mikeDnight

Personally I'd stay with Orthoscopic's or Plossl's in the 35mm to 18mm range. If you're using a barlow you'll have all the power you'll need for viewing the Moon and planets. If you need extreme high power you're better off using something like a Tak TOE or Vixen HR in mono form. Cheap Kson orthoscopic's in your binoviewer will outperform even top end eyepieces such as the superlative TMB Super Monocentric's in mono form. If you place a wanted ad for old 5 element Ultima's, Ultrascopic's, Park's Gold super plossl's, you'll have superb BV eyepieces that will be hard to beat in the 35mm to 18mm focal lengths. After 14 years using a BV I've seen nothing to beat them, but i rarely use shorter focal lengths as the barlow on the BV nose amplify's ~4X, so no need for short fl's.

As long as balance is maintained and there's enough slack on any cables to allow free movement, I think trial and error is the order of the day.

That's very perceptive of you Paul. I did it to see who is paying attention and who isn't. You won! Actually, it in the wrong thread but never mind. Too late now.

I recieved this beautiful little scope earlier today, courtesy of F15Rules (Dave). It's a vintage Carton equatorial refractor, though I'm not certain of its age. I was thrilled as I unpackaged the scope, lifting the lid to the original box only to find a good as new Carton cleaning cloth still in its unopened bag. I'm easily pleased! At this point I began to reminisce about my first scope; a 60mm Prinz Astral, and relived in my mind the moment when I opened its box and my dear old mum calling " Michael, leave your toy your tea's ready!" I was 18 years old and it was no toy, at least in my eyes. I wished she was still here to call me in for my tea! Back to the Carton: After assembling the mount I had to tweak the RA worm as there was some slop in it, but other than that the scope was almost brand new in appearance. I don't know how many previous custodians there have been for this scope, but they have certainly looked after it. The eyepieces are simple HM's and the diagonal is a prism. There is no barlow supplied with this scope, but it does come with a very nice solar projection screen, which again reminded me of my Prinz Astral with which I made many sketches of Sun spots. The sky was cloudy this evening so it was looking pretty grim for a first light, however around 11pm I let my dog out into the garden and noticed the Moon in the west. I grabbed the Carton and aimed it at the Moon. Wow what a beautiful view! I had a 0.96" 25mm plossl that gave a wonderful low power view that was razor sharp. Then I swapped to the 6mm HM, and despite the limited eye relief, again the view though high power, was razor sharp and detailed. It's hard to express just how good it looked for fear of sounding like its an exaggeration, so all I'll say is that this 60mm achromat as far as the moon is concerned, is awesome and I can't wait for a clear night with the Moon and brighter planets, as well as a clear day and some solar observing. 🌛☀️ The only downside to this set-up is the tripod is rather short, so I may swap it for a Unitron tripod that I have.

And my basic, no frills, equatorials. Prinz Astral c1980 Vixen Great Polaris with FC100DC Vixen GP with FC100DZ H. N. Irving Irving with 6" F10 Edmund Scientific. And my latest acquisition, a vintage Carton refractor and equatorial.

As usual, my contribution is doubtless going to bring this amazing thread crashing down to earth with bog standard, simple Altaz mounts. AZ4 Hercules Helix fork Tasco fork Unitron Takahashi Teegul

I'm not surprised the SCT went deeper, but whether it won is a matter of perspective. Both images are awesome, and each has something the other does not. Truly excellent!!!

You're right Mike. In fact he complains about the light pollution as it encroaches on Delphos. It was a different time with different skies, and a simpler life, but I bet you'd love reading the book. Looking at your outlook surrounding your open air observatory, I'd imagine you'll have a pretty spectacular sky when the clouds do eventually disappear.

Don't be too hard on Ohio Mike, as Ohio had one of the greatest amateur astronomers of all time as a claim to fame. Leslie C. Peltier was a super hero of sorts, and his autobiography Starlight Nights, The Adventures of a Stargazer, is possibly single handedly responsible for fuelling my enthusiasm over 42 years. You're on holy ground my friend!

Call me silly, but I've always tended to look outside and if its clear or clearish, and I feel like observing, I go out and observe. I've used this method for the past 42 years quite successfully without ever resorting to equations of any kind. Sadly I was compelled to stop watching S@N not long after our dear Patrick passed away as it rapidly turned into generic BBC vomit after being handed over to so called academic's. How pleased I am that I missed this episode. Life's just too short!

I use a wooden art box for my eyepieces. There are two sizes, both of which can be ideal for classic eyepieces. I bought mine from Hobby Craft but they can be found on line too.

I would imagine a binoviewer would help, if the aperture of the scope was large enough to compensate for the dimming of the image due to the beam split. The reason I think it might help is that running parallel to IC434 is a dark nebula that's as black as pitch. That dark nebula is worth looking for as it gives a sharp edge to IC434, and might give a 3D effect in a BV, and could possibly enhance the visual impression. I'm no expert with regard to these targets as I've only seen them once in my 100mm scope, and that was with averted vision; but i do remember the dark nebula as being very evident, giving almost a cliff edge sharpness to IC434. In my sketch, I should have put a question mark after HH as the tiny notch was only suspected using averted vision, and its placement is only an approximation. The tiny star next to the arrow tip is the star where I first noticed the shard of nebulosity that is IC434, and everything grew from that point. I felt it was also the brightest visual part of the nebula. I've attached my sketch again for reference. It's worth noting that I was using a prism diagonal so the orientation is not how it is usually seen. (I tilted the diagonal for comfort and just sketch as it appears in the eyepiece, so sorry for any confusion).

