paulastro

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

Thanks for the thorough review Mike.

I wonder if the equivalent EP sold by other brands have blackened retaining rings.

The Celestron 30mm Ultima Edge 70 deg eyepiece has blackened retaining rings. It's a lovely eyepiece.

This has just been taken from AccuWeather.

The weather is looking good for the 17th to 24th at Kelling at the moment.  Just took this from AccuWeather.

It's a good job I don't believe in tempting fate 😊.

1 hour ago, Highburymark said:

Fantastic Paul! So you have two Starsense Explorer mounts in total - and it’s just a case of swapping scopes on the DX mount - as long as they don’t exceed the payload? Or Are there further changes required to use other scopes on this mount?

That's quite right Mark.  The mount comes with a Vixen fitting dovetail holder.  Mind you, I haven't seen a limit for the mount.  It's not that substantial for much more load than I will be using with it.  I suspect the mount could be beefed up,  or the angled phone holder fixed to other mounts.  Perhaps the Rowan mounts, not that I have one.

Off to the Spring Kelling bash next Monday, but will probably only take the Dob because we're rather short of space.  Andy ( from TAC) is taking a blow up tent which I'm hoping will fit on our pitch and leave us some room to observe 🙂.

Oops, sorry, I meant to say three new additions to MY Celestron Starsense Explorer stable -  to keep my 8inch Dob version company 🙂.

I bought the DX 130 DX version to add  130mm Newt, 80mm ED f7 and 125mm f10 SC versions.  The refractor is my Altair 80 ED-R - all on the DX mount of course.

Now I have multiple portable Starsense Explorer scope options for when I'm away from home 😊.

1 hour ago, markse68 said:

I've spent my astro budget for this month but I'll probably get them both next month  

I think there's a gap in the market for a really well designed Moon atlas app for phone/tablet where you have images based on these LRO images/model with realistic terminator, zoomable with every detail identified and more detail/identifiers as you zoom in. That would be perfect  . A much better version of what SkySafari offers which is ok but not great and awkward to use.

Mark

This software from NASA is what you're after perhaps Mark.  On my, now broken, laptop the high res images are incredible. The detail on the terminator is exactly what you will see in your scope - it really is uncanny.

On my phone the high res images don't download properly alas, they may on better phones.  Don't be put off by the low res images, the full res really are the business.

https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5048

I have both, and am in the 'must have both' camp 🙂.

Thanks Anne, we're bound to bump into you, we're on 137 🙂.

John, I agree, it's distressing for anyone to feel they have to leave SGL for such reasons.  Michael's comparison was written with a good balance and fair in my view.  

It was also very useful for those considering if they should buy the Starfield.

I have thought on some occassions some Tak owners (not all) have been too quick to recommend  a 2.5k scope to less experienced members when  in my view,  it is questionable if in fact its the best choice, and often clearly not.

It's not important what I think however.  You only have to check out what some of the most highly regarded experts there are around think.  I'm thinking of names such as Dickinson and Dyer, Ed Ting, Dennis d'Cicco, Ade Ashford and others.  None will recommend a four inch fluorite as a first telescope.  Nor will they recommend one for anyone whose interests are clearly not best met by such a scope.

Also some Tak owners do rubbish other manufacturers and type of telescopes which is not helpful to anyone.  I'm sure some will see this as banter or humour, but in my view it does sometimes go too far, and some times is offensive.

We have a duty to help people to find the scope that suits their circumstances, interests and pocket and will meet their needs if they ask for advice.  If we can't do do this in an impartial and helpful way, we can help them most by not saying anything.

March 3rd, 10.50pm to 11.55pm. Celestron 8inch Starsense Explorer Dob.

Seeing not the best, some haze and bright Moon.  Spent the first 20mts or so on  the Moon - binoviewer and Orthos, x200.  Bailly (the largest crater on the nearside, diam 188 miles) nicely placed on the S limb, always east to locate with the three craters Kircher, Bettinus and Zucchius in  a shallow arc to the N of Bailly's N limb. Bailly mostly in shadow apart from parts of the N limb and part of the rim of Bailly B in the interior.

