paulastro

My ultimate visual telescope is the telescope which allows me to see the amount of detail I want to see, in the objects I like to observe which is commensurate with my current age, fitness and finances.

At the current time this is a a Celestron 10 inch Dobsonian Starsense Explorer.  The Starsense Explorer push-to app based location system allows me to find any object I want quickly, easily, accurately, silently and  without any pain, WiFi connection. or an electricity supply - other than my phones battery!

Luckily for me, I already have one 😊.

10 hours ago, Greymouser said:

Beginning to think I may have to get one of these... 🤔

I think you should buy one too.  But then, its so good I think everyone should have one!  😊  This was my very first image with mine on my first night out, and only two minutes exposure, poor seeing and about to go behind  some trees! 

On 15/01/2024 at 18:50, wookie1965 said:

I regret buying the 10" celestron starsense its too heavy for me with my spine. I have had it up for sale for months I'm going to use the money for a easier mount something like a Ioptron AZ pro I believe I can make it fit my EQ5 extension tube so I can easily use my F10 refractors. 

Once I have saved up I will look for a carbon fibre tripod with a extension.

  As my diseased hip got worse  ( I had it replaced with a new one on Jan 9th!) I too struggled with my 10inch SS Dob.  Quite by accident I came across the device below on FLOs website.  When I read about it, I was very doubtful  and so I was when it arrived - at first it just looked like a jumble of wide Velcro.

However, it works extremely well, at least for me.  It works very well even if you just use the two straps, the harness round the neck makes it easier if you have to carry the scope any distance.  The harness bit can be detached by two clips when you have the scope in position.

Well, this just popped up on my phone.  I've only read a little of it.  It's not April 1st is it?

Just spotted this.  Note, this is a photo from the TV ,not an actual link.

6 minutes ago, Carbon Brush said:

A tablet allows you to view images at a decent size and have enough space on the screen for the scope controls.
I'm one of those odd people who think a phone is for calls and the occasional picture.
It also avoids juggling screens if you get a call mid imaging session😁.

Yes ,I've been tempted on occassions.  But then I think it's just another gadget to have to keep up with.  Also with two devices I'd never end up putting the right one to my ear!  🤔.

8 minutes ago, Doug64 said:

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

My permissions are ticked, I think it has to do with the age of my tablet.  It is a 2016 model Android version 8.1.0.

Think I'll have to buy a new tablet

Doug

Any old excuse to spend some money😊.  

My pics go straight to Gallery on my phone.  Alas I have never owned a Tablet - you're tempting me now! 🙄.

No harm in window shopping.  And all those nice friendly people to talk to.

😊

Welcome back, lots of exciting developments to catch up on since you left equipment wise.  Have fun!

13 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

Not long now!  Better start saving as buying goodies is compulsory!!

I'd imagine the traders will make some good money this year.  There's been an awful lot of new inovative  gear come onto the market in the last twelve months.  If you need a sub, just let me know Mike 😊.

1 hour ago, Ricochet said:

As a visual observer how much did you find yourself using it as an EEA device, sitting there watching the image appear on the screen, compared to using it as an imaging device where you would set it on a target and then leave it until some time later to check whether it had produced an acceptable image?

It's the first time I've used it, but it won't replace my visual observing.  Mind you I'm getting older and it's very easy to carry in and out if I'm not up to getting out the 10 inch or other  scopes.  I'll also use it for different reasons.  Of course I can image things I can't even 'see' through the 10, or not as well.  As you say, it will be easy to observe visually and take pics at the same time.

There are many reviews and comments re the S50, but there are many, what appear to be, discrepancies between them.  Of course this is not surprising as the writers have many backgrounds.  It's not surprising that experienced imagers may look more critically at how good the images it produces actually are.  

This is fine, but the S50 was designed so just about anyone can use it to get some good images with the least effort - and including people with little to none experience of imaging, observing or even astronomy.

My views are those of an observer of over fifty years with no experience of imaging apart from occasional prime focus images on undriven altazimuth mounts.

I'm not going to  cover the setup of the S50, there is plenty of Information available in other reviews, u-tube videos and comments on SGL and other places.

Your experience will differ primarily according to how competent you are using a smart phone.  I'm just about competent and read lots before buying my S50 which arrived on Dec 20th.  Anyone with just a little more savvy than me will probably have it running in little more than five minutes.  

I think the interface is great and very easy to navigate around.  Some people have indicated some info is somehow hidden away and they had to 'discover' it themselves.  Not so in my view.   There's nothing you can't find out by looking online.  I suggest people actually check out the brief instruction leaflet that comes with it, as well as the tutorials on the app.  The company also have a good video 'manual' on utube which tells you where to find just about everything - though it moves along quickly and like me you might want to pause it to make a few notes.

