Northern Soul man

Hi To All, Yes Cosford was a very good site, I only had a couple of outings up there but the sky was really nice and you had a really good 360 view with only a couple of trees to look around.  I think, for its location, it was a really good compromise between travelling miles out of town and having darkish skies, I know probably not truly dark but a good compromise all the same.

I think the Wolves Society have access to a field in Boningdale, but there hasn't been much activity as of late - this was very close to the Cosford site only a mile or so down the road - but it would be nice if we can get some sort of gathering for the Black country/wolves possie - the events up Barr Beacon are really good and very well attended though.

Paul.

Hi Leo, fantastic scope mate great choice.  Looks like you've got everything sorted - a great first scope - your going to see a lot with that.  Wonder if you have any star charts yet, they all look a little daunting when you first start using them, try and have a look for the brightest objects visible when you go out, try and make a log of what you want to observe, stick to it and spend a long time on each object - some you will be able to find quite quickly - others may need a little sweeping around for - but remember we're under very light polluted skies - so some objects just won't be visible - nothing wrong with you or the scope - its just how it is, people find the art of star hopping very frustrating to begin with, as the view in the scope is going to be upside down and back to front, so have the Bino's handy and just check from the charts for distinctive star patterns near to the object, get the red dot finder close in relationship of where you want to point the scope, then have a look, if its not there, just use a very low power EP (the longest focal length) for sweeping around the immediate area - as time goes by it gets a little easier, I first started out with a Dob, but moved to an SCT with GOTO - you will soon get used to the objects that are visible and the others that are just too faint for our skies - all of my observing is done from my garden, night after night you get used to re - visiting old friends around the sky.

Don't get frustrated if you can't see much to start with - I think this is the most IMPORTANT point to make and to keep telling this to ourselves when we're outside - there are tips we can use to make the most out of the light pollution, use a dark cloak to cover your head whilst looking at different objects - it really does look stupid - but makes a hell of a difference in giving the best contrast.

The light pollution filter will help - but only on certain objects which emit at certain wavelengths - much better on the emission Nebulae - M42,M27,M97,M76 for starters - as said - spend a while on each object try different mags to give the best contrast, especially whilst under the cover, especially make sure your eyes are dark adapted, spend the start of the session allowing your eyes to get dark adapted, this takes a while, maybe 30 - 60 mins - so start off with the brighter objects and work your way to the fainter objects as time goes by - any light here will ruin your dark adaptation.

Most of all just enjoy your time under the stars, not getting too frustrated - but this happens to us all at the beginning - so take your time, work your way through your objects, spending long periods on each - it amazes me just how long the light has been travelling to get to our mirror/lenses and just being able to see what we can see from our back gardens.

Paul.

Great Leo - you say your just starting out but you seem to know your way around the sky and enjoy using your binoculars - I find that when I've got a few minutes or so its nice just to go out with the Bino's and have a quick look around the sky - wonder which scope you've opted for - as soon as you put a scope on the sky things become totally different - but one compliments the other - you have such a narrow field of view with the scopes, the Bin's are just great on the open clusters and the star fields in the Milky Way - the brighter Messier Nebulae - like the Dumbell Nebula are visible in Binoculars, for me, just a smudge of light - but as soon as you put the scope on it, it breaks out into so much structure - its a lovely sight.  The star clusters in Auriga M36, M37, M38 - in Bino's, are just  patches of light, but as soon as you put the scope on them and add a little magnification, they become structured star cities, with their own shape and density, again, M2 and M15 are small faint patches of light in the Bino's, but train the scope on them, add a little magnification, they become very bright, compact star clusters with star after star becoming resolved into pin point jewels in a very large jewellery box.

Keep us informed when the scope arrives (wonder which one you've plumped for) and best of all, just enjoy the night sky from any location - I know I do !!

Paul.

Nice 1 Leo, I think the real test is when the Moon is out of the way, and to see if you can see the Milky Way, when we was over at the Boningale area you could just make out the Milk - Way when it was directly overhead - nothing like I would guess if you were at a truly dark site I guess - only I have never observed from a really dark site - just content with observing from my back garden - you can get away with the Moon and Planets - as light pollution doesn't really affect these views, but I bet these very dim Galaxies and Nebulae are a great site for a dark location - even with a small aperture.

The brighter Messiers from the garden are very nice - my limits on sky condition are probably M1 - this is a good test for me, I tried a while back, but not the best viewing because it was quite low down on the sky at this time of the year - so I need to wait when its gets to its highest point in the sky before having another go.

Its hard to use the magnitude scale on each object - some objects are much bigger than others so if these have a certain magnitude which only relates to an objects brightness measured as a single point of light which gets very confusing when you try and compare one object against another - your okay if its a star - here the magnitudes are a good guide to go by - but something as big as the Andromeda Galaxy becomes a poor measurement of magnitude to go by.  I tend to stick to the brighter Planetary Nebulae, as these are a better reference - but again depending on their individual size - so variations with brightness against size can also be a little mis - leading.