Schickard well illuminated showing lots of interior detail. Paused to look at Wargentin adjoing Schickard which is filled to the rim with larva, it always reminds me of a flan or cheese cake with its smooth surface under the right illumination.

Despite the bright 95% illuminated Moon, I couldn't resist looking at some open clusters and globulars which still look very good in a 6 inch or larger scope.  I used the Morpheus 17.5mm (×68, 1.1deg) for these obs.

OCs observed were, M37, M36, M38, Double Cluster, NGC457 ET/Owl Cluster, Collinder 463 in Cas, M103, M35, M44 and M67.

Globulars M13 and M92.

Some fine views with the Morpheus with sharp stars across the 76 deg field and very contrasty. Objects further from the Moon clearly less affected by its influence. A very enjoyable session.

2 minutes ago, John said:

One way around this on forums is when a forward thinking supplier such as FLO provides equipment on a loan basis to members to try out and report back on. When I used to do comparative eyepiece reports on this forum, the eyepieces that I discussed had been loaned to me by FLO so I had no vested interest in them.

Great, thanks for that John.  There are a few scopes I'd like to try out, I'll get onto Steve straight away!  😊

1 hour ago, Moonlit Knight said:

Rumour is confirmation bias is rampant on astronomy forums, and just about everywhere else. We ALL choose to believe what we want to believe 

Very true.  We also tend to disbelieve anything that is contrary  to  the views and opinions we hold, and indeed feel uncomfortable if we act contrary to beliefs we hold strongly.  A bit like a Meade enthusiast buying a Celestron SC 😅.

In psychology terms it's called cognitive dissonance.

1 hour ago, Alan White said:

Can I just check with Starfield owners…..

Are your scopes China made or Taiwan made? I think the latter.

Not a political point, more a are we all making correct comments folks?

I'm not sure Alan, I cant recall what it said on my Tecnosky version.  FLO can tell us, it may be on their website anyway.

6 hours ago, jetstream said:

Rumour around the campfire is the Chinese optics are well figured, but possibly rushed a bit in the polishing process, affecting smoothness potentially. Opticians will slowly take the optic to a point where improvements either stop or go backwards. If it inadvertently goes far enough backwards they have to start all over. I'm not so sure they ^^ do that- or just release it if it meets their minimum standard whatever that is. IMHO.

That 'rumour' wouldn't come from another forum over the pond would it?  Do you actuuually know the source?The trouble with rumours is that the more they are passed on, the more they become accepted as being true - and they can cause serious damage to people's reputations and livelihoods.

Personally, I'd doubt this to be true.  The Starfield and the other badged examples are so good I'd have thought it unlikely.  Anyway, with the cost of labour in China, there is no reason for them to 'rush a bit''.

Though, there's nothing wrong with having minimum standards as long as they are high enough, I presume every manufacturer of optics have to have minimum standards.  I've not heard of a bad example of the Starfield or the other versions myself.

Thank you David.  

If I start writing about the Starsense Explorer I'll be up until the early hours 😊.

There us a good review by Alan Dyer below

https://astrogeartoday.com/celestrons-new-starsense-dobsonians-reviewed/

Also an excellent review by Ade Ashford in September 2022's Astronomy Now.

I've also put a review on SGL somewhere but I haven't got a link for it.

There's a very good review on the SS dob by High Point Scientific on u-tube .  

Lots of info on SGL too.

Well, you did ask  David 😅

1 hour ago, F15Rules said:

That's a great summary, Paul..

The first paragraph I can totally identify with, even almost to the age (I'm 67)..

I have found that binoviewing really helps reduce the visibility of floaters at higher powers, and in my FS128 on good, steady nights I can get to 300-350x on Lunar, doubles, globular clusters and Mars/Saturn with comfortable and rewarding views. On more normal nights for my location, ( we have a local micro climate due to surrounding low hills creating temperature inversions, especially in earlier evenings) and with Cyclops viewing, it would be more like half that, and in the case of Jupiter it's rare for me to be able to go much above 150x.

