F15Rules

To my amazement the sky here (Lincs Wolds) began to clear about 7-8pm..by 9 it was fairly clear and when I looked last thing (just after 11) it was a lovely, if breezy, night.

I daren't go out to observe as I'm still very chesty and spluttery, but the forecast is suggesting Wednesday night could be clear and cold, so fingers crossed I might get out then. I'll get prepared and we'll wrapped up as a frost is forecast that night...I must say I'm getting excited, not least from reading all your reports from last  night..thanks, guys, keep 'em coming!👏

Dave

Well done Chris, and congratulations also on your new role with FLO, hope it's been a good move for you!

Dave

Just clouds again last night, and more rain.

This morning was wall to wall sunshine and blue sky.. the best morning weather for almost a month!

It lasted for 4 hours, now cloud is back and heavy rain forecast again by dark..so all is normal!🥴

To be honest, as I've had a nasty flu like bug for two weeks as of tomorrow, I'm almost relieved as I'm not missing any sessions. But I've also had my new Pentax XW30mm since Christmas Eve, and no first light for that yet, either!

Good to hear a few of you are getting some kind of sessions though, however short..😊👍

Dave

14 minutes ago, IB20 said:

Two lines on a lateral flow test 🤒😅.

At least you're being positive about it.. 

Sorry ☺️...Get well soon👍

Dave

1 hour ago, dannybgoode said:

Is it legal though - interfering with other people's property?  Personally I agree - it's a great thing for them to be doing however I would not be confident, in the UK at least, this is completely within the law.

..then if it's not, the law should be changed, now!

It's insane that companies and city/town councils are allowed to leave bright, unnecessary lights on in our town and city centres.

Immediately after COP in Glasgow our government could have introduced legislation to clamp down seriously on light pollution, and at a time when families will see their electricity bills double from last November to this summer, there would be little if any opposition and it could be a springboard for many other environmental initiatives..mass planting of trees, for example!

I don't say this often, but this time the French are really showing us the way, and what being serious about our planets' future looks like!👍👏

Great video, Debo, thanks for sharing!

Dave

1 hour ago, kirkster501 said:

...hmmm, they said they had the day off today.

Webb Sunshield Tensioning To Begin Tomorrow – James Webb Space Telescope (nasa.gov)

That makes me thing have they hit a problem and want more time????  There was never any talk of days off in the middle of this critical deployment.  What do you think?

C'mon guys..it's New Year!! The guys were obviously hung over!!🥴🤗😊

Dave

4 minutes ago, Laurieast said:

If I can't do that I will follow other's efforts here, and there are all the space telescope images to see, especially JWST

..and I've really enjoyed reading your contributions on the JWST thread, Laurie..

You're clearly very knowledgeable on that subject: does that come from past working experience or just a general interest in the project?

Whichever it is, many thanks for your posts, they are very interesting 😊👍.

Dave

1 hour ago, Laurieast said:

How can you bend down that low or get on your knees and manage to get up again 👨‍🦯

I'll grant you Laurie, it's not easy..

tbh, I don't worry about a spot-on alignment with Polaris via the polar finder..unless I'm going to be doing some high mag planetary observing..for me that means Saturn and Mars (and Moon of  course), as I want my Tak driven eq mount to keep the target central in the fov for as long as I can.. note that I don't include Jupiter as I rarely find that more than c 150x or so adds anything to the view.

In practice I usually don't do anything other than a visual "line of sight" alignment..I know exactly where in the sky Polaris is relative to garden points of reference, eg trees..I just carry the assembled scope, mount and tripod out to my observing spot, place it down roughly on the spot I observe from, and then loosen off the Dec axis and so move the scope OTA so it's not in my line of sight with the body of the polar axis (which is pointing roughly at Polaris)..then, since the polar axis is already set permanently as close to my 53 deg north  latitude as I can get it, I know that if I just do a "line of sight" alignment by standing over the mount and adjusting the tripods' position slightly left or right, so I can judge when it looks to be "lined up" on Polaris, I know that the actual alignment will be plenty accurate enough for my visual only needs.. (I hope that makes sense?)

Dave

20 minutes ago, Saganite said:

Like Dave (F15 Rules) I no longer have such good vision,

..and if you need proof of both our sights not being what they once were..here's a picture of Steve casually holding my FS128 while I held his wonderfully restored AE Luton 4.5" F14.4 refractor for him..preparing, I'm sure, to do a runner!! (stopped him just in time, bless him!😂)

Dave

A somewhat sobering thought..

If I had lived in the Arizona Desert, for example, at the age I am now, I would probably had at least 10x or more the number of clear nights than here in the UK..🥴🤪..each and every year!

Read...the thread below for some informal stats..and weep

I think that's why good 4" refractors are so popular..so light, so capable, so versatile and able to be whipped in and out before you can say "it's raining/cold/cloudy/foggy again" (you choose!)😂

Dave

19 minutes ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

Just came in from an hour plus viewing the Sun in WL and Ha.

What is The Sun, Mark?? 

Is it something I should know about? I know all about The Grey, The Mist and The Fog..oh, and The Flu..but The Sun🤔??.. you've got me there...!!😂😂

BTW, I am very careful on ladders...my wife knew someone years ago, a locally well known medical consultant..

He fell off a 3 step step ladder at home and broke his neck, dead!🥴..

..a salutary reminder to be ultra careful on ladders..beginning with stout footwear with non slip soles!

Dave

16 hours ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

Thank you Dave I am 74 and I am hoping to carry on a bit longer. I still play squash 3 times per week usually for an hour at a time so I believe I am quite fit.  I am still thinking of getting a 4" Apo  so I hope I live long enough to. enjoy it.

