Nigeyboy

Thanks for the replies. Just to clarify I already have an EQ 3-2 mount. Not it a few years back. So am just going for the OTA now.

Hi Neil It will be visual i will be using it for. AP will come along at some point, but I don't have the funds for that at the moment. I am interested in lunar and solar system, and understand that the DSO's may be a challenge! I do have a pair of 20x80 bins for widefield use, and have been thinking of getting a 120ST Frac as well. Those are some awesome pics! Very impressive indeed. Thanks Nige

Afternoon all, I have set my sights on this OTA, as I think it is a good compromise between aperture and focal length. What I am struggling to find is some good reviews from people who have actually owned and used this scope themselves! So - any of you peeps had this scope now / in the past? What are your thoughts, and are there any issues / problems I should know about? It will be mounted on an EQ3-2 for the time being. I hope to have saved up enough by next summer to get a more substantial mount! Thanks in advance Nige

Thanks Andy - I had a look at it last night, and it looks like just what i need! Cheers Nige

That is amazing - what a building!! You must be so pleased - can't wait to see you start to kit the obs out with your kit!! Well done!!

So, been another busy week, but not so much travel – just been pottering around the local area which makes a nice change! Also means I get home at a reasonable hour! Had a good weekend – my 10 year old son and I went to the Donnington Car Museum for a look around. He is mad about F1, and when we saw two of Senna’s cars, he was over the moon! I read that it is closing down for good on November 5th, as they can’t afford to keep it open any more – such a shame, as there is so much history there. Anywho – on to other things. The weather has been fairly kind this past week, but it wasn’t until the end of last week I managed to get out under the starts with my 20x80’s. it was my first look at the moon through them, and I was very pleased with the view – the moon as just coming up to half full, and the detail along the terminator was crisp and sharp. I was able to make out Mare Imbrium. It was half illuminated, and some of the mountain peaks on the far side where just starting to be hit with sunlight. Further down, there were two craters in amazing relief – I think they were Eratosthenes on the left, and Copernicus to the right. Copernicus as in deep shadow, apart from the far left crater wall, which was bathed in sunlight. Overall, I was really pleased with the views, and have decided to learn as much about the Moon as I can, in readiness of the Explorer 150PL I shall be getting at Christmas. Further afield, I kept getting pulled back to the area around Cassiopeia, and Andromeda. I still don’t know what I am looking at really, but once back in the house, I am using Stellarium to work it out!! I found two clusters, close together below Cassiopeia – turns out it was N884 and N869, and each showed a mass of stars. I went back again to M45 to marvel at the sea of stars I could see. It is still fairly low from where I am, so hopefully the view will improve in the coming months. Next out, I want to try finding some globular clusters, such as M13. Time to start ticking off the Messier objects I think! Looks like it will be good again tonight, up till about midnight, but the Moon is nearly full, which might makes things tricky – we shall see!

Hi all Can anyone point me toward a decent online moon atlas? Preferably one that shows a good level of detail, along with info of the features? Thanks in advance Nige

Glad you got the Skymasters back Kev - and a new pair at that!! Very good service there. I also popped out for half an hour last night with my 20x80's, from about 10:30pm. My first proper look at the moon, and I was pretty blown away! I will be adding the session to my Blog her on SGL on Monday next week! Clear Skies! Nige

Wow - what an amazing project, and the workman ship is top class. That pier would support a tank!!! Really impressed - this is something I would love to be able to afford. I would also need to move house, as the garden is far too small, and the Bortle 7 sky . . . . . well, enough said about that lol!! I'm now following this topic - keep up the good work!!

Had another thought about this - surely if this thing is going to illuminate a single area, it would need to be place into geostationary orbit? would that not mean the collector surface area would need to be that much bigger?

Just what we need - more LP! Kind of reminds me of the satellite in the Bond film 'Die another Day'. Maybe they have ulterior motives . . . . !! But seriously - is this the shape of things to come? Soon there won't be a dark sky anywhere on Earth left for us . . . sad times . . .

Well, it appears to have been over three years since my last Blog entry . . . . . so what's been happening? Well, shortly after I my last entry, I was made redundant from my job as a Projects Coordinator. When I say 'Redundant', I was contracting, and the work dried up which was pretty crap. However, I wasn't out of work for long - got some more contracting work, and then just over a year ago I got a perm job with Greene King Pub Co. as a Regional Systems Manager - basically, I look after about 500 pubs IT equipment. My region is East and West Midlands, and the North East of England - so anywhere from Kidderminster in the South, to York and Scarborough in the North. It's a lot of driving (about 35,000 miles per year), but I love it! I get to see loads of the country, and always manager to catch Pop Master on Radio 2 now!! So, back to it - last time I blogged I was after a new scope. Well, I still am!! I have got myself a pair of Celestron Skymaster 20x80 bins as a stop gap, and have managed a couple of evenings out with them since I got them on my Birthday a few weeks ago! I still have the EQ3-2, and have now decided to get myself a Skywatcher 150PL OTA. I have been doing lots of research, and I think it is a good compromise between aperture and focal length. My 10 year old son is now getting interested in space and astronomy and to be able to see the planets is especially important!! Looks like I will have to wait from Crimbo for the scope - I have sent my letter to Santa already, and I am pretty sure I have been a good boy this year!! So, I hope to start Blogging weekly again now, to start with, with observations with my new bin's, and the in the new year, with my shiny new scope! Thanks for reading! Nige

Hi - welcome! I'm a Noob as well, and have just started back on SGL. Sounds like you will have some dark skies when you move!! Good luck!

Hi Merlin - I honestly don't know the answer to that. I would hope not, as they are marketed as 80mm. I would feel pretty cheated if that were the case!!

Nice one - just signed myself up for this. From the comments above, it looks to be very good!