Helen

5 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

Nice Moon Helen, I hope that was PS Express on the phone or you might have contravened the COC 

Dave

?

Thread resurrection time.....?

I've finally got a phone adapter that seems to work reasonably well - the nexstar xyz ?

I think I need a lot more practice with the camera settings, but for the moment I'm counting this as a success!  I present the moon through a 16mm eyepiece on the Tak 100 (sharpness and contrast tweaked in PS)

Helen

These...

which I hope @steppenwolf will at the weekend in a wet feild help me combine with

Using these instructions..

to get my Pegasus hub linked to my Lakeside focuser and so remove one more box and 2 cables ?

Helen

2 hours ago, F15Rules said:

Sometimes in life you get an "itch you have to scratch", and this was one of mine...

I wasn't looking for it, nor thinking about it, but I was browsing the net for something else and came across this classic beauty.

It dates from 1989 and came with 6mm and 16mm Carl Zeiss Jena orthos, a 25mm Huygenian and a (non standard diagonal) all in 0.965mm barrel size.

I've already sourced a Zeiss M44 -T2 adapter so I can use 1.25" eyepieces, and tonight I had really lovely views of Saturn and Titan, glimpsing the Cassini Division to one side of the planet, (straigh through viewing) and a very respectable view of Mars, with the polar cap quite distinctly seen. To be honest, the views held up very well with my FS128, which has struggled in the "low murk" recently. Sometimes conditions really do mean that "less is more"!

I'm really chuffed with this classic old frac, at F13.3 it's like old times!

Dave

I can completely relate to this post Dave!  I did exactly the same 4 years ago.  The Telementor was my dream scope when I started - but out of my price range.  So when one came up at a very reasonable price, at the same time my parents wanted to buy me something special for my 50th birthday, I couldn't resist.  A classic scope and mount, punches above its aperture!  And looks great too?  

Enjoy!

Helen

https://www.darkframeoptics.com/category/hypertune-mount-uk ?

I love my William Optics equivalent (hand grenade!) ?

Helen

2 minutes ago, Stu said:

Not seen those before Derek, is it even smaller than the Mini Ercole? Looks interesting.  It has a little more height than my Giro-WR so probably won’t need a pillar of any sort to avoid tripod leg clashes! Nice, although I do see the white is a little unusual. Can’t see it in the dark though I guess  

..but the positioning of the az knob is better designed than on the GR ? (won't interfere)

Helen

21 minutes ago, Morddraig said:

Hi everyone, Im from Caerphilly , and have just found this group.  I am one of those people that has read what I need to do, but have never yet had the chance to use my scope properly, mostly due to weather and time not being nice to each other!  Would love to meet others in the group whenever there is a meeting.  

Waving to you from slightly further up the Rhymney Valley ?

Helen

4 hours ago, Helen said:

The DHL man delivered a brown box with my Solarscope 70 filter set returned from the IoM after a service and replacement of the glass in the BF  (quite relieved the contrast problem was just that not something more expensive!!)

................................. so expect no sun for days guys...... ?

 

Helen

Amazingly the sun then came out.... so I got a chance to check it out ?   (just hope there are no after-effects from my near-miss accident )

Helen

The DHL man delivered a brown box with my Solarscope 70 filter set returned from the IoM after a service and replacement of the glass in the BF  (quite relieved the contrast problem was just that not something more expensive!!)

................................. so expect no sun for days guys...... ?

Helen

1 hour ago, 1CM69 said:

Just arrived from the laser cutter, a new tool (gadget) to try out Tri-Bahtinov mask.

found out about these from this thread on CN: https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/536410-a-tri-bahtinov-mask-for-sct-collimation-and-focusing/ & thought it was worth a try.

 

Looking forward to a report on these - I really struggle to nail the collimation on my C11!

Helen

On 03/06/2018 at 21:25, stuy said:

Yes John it is ive moved from Abergavenny sold cottage in the country to now live in ystrad mynach so my observatory gone ? 

Helen waves to Stuy from just up the valley ?

So this arrived today  ?  just in time for Rhodes tomorrow.  Hope the star adventurer mini can cope?.   The Sony camera is quite light so hopefully weight won't be a problem, but at 135 I'll probably need decent polar alignment (and @James knows how great I am at that?)

Helen 

This was delivered by hand by Padma from NASA ?

25 minutes ago, SpaceBass said:

 

One other thought that comes to mind though is are you reliant on a good phone signal to use the app?  

No, the mount creates its own wifi so you just join that and so don't need phone signal  

Helen

21 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

Given it can be used on a wedge and with the pro version giving eq mode if it can also talk to the android panorama app has the potential to be a capable all rounder. Had anyone tried the panorama app with it?

Which panorama app?  I'm off to Rhodes in a couple of weeks and was looking at options for time lapse etc.  The ease of use of the Star Adventurer Mini app is very attractive but means buying (yet another!) mount.  If the GTI could be used to deliver the same functionality that would be just great! A bit heavier, but more versatile for viewing too!

Helen

1 hour ago, Saganite said:

Buy another and put them in a binoviewer Helen, they become astounding then.

Don't be a bad influence!!!?

Helen

3 hours ago, Saganite said:

Excellent Mike !

 

4 hours ago, iPeace said:

Every scope should own one. This specimen arrived safely thanks to the care and attention of @DRT

I've issued it a sleeping bag and it will be assigned to a scope in due course.

Thanks Derek!

I'm so glad the folks on here recommended the Pan 24 when I was looking for an eyepiece for a trip to the US a couple of years ago.  It is a lovely eyepiece and gets a lot of use 

Enjoy!

Helen

Ooooo exciting ?

Yes, I'm so glad it was perfect   - our friend got to see/experience her first totality (we'd seen the 1996 one).  It would have been fun to have been there to share it too.  But we did get perfect conditions for last year's eclipse in the states 

Awesome experiences!!

Helen

3 minutes ago, Swithin StCleeve said:

Thanks for that great response Steve. I like the white sky maps, I'm looking forward to getting the book and the bins, (the bins were dispatched today, which is a shame as the local society it meeting up for an observing session tonight, but it might end up as pub).
I remember Pete Lawrence from the 2006 eclipse trip to Turkey, he did a lecture the night before. Great memories!

<off topic> Ah, Turkey 2006, we should have been in that audience (our friend was) but Mike got food poisening in the airport hotel and we ended up in Surrey Hospital instead of Turkey  But our friend enjoyed the amazing experience!

Helen

+1 for the 130 heritage  It is a great little package.  I've had some fun with it and it is now on loan to a young friend who is also having great fun 

Helen

A late Christmas present from Mike... A piece of history that is is special for me - Voyager fired my astronomy curiosity 30+ years ago 

Helen

11 hours ago, GavStar said:

Yes very easy Helen. Took me 5 mins to set up - I think it works well. I think I’m always going to be a visual person but it’s nice to be able to take the odd iPhone pic.

Thanks ?  I'd like to be able to take quick snaps on nights/days when I don't want to bother setting up imaging equipment but still would like a momento of what I saw... And to be able to share it too ?

Helen

I can see your point though Stu! Horsehead with a phone 

Is the phonemate easy to use Gavin?

Helen