Best wishes everyone for a healthy 2022.

Happy New Year Mark😊👍.

Great post and a great attitude!

I do have a friend in our village who is incredibly active at the age of 78..he's a retired RAF squadron commander and spent almost 30 years in the military. He met his wife in service, but she was/is 25 years younger than he, and even now they do daily walks in winter of 3 hours (bike rides in summer). That's the military life for you I guess.

My wife and I walk most days, rarely more than 3-4 miles, but it is worthwhile and we feel a bit 'hemmed in" if we don't have a walk.

Im also active in the garden during spring and summer in particular, and I still go up my ladder regularly to clean windows..much to my wife's annoyance!😂

Dave

4 minutes ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

There's quite a few older folks in the local astro society. I'm sure SGL's own Peter Drew had his 105th birthday recently?!

Heres to your continued good health Dave. May you drop dead at eyepiece at a ripe old age!

Happy New Year. 🤳

Thanks for the good wishes..😊

And I'm sure Peter's immune to ageing as the rest of us know it!

Dave

Just thinking out loud...

It occurred to me that I don't know personally know any  really elderly observers, but I do seem to recall that Sir Patrick Moore, RIP was still observing in his 80s?

I'd be interested to hear about enthusiasts who have been able to keep active to this kind of age?

I'm 65 myself, and I know my eyes aren't as good as they were 6 or 7 years ago, but I'm also more aware of my mortality, and I feel the cold more than I did, for example.

The thing is, though, I still love "looking up" as much as ever, and I'd like to hope that I could be able to regularly observe for another 10 years though, subject to continued good health and mobility allowing 😊..

What are your thoughts on this New Year's eve?

Dave

1 hour ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

If only we had a 'wow' button. 😀

Ssshhh.. if they give us that, next thing you know is that Jeremy will be wanting a "handle" button!!

Dave

27 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

I’ve got a couple of Oklap bags too, Dave - I’m impressed the way the handles are attached. Gives great confidence 

😊

Not strictly totally relevant but just a shout from me for Oklop products, in my case a nice large, long holdall for my Tak FS128👍.

I'm very happy with it.

Dave

I completely get why people feel so disheartened with such lousy weather, and having been quite ill recently (not Covid) despite being jabbed to within an inch of my life this year, I have felt (and still feel) rather gloomy about the coming years' prospects.

The trouble is, when I get just one sparkling clear night when I can observe, all that feeling goes out the window and I just get rekindled enthusiasm!

Let's hope we all get that feeling very soon now..👍☺️

Dave

On 23/12/2021 at 22:09, Franklin said:

It seems very smart and at a slight discount from Europe. I think it is going to give my FS78 some serious competition. Sits on the AP mount like it was made for it. But now I've got the difficult decision on which one to keep.🙄

Keep the SD81s, Tim..

Remember.."Aperture always Wins"!

😂🤣

Dave

On 15/12/2021 at 22:58, John said:

Clouded out again tonight and it looks to stay that way for the next week as far as I can see.

What we call a "lean patch" I guess

 

Here, as at 28th December John, I'm not so much thinking "a lean patch" as a "biblical famine"!😂

I'm actually fairly sanguine about it as for most of the last 3 weeks my wife and I have been severely under the weather with really nasty colds, so I couldn't have got outside even if I'd wanted to..

But for all our sakes I'm really hoping this terrible spell of weather comes to and end soon..

In the meantime, reading reports of even short or imperfect sessions is a real pick me up☺️👍

Dave

Great to hear you saw some sky, Mark👍.

Here in Lincolnshire it's been end to end grey skies and rain for over a week now..everything is sopping wet, with literally no end in sight in the next week or so.

Reading of others' better fortunes is definitely some compensation, so thanks for posting your report!

Dave

That's shocking John..clearly something went badly wrong inside the management and quality control departments at the factory..such a shame😔..

Dave

9 minutes ago, Marvin Jenkins said:

I think I have heard about you and this handle thing🤣

I blame Jeremy...

(Note to all SGLers..if in a spot of bother, just blame Jeremy!😂🤣😂)..

Dave

Well, that certainly "Taks the Biscuit"!!😂👍

Looks a great display piece..with a bulb at the objective end it would make a great reading lamp😋.

Kudos to your very talented wife!☺️

Dave

PS: A nice wooden handle on top would look great too!

31 minutes ago, John said:

so I view TAL as scopes that can be great if purchased for a low cost and with suitable expectations.

I think that's the key point, John..

In 1999, I bought my first Tal, a 100R with the "purple coatings", from Warehouse Express. It came complete with a decent eq mount, really excellent wooden tripod, excellent 6x30 finder, two plossl eyepieces, an ok 6.3mm and a really excellent 25mm. Oh, and a very good 1.25" mirror diagonal as well.,,

All of the above came to the UK, overland in a Siberian wood "coffin" packing crate - a two man lift, and cost £249 delivered. At that cost I couldn't resist, and the scope was with me for several years and gave me some lovely views.

It met and exceeded my expectations by some margin, and by any measure it was low cost.

Most of my later Tal 100 F10 otas bought in the years between c 2006 and 2012, and these (ota and rings, finder, 2 eyepieces and diagonal but no mount or tripod) all cost me new between c  £170-£220 shipped.

I think that shipping was a really weak link in the Tal supply chain..it's about a 3,600 mile journey by land from Novosibirsk to London, and I'm sure that the tortuous journey over multiple types of terrain must have accounted for the vast majority of the scopes that arrived here damaged: the "coffin" I referred to above was very solid indeed, and the scope arrives intact, but it had clearly had some significantly rough handling en route!

Dave