JeremyS

Not seen this guide book in person before. Nice and compact. Bought used.

I thought it was a metal detector at first. I might be in the market for one.

Do you have a (secure) area, dry area that you can store the OTA that is closer to outside temp, eg shed, garage?

If going larger than 1.25 inch diagonal, I’d go for a mirror (to avoid longer path length through a bigger prism). BBHS is my preference. You could cut cost and weight with T2 size. The Tak 2-inch mirror is super too, but I generally like the Baader Clicklock

Not sure if this was posted before, but Daniel Mounsey on CN explains where small apertures can win in double star observing (including on colours): https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/633339-put-your-stars-on-a-diet/?p=8833872 I must get my Tak FOA 60Q out…

A very late delivery this evening from Amazon. only published last Friday. One of the authors is my great friend from school days, Professor Tom McCleish, who tragically passed away last year. And the book was brought to fruition by my good friend Mike Frost, of the BAA.

Anything to help me improve….

But now you’ve moved on your TSA, you won’t have to worry about Tak blue and green clashes like I do.

Not sure, but I think you might find all that Tak blue a bit much, @Sunshine 🤔

One just come on UK ABS. Bino scope, Dave @F15Rules? 😊

Now there’s a challenge 😊 But in all seriousness, the TV Everbright is a lovely piece of kit. I have one. I also enjoy my Tak 2-inch diagonal (half price, you say?). Especially the blue bit. But I think I prefer the mechanics of my Baader BBHS twistlock

Great result @Stu. I wonder what colour(s) so saw in the nebula. Don’t worry about an apostrophe in innit. There is none. Yet it is a question, so there should be a question mark at the end of the title. 😊

The SS3D worked well enough, but required the mount to be accurately polar aligned. I used in in the early dats of CCD cameras to get the target on the (small) chip. Dry slow slewing The SS2K was a super piece of kit. As good as anything you get today. Fast slew speeds.

I posted this in the regret buying rather than the regret selling. I regret that. So posting here. The only scope I’ve sold and regretted was my lovely Pentax 75 SDHF refractor. Ive regretted selling quite a few eyepieces so have given up doing that. My biggest EP regret was my Pentax XP 3.8. I sold at a crazy low price. They don’t often appear on the used market and it took me years to find another, in Japan, for about 3 times the price.

Buying regrets. In the 1990s I got my timing frustratingly wrong on 2 separate purchases. The first was a Vixen SP mount. Nothing wrong with the mount, but just after taking delivery Vixen launched the new GP range. I eventually got a wonder GPDX. 3 years after getting the SP I took delivery of Vixens Skysensor 3D goto system. It was slow but ok. But then Vixen launched its Skysensor 2000. Again I upgraded to that which was a great piece of kit.

In case anyone was wondering, and I’m sure @ollypenrice has rumbled me, this ditty was composed by ChatGPT. If only this had been around when I was doing O Level Eng Lit…. With ChatGPT and an in depth study of Brodie’s Notes I might have improved on my grade C. And all I would have then needed was a way of getting out of PE lessons (In addition to my appendectomy which I milked for a whole term of Off Games notes)

Excellent, Dave 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Beneath the vast expanse of night, Two souls in wonder take their flight. One, a stargazer, dreams unfurled, The other, an astronomer, maps the world. The stargazer, with eyes aglow, Lies upon the grass below. In awe, they watch the heavens dance, Each star a story, each constellation a chance. Their heart is free, their spirit light, Lost in the beauty of the night. They dream of worlds beyond their sight, And paint their dreams in starlight. Yet the astronomer, with telescope in hand, Seeks to understand the cosmic plan. With charts and graphs, they chart the skies, Mapping out the galaxies that mesmerize. Their passion burns with scientific fire, Their quest to unravel each celestial choir. With precision and method, they explore, The mysteries of the universe, they adore. Both stargazer and astronomer, Bound by a love that's no misnomer. One gazes up with wonder bright, The other delves deep into the night. Though different paths they both pursue, Their love for stars forever true. For in the cosmos, they find their home, As stargazers and astronomers roam.

The only scope I’ve sold and regretted was my lovely Pentax 75 SDHF refractor. Ive regretted selling quite a few eyepieces so have given up doing that. My biggest EP regret was my Pentax XP 3.8. I sold at a crazy low price. They don’t often appear on the used market and it took me years to find another, in Japan, for about 3 times the price.

Been wearing your Speedos again?

I guess he’d never have chosen that title if Taks were around at the time 🤔

This is very helpful Olly. The term gazer, as defined above, does not describe Leslie Peltier. Perhaps he used it in a self deprecating manner. Perhaps many of us do. I wonder if I could move you on to part two of the question, the use of Starlight rather than Starlit in the title Starlight Nights. I feel more of a literary allusion at play…

I heard someone say stargazers use refractors and astronomers use reflectors 🤔

Three pages of impassioned lexicology, literary criticism and epistemology, yet not a word from @ollypenrice 🤔