Since Dec 20th, when my S50 arrived I didn't have any clear periods to try it out on deep sky imaging until last Saturday morning when it cleared to a hard frost at 1am.  The images below are some that I produced.  All of the exposures were 5 mts or less except for M51 (19mts) and M3 (10mts)  The Orion Neb was only 2mts and the Horsehead 3mts.  I would have taken longer exposures but these two were very low down and about to disappear.

I  did a little additional processing using the photo processing software that comes with the camera on my Samsung A52s.  Too much on the Horsehead as 3mts was way too short.

As a non imager I sadly have to confess I'm over the Moon with them!  I'm not daft enough to believe they are anywhere near what my imaging colleagues can produce - but for an aging technophobe they meet my requirements.

Hopefully they may assist others to decide if they will suit them.  Of course if you are an imager you can stack all the individual images yourself and produce really nice images - and longer exposure make a huge difference.

I haven't mentioned the Scenery, Lunar and Solar modes, only because they are so straight forward it's unlikely you'll go wrong!

1 hour ago, AstroCurl said:

Hey everyone!

I’m new here. Been a stargazer since I was a kid but embarking on my first telescope, due to a gift and lots of research from my wife. I live in New York City and most of my stargazing will be city bound, with the occasional opportunistic family trip out of town where I can get some sky watching in. This is also going to be an activity I do with my kid, who’s almost 4. I’m super excited to join and hoping some of you might offer some perspective!

I am deciding between 2 scopes by Celestron from their their StarSense line. After reading a lot and watching video review, I think the app approach is good for me and my kid, since it will help us learn the sky with visual aids.

Since we live in the city and portability and storage are big concerns, we wont get a dobsonian—even though, I know that the best bang for the buck out here (maybe later if we move into a house upstate!).

My wife bought me the StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ, which seems like a great telescope. With some additional research I’m considering upgrading to the StarSense Explorer DX 5 (Popular Science model) for the following reasons:
- Much more portable, can get scope and mount onto a backpack for local park viewing
- Erect image for daytime viewing of city views and nature (we live near a great park with cliff views), especially with the kid.
- I found it for a very good price $500 w. mount

From my understanding, the main potential drawbacks to a SCT are:
- More expensive / complex.
- Narrower field of view

I’m wondering if any of you might have experience with the DX 5 or thoughts on any of the following questions!
- Given my needs, are there any major or dealbreaker reasons to avoid a SCT over a Newtonian?
- What do you think of the Celestron DX 5 mount? It seems like the same one as the DX 130AZ but I’m not sure.
- I read that SCT are less good than Newtonian for DSOs, is this for light collecting or field of view reasons? I’d love to do a mix of planetary and deep space viewing.
- Is it worth the $100 upgrade price from DX 130AZ to DX 5

It’s been cloudy here since Xmas but I’m chomping the bit to get outside!

Thanks for the guidance!

Hello AstroCurl.

It doesnt make sense to buy two different complete DX scopes.  The mount is the same for both scopes - you don't need two mounts.  Any scope with a Vixen type dovetail will work with the DX mount you already have.  This means you could  buy any new or used scope with a Viven dovetail and use it on the DX mount you already have, as long as they are within the capacity of the mount.  The phone holder is fixed on the mount of course - and it doesn't know or care what telescope you are putting on it !!

I've had a DX, and personally don't think it is as sturdy as it should be with some of the scopes supplied with it.  If you want to 'upgrade', I would consider one of the tabletop dobsonians, or if you want a larger scope, the 6-12 Starsense dob scopes are all excellent and the mounts are much better than the DX mount.

8 hours ago, Carbon Brush said:

Absolutely right.
Since receiving mine there has been cloud, gales, rain. Or I have been away from home.

Every time there has been a glimpse of an easy target, it has hidden behind cloud within 10 minutes.
I have manged to charge the battery and install the app on a tablet.

Another new owner sent me his first pictures - houses some distance away in daylight!

I understand from another thread on SGL that is possible to do more with these scopes - eventually 🤣
 

Carbon Bush, I think you'll find it's the lack of clear night skies that has prevented many of the seventy five S50s FLO sold in one day producing any images.  Its certainly true for the one I bought 😊.

Mind you, there does seem an awful lot of traditional imagers selling their gear.  Perhaps they account for the other seventy four people that bought an S50? 🙂.

