Charic

The Geminids was on my list of 'things to do' this weekend whilst visiting Glasgow, and had hoped to view the show from nearby Loch Lomond, but the bad weather put a stop to any viewing that I was contemplating.

I heard this week that although M31 and the Milky Way are on a collision course, nothing will actually strike each other, such are the distances between all and everything within the two galaxies. Shame I won't be around to witness this spectacle.

I eventually fell asleep.......but watched the whole show and a few subsequent programs? I was impressed with the program with regards to Planetary storm systems, and I thought I had it bad with the jetstream's over Scotland!

I'd like to try an ED80 myself (some day) but despite your desire to only own a Refractor, your description above is pretty fitting for my Skyliner, though you'll need both hands. Just as long as I don't find that "slippery slope" in my garden!!!!!!

You'll need to provide a budget and what your intentions are, be that visual astronomy or astrophotography! For visual, I can recommend the Skywatcher Skyliner as one option that you should investigate? Welcome to the forum.

I stopped using the patch for the same reason, one eye worked, the other didn't when you needed to move about?

A lot of folk like the Telrad. It does not magnify, but the reticules do help to align on a target then hop accordingly. This is my third Telrad, still have issues unless I wear my glasses, but I'm keeping this one. I'd happily stick it on my ED80, whenever that arrives?

I have all three and for me I still prefer the 9x50 finder, viewing with both eyes open? The Telrad is good but would be more suitable if I was sat at the end of my scope!, because you need to look through it , at some distance, and I need glasses to see the reticules, but my latest Telrad has everything? a RACI mirror, and a riser, the pulser, but to date, not yet trialled. I also have a Revelation RACI which is possibly an 8 x finder, and when this was first installed, I found it awkward, as it did not show my images vertically, but angled, dependent on the altitude of the scope itself. I've been advised on how to align the RACI to my seated position, but again not got around to testing. The 9x50 gets the most use, and with some recent changes that have taken place here regards the street lighting, I'm eager to get outside with the scope soon, and trial all three again, to see which one I should be using?

..........thanks, was just going to call it a night?

I’m capable of lifting my Skyliner from its store and out into the garden. Any further, then it’s by car, scope over back seat, mount on the front seat. I have considered a pram/buggy/ wheel barrow to get to land behind my property, but not seen anything suitable so far. Anything stable with wheels to isolate the scope from shock is what I’d like, but for now, it’s lifted or separated.

Thats a possibility. Perhaps the massive discount is a way of moving older stock, and at the end of the day, if they work and the user is happy, why not.

Thats a massive discount so I went and had a look myself at a Bresser 40mm, but when you added your link, something rang my bell, as these two items are completely different externally? Both links appear to depict a 40mm Bresser Plössl. https://www.optical-systems.co.uk/en/Astronomy/Telescope-accessories/Eyepieces/BRESSER-40mm-Eyepiece-60-5-Elements-50-8mm-2.html https://www.telescopehouse.com/bresser-pl-40mm-60-2-00-inch.html

I tried TeleView's Delos range for the wider views, but found them no better than my Starguiders with respect to the size and details of the image I was viewing. The view itself was wider, but what I was looking at looked the same. Well in fact no! some targets, the Moon, looks smaller in such a vast sea of space. I therefore decided that my Starguiders were as good as it's going to get, so I'm staying with the 60° afov format, which suits my viewing requirement. My one and only two inch fitting EP the 32mm Panaview works well, as a finder or just as a wide field, scanning the heavens. Your 8mm BST is a good replacement for the supplied 10mm , and the 25m works just fine, but was not wide enough for me on one occasion when trying to take in M31 from a darker sky, so bought the Panaview for that reason. A 12mm BST is a very good eyepiece, matching the scopes ( Skyliner 200P) focal ratio if 2x Barlowed giving 200x power, which the scope is more than capable of producing, and if just used as a 12mm, the image detail, although smaller, is sharper, given the right conditions. I've even contemplated buying another 12mm BST and permanently fitting a 2x Barlow cell to the eyepiece, giving me the BST 6mm I so desire ( they don't make one to be honest but the 6mm would 'complete' my personal set ). Calculate/measure the entry pupil for your eye, and multiply by the focal ratio to find a ball park figure for your wide field eyepiece. Given mine rounded up is 5, then I should look at something around the 30mm focal length for a wide field EP, the 32mm Panaview is what I have. Go too long in the focal length with a reflector and you'll see things that you shouldn't normally see like floaters and the scopes spider assembly?

I bought their 3LT X5A Tony to carry my Nikon D5000 and at the same time bought the Manfrotto detailed in my signature. Stability, mobility and some pretty weird places to stick a camera resulted in me wanting to keep the Manfrotto. I just felt the Manfrotto was better for my needs, and how it can be placed ( horizontal for example between two structures? ) but I don't actually recall testing the physical stability over long term exposures back then, so the 3LT was put up for sale, but I still have it (sale withdrawn) and will use it to mount flash heads, or spare binoculars which is where the Manfrotto excels just now, especially with the 222 tiger grip. As for your own stability testing, send the goods back or ask for an extension of service (in writing ) if you physically can't test the goods for yourself in the time given. The test that Jojo204 suggests and possibly ideas from other users will hopefully find you a quicker solution.

Ive used micro-fibre cloths on glazing and although they are like magnets to dust and particles, I still can't get the glazing to sparkle, unlike when using news paper and Windowlene 4-1, plus the attraction of particles could suggest transferring from one surface to another, therefore a multi-used cleaning option? That said, I don't enthuse on using Windowlene 4-1 for your optics, its not advisable by 99.9% of the good folk here, but I was that 0.1% and saw nothing untoward afterwards with regards to the image quality. I used cotton wool with the liquid, but it will dissolve the adhesive donut on the mirror. SO KEEP WELL AWAY! I now use these for all my cleaning tasks when it comes to optics or screens! https://groceries.asda.com/product/contact-lens-reading-glasses/zeiss-lens-wipes/910000797660 It does say on the box, Professional cleaning solution, Thorough and gentle cleaning, High quality micr-fine tissue, and particularly effective for high quality coated precision lenses? Not though for cleaning contact lenses? HTH.