I always go by that if you can see the Milky Way very clearly against the night sky your going to have a good chance on the much fainter Galaxies - but as you know our location is far from the best near to large towns and conurbations - so the Moon and Planets it is then!!

Paul.

Nice 1 Leo its just that much better when you go out of town a little would be nice to get a farmers field or track where a group of us could meet up. Its just getting permission off the farmer with a good concrete path or similar as the fields can get rather muddy but wonder if you did any observing from there would be nice to go there when the moons out of the way to see how good it is but thanks for posting would be nice to get the farmers permission for a group of us to go.  Thanks again Leo.

Paul.

Hi Guys, nice 1.  I used to go up to a farmers field just outside Wolverhampton - I think it was near to the Albrighton/Boningale area - we had the permission of the farmer, it was just the back of a farm shop - a great location being close enough to get there by motorbike for me anyway, just after the last visit I noticed that there had been a gate placed across the track where we used to go to - so this site was a no no - the location was very nice, met up with a couple of guys off here Anweniel (Barry) and Dafman (Pat) - a really great night with them, but cold. 

Barr Beacons nice as well, met up with Barry and also Gartut200 (Gareth) on the Jupiter Watch last year had the scopes set up - not a cloud in the sky all night - just the light pollution to put up with, but the Boningale site was really good only just a little way out from Wolves but you just got a hint of the Milky Way overhead.  I think the Wolves Astro Society have a site at Boningale, they had a meet there last but one Stargazers live (2014) I think, but Walsall usually meet up at Barr Beacon and I think they have a site over Pelsall way I think, but most of us just stay in the back gardens and observe - there's been a shortage of Planets around of late in the early evening - so not a lot to observe lately, only really the Moon and the brighter Messier's from the light polluted Midlands, but would be nice to meet up with a few of us again - its going to get better now Jupiters up earlier and we've got the mighty Mars soon.

Paul.

Just like to say a BIG Thank you to Simon and the Staff at the Widescreen Centre.

I Rattled an e mail off to the Widescreen Centre regarding stock, had a reply in a few minutes with all the requested EP's in stock , I then e mailed them regarding postage costs and waited a while - to be fair to them, on their website it asks you to phone for details.  I then sent the order in over the internet which places a "nominal" £5 delivery charge - I was a little unsure of this, so I phoned and asked if I could have Courier delivery to be on the safe side, Simon answered and said it would be advisable, so I asked if my order could be amended - Yes no problem, said the order would probably take a couple of days, but I think from the last phone call to delivery it was about 19 hours - so ahead of schedule - nice!!

The internet order was processed only AFTER the phone call just to make sure that I was happy and that I had given them confirmation to adjust delivery charges to be certain - so a great result all round, especially for not just taking the order, but for waiting on confirmation - a nice touch I think.

Thanks.    Paul.

Hi John, what a fantastic report mate very well thought out and very well presented, great to see your getting on with the Evo - it shows through in your updated report - I think it comes to us all when we buy new equipment - we all have to learn the best ways to go about things, sounds like your really enjoying the Evo and it just goes to show that you have to get the "trial and error" out of the way before things start to get better.  Enjoy the Evo and thanks very much for the initial report and this update John

Regards and of course "clear skies" mate.

Paul.

Freedom - very nice to hear this mate - well done - now the WAIT BEGINS !! - I ordered my CPC and had to wait a few months for it - It drove me mad - if your anything like me it will become a nightmare the longer you have to wait for it - but I think the wait will be well worth it - the 925 is a very good performer on the Planets/moon - It will be a pleasure to use- nice to see John pointing us to the review he had posted for the Evo 925 - very nice and well presented - thanks very much John.
I've been out the last few nights with my little 127 Mak on the CG5, you mention earlier about the alignment procedure - well I have to say that I Have tried various different alignment routines, from an EQ and Alt/Az and have found them to be very accurate, the CPC is a pleasure to use - even the basic 2 star auto align feature works very well on the CPC with all objects accurately aligned in the FOV - then to the CG% with the EQ mount align - its a little more detailed with a 2 star align, you can then add calibration stars - I think up to 4, but even on the 2nd initial alignment star on the CG5 things become very accurate with all the latter calibration stars being smack bang in the Centre FOV of a 40mm EP - I just use the 40mm Plossl for all my alignment routines and find it to be very accurate - I have never felt the need to purchase a reticule EP to make things really precise - I'm mainly visual and find both the routines very accurate and with minimal set up time, Away I GO !!!
Just a point, I always level the tripod before beginning with the CPC and the CG5 - with the CG5 I always sight Polaris through the hole where the polar scope fits - I find this more than accurate for my visual needs - I even tried a solar System Align last night just by sending the scope onto Jupiter - it was a little off, but well within the FOV of the finder, once centred and the "align" button pressed, tracking was very precise.
I hope the waits not too much for you Freedom - your going to love the 925 - Congrats.
 
