Paz

That's a big scope! I'd be interested to know the focal ratio, and also the weight of the mirror box. I've picked up a 16" box in the past which must be a lot lighter but even that was tough.

That's a great looking scope, you ought to set it up in the living room as an ornament when you're not observing with it.

I think the weather is one reason. The weather for the whole of the uk is cloudy so much of the time and even when it's not cloudy the conditions are not great. The US may have some areas of poor weather but it has lots of areas with really good conditions. I've read many reports from over the pond about crazy magnifications that you almost never hear of in the UK, my guess being its due to the conditions. Hence less opportunities to get the best out of big scopes over here.

I am interested in hearing experiences on the best timing for solar viewing. Most of my observing is later in the day when heat haze has picked up. The best solar sessions I've had have been in the morning when the ground hasn't heated up yet. Is there an optimum time in the morning - too early and the sun is low and you are looking through a lot of atmosphere. Too late and although the sun is higher the turbulence will have picked up. How many hours after sun rise or how many degrees high seem to work best for you. Or maybe you have found other times or circumstances to work well. Any comments would be appreciated.

I would recommend a few ideas to consider... Taping the filter down so that it can't come off by mistake. Always having a look through the eyepiece yourself just before each new punter has a look. Try to set up the space so that you can't be crowded with lots of people around you such that you can't keep everything safe.

Very nice, and with a wide field of view very practical. Maybe there's a business opportunity there! I have a mirror I can flip up on my telrad to allow 90 degree viewing but the image is mirror flipped and only a small field of view is doable so its less practical than your set up.

Great report, shows you can have a good time with a light bucket even if you can't always make it to a dark sky.

The objective lense is not physically changed itself but the effective focal ratio that you are using does change and the exit pupil will reduce. If you have a theoretically perfect scope then there would be no benefit as there would be no aberrations to reduce, but in an ST80 spherical abberation and chromatic aberration would reduce. Stopping down might also dodge the worst of tube currents, and makes the image easier on your eyes and your eyepieces as they are not tested so much either. In the end the proof is in the pudding - it's easier than changing an eyepiece to test full and stopped down aperture back to back. A bright star like Vega is a good test, and the bright planets are also.

I had a go yesterday afternoon. I saw mottling and maybe faint signs of faculae remnants (or possibly they were floaters!). I tried a 127mm Maksutov plus solar film and got nothing except maybe mottling with an orange filter at the lowest magnification possible (79x). A solar continuum filter dimmed the view too much. I did better with the ST120 - a combination of lower magnifications and using wedge rather than film. The ability to turn the brightness back up when using filters is a big plus for the wedge. The main difficulty was heat haze. I agree with the comments about how critical focus is. It's also easy for the eye to wander off focus when fishing around without something clear to lock on to.

Using the ST80 you'll have the same aperture in a smaller overall package if the dobsonian option is reduced aperture only. Using the dobsonian you can get full aperture solar film if you want but that would cost more. Regarding the ability to reduce the aperture of the ST80, doing this will also increase the focal ratio which will reduce aberrations. In effect the view will be dimmer and the maximum detail resolvable will be less but the view you do get will be cleaner/sharper. When I use my ST80 l often reduce the aperture for bright targets.

Great report and a good looking scope you have there. I was wondering though, what is the function of the black box in between the focuser and the finder scope?

Nice report, there's been a lot of cloudy but doable opportunities lately. I have seen the same thing in my ST120 where CA is visible but then reduces or even disappears as thin cloud dims the view.

Great report, the more you look over time the more you will pick out even if conditions are not ideal. On the topic of the speed if light this was estimated hundreds of years ago by comparing the movement of the moons of Jupiter which was very accurately predictable to what was observed as Jupiter's distance from earth varied.

Nice report, it's always good to give the sun a go. I'm very jealous of the Tak/Binoviewer set up!

I have a small garden with high obstacles in all directions. The left edge of this photo is north-ish... Luckily in other directions it's a bit better. I have to go out the front for low southern horizons - theres a small corridor to the east/south where I can see down to 10 degrees or so!

The weather forecast said mostly cloud for me but it looked ok so I went out with the vx14 and got a couple of hours in. I had a go at Jupiter, M3, M53, Pallas, Saturn and 3 moons, Altair, Mizar, Epsilon Lyra, Albireo, Anser, Cr399 (finder only, target too big for scope), M71 (man of the match), tried for M22 but that was too close to street lights so not seen at all, and M13.

I checked out Jupiter that evening anc watched Io getting very close but the transit was past my bedtime!

Good luck with the quark, would be interested to hear your feedback on it.

Nice scope - look forward to some reports as I'm doing my homework on scopes like this for future reference.

Great report, well done for spreading the word about what you can see up there.

I'll only go out late if I know I can either lie the next day or go to bed early the next night, but even then my definition of late would be 1am! I don't like feeling tired for an extended period of time and in this hobby ending up chronically tired is possible. On weeknights I only do very short sessions with small scopes in light polluted conditions but there's still lots to see even then. The best thing you can do to really enjoy this hobby is... retire and relocate to somewhere else in the world!!!

I agree with the advice about going to a club if possible and that a dobsonian is a good means of portable aperture and quality views at a low price. But if a small refractor suits you for carrying and setting up and those are in your budget, I'd go for the sky watcher simply because it is the slowest focal ratio and so will not be so demanding of the objective lense or the eyepieces. Other than that they are all small and light scopes. Those kinds of refractors are typically not described as ideal for planets, lunar, or double stars but they will do them. If you need the portability there's no point getting a "better" but bigger or heavier scope if you end up not using it. I have a similar scope and it does get used despite me having a number of better ones, because it is so easy to set up.

A dog would be good, but I have 2 meddling cats, they are nowhere to be seen a lot of the time and then sneak up on me when I'm not expecting it.

Here's some rare footage of my C8 in action.

I'd be interested to hear about this...as would half of the forum!