwise 😅. Fascinating input, well done all 👏

Cheers calv, I have been up there before and was blown away and so kinda know what to expect. I am so hoping for at least one good night. I am there for up to 4 night and i have made up a mixed group of target objects but mainly of nebula and galaxy with a few other things thrown in to break it up/. My list of objects currently stands at 87 lol 😅

Thanks for the reply mark, Markarian chain is on ly list but it may be too late into the early morning to see them. Also further reading reveals a thread on here discussing using UHC for syfert galaxies Filter discussion see @YKSE comments halfway down. I have read it somewhere else too on cloudy nights but my pc did an update, auto rebooted and I lost where it is. I am looking forward to trying this out as if it proves a worthwhile method to employ it will bring a whole new dimension to viewing faint fuzzies.

Hello everyone and although it's been a while since I posted I have been active in the back ground. I am due to go to galloway in 2 weeks and aim to make the most of it, weather gods permitting. I recently read that some galaxies that have active nuclei can be observed using a UHC filter to bring out detail of the galactic core and wondered if anyone has used this method and if so, have some examples of suitable DSO targets. My understanding is the black hole is spewing out vast clouds of superheated particles from it's polar regions and these will stand out well under a uhc filter although this will obviously kill the actual galaxy itself. Any help gratefully received. Steve

In most cases this is true but apparently there is always something that comes along and opens up a tin of worms to spoil or make theories hard to prove. Mystery of Galaxy's Missing Dark Matter Deepens | NASA

Box sorted, strong as new now. Bit of gorilla glue and some expoxy resin seems to have done the job. Although don't that gorilla stuff expand and get everywhere 😳 Took some tidying up but still shows!

good point steve, I shall enquire but whether hermes will pay out is another thing

I have been up to the local obvs at Todmorden today and @Peter Drew & I gave the OTA a good look over and I am pleased to say it is in good order. Optics are spot on, tube itself is very clean & free of blemishes etc and focuser is fine too. I contacted the seller regarding the bashed case and he assured me it left him without the broken corner bracket and just a loose lid, pfft 🙄. By the way he was referring to things I gather he was very inexperienced in astronomy matters. Anyway I have to write off any chance of a partial damage related refund and just do my best to fix it. Steve