RyanL

I upgraded from a 114mm reflector to an Ursa Major 6"inch dob in the summer. It's a brilliant scope for Jupiter, Saturn etc.. and don't forget the moon. It's more than capable for DSO"s under the right skies and I'm more than happy with it. (For now!!)

Mine was a Skywatcher 114/1000 scope and mount for £6.50 from eBay. Seller was local so couldn't resist. Not the best scope in the world but it was enough to rekindle my interest and I've since upgraded but I'll always be glad I bought it.

I used a company called printpond.co.uk in the end. Delivered in two days so I'm happy with that. Now I just need to play around making some kind of pointer. Cheers Ryan.

Thanks for replies .

Hi, As above, I'm looking for a good UK based place for printing laminated degree circles for my 6imch dob. Any recommendations ?

Thank you for such a detailed reply. Much appreciated. I'm tempted to just go with my heart and get a dob, I know if I don't at least try one it will always be on my mind, however other suggestions are also tempting. Times like this I wish I was rich! Cheers Ryan.

Yeah, It is a bird Jones but I only paid £6.50 for it on eBay so thought why not. I do have a Heritage 100p that has better contrast but planets are tiny in it. I've been looking at the Skymax 127 and it's definitely on the list. How's the field of view in it?

I'm starting to realise the fuzzies aren't viable from here so I'm thinking about something suitable for planets etc..from home that's portable enough to take to darker skies.

Starting to think the same as your last paragraph!

It's only the EQ1 that came with it, so not the best!

Hi, I'm soon to be in the market for an upgrade of my 114/1000 reflector that I got for a bargain price. There's nothing wrong with it as such, I just want the ability to see a bit more. I'm apparently in Bortle 7 but I'm right near junction 1 of the M3 with Heathrow in the other direction and a nice glow from London to the East so I'm a bit sceptical! I really fancy an 8 inch dob although I only have a small garden so not sure it would see over the neighbours fence, a problem I don't have with a mounted scope. Plus my back is kaput so not sure about portability. So my question is what kind of upgrade would you suggest? Budget around £500 for visual only at this point. Cheers Ryan.

Thanks for the advice, I know almost nothing about photography and for my wallets sake I don't want to dig too deeply! I will continue to play around with what I already have though as I can see the appeal but I'm red/green colour blind so any photos may look a bit odd to others! Cheers Ryan.

No holder! That's why they're so bad.

Hi, Good point about staying on target and thanks for confirming the eq1 is rubbish!

Hi, Some of you you may have seen my post about eyepieces where I mentioned I picked up a Starwatcher 114/1000 scope on an EQ 1 for a steal. Since then I've learned to removed the lense in the focuser, collimate and replace the lense and I've been getting some nice views out of it, Including The Moon, Jupiter and a couple of double stars. I was also gifted an SVbony 27-9mm zoom eyepiece which I really like and it has improved the views but the scope still can't match my 100p for contast. The issue I'm having is the mount. I really hate using it as an EQ and have it set up as Alt,/Az for now. I find using the EQ ties me up in knots and it doesn't feel natural scanning the sky. Is this because Eq1 mounts are just junk as I suspect? Cheers Ryan.