Happy Christmas everyone - and clear skies.

I'd put myself in this category.  I admit l just haven't the skill set or patience to climb the steep learning curve or enough clear skies to do visual observing and astrophotography.  Or the money come to think about it - which is why I ordered an S50 myself 🙂.

Just checked and FLO have sold all their stock.

Probably the price if you're an imager who has  spent 5k or more on imaging kit and hasn't yet produced better pics than the S50 can 🤣.

Looks like they will sell out by later this evening.

Yes, I'm not surprised  I guessed that stock would be going to all the outlets at the same time.

About an hour or so ago they had 54, now stock down to 38.

Apologies if this has been posted somewhere already.

Best not to hang about if you want one 😊.

For folks thinking of buying the Seestar S50, FLO have around 40 in stock, it was 55 when I first looked about an hour or so ago 😊

5 hours ago, wesdon1 said:

@paulastro Thanks for that very helpful response Paul! Also, I'm in Liverpool, UK so quite far away unfortunately, but thank you so much for such a kind offer Paul, I was pleasantly taken aback! Thanks!

After reading these responses, I'm definitely buying the 120 triplet model, because I've wanted a good triplet with plenty of aperture for a while now, and finding the ASKAR 120 means it's now affordable for my typically limited funds! I will of course write up and post images in the coming months and share my experiences so other members know exactly what I found!

Regards, Wes.

Many thanks for your kind words Wes.

It will be good to hear how you get on with it, so do share this when you can.

If there's anything I can help with, you can send  a PM anytime.

Best regards, Paul

4 hours ago, wesdon1 said:

Hi all. So today I found this beast of a 'scope, a 120 triplet apo, which as you all know triplet refractors are very expensive because the glass to make them is so expensive etc! Askar 120 APO Triplet Refractor | First Light Optics

My question is...is £1499 for a 120mm triplet apo just too good to be true?? has anyone had a chance to test this particular 'scope out? They also do a 103mm, a 140mm and even a whopping 185mm aperture version!!?? the 185mm is circa £5k, which is a similar price to sky watchers 150 esprit triplet model. What are peoples thoughts on this 120mm triplets price?? If it's even fairly decent, I would argue it's the bargain of the decade!!

I have had the 103 version since November 1st, and before buying it, like yourself wondered how on earth they could make it for the money.  A month and a a half later,  I ask myself the same thing every time I use it.  It's more amazing when you have actually used it and know how good it is.

To save  repeating it here, my review is on FLOs website.

Of course, it doesn't necessarily mean all its relatives are the same quality, but they certainly produced a cracker with the 103.  I would have thought it likely they are made to the same standard. If you want to pm me regarding any aspects of the scope, please feel free to do so.  I've no idea where you are located, but if you are anywhere near West Yorkshire you are welcome to come and check it out for yourself.

The finally factor in my decision was that I knew if I bought it from any of the suppliers who have a long proven record of a very favourable returns policy, then I wasn't risking anything by ordering it. In the event, its turned out to be a very wise purchase 🙂.

6 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

Paintshop pro is another similar to photo elements, but I also often use GIMP as well.

As GIMP is free there is nothing lost in installing it and having a go.

Paint.NET is free and might be similar too. I've not used it

 

Thank you happy-kat, I'll look them up.

Just now, bosun21 said:

I was a total beginner and even I got decent images from both Siril and Gimp. Good luck 👍.

Thank you bosun. I might have a use for Siril in the future so the information is very helpful.

2 minutes ago, Elp said:

You've outlined how long you want to spend on processing. Unfortunately good processing takes time, I'm currently doing one waiting to finish once Ive capture RGB stars, the pre processing in Siril alone including stacking has taken more than 5 odd hours, and another 5 maybe post processing and aligning each sessions stack ready to finish once I've added the RGB stars. And likely I'll spend another 5-10 hours on it refining it. Sometimes images take much less time, for example I don't spend so long on galaxies as much of the data is there at face value and don't need teasing out.

But yes, gimp is pretty good and just as good as the normal Photoshop. Elements is not like the normal PS, it's much simpler and you cant do as much with it. I've just added Affinity as it's a decent price for the one time purchase, I refuse to pay a subscription to Adobe for the main PS.

Elp.  You're right, I said all that in the first post. I only take single frames with my Olympus mirrorless camera, mostly solar.  I take pics as records, not works of art.  I like them to be as good as possible, but I've no pretentions of being the words best solar photographer.  I'm sorry if I've misled anyone

Having said that, the information you have all provided has been very helpful, and I'm grateful for everyone's help who has contributed.