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Nigeyboy

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Everything posted by Nigeyboy

  1. I went out the night before last to try and find M51 and M101 from my little patio. Failed totally. Had to settle for the Double Cluster and M45. I think I need to make a shield I can attach to that street light so I can use the main garden!
  2. I have a large LED street light right over the garden. The only place I have to view that is out of direct LP is my small rear patio. I get good views facing North and west only.
  3. Hi I use Clear Outside - HERE. its been pretty accurate in the past.
  4. A quick check on the specs for the Orion Paragon Plus indicates it has a capacity of 5lbs, so your combination would appear to be over that by over 2lbs. Not used the device myself so can't vouch for whether or not that extra weight would be an issue.
  5. I own a pair of Celestron Skymaster 20x80's. I am pleased with them, but following a review I posted here on SGL, I found out they were nearer to 16x73. So I was a bit miffed really. If I buy a pair of 20x80's that is what I expect to get. Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying using them, but each time I pick them up, I do feel a little cheated! I only paid £100 for them though . . . . . .
  6. Hi and welcome to SGL. I'm still fairly new to the whole thing, but you will find this place to be a bastion of help and advise - I know I do!! Is your 200p the dob, or is it on an EQ mount? Good shout on attending an Astro club - I am doing the same thing tomorrow for the first time!
  7. I know it’s not really adding to the discussion here but I remember lusting after the Meade SCT’s I saw in Astro mags when I was a kid! They seemed so advanced and also so out of reach! I have never had the chance to look through an SCT but hope too one day. The view of Jupiter through a 12” F10 must be amazing!! One day perhaps . . . .
  8. Hi and welcome to SGL! I think we could do with some more information. Where will you primarily be using the scope? At home or some place else? Is portability important etc. A lot of bods here recommend a good 200mm dobsonian to begin with. Plenty of light gathering ability, nice and portable and set up nice and quickly. Plus it would leave some of your budget for some extras.
  9. That’s a good shot! If you can take a number of shots and stack them that would bring out a lot more detail. Here are those shots i promised of the Barlow.
  10. Hi Derek The Barlow has its own lens built in at the base. Mine unscrews so your mention of the Barlow not seeming to work made me think perhaps the lens is missing. I will take a pic when I get home later to show what I mean. I think using that camera may be tricky! I am just getting into fitting my own dslr to the 150pl and need to get a proper adapter. Hopefully someone will be along with experience of using such a camera on a scope! cheers Nige
  11. Spot on there - garages are for storing anything but cars nowadays!!
  12. Really cool!! Very impressive to capture Pluto at such a low angle. Your comment 'A Spare EQ-6 and 200mm Newt' made me chuckle . . . . do you have a room full of mounts and scopes lol!! 😉
  13. Hi Derek, I also have the SW 150-PL , so hopefully can answer at least some of your questions! The 10mm and 25mm eyepieces sound like the standard ones that come with the scope. The Barlow on mine works fine - the Barlow should have a lens screwed into the bottom of it. I find i spend most of my time with the 25mm in the focuser. I only use the 10mm and Barlow on planets or the moon. Just too much mag for anything else! I am hoping to upgrade the eyepieces at some point to some wider field of view jobs, but for now they will do me. Can't help you with the camera question I'm afraid, as not familiar with that camera or the attachment you mention - sorry!
  14. Nigeyboy