Paul.

Hi Recc, There has been a really long thread on the Evo scopes on Cloudy Nights in the States - those who have bought them have tried to actually weigh each part, the tripod, the mount and the tube separately - from what I can gather the Evo 6 and 8 have the same tripod and the same mount - obviously a different tube assembly.  The 925 on the other hand has a sturdier tripod (I think its a CPC tripod) but the same mount as the 6 and 8 - so the much heavier 925 OTA rides on the same mount as the 6 and 8, but its just the tripod that's beefier.

This is where everyone is trying to find reviews on the 8 and the 925 - as said earlier people are speculating about the mount having to take such a large tube as the 925 when people were saying that the 8SE was struggling on its mount - a single arm mount.

Been trying for ages to find a review of the Evo 925 - but I can't seem to find anything ?

Paul.

Nice 1 Guys, I didn't comment on the stability of the mount as I've tried to find reviews on the 925 Evo - but there doesn't seem to be anyone posting reviews, over here and on Cloudy Nights - but surely Celestron have had feedback from the SE's - as we all know that the 8SE is on the very limit of the mount, but some have said that its usable - especially for a grab and go.

Not sure but I think that they supply the SAME mount (not tripod - its the beefier CPC one I think for the 925) for the 6, 8 and 925, so, with the difference in weight between the 6 and 925, as said, is considerable ??

It would be nice if someone could give us a review of the Evo 925 - I think there has been quite a few sold over here and in the States - so I can't see why - probably that if it were unstable - If it were your NEW scope - would you post this ?

Regards.  Paul.

Hi Ya Freedom, even with a degree your going to be able to see the majority of the objects we have in the night sky.  There's only a few objects which warrant a larger field of view, but you can use the 925 with the 130 for larger star fields.  The 925 is a very nice scope - you will have hours of fun on the Planets and the Moon will be just amazing - the level of detail on the Moon alone will keep you going for a few months and its always nice to re - visit our favourites.

A lot also depends on the amount of light pollution you have or if you can get out to much darker skies, not sure but I think the Evo comes with a handset - some have said that the software your supposed to use with the Evo is a little thin on the ground for objects, so you can just use the handset to send the scope to more objects, the GOTO on the scopes is very accurate - the only thing that will be of a problem is the level of light pollution you observe from, I live near a large town and can normally get down to mag 10 - 11 for some of the brighter objects, under light pollution the Galaxies will just be a smudge in the EP - its only when you get under very dark skies that these Galaxies show a little more.

Personally I find my Binoculars better for the large star fields - my 15x70's give nearly 4.5 degrees - so more than enough sky here for the larger star fields and open clusters, you can then use the 925 for objects like M2, M15,M36, M37, M38 - low power will show them nicely in the FOV, you can then increase the mag to go "inside" and have a wonder around - these objects will only show as "misty" patches of light in the Binoculars - so I tend to use different equipment for different objects - but the 925 will excel on the Planets, Jupiter and Saturn will be stunning through it, I can spend a few hours at a time just centreing Jupiter, letting the scope track and keep the object central and just watch the different features cross the Planet, even the Great Red Spot can be seen on the better steadier nights and I can track the progress.

HTH a little Freeedom, I have settled with long focal length scopes and found them to be more than capable for the majority of the objects in the night sky and have learned to live with my local light pollution - if you have a dark sky then this will help you the most - objects will be shown with much more contrast and enable you to search for the really faint stuff.

Regards.  Paul.

Nice 1 Alan, that's great mate - i think once you have owned an SCT for a while it becomes only natural to think if your getting the best out of the scope.  When you take a step back and just think what your about to do, you realise that there is only one mirror that needs adjustment - not like the 2 mirrors of a Newt/Dob and as we all know that the seeing and the atmosphere will have a far greater effect on the scope than a slight mis - alignment will create - as you say the SCT's seem to hold collimation well - so long as you have the screw/knobs fairly tight as to hold the secondary still - if there's a loose screw/knob on the secondary this has the tendency to allow the secondary a certain amount of movement, so its worth ( if the scope is out of collimation) just tightening the three screws/knobs, giving even tension on the secondary - as you say - they may only need increments of a 1/16 of a full turn to achieve perfect collimation.

I've also found that if your doing any imaging on the Planets just to check the orbiting Moons of said planet - wether Jupiter or Saturn, and have a quick look at the images of the Moons - as this will give a good indication of perfect collimation - or any flaring/off centre alignment.

A great Post Alan and thanks for posting.

Paul.