paulastro

Here we go again. See spaceweather.com for more details

No worries in that regard John. Mike and I both have weird senses of humour, and know each other well enough not to take each other too seriously 😄.

No apology necessary Mike. Personally, I always try and observe things in focus, and what's more l love observing coloured stars. I'm also rather relieved my scope has CA and that it isn't perfect, or I wouldn't have been able to afford it in the first place. 🙂

Yes that's true Mike, telescopes, brain size - all sorts of things 😄

I must confess Stu, I'm still looking forward to trying out mikeDnight's DZ when lockdown allows - that is if Mike will still let me if he reads my last post! 😄

I'd go for the 120ED every time, and I'm totally unbiased. Anyway, a four inch top of the range scope may give the 120ED a little competition, but never a miserly 3.9 inch refractor 😀.

vineyard. They may be all you ever need. I'm sticking with the two tele-optic ones in the pics, they are the final solution for me 😄. Despite only each being held by one bolt, they dont seem to rotate and they cant move anyway when you put a dovetail across them of course. The ones you have bought will probably work just as well. Regards, Paul

vineyard, here are some pics re the saddles I'm currently using. As I said, they do work well, but not the final solution yet. And here is the solution if you have over £100 to spend. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adm-replacement-saddles/adm-vixen-style-saddle.html

Many thanks John, that's very kind of you. I have to admit I do find it rather cool looking. In fact, to my wife's angst it's still set up in the lounge as I write this - though at least I have folded the legs down 😄

Many thanks Ade. Yes, the Vixen SDs and GPs are a class apart in this this type of mount, they are superbly engineered compared with the Chines clones. I've told many people over the years how good they are, and it's often the case that people aren't very convinced - unless they get to try one out for themselves. Amazing considering the SPs have been around for over forty years. The same thing happens when I tell some people how good biinoviewers are compared with the best single eyepieces for observing the Moon and planets!

Thank you vineyard. It's good to hear of other people out there still using an SP. It's still a work in progress for me re saddles, I only had the mount delivered yesterday. At first I did what you did and just mounted the rings on the SP top plate, I only did it the once and that was enough for me. Also I want to use my other scope with it. As you can see in some of the pics if you enlarge them, I now have two Tele-Optic-tecnica small saddles in place which came with my Ercole altaz mount. The trouble is that there are only two holes on the top of the SP so each of my saddles is only attached by the one hole. I thought they might keep rotating because of this but they don't and it works well. They are very good singles and one would hold my 120ED. The problem is there is no way I can attach one in the centre of the SP top plate as there is a round depression and nothing to fix it on with. I am looking for a dovetail with a channel going the length of it in which case it would be easy. If you have the dosh you can buy an ADM plate from FLO or elsewhere which would work just fine and is all you need. The roblem for me is it costs £104 and this is too much for me. I will let you know if I solve the problem - without spending £104 hopefully!

Still a youngster compared with some of us though Kev. Unfortunately, I certainly won't be able to own my SP for 41 years! 😄

That's fantastic Kev, 41 years and still going strong. Well done!! Not you of course Kev, the mount I mean! 🤣

Same telescope, different mount. I bought my SW 120ED a new present, well, an old present. I couldn't resist it when a fellow SGLer advertised a Vixen Super Polaris GEM. The mount could well be around 30 years old or more but it's slow motions are probably as smooth as the day it was made, and much smoother than the many cheaper clones made over the years outside of Japan. At any rate, it will certainly last a lot longer than I'm likely to 😄. In the mean time, I'm very pleased to have it.

I bought my SW 120ED a new present, well, an old present to be accurate. I couldn't resist it when a fellow SGLer advertised a Vixen Super Polaris GEM. The mount could well be thirty years old or more but its slow motions are as smooth as the day it was made, and much smoother than the many cheaper clones of this scope and the Vixen Great Polaris which came in its wake. These Japan made scopes are probably some of the very few mounts ever which can easily exceed the manufacturers stated maximum load. At any rate this one will certainly be in good working order a lot longer than I will 🌝. In the mean time I'm delighted to be it's custodian.

Many thanks John, that is impressive. It will be interesting to hear how the 80A compares with the StellaMira 80. I like the look of both of them. It would be good to have both of them here to compare with my SW 80ED. Out of the 80A and the StellaMira I must admit I'd prefer the latter - I cant imagine it being outperformed by the 80A. It will be interesting to hear your findings in this regard.

John. that's an excellent pic with the StellaMira. Has it been processed in any way?

I hesitate to ask this Steve in case I'm missing something, or I'm seen as some kind of party-pooper, but I have to ask 🙂 Why wouldn't most beginners be better off buying the Skyliner -150P Classic Parabolic Dobsonian which only costs £20 more? I know its bigger but other than portability I think the Classic dobsonian has many obvious advantages - a more stable base no need for something to stand it on, less susceptible to stray light, an optical finder, better focuser etc etc

Some great points are made here, and quite a few 'rules' suggested. I would say though, that if someone reads this who hasn't a lot of experience and is looking for practical guidance they may very well find it rather overwhelming. Personally, I have a more relaxed and less prescriptive attitude toward magnification. When observing any object, I just try different eyepiece and barlows (if necessary) combinations to find the one that gives me the best possible view at the time. That's it. In fact I have to admit I'm often not aware of the mag I'm using. In my observing notes I tend to record what I was using rather than the resulting magnification. I often use a x3 or x2 barlow with both single eyepiece, my Baader zoom and with different sets of Orthos in the binoviewer. I will just use what is best at the time. If pressed (with my telescopes and eyepieces) my rule would be to use the mag between x18 and x775 that give the best view of the object I'm observing 😄. (This is the total range of magnifications I have available - I think)

Well Peter, you're not known by your friends as Driller Drew for nothing 😄.

I'd drill a hole in it, but then I'm a SkyWatcher man 😄.

I couldn't resist taking a frame of the largest sunspot of the new solar cycle (25) so far. Onwards and upwards to the next solar maximum! 🌝. Looking forward to better things on the way. The seeing was pretty poor, and this is about the best I managed. Taken with the SW 120ED, single frame, Olympus E-M5 mk11, 1/4000 sec at 400 asa. The close-up is a crop of the same frame.

I know it's not the most exciting event, but I was pleased to see the eclipse yesterday evening. To be able to see the horizon where the Moon would rise, I had to stand on a pair of steps in the the corner of the observatory to see over the observatory wall. Using 10x50 binoculars I saw the first sliver of the gorgeious orange Moon rise through the murk on the horizon at 9.32pm. It rose rapidly and largely kept clear of cloud until 10.02 pm when it was engulfed by cloud - shortly before the eclipse was due to end. I was pleased that for most of the time I could see the shadow receeding from Moon, though it did seem easier to see in the later stages. The Moon in the pic taken on my phone below is over-exposed, but it shows the view looking over my neighbours garage roof toward the eastern horizon.

Good news! Well sort of, alas only a penumbral eclipse, and the Moon rises not long before the end of the eclipse. Around these parts the Moon rises at 9.21 pm and the eclipse finishes at 10.05 pm. So you'll have to be quick off the mark and hope it's in a clear patch between any rain showers.

I knew about this some time ago and have it down as my 'must see' event of the year. However, I wouldn't mind another reminder a few days before, just in case I've forgotten all about it by then 😄.