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Chinapig

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Everything posted by Chinapig

  1. Stunning amount of detail - fab image!
  2. A tantalisingly clear evening on the south coast, although puffy white things soon rolled in. To grab a few quick views, and some equally quick snaps, I set up a new-to-me 60mm refractor, with an extender to increase its native f5.9 to f10. Took a handful of snaps with an Olympus m4/3 mirrorless, on a static tripod. An enjoyable bit of lunacy.
  3. I went along to the IAS yesterday, and had a very enjoyable day. The high spot for me was certainly the new Rowan mount, especially the quality and thoughtfulness of the engineering, and the many totally practical design points. Learning about it from Derek and Dave was an enjoyable experience in itself. Due to a dodgy back, I was a bit concerned about liftability, and the guys very kindly assembled another bare mount from components in their display cabinet, so I could try lifting it and finding the optimum hug & cuddle stance! It was no problem at all to lift, particular as it's much more compact than a typical EQ mount and, indeed, much nicer to cuddle! The overall concept of the mount, and its impressive execution, certainly made me think very hard about the kind of astronomy that gives me the greatest pleasure. I do enjoy a bit of imaging, but as I get older I find a few hours simply observing to be rather more relaxing. And the more I think about it, a well designed push-to alt-az mount seems to be about the nicest way of doing it. A new, and very short shopping list has begun!
  4. I bought a pair of APM 10x50ED bins a couple of years ago, in time for a trip to NZ and Australia. I had just enough spare space in my carry-on camera rucksack for a 10x50 pair and wanted to take the sharpest views I could that would fit that space. They fulfilled that role perfectly, showing me all the glorious wonders of the southern hemisphere skies. The only real comparative yardstick I had were my Helios Apollo 15x70, which obviousy have a mag and aperture advantage, but I found the APMs offered noticeably better edge-to-edge sharpness, more contrast, less CA (I couldn't really notice any), and they were less affected by stray light - eg from a bright moon just out of view. I also find the APMs more comfortable to use with glasses, which I need due to astigmatism. A much easier view, thanks to the better eye relief and larger-aperture eyepieces. Yup, I love 'em! My happiest observing sessions are using the APMs to spot a selection of targets, while using a small refractor to up the mag and see the targets in better detail. But if I'm travelling somewhere and can only take one optical aid, it's nearly always the APM 10x50ED that comes along.
  5. Yup, my bad, picked this up from Recent Posts, and realised too late it wasn't in Classifieds - apologies, and your reminder duly noted!
  6. Just seen your post. I have an Equinox 80, which I am planning to sell. If your other potential deal falls through, do PM me, and I can send you photos etc. The scope has a finder bracket, and I also have a pair of mounting rings, which are currently fitted to a Losmandy plate.
  7. Regarding mount adapters, if you mean could you fit the YI camera body to a telescope, yes you could. I sometimes use an Olympus micro four thirds camera (an OMD) for astro photography, fitted on the back of a small refractor with a T-mount to m43 adapter. I've never heard of YI cameras before, and it's worth searching out some reviews first: https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/yi-m1 As an alternative to the YI model, it might be worth looking at what deals you can find on Olympus or Panasonic cameras that use the same m43 lens mount - perhaps a bit more of a known quantity. The YI camera with more recent firmware updates, which I gather became available after the inital launch, might be fine though. Hard to tell, as not much info out there about this camera.
  8. No, it's not just you! The music is indeed much too loud. But the product looks pretty nifty. Great for outreach - leave one scope setting itself up, while you set up another manually, with the Quark warming up in the meantime. Nice.
  9. Here's a wee snap from a recent trip to the southern hemisphere. The fuzzy blob is the Omega Centauri globular cluster, NGC 5139. A single 10-second exposure, at ISO6400, taken on an Olympus EM5 ii mounted on a static tripod, using a 14-150 zoom at close to max - so approx 300mm at full-frame equivalent. Far more of a holiday souvenir than a great pic, but it's not often that you find a globular cluster that's big enough and bright enough for a quick snap!
  10. Jeff - sorry for the delayed response.  As Cornelius V suggests, yes, probably better to post in the relevant forum section, as more people (including me!) are likely to notice it.  No worries though, and to answer your question, I have found the Baader Hyperions to work very well with my Equinox 80.  IMHO, they are excellent performers for the money.  I wear glasses, and I welcome the eye relief they offer.  I have the 24, 13 and 8mm Hyperions, and also the Mkiii 8-24 zoom.  For the lowest mag from my collection, I use a TV Panoptic 35mm - 14x with the Equinox.  Don't often use a barlow at all, and switch to a 5mm Pentax when I want 100x.  Out of the various scopes I've had down the years, I reckon the little Equinox 80 is, optically, the best of the bunch.  Concerns re eyepiece weight and balance are really dependent on your mount.  I use tube-rings, on a long dovetail plate, and don't really have any balance issues.  Hope that helps!

  11. Hi folks Just discovered this thread - fascinating stuff, and pretty damn inspiring! I do have an EQ mount (AZ-EQ6), but often leave it in alt-az mode for purely visual, particularly so I can hang a couple of scopes on it for outreach events. I've yet to try imaging with it in alt-az, but am now inspired to give it a go. Just come back from a short break in the Canaries, staying on the south side La Gomera. Amazed at the sights available that you can't see from the UK, especially Omega Centauri, which blew me away even just through my wee 8x42s. Wished I'd taken a scope. And also wished I'd taken a tripod! I hope this image is valid for this thread - I wasn't using an EQ mount, not even a tripod, simply an Olympus EM-5 micro four-thirds camera, propped up on a couple of cushions, on the balcony table. Framing was therefore a bit of a challenge! Here's a single 30-second frame, at ISO5000. As grainy as Brighton beach, but hey - you can see the Milky Way, with Mars and Saturn in the frame (Mars isthe brightest object at top right). Can't wait to go back, armed with a small scope + tripod, and try some multiple short exposures. Cheers all
  12. Stunning, definitive, engrossing and so completely and sensibly useful! Brilliant job Rob - something to savour and revisit, over and over... Must be one of the most comprehensive and succinct what-are-they, where-are-they and what-can-you-see guides that I've ever read! Are you planning to write a book? I reckon they'd be a fair few customers on SGL alone! Thank you so much. All the best Simon
  13. Very cool, very useful, and works nicely. Impressive to have access to all the stuff you need in the same place. Many thanks guys! Cheers Simon
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