Regarding your second paragraph, I can totally accept and respect that that is your experience. For myself, I just don't like reflectors, never have. I find them uncomfortable to view through, ugly to look at and fiddly to maintain. I'd be the first to admit that I didn't persevere with them, as I knew early on that they would never float my boat.

I just prefer the look, comfort and low maintenance of refractors, both apo and long achromat. I accept that a good, larger reflector may well show more, and on occasion significantly so, but my refractors will deliver more of the sharp, high contrast views that I want, more often, on the relatively few clear nights we get in the UK.

If I couldn't have a refractor I'd have a good Maksutov which IMHO can give the most refractor like views of any of the other types of telescope 😊.

Dave

 

Many thanks Dave.

I actually use a binoviewer, barlow and Orthos for virtually all my lunar and planetary observing, and they do make a huge difference. Usually this is x200, and sometimes up to around x300 or so, more for Mars.

I accept liking to use some scopes above others is a good reason to use them.  I like using refractors and reflectors the most, with a slight preferance for the latter as I really don't like seeing mirror images in diagonals. It just bugs me as it's not a 'real' view which you can actually see if you get in a rocket and travel out into space!

My 8 inch is used for nearly all my obs because, for me,  it shows more detail in planetary and deep sky than my 80mm ED.  In fact, I sold my Tecnosky 102ED version of the Starfield to pay for my dob.  It was just as excellent as the Starfield but I wanted the extra aperture to allow me to see brighter images of planets at the mags I needed to use and more detail in deep sky.  This it does very well and I don't miss the Tecnosky to be honest.

Another reason I bought it was it is the Celestron 8inch Starsense Explorer Dob.  It has been a real game changer in terms of finding objects quickly and without using a finder.  I have severe hip  and back problems and sat down observing with the help of pain killers I'm enjoying my observing as much as I ever have.

So in the end, I just have the best scope that suits me personally in both what I want to see, and that I can physically cope with at the present time.

Whatever scopes I have in the future, I will have to mod them to use the Starsense Explorer system. 🙂.

'Empty Magnification' used to be the expression  used to descibe using magnifications so high that the image deteriorated to such a degree that the image became unusable.

While a 100mm fluorite doublet refractor still being sharp on planets at x500 plus is impressive, it doesn't mean it is necessarily a good image.  That depends on  the observer according to their age, experience, observing skill and what they perceive as being a good image.  Everyone will have a different opinion.

I'm a very experienced observer, and by no means the worst or best, and also fast approaching  68 years old. And, aging in all of us affects what we see.

To me a 100mm doublet fluorite image on any planet at much over x250, though still sharp, will be very pale, fairly colourless and being bombarded by numerous floaters.  A good example of 'empty magnification'.

At x250 in my 8inch Dob the image will be as sharp (when the seeing allows), much brighter, far better saturated colours and floater-free.  A good example of 'useful magnification'.

3 minutes ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

I sold my StellaLyra on here ... so it was probably mine you saw for sale lol ... but i reckon i would be looking at a larger size maybe a 10" or a 12"

Ah, that's ok then  as long as you're getting a bigger one 😊

1 hour ago, ukskies said:

Mine was a retirement present even tho I still work part time, I'm not sure about this last telescope thing though. 😉

My advice would be not to wait Steve I wish I hadn't.

I

I don't know what 'last telescope' means? 😉

2 hours ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

Very nice Paul ... i kind of regret selling my Dob , and now you are confirming it .. 😂.

Stu, I'm not trying to tempt you or anything, but I think I've seen a SW 200mm dob and a stellaLyra one recently, either here or on astrobuysell for good prices 😊.

Out with the Starsense Explorer 8inch from 7.45 to 8.10 when very threatening black clouds closed in. I went out for the Moon, just as well as nothing else was visible.

Clavius's W walls were snugly against the terminator, lovely contrast of light and dark patches and shadows along with some fine floor details.  Eratosthenes showed good detail under excellent lighting.  Not far from Clavius Tycho was very favourable, with the central  mountain coming out of the shadows and the W walls well lit with lovely detail in the terracing.    The E outer rim of Copernicus was just coming into sunlight on the terminator. It was nice to see the shadows starting to cross the floor of Plato from hills on the E wall also. Other features showing well included the Straight Wall and some of the rille systems close to the terminator.

