kev100

Hi there, reading through my previous post again, plus a few others, I reckon it's going to have to be a 14mm ES 82 ... Cheers, Kev

Thanks @Vlaiv I've had a discussion here on the merits of the 16mm Nirvana here before ... but decided against in as I gather it's not so good with a faster scope ... the 14mm ES 82 does look good, but is a little over budget ... Kev

Hi all, I've been looking to replace my 16mm, 68 degree MaxVision with a similar power but wider FOV (82 degree) item for some time now, and wondered if anyone could recommend something that'll be suitable for a fast scope ... The catch, though, is the budget is around the 100 quid mark ... Any thoughts?

Hi there. This is, for what it's worth, from my blog re the Celestron 20x80s ... : https://theastroguy.wordpress.com/2018/10/18/celestron-skymaster-20x80-binoculars-review-and-first-light-observations/ Kev

Hi Dan, it was nice to meet you too. Really enjoyed the evening, had some great views of Saturn, Jupiter and Mars (the latter was amazing, and looked just like some of the photos I've seen recently on Twitter!). Although I'd planned to make it a really late one, I decided to pack up around midnight. It was still quite blustery, and although it looked clear enough, I wasn't having any luck with the fainter galaxies. Top evening

Hiya, The fact that dimmer objects appeared okay makes me think that Mars' brightness scattering through high cloud/haze could have been the issue. I was out on Sunday night, on what appeared to be a good and clear night. Whilst the stars and planets looked great, there was definitely some haze in the air as I had absolutely no luck when it came to faint galaxies ... Kev

Hi there. You’re correct that any or all of the factors you mentioned could contribute to the issue you’re having. Collimating is probably the easiest thing to eliminate. Through the Cheshire, if you can see all the mirror clips equally, the cross hairs align and the centre spot is ... well ... centred, you’re collimated ... You could also check by looking at a bright star .... does it resolve to a pin point , with sharp and clearly defined diffraction spikes? Dew can definitely be an issue, but if you can’t see it on the secondary (it never occurs on the primary in my experience), then have you checked the eyepieces themselves, being the only other place it could accumulate? As the issue doesn’t occur on dsos, though you don’t mention which, I’d say dew is unlikely to be the cause. Be careful not to breathe on the EPs ... Stray light pollution/reflections could be the issue. Is your dob is a solid tube version (if not, do you use a light shroud?). Try a different/darker location.... (I know, easier said than done). I’d say the issue is some combination of atmospheric seeing conditions, plus the fact that Mars is incredibly bright at the moment, and all that light is scattered somehow (you could try fitting the dust cover to the scope and pulling off the small aperture cover to restrict the light coming into the scope...) I spent much of last night viewing Mars with my (same) scope and from a pretty dark site, and although it was bright and clear a lot of the time, it did shimmer and wobble around horribly at times, with stray light artifacts coming and going. My eyes were watering quite a bit due to the blustery winds ... Kev.

Okay. Im aiming to be there for 9-ish ... can’t make it any earlier. Forecast’s still looking good

Hiya, what time are you thinking of heading out?

Sunday night’s looking pretty good at the moment, and as I don’t have work on Monday, I’m seriously thinking of a major (all night) session, what’ll probably be the last chance before the colder nights set in.... the question is whether to make it a back garden night, or head down to creech /steeple.... to be confirmed

<checks notes> nope ... not since the 19th of July! Always up for a social

Hi, I'd recommend contacting Celestron UK (there's a contact form on the website - https://www.celestron.com/pages/technical-support). I had an issue with a pair, and a chap by the name of Daniel Robinson was a great help. Kev

Incidentally, the spec sheet on amazon for the standard 20x80s lists the maximum mag as x16 (x20 for the pro versions). I've queried this with Celestron (David Hinds, actually), and they confirm that the magnifications for both models is x20 ...

Wow! That's a great price for the 'pro' versions. Mine are just the standard ones, and they're great!