Alien 13

13 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Re: the above advice while good advice it should be noted that some reputable astro dealers also sell on Amazon and eBay so it’s OK as long as you buy using these dealers Amazom or eBay shops. 

Would agree, Amazon is fine if you have a specific product you are looking for or any of the usual adapters etc and where else can you get hold of a 135mm Sammy.

Alan

I must admit, scopes similar to this have nearly made me hit the buy button.

Alan

I do like the natural look of single frame Lunar shots, great image.

Alan

All these software applications and it seems to me that not one of them can go from A-B without using XYZ in between so they are all flawed.. I gave up and only use a single app now..

Alan

I used to wash mine every couple of weeks, never a problem if you follow the guides available, dont try and polish the mirror with a rag though..

Alan

The problem with most commercial power supplies is that they "sense" the voltage at the output terminals so you often need 13.8V to get anywhere near to 12V at the mount due to cable losses, proper lab supplies allow you to run separate power and sense wires to the mount so that the indicated voltage is the real one.

Alan

Nice, I have all the skills but am too far away and retired but a great opportunity for someone, I also think my IPC 610/620 might have lapsed along with all the other stuff from working in aerospace..

Alan

20 minutes ago, jonathan said:

From just reading a few articles and reviews it seems that ED is highly desirable to cut down colour fringing and such, and a magnification range between 20x - 60x (for an 80mm objective this would be 8mm - 24mm eyepiece) to make it worthwhile, otherwise use binoculars.

Those criteria should help me to cut down the number of models I'd want to look at, and I do like the idea of having standard 1.25" eyepiece fitting as that allows me to use my existing astronomy eyepiece collection.  It seems that many of the more expensive brands tie you into their own ecosystem with bespoke eyepiece fittings, more money for them I suppose.

Also, as much as a 50~65 objective scope would be lightweight, it seems that the 80mm objective scopes have greater potential for light gathering and thus a greater light condition range, but only when coupled with good multi-coated optics (hence opting only for models with ED glass, which I think usually will come with those good quality lens coatings for higher light transmission).

There are some scope speficiations that I don't understand or can't yet relate to though, such as a few listing with this Celestron Regal M2 80ED including the angular field of view (how does this translate to the real world when looking at a distant treeline?), Relative Brightness - totally meaningless to me, Twilight Factor - again, what does this figure actually relate to in terms of being able to see a bird at distance?  Such as how it relates to lighting conditions given a clear sky at a specific date and time at my latitude (NE England).  Any real-world advice on these would be much appreciated.

Just looking at the Acuter GrandVista, I see it comes with a rubber-armoured body but I'm not so sure that I like that, I would prefer a straight forward metal casing as in my experience rubber coatings tend to degrade over time, especially with exposure to UV (even if it always has the soft case fitted, the rubber coating will likely still degrade albeit at a slower rate).  This is a shame as this combined with the requirement for ED glass effectively eliminates the entire Acuter range.

The Helios Fieldmaster Triplet is looking like a good contender at the moment.

I personally would look at 60-70mm scopes as these should allow for lower magnifications, my WO with a 32mm plossl gives around 12X as the min which is about what you would need at the low power end for spotting.

The other thing to consider though is that smaller scopes tend to have limited backfocus and might struggle with the extra light path of a correct image prism..

Alan

39 minutes ago, jonathan said:

I know it's a bit pricey compared to others but have you any idea on the quality of this William Optics erecting diagonal for daytime use?  I'm not sure how much difference the diagonal quality makes for daytime observing of birds etc.

The WO diagonal is probably the best easily available prism but I was put off when they changed the design and removed the micro-focusser option, the very best ones use a pentaprism  but you are looking at £150-£500. I think the prism is probably the critical component in a spotting scope design.

Alan

I cant help but think how many worlds in the Galaxy have similar life...

Alan

I want to see some nice Redcats on here, I have almost/nearly hit the button multiple times for one..

Alan

Cant help with specifics but it ought to be the same grease that is used on camera lens helical focusers, might make an internet search easier.

Alan

Watching with interest, I have used my WO scope with a Celestron correct image diagonal and its OK but not great, the two main issues are that the eyepiece position moves when you focus so the range required between near and far can be several inches and the other is the lack of any decent correct image diagonals on the market.

Alan

I like that, the clouds add something special me thinks.

Alan

I do like my ZS 71 even use it as a camera lens with 8 inches of extensions, I originally just wanted a  cool temperature gauge so the scope came free..

I dont have any scope pics to hand but this is my daytime camera lens extension so I can focus close with the WO ZS71..

Alan

5 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Cows are the deadliest large animals in the UK apparently.

“In fact, cows are considered as the deadliest large animals in the UK. This is because, according to report from the HSE, there have been 74 cattle-related deaths in the last 15 years. Most of the victims were farm workers and walkers with dogs.”

On average 5 people a year are killed by bees though. Yellow tailed scorpions are now to be found in Kent. 🙀🙀🙀

Any large animal can be dangerous as its hard to predict how they might react, even my soppy lab could do some serious damage if she ran into you at full pelt...

Alan

I always felt safe when I had my dog with me, she could also see in the dark so warned me of any approaching critters like hogs so i didn't accidentally step on one.

Alan

Not sure why you would need to take the motor off, I know I have the EQ3 but the EQ5 is similar regarding the polar scope and it just unscrews..

Alan

I will add my thoughts because I did a strip down and cleaned my reticule..

First of all get rid of the thumbscrews, they are always getting touched causing the reticule to move out of alignment, the grub screws are better in my view.

The inside of the polarscope barrel is full of grease, so if you can get the reticule out and back in without contaminating it you are a better man than me 😀 took me 3 tries.

Was it worth the hassle, definitely yes.

Alan

3 minutes ago, Skipper Billy said:

I still haven't pressed the 'BUY' button - its not like me to suffer paralysis by analysis but I want to be sure that the R6 will do all that I want it to do.

One thing I have discovered is that all images are treated to a dose of noise reduction and it cannot be turned off !!!!! This might be a deal breaker 😞 

I have just gone through a similar process with a new mobile phone...

Interesting that there is some noise reduction as I was beginning to warm to the R6 for its superior focusing performance although another barrier for me would be the poor battery life meaning that it would realy need a grip and those new LP E6NH batteries are not cheap at £115 a pop.

Alan

Not me, I like my Windows too much although would be up for it if I could find something that could run all my software and games.....not even the Mac OS can do that unfortunately.

Alan

Lovely, so many rigs are classed a grab and go when they aint..Proper grab an go must be able to be carried easily in one hand.

Alan

17 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

Problem with regular photo lenses is that they are not diffraction limited.

You can't hope to make very sharp Andromeda image with fast lens.

Daft question but how can you tell from the lens specification?

Alan

T-10 mins, safe trip water bears...

Alan

From what I have read the standard EF lenses actually perform better on the R6 body, so I cant see a reason to give them up for a long time. I hope they introduce a crop sensor R body soon.

Alan