Saganite

Impressed with Dave's  ( f15 Rules) Moon image recently, and Stu's recommendation, this arrived this morning and I have to say it so well made, all anodised aluminium, it feels high quality.  I look forward to taking a few smart phone images.

Perfect !

Hi Neil,

Sorry for the late reply, I have been lucky with a clear sky all evening.

I will check it out and let you know tomorrow. 

Cheers

Steve

I shall rest easy now....for a while..🤣

Is it another scam?

I have got a completely black screen, nothing .

Hi Malcolm,

I am on Jupiter also, but the seeing is not very good so I cannot see a great deal of detail at the moment.

Hi Flame Nebula,

The post you have quoted is my reply to Paz.

My telescope is an APM ED152mm.......

37 minutes ago, Simon Pepper said:

I saw this and was very tempted not for a minute did I think it was a scam,

You were not the only one Simon, and this is the worry, it is clearly all too easy to be taken in, during  the period between the ad appearing and it being taken down. Mercifully, on this occasion , it was done fairly quickly.

1 hour ago, Paz said:

I've not had a Dob with built in goto or tracking but I do use an equatorial platform with my dobsonian for tracking sometimes.

I'll use it when viewing things at higher magnifications in the faster parts of the sky and it makes observing much easier amd more enjoyable and I'll see more because I can concentrate more.

However it is another contraption to manage so I don't use it unless the targets mean it is worthwhile.

If I was getting a dobsonian now I'd be content with just having a tracking facility.

Hi Paz,

I had a tracking platform for a short while but sold it, because for me , it was just something else to 'faff' with and I felt it simply introduces another layer of  potential wobble.  This is just my view of course and others will no doubt disagree.

I use my 12" dob for deep sky and so low powers are adequate, and it suits me that way.  I have tracking on my ED152 and that telescope is quite adequate for deep sky and excels at Lunar ,planetary, and double stars.

I agree to a point, but my previous 5" f15 refractor and my ED152 have  shortened tubes to accommodate binoviewers at native focus .  With Andromeda aka the 5" f15 and a 1905mm focal length, but shortened tube, a GPC/Barlow was not necessary  and a pair of 6mm eyepieces at native was as far as I went or needed.  With my ED152 and 1200mm focal length and using my MB II 's I would certainly use a pair of sub 5mm eyepieces at native if I had such eyepieces, just to remove the extra glass.  As the SV zoom is so inexpensive I perhaps should pick up another and at least try.   My view of Lunar a few nights ago with the SV at 400x could only have been  bettered with binocular vision .

13 minutes ago, The60mmKid said:

And different binoviewers perform differently in this regard. I couldn't use dual short-FL eyepieces in a Binotron because the compression ring eyepiece holders wouldn't allow for sufficiently precise alignment. That causes merging problems. But I'm able to with a Baader Maxbright because the clicklock eyepiece holders make it easier to fully seat and precisely align both eyepieces. So, I'm able to use shorter-FL eyepieces (e.g., 5mm) without merging problems, as long as I take care to seat them fully.

Precisely, and  why I could not binoview with a pair of HR 3.4mm eyepieces.  I too had merging/alignment problems and  I should imagine that a pair of 3-8 Svbony zooms would be worse with the slight play/movement inevitable in a zoom eyepiece...

Thanks for that Mike, the confirmation that I hoped for as to the excellence of the 3-8 zoom.

I have owned them all in the past , with the exception of the TOE.  Unfortunately I tried to binoview with a pair of HR 3.4's without success so sold them both.

I recently parted with my Pentax 3.5mm feeling that I was perfectly at ease with the Svbony zoom  I have used  for several months , and I am happy with my decision.

I certainly had to change the primary springs on one of my 12" scopes. I cannot remember now whether it was a Skywatcher or Meade Lightbridge.   I tend to think it was the  Meade, but any way, it needed collimating every time I moved it into the garden until I put a 'beefier' set of springs under the primary and then it was fine.

There was a time when I craved a 3" brass refractor, or was it a 6" reflector?....

I ended up with a 6" reflector , homemade  in 1974, certainly couldn't afford the former.

But the brass refractors have a unique beauty all their own....

21 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

Thats the only Newt I've ever found attractive to look at.

Dave

Never thought I would hear you say that ...ever, about 'ship's funnels'  Dave....🙂

On 13/02/2024 at 20:12, mikeDnight said:

My SvBony Zoom arrived today and there's not a star in the sky. Typical!

After reading some very nice reports about this eyepiece I thought I should order one, which on Amazon was around £139 from what I remember. As it happens, I'm rubbish at remembering passwords and things like that, so I asked one of my lad's if he'd order it for me, which he did. However, he has something going with Amazon and received a welcome discount, and so I ended up paying £115. Even at the advertised £139 I think it's still a bargain price, especially when compared to Televue's 3-6 at over £400. I've observed with the TV 3-6 on several occasions and thought it very nice, though I don't believe it's worth the price, and so if the SvBony is as good as some suggest I should be very happy when the stars come out to play. 😆

Hello Mike,

I paid £110 about six months ago, so you got a good deal I think.  I have previously owned a TV 3-6, quite a long time ago and although I could not fault it, it was a lot of money invested for just occasional use, so it was sold to pay for something else. I could never swear that the Svbony is optically as good as the TV as I don't feel competent to do so, but it runs it very close IMHO with perhaps a slight fall off at 3mm.  I have only used that focal length on tight double stars, and rarely in the excellent seeing conditions required to do that.  However, a few nights ago , alerted by a colleague on this forum as to the seeing in our area  ( he lives about 30 miles away), I used it to observe the Moon at 400X . I am aware that in my ED152, I probably saw no more detail than at 300x but the image scale was so large and still pin sharp it was breathtaking !

I use this zoom all the time now for double star splitting, I am so impressed with it.

For what it cost the Svbony  is an absolute bargain I think , and I will look forward to your thoughts when you have used yours.

The  endless images of beautiful telescopes !.....

No you are not, they are already here in abundance.....🙂

Lovely set up BTW.

28 minutes ago, tomato said:

I can’t for the life of me remember how I found SGL some 10 years ago but I’m glad I did, the advice I received on making some serious spend on an initial set up was literally invaluable.

I think it says something about SGL that this  is the only bit of social media that I engage with. The knowledge, the good natured humour and the respect shown to all users is a refreshing antidote to all that is mad and bad on the internet.

Well said...

Just now, Alan White said:

I was drawn as I at the time did not want to join a club....
I met friendly folks online, I asked stupid questions and got mainly sensible answers back 😉
 

So, no change then Al....🤣

54 minutes ago, John said:

 

While the membership of SGL has increased substantially over the years, the style and "feel", for want of a better word, of discussion has remained largely the same. 

 

That is good to know John.

I am indeed Paul , with most of the gang I believe, so get yourself there Paul and I look forward to it.

1 minute ago, wookie1965 said:

 

I have met and spoke to a few members and love conversing with like minded people. 

You might change your mind when eventually you meet me Paul....🤣

A couple of years ago I discovered that my left eye has developed an Epiretinal membrane, which makes sharp focus impossible. I feel fortunate because I am right eye dominant so 'cyclops' viewing is fine and despite having a 'forest' of floaters, I managed 400x on Lunar, pretty well  last night.  As Dave has said , using Binoviewers seems to allow both eyes to reach a good compromise, and this I have definitely found.

My left eye gives a brighter view than my right.