    Part Newbie

    Welcome to SGL! The natives here are quite friendly and some of the most helpful you can hope to find!
  15. Hi Matt. We did the Eden Project as well. It is amazing, and be prepared for a lot of walking! Depending on where you park, there is a park and ride bus service down to the main entrance. There are also lockers down near the bus stop at the entrance - so you can leave picnics etc in there rather than having to trek all the way back to the car like I did before finding them!! If you feel brave, try the zip line! At 660m long and about 50mph its the longest / fastest in England, and goes right over the top of the domes!! We stayed on Trevant Farm just out of Menheniot, and if the weather behaves you will get some amazing skies. I was impressed by the seeing - it was so steady when I was out observing. Enjoy, and may you have Clear Skies! Cheers Nige
  16. Sorry to hear you have been in the war's, but good news you are on the mend. Thats the good thing about the stars and planets - they will always be there waiting for us!! Good to hear from someone from my old neck of the woods as well! I live in Derby, but hale from Wroxham! All the best for the stitches etc coming out!!
  17. From what I have read, they estimate the nucleus to have a 20km diameter!! Does anyone know when perihelion will be? D'oh - just read the link! sorry!!
  18. As David says, this is normal. As magnification increases, the view will become progressively darker. Even in my 150mm reflector (Skywatcher 150-PL), when I crank up to x 200 and look at the moon, the image is a lot darker than when viewing at x 48. M31 and M45 won't fit in my widest field of view with the 150-PL, but most other objects will. Again, as David said these objects are best observed with a wide angle. All the other Messier objects should fit well within your field of view. Thing to remember here is, as general rule of thumb, max magnification is around 2 x aperture in MM - so 76 x 2 = 152 x. So, with your lowest mm eyepiece of 6.1, and the Barlow you magnification would have been around x 200 - too much for your scope to handle I think. When viewing M31, let your eyes become adjusted to the dark, pop in the 26mm and spend time at the eyepiece. Its amazing what detail can jump out! Happy viewing! Nige
  19. Living as I do in the East Midlands, light pollution is very bad - i have two LED street lights along the edge of my garden. Only a small area of the rear of my house is out of direct street lighting. However, like you a two hour drive will take me to some very dark sites! I hope you manage many successful nights stargazing!
  20. First light is always a special thing! Congratulations! Sounds like you had a great evening and your viewing spot sounds impressive!!
  21. Hi all, Thanks for dropping into my blog – I have had over 9000 views in total now, which is incredible, so thanks all! As you will know if you have read the previous posts (dating back 4 years or so), I have very slowly been pulling together various bit and pieces of astro gear. Currently I have the following: Skywatcher EQ3-2 mount (white, non-motorised) – second hand for £90 off ABS Skywatcher 150PL OTA – new from RVO for about £180 25mm, 10mm eyepieces and 2 x Barlow (came with scope) Cheshire collimating device – new from RVO for £25 Celestron 20x80 bins – new from RVO for £99 Old Dell Laptop – Downloaded all the free software I can find for it. Free – old works one that wasn’t wanted. CMy trusty Canon 400D with EF-S 17-55mm f2.8 A dodgy old Webcam – this has been duly butchered and adapted to allow me to slot into the focuser. From the above, all but the Canon have been procured over the past 4 years, and only the OTA and Bins where purchased new. Going forward, anything I buy I will note how much I have spent. So, I have set myself a personal challenge!! I want to try and show AP can be done on a small modest set up like this! Up till now, its been purely visual that I have been doing. However, alongside that I have decided to dip my toe into AP. My interest was piqued while on holiday in Cornwall a few weeks back. I took some very basic (and out of focus!) shots of the Milkyway, and was impressed with what detail a single 30 sec exposure teased out. Now, general wisdom states that to get into AP, one needs to start with a decent, solid mount such as the HEQ5. I’m not one to argue with wisdom, but I don’t have the funds for big mount right now, nor for any guiding stuff to make things easier, or even a dedicated astro-cam! So, I have decided to see what can be done on a real budget with the kit that I currently have. The only addition I intend to make is to add the Dual Enhanced motors to the mount. I'm getting these for my Birthday at the start of October! Over the coming months, this blog will highlight the ups and downs of my journey. The aim is to start simple, and work upwards as my skills and patience get better!! I have also discovered the 'Imaging with the EQ3 mount' thread here on SGL, so that will be a good guide as well. I intend to try widefield to start with – using my DSLR directly connected to the EQ mount. I also am going to attempt to use the webcam for Lunar and some Planetary photography. Moving on, I may even try some AP with the Canon attached to the 150PL – but lets walk first eh?! I am also planning some DIY on the scope and mount, and will do my best to document this as well. First job is some ring rotator’s, and that will be in the next post! I hope you drop in and see how I am getting on!
  22. Got back from work early! Yay! Thanks for the replies both of you! That's just the info I was looking for!
  23. Morning all, Just a quick query here. Been looking over FLO and RVO websites for an adaptor to fit my Canon 400D to my SW 150-PL. I have the standard SW 2 x Barlow, which after a little play, I have found I can unscrew the lens element off the bottom, leaving me with a T mount. However, unsure what I need to fit that to the Canon. Think it might be this: https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/rother-valley-optics-m48-t-mount.html But I can't see what diameter thread the Barlow has! Could a fellow Canon user help please? Cheers Nige P.S - won't be able to reply to comments until tonight, so thanks in advance!!
  24. What a great scientific analysis of the cloud problem! Love it!
  25. May have a try at imaging the Moon over the next few days.
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