I used my binoviwer, x2 barlow and 24mm Orthos giving x200.

Very enjoyable  despite the session being on the short side.

What has  not been mentioned is that not all observers are equal - that is in terms of experience, technique and visual acuity.  The observer is the key link in the chain of course. 

There are some observers who will never be able get the best out of either of these telescopes, never mind being able to tell the optical difference between them.  And all this without taking  into account the often poor seeing, which will be a leveler between the two scopes most of the time, certainly in the UK.

As an all round telescope, my 8inch Dob, never mind a 12 inch, will 'spank' them both. (except in portability) 🙂

5 hours ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

Thanks Paul 

I wanted a computerised GOTO mount at first but because we have families with very small chidren on both sides of us i was worried about the noise that a motorised mount makes ... especially in the summer time when we (might) have warm weather and windows are open , so the Starsense has proved a game changer . 

@StevieDvd has printed another bracket for me so the starsense can now be fitted to individual scopes which will allow two scopes to now be used on the skytee . 

Oh , and another plus for the starsense is that it can be used with a non GOTO star tracker if its attached to the scope/camera  which will mean easily finding non visible targets , saving a lot of time . 

Stu

Thanks for that Stu and for posting the pic of your setup, it looks great.

It's really nice to hear the difference it has made to your observing, as it did for me when I bought the 8inch Dob SS Explorer last July.

The quietness of it not only keeps the neighbours on board, but makes the experience more enjoyable too.  Listening to the local Tawny Owls is far better than the alternative of slewing motors 😊.

All the best, Paul.

16 hours ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

Our First clear evening for about 2 weeks saw the "real"first light of the 152mm Starwave on the SkyTee , along with the modified starsense unit . 

Aligining the starsense to the scope and RDF was a simple process that literally took 2 minutes . The starsense needs to be pointed at a clear sky , and it needs to "see" stars . That may sound obvious but i noticed it was almost 8;30 before the final callibration was complete ( Damn you BST ) . Once complete and the starsense had done its plate solving i slewed to the first target . I chose an easily visible one ( Mizar) just to make sure everything was working . Absolute breeze to use . One has to move the Scope or in this case mount quite slowly otherwise the starsense gets a little confused but the arrowed area remains and to be honest i found it soon caught up with my eagerness and speed . Right on target then ! The plus point for waiting for darkness was that the scope was cooled and ready to go ... a 6" frac does need a decent cooling time . 

Ok i went on to view a couple of other visible stars ... and then set about the challenge of finding some  dimmer objects . I had a northern , and sothern sky to aim at so M81 & M82 were next on the list ... straight to the target , no faffing about . The onto the Beehive cluster and then to M67 , which i had never seen before . I was switching between a 28mm EP and my "new" 18mm ortho EP . Finally i wanted to view the Leo triplet which was due south . My first ever view of these and a great sight . The thrill of seeing a small fuzzy patch will never wane . 

So , a successful evening all made possible by the starsense and the lovely Starwave . , Happy but a bit cold lol 

Stu

 

Great report Stu, I really enjoyed reading it.

It really doesn't matter if you move the scope a bit fast.  However fast you move it, when you stop the scope within the vicinity of the object it will take a pic and plate solve and you then just move the scope to the centre of the bullseye.

It will nearly always take well less than a minute, perhaps up to a minute if there's a lot of cloud or haze.  When you're used to it, you'll be amazed at the conditions in which it works - in some conditions not good enough for a visual finder.

It's a great feeling to know you will never have a problem finding any object - if its bright enough to be seen in your scope. You'll spend far more time observing than searching.

I'd love to see a pic of your scope with the SS 🙂.

I came across this review which was actually published online in December 2022.  I'd not seen it before and haven't seen it on SGL.  Apologies if it has been posted  here before.

Interestingly, it seems to be aimed at newcomers to astronomy rather than more experienced astronomers. Hence it might be of particular interest to people who are considering buying their first telescope.

For those who may not know who Damian Peach is, there is a piece about him at the end of the review.

https://www.space.com/celestron-starsense-explorer-dx-130az-review