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AdeKing

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Everything posted by AdeKing

  1. Thanks @Stu yes I'm hoping that the astro mojo is coming back again. Absolutely, the sky is wonderful, it's nice to have a dark sky reserve nearby and it's lovely during the day as well.
  2. I had exactly the same wow moment last night too and not all that far from Turf Hill. I went out on Cranborne Chase with a few clubmates, the first real outing for me after a bit of a break from astronomy due to one thing and another. I sent the mount to the double cluster, took a look and then had to move away from the double cluster and back again to check I was looking at the whole object and not just one half of the cluster. Deep down I knew that I was as the scope and EP combination gave me a 3.1 degree FOV, but the two separate clusters that I can normally see from beneath the BCP Light dome showed up with very little separating them, that was a big wow moment for me and definite motivation to get out more. Ade
  3. I've had both my ED120 and my ED100 slide out of the clamp, but as I observe on grass, I was fortunate to only need a change of trousers. It's such a shame as I know how much you loved that scope, but I'm glad that your insurance is all settled. You'll find another scope in time. Take care, Ade
  4. I spoke to Derek at the IAS about a weight to act as a counterbalance at the front of the mount and was told that such a system is in the pipeline. I'd like one to counterbalance my binoviewers as the weight of the binoviewers is off-axis and makes balancing difficult. Can't wait to see the solution when it is released. Ade
  5. My experience is the same as the above really. I started with the WO binoviewer and found the supplied eyepieces very comfortable to use but I needed a TAL shorty 2x Barlow to reach focus. I now use a pair of the original Baader Maxbrite binoviewers with the Baader 1.25" T2 prism, which gives a really short lightpath, but I still need the 1.7x GPC to reach focus. I tend to use either a pair of Vixen NPL 30mm eyepieces or a pair of BCO 18mm eyepieces. I do have shorter eyepiece pairs but those two pairs are most comfortable and if I need more mag then I'll swap the GPC for a 2.6x. I love binoviewers for lunar, solar and planetary but can't get on with them for DSOs so go back to Cyclops for that. Find out what you need to do to reach focus and use the supplied eyepieces for a while then think about different eyepieces if you feel that you need them. Ade
  6. Chris, Pyrite is very common in the London Clay, we frequently find pyritised casts of trace fossil burrows when we are logging soils from boreholes in London Clay, they are mostly the same grey colour as the London Clay but when these are broken open they commonly glitter yellowish gold. The reddish brown colour of this is vaguely suggestive of Haematite, but again, this wouldn't be strongly magnetic either. A test of the mineral type would be the streak which is the colour of the line of powdered mineral left when the mineral sample is drawn across an unglazed ceramic streak plate. Pyrite gives a greenish black streak, Haematite a reddish brown streak and Limonite a yellowish brown streak from my memory of Undergrad mineralogy....but an unglazed ceramic streak plate isn't something you're likely to have lying around. I'm not 100% sure what it might be but it does sound like there are several types of nodule that are found in the Crag deposits, or it could be some slag that has washed up. Hope that you get to the bottom of the mystery. Ade
  7. It looks like it might be one of the phosphatic nodules thought to be coprolites (fossilised poo) that are commonly found in the Red Crag. See this link for details. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://geosuffolk.co.uk/images/Leaflets/Suffolk-Crag-Coprolites.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiY76LQ5aj4AhUNilwKHYmYAv0QFnoECDYQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3kS0doX3cthgx6GL7b1K_4 Might be wrong but the above link suggests that they are common where you found them.
  8. Oh dear @Stu I feel your pain, I have several that the dog decided would be good to chew. Thank goodness it was only the XW lenscap and the XW didn't appeal 😳
  9. I was just thinking that, but to be fair, it's not just Rowan, it is across the board as far as I can see and certainly not just Astro. I'm just glad that I got my AZ100 setup last year as looking at today's prices I couldn't justify getting one. Sadly a sign of the times we're living in I guess. 😟
  10. I'd completely forgotten about my RAM mount until you'd mentioned it and I wouldn't have thought about using it to connect something to my AZ100. I tend to use the Nexus DSC and then connect Sky Safari to that, but you've given me the idea to use the second hole with a RAM mount to connect a larger screen. Just need to work out where I've stored all of the RAM mount parts now 🙂
  11. RAM mounts are heavy duty device holders for mountain bikes, quad bikes, 4x4, boats, etc I think. RAM produce a really good modular system, for attaching almost any device to almost anything but quite bulky I seem to remember when I had one to hold a GPS on my mountain bike. https://www.ram-mount.co.uk/index.php?route=product/category&path=203_205 I'd guess that the holes in question are the ones either side of the threaded hole that the DSC Shelf ball joint screws into if that makes sense.
  12. I thought exactly the same when I looked earlier.
  13. I currently have an older ZS70 and used to own the ZS66 that Ags now owns. They are excellent scopes, the ZS70 is my most used scope mainly due to its portability and rapid setup capability on an AZGTi mount. I use mine mostly for WL Solar but frequently leave it set up after my solar session if it looks like a clear night is going to happen. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Ade
  14. Fantastic image, congrats Nigella
  15. It's not too bad, it gets the inevitable shakes when focusing and is a bit prone to the quivers because of the length but is not too bad really. I've found that whilst the AZPro is an excellent mount that it is happier with OTAs in the f/7 to f/9 range.
  16. This is the mount/tripod combination that I have as well and I am incredibly pleased with how solid it is. I've even gently kicked the legs and seen negligible vibrations in the eyepiece. The AZ100 and Tri-Pier is a forever setup for me.
  17. The Towa 339 set up on the iOptron AZ Pro ready to view Orion last night
  18. I'd be interested in this too. As @adyj1 says I don't think it's been posted previously. Ade
  19. Thanks @Stu, I'm very happy with my collection though I have a feeling that I have too many but can't bring myself to move any on. I do make sure that I alternate between them so that I feel less guilty about having them.
  20. I seem to have unwittingly gravitated towards long focus refractors with all but two of mine being f/9 or longer. Celestron Omni XLT 102ED f/9 Altair Starwave Classic 102 f/11 Towa (ToPic) 80mm f/15 TAL 100RS f/10 Only the Towa and Altair were deliberate long focus choices, the rest kind of just happened. Celestron Omni XLT 102ED f/9 TAL 100RS f/10 ToPic (Towa 339) 80mm f/15 Altair Starwave Classic 102 f/11
  21. For me it has to be setting up a tracking EQ mount on a semi-permanent pillar so I could just add an OTA, power up and go. Since then the EQ mount has morphed into a semi-permanently mounted AZ100 with nexus DSC on an iOptron Tri-Pier which is super stable and will take any OTA, that I'm ever likely to be able to afford, with ease.
  22. I filled three terracotta plant pots up with concrete and drilled the drainage holes out to accept the levelling bolts of my Skywatcher pillar mount then mounted the pots upside down in the lawn at the required spacing. Worked really well for me and the pots greened up nicely so now Mrs K doesn't even notice that they're in the middle of the lawn. Very little effort required but having a semi-permanent setup transformed my observing. Ade
  23. I found exactly this with my astro phone which is an iPhone 6 @Alan White
  24. You don't have to pay twice providing the devices run the same operating system which is iOS in the case of iPhone/ipad. However, the Mac laptop or desktop runs on a totally different operating system from the IPhone/iPad which is why you have to pay twice. Exactly the same as having to buy one copy for an iPhone/iPad and having to purchase another copy for a phone/tablet running Android.
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