Which Star is that

Hi everyone, Has anyone managed to get the Philips SPC900NC to work in Windows 10, preferably 64 bit? Rick

Got any available nights at Les Granges in the next 5 weeks as I will be in the alps and have thought of coming down for a night or too? Trouble is if the weather's nice I'll want to be skiing...

It was the length of the OTA that was important for me so the ST120 gave me the best aperture to length to cost ratio. It had to fit into an Airline legal carry on bag. Really the ST102 would have been the sensible choice, but when I was looking to buy it was out of stock and OVL had no estimate for delivery. The 120 was only a few quid more, and buying it in combo with the AZ3 and then selling the mount and other bits that I did not need meant I effectively got the tube for peanuts! Ultimately my setup has been (and still is) a bit of a test to prove that travelling with all the kit was worth

Hi John, I quite like the iOptron. It may not be the best Equatorial mount, but the fact that it is designed to be transportable is the clincher for me. I do not use the stock tripod that it came with as it is too long to go in my case even collapsed. It is also a bit wobbly! There is just too much play in the legs when they are extended. For me to use it I would have to strip it down and fit tighter fitting shims round the telescopic legs, then it might be OK. I simply bought a decent carbon fibre camera tripod (28mm tripo) which is much sturdier than any of the cheap metal tripods I have tri

Hi Baggywrinkle, I actually bought the ST120 on an AZ3 as it was really cheap and I only wanted the ST120 'scope as I travel with mine on an iOptron SmartEQ Pro mount. I have since sold the AZ3 on eBay for £50, which effectively made the ST120 really cheap - a lot less than just buying the OTA by itself, and I got all the "accessories" (diagonal, finder scope etc) that comes with the kit rather than just the bare tube. The ST120 is great value for money. It does exactly what I expected. It is probably a bit big to be an ideal travel scope, but I can just fit it in my flight bag if I remove th

Still working on the lens cap. Not sure if Sugru will stick to the acrylic sheet well enough. I need to find something I need the rest of the tube of Sugru for before I open it, then I can try sticking it to the acrylic. I have the Polymorph now I need a fret saw...

Like the Oogoo link! Looks like it could be a good alternative to expensive Sugru.

Polymorph on order too. Will let you know what I turn it into. Great advice folks - Sugru and Polymorph - stuff I've never played with but looks amazing...

Yep, any old USE lead will do. I got the cheapest I could find and it works fine. In fact it is quite a thin cable, unlike some of the "premium" cables, and that is better as it is more flexible and doesn't stick out as badly.

I bought a modified 450d from Juan at cheapastrophotography last month and he was great. Camera arrived and is exactly what I expected. Works a treat and I even took the risk and did it as a bank transfer to avoid the extortionate PayPal charges. He sent it in the post before he had confirmation of the money from his bank! Would definitely recommend him.

Acrylic sheet on order from eBay...

Just seen it is available direct from the maker in the US for $75 and since I travel a lot to the US I can get it delivered over there, so looks like I can get it at a bargain price! :grin: Why is it £80 in the UK - usual rip off!

Yes, looks like GPUSB relay is the simplest way for me. £80 is not cheap, but not the end of the world to get something that is known to work and keeps it simple. I will keep an eye on the EQMOD project, but at the moment it doesn't seem to be compatible with the Losmandy and the part is not in stock anyway, and no indication of when it will be available. Thanks for all the advice.

This seems to be my problem! There seems to be many ways to skin this cat! The EQDIR is certainly cheap, but I don't know if it (or is it an EQMOD I need!) can be made to work with my G11! I have joined the Yahoo group to see if anyone knows if it will. The trouble is I don't really understand half the terms they refer to! The Shoestring Astro GPUSB from OpticStar does at least seem to have the correct combination of connectors - a USB end for the PC and an RJ-12 which would go in the Losmandy G11 conrtol box, so even if it is a bit pricy it looks like it should work... In fact having just sc

Must try one! I like the look of the adapter from ScopeStuff to mount it on the Synta finder mount...