Nigeyboy

Wow!! Brilliant capture, and bright even behind the cloud! I’m going out tonight to try and see / capture some.

Some really interesting explanations here, and things I hadn’t considered – like gravity decreasing as you descend!

Thanks for he replies! @Ronin – I have looked at the barn door tracker idea, and I am always amazed at something so simple can be so effective! I may well have a go at making on when I get my new shed! Currently don’t have an area inside where I can bang, drill and saw without upsetting my other half!! @Knights – you have some amazing shots on your website! I am really taken by the difference between a modded SLR and a standard one! The view you have taken of Orion shows this difference very well indeed! To think that’s all there, but unseen to the eye! The more I think about, the more I think that maybe I will leave getting a scope for a while, and concentrate on WideField AP. I have seen a used modified Canon 100D for £199, and I already have the lens . . . . . . .

So theoretically your body would be pulled in each direction from the centre point at a force of 1g? Would make a fun ride!! I worked out (possibly incorrectly!!) that if air resistance stayed the same all the way down it would take about 32 hours to reach the middle: Radius of Earth (3950miles) / terminal velocity of a human in freefall (124mph) = 31.8hours

OK – got a bit of strange question! I’m pretty clued up on physics etc, and although I won’t be challenging Prof Hawkins any time soon I can’t work out the answer to this hypothetical question!! Imagine you drilled a large hole right through the Earth, so it passed through the exact centre point of the planet. Also imagine that some amazing shielding protects you from the heat etc. Now imagine jumping down that hole . . . . . . . . . you would be falling down for quite some time. However, when you shot past the centre point you will be falling ‘up’ in relation to Earths gravity. This would then slow you down and pull you back. The question is, what would happen when you stopped shooting back and forth and were held at the exact centre point of earths gravity?

Hi Rob, From the research I have been doing on DSLR WF photography, and the results that are possible from such a humble set up I think it’s well worth a shot. Good idea to post a wanted ad – can’t do it on here yet as don’t have enough posts, and can always pop one on ABS! Cheers Nige

D’oh!! Missed both S@N and Horizons – iPlayer here I come!!

Hi Steve, I enjoyed your post – this hobby can be a money pit that’s for sure! It’s like painting the Forth Bridge – it’s never really finished!! I’m still in the setting up process, and am blogging on here about it – as much for me to look back on than anything else really. I look forward to your next post! Cheers Nige

Hi all, So a quick blog today, just to keep things ticking over, and to keep track of my ideas etc – more for me to look back on more than anything else! Foot is a lot better now – I am getting around ok, and have even started a new fitness ‘regime’!! I have lost 6lbs in one week, by cutting out crisps and flapjacks, and doing 20 minutes of high interval training each morning! Go me!! I’m still scopeless, and will be until at least Autumn I think. Had my hours knocked down at work from 5 days to 4 days. We can still cope on the reduced income, but it means my scope will be delayed slightly! I’m not too upset about the lack of OTA right now. Nights are still short, and the weather isn’t exactly brilliant either. It will give me time to finally settle on what I actually want to set – newt or frac!! Its either a 130p-ds or ST102. Both have their pros and cons, and I can’t guess the amount of reviews etc I have read on both scopes!! In the meantime, I have decided to set myself up with a widefield DSLR rig. Budget is key here! I already have the mount (EQ3-2), DSLR with fast and wide lens, and a means to mount it on the EQ. I just need a polar scope and a motor kit. I am keeping my eyes peeled for them to come up on ABS, AB or on SGL (remember key word – Budget!!). The mount is still due its MOT, which hopefully I will carry out later this month. I want to have it all together for my trip to Pembrokeshire in mid August. With this set up I am hoping to get my first astrophoto’s of the Milky Way, and perhaps some of the larger constellations. From what I’ve been told here on SGL, 2-4 minute subs should be achievable if PA is good, and LP is not too bad. I will update this blog as each stage is completed, and hopefully with my first photos as well, however they turn out!! I have been doing a lot of reading up both on SGL, and the wider t’interweb about DSLR widefield, and it’s something I can get into fairly easily, and with minimal outlay. As a keen landscape shooter, I am hoping I can use my current skills to create some pleasing images. We shall see - this blog could well turn into a ‘How To Take AP With No Money’ blog!! Well, that’s all for this entry – thanks for reading, and sorry it a bit dull this time!! Next entry I am hoping to blog about my mount MOT, along with photos!! Ooooo!!!!