Spot on! Photons that leave a distant galaxy or star are not the same photons that reach us. Each interaction between high energy photons with other particles or subatomic particles, causes a loss in the energy level of the photons, causing a move towards the red end of the spectrum, so the more distant the object the stronger the move towards the red. Therefore red is an indicator of distance and not of recession. All these fancy hypotheses remind me of the Copernican model of the solar system, clever but overly complicated and ultimately wrong. 🥄

I think Alnitak is a problem. If it wasn't for Alnitak the Flame would be easy, but when it comes to IC434 its best to try and keep Alnitak out of the field. Also, transparency needs to be good. I struggled for ages under a blackout blanket, looking like elephant man gone wrong, until eventually a shard of bright nebulosity appeared, after which the rest of IC434 revealed itself.

It's only temporary until I can make some better tube rings. The mounting plate has four holes, one at each corner, where as the rings only have one threaded hole. I used opposite corners of the mounting plate so as to maintain balance of the tube assembly. I have a few adaptations in mind and will post pic's as I go along.

Here's my contribution to the long refractor thread. It's a 6" F10 achromatic objective, allegedly by Edmund Scientific, though I only have the seller's claim to that. All i can really say about it is that it has remarkable colour correction for a 6" F10 achro. The lens has a small scratch on the rear lens, which was facing forward when I bought it, and although it was said to be coated, I can detect no coatings on the objective. The lens may have some age to it, but I'm only guessing at this point. Hopefully the person who built the tube assembly will see this and shed some light on the mystery of this loveley objective. The tube assembly itself is a heavy affair, and to carry it well I needed to acquire a substantial mount. The mount, which has zero vibration and glides at the touch of a finger, is a vintage equatorial by H. N. Irving and as solid as a rock - quite literally! My head can attest to that fact!! It's all still a work in progress, but here are some pic's. Just as I'd posted the above, I received an e-mail from the gentleman who bought the lens and built the tube assembly. The lens is old stock from Edmund Scientific and was bought from the USA, but rather than rewrite what was in the e-mail, I've included the relevant snippet below. I have to say I'm ever pleased!!

Hi David, As for smaller apertures, I've seen it many times in a 100mm refractor, and although I can't recall observing it in a smaller aperture, I'd imagine it would be entirely possible in an 80mm given steady seeing and when the Moon is high. I think catching it during the right illumination and under good seeing helps.

Hi Paul, It may be worth mentioning that there are a couple of healthy second hand sites worth checking, where you may be able to pick up a quality scope at a fraction of its new cost, such as here on SGL, and Astro Buy & Sell UK. There are so many lovely scopes available today that its hard to pin one down as a starter scope. Personally I think a refractor is a good choice, as it needs almost no special care, and will be as good in a hundred years as it was on the day it was bought. I do like 4" (102mm) as a serious aperture that will show good views of every kind of object. Of course whatever scope you choose, like every hobby it takes time and experience to become skilled, and the more you use it the better you'll become at observing.

I used 5" solid plastic wheels with rubber rim's for mine. They run on an angle iron track and are fastened to a steel plate using a bolt as an axle. No bearings I'm afraid, but they've been running flawlessly for the past 11 years. I think B&Q or a local tool supply shop would have them in stock.

I'm jealous of your climate, the low angle of your equatorial mount, and your sunburnt skin. If I were stood next to your mount in nothing but my shorts, you wouldn't be able to tell where your mount ended and my skin began.

Two of my scopes out early and looking forward a night of fuzzy hunting. As it happened the night turned out to be reasonably transparent and better than several nights previous. It also turned out that the 6" stole the show as I enjoyed playing with my new "old" Irving equatorial, which is a pleasure to use.

Looks like an 80ED DS Pro to me. A very nice scope!

I have to admit to being affectionately attached to my trusty old Vixen tripod. It's lightweight, solidly built, using all metal parts, is significantly chunkier and more stable, and taller with a wider spread than any of the Chinese aluminium clones. Carrying this kind of tripod up several fights of stairs would be easy, and although you'd need to place a wanted ad, it would be massively cheaper than one of those Berlebach thingymabobs. Of course there is one advantage of a Berlebach over the Vixen, which is with the increase in energy prices, you could burn a Berlebach to keep warm. (Just joking Berlebach fans!)

I observe the Moon at full Moon. Tracing the ray systems is fascinating! And there are usually some craters remaining in shadowaround the limb.

I can't think of anything more fitting as a beautiful garden ornament than a clutch of beautiful telescopes. They look great, but i think there's a stray leaf on your lawn. Paul's right about my FS128. I should have kept it as it was my favourite scope, but when a FS152 came within my reach I got greedy. One of life's harsh lessons!