That made me chuckle!! "Just popping down the accelerator for a few hours dear"

Not sure about the QE , but as a Canon fanatic I can tell you the 100D is the newer model. It has 18mp compared to the 12mp on the 1100D. The 100D is also Canons smallest and lightest DSLR (3oz lighter than the 1100) which is a consideration when imaging. Of course Megapixelage is not the ‘be all and end all’, and the 1100D is still a very high res camera.

I have used (a borrowed) 70-200mm f4 on my trusty 400D before. It’s a fairly light lens, at 700g – only 50g more than my 17-55mm. When using my tripod for some early morning landscapes, I just used the thread on the battery grip as the lens didn’t have the tripod collar anyway! Was perfectly stable and I didn’t feel it was unbalanced in any way, or in danger of tipping forward. I would have thought a 4kg ball head would be more than sufficient to support the camera with grip and the lens together.

Hi all Been a while since my last blog entry. Following a meeting between my left foot and a rusty nail in the garden a few weeks ago, I contracted a very nasty infection that knocked me out of commission for nearly three weeks!! I am well on the mend now though, and finished my last course of antibiotics yesterday!! Still walking with a limp like some sort of peg-legged pirate!! It does mean on Tuesday I can finally open the bottle of Single Malt I got for Father’s Day!! Three different antibiotics has meant it has had to sit on the shelf – normally I would have had a tipple, but the doctor was adamant that I should not drink any alcohol at all as one type I was on is used for alcoholics on detox!! Nice!!!! So what’s been happening with me other than nearly losing my foot? Well not much to be honest! The same day I nailed my foot, I had located a nice SW ST102 on ABS that seemed to fit the bill on what I was looking for. However, following arrangements to meet the seller the infection really started up, and I was unable to walk / drive. So I had to let it go which was a bit of a disappointment. The seller was very understanding, but I felt bad having messed him about. So I am still no closer to getting an OTA!! I have set myself the goal though to get one sorted before our family holiday to Pembrokeshire mid August. That gives me 6 weeks or so to get my butt into gear! I did manage to get my 10x50’s onto the Venus / Jupiter conjunction last week. I had been watching them get closer and closer, and to see them in the same field through the bins was a great view! Am sure it would have looked better through a scope . . . . I will have a trawl through SGL and see if I can find any pics! I also came across something interesting when reading the latest from New Horizons – something called ‘Pluto Time’. It’s an interesting little item that compares what the lighting is like on Pluto at noon, to your time / place on Earth. I tried it, and was surprised at how light it would actually be on Pluto at noon! Worked out about 20 mins after sunset. HERE is a link if you want a go yourself! Goes to show, that even 4.5 billion miles away, although the sun would be a point source of light, you could still easily read a book by its light. Well that’s it for now. Clear skies! Nige

Hi all Just wanted to share the exciting (well, to me anyway!!) news that I will finally have an OTA to adorn my lonely EQ3-2 mount by the weekend! I settled on a SW ST102 in the end. It ticked all the short term boxes for ease of use, portability and cost while I look, save for and plan my longer term goal of an AP set up. Am also thinking that when the time comes I can use it as a guide scope as well, while also keeping the ‘lil EQ3 for keep obs sessions. The scope came up on ABS the other day. It’s coming with an AZ3 mount, so am planning on selling that to recoup £20 or so from the £120 I’m spending. So apologies in advance to anyone in the Derby area if the clouds come over on Friday night – you can blame me lol!! Sorry – just a bit excited about it all!!

Wonder what their electricity bill is???