RT65CB-SWL

Hi @Ean and welcome to SGL. I have a Celestron C6/SCT and a ‘re-modded’ Meade ETX105. Of the two, the C6 would be the easiest to collimate. I have had mine for a number of years and not done any collimation to it since I purchased it. It appears to be ok with a collimation cap and my two laser collimators.

Here’s one I made for my RDF’s… I have more than one! Parts List… 1x spare TeleVue ‘QwikPoint’ mounting block 2x 15mm pipe clips 2x M4 10 or 12mm machine screws 2x M4 nyloc nuts

+1 for the Baader helical focusser mentioned by @PeterC65

Hi @maro21 and welcome to SGL.

My c.1916 sighting telescope... and an unknown manufacturer/type brass RAS threaded eyepiece as shown in the centre of the image below. Beacon Hill Telescopes made the eyepiece projection unit/adaptor and the 1.25" adaptor for the eyepiece. More up to date and these two ‘vintage’ jewels... left: TeleVue Nagler 13mm/Type 1 - right: Meade Ultra Wide Angle 8.8mm/series 4000.

Hi @Rolfe Lindner and welcome to SGL.

My first telescope was a Tasco 4ETE as shown in the image below. note: not my image. It was a birthday present from my father and step-mother. It had a 40mm objective and 40x magnification, a fixed eyepiece, made in Japan and a ten year guarantee, (which I took advantage of when I accidently damaged the dewshield and got a replacement from 'local' Tasco reseller). My late grandfather, (he was an aircraft engineer for BOAC at LHR), made a more rigid tripod from some galvanised pipe and pipe-fittings and salvaged the alt-az yoke mount, during one of my school holidays. It gave me my first telescopic views of the Moon, equatorial belts of Jupiter & Galilean moons, rings of Saturn, M42 and spent a lot of time projecting and recording sunspots from the late 1970's/early 1980's which I no longer have.

Happy 92nd birthday Pluto, from me too!

Hi @HarryLP, @Asellus & @Jimbo64 and welcome to SGL. Now that the Sun has entered solar cycle 25 after a slow start, (with the peak predicted for July 2025 by NOAA), you/we are going to be kept busy.

I have and use the 8, 13 & 15mm TV Plossl's with my TV Ranger [images below] which is an f/6.8 - I purchased it in 1998. Since then, I have purchased and use other TV e/p's as shown/listed below... 13mm Nagler (type 1 & 6) 3-6mm Nagler zoom 6 & 8 mm Radian 1.8x Barlow lens <--- my TV 13mm e/p's.<--- the TeleVue Ranger. I sometimes find the field of view can be a little tight and/or intimidating with TV Plossl's... but eye relief is good with a crisp, sharp view. I don't know whether it is me, but there is something magical or mystical about using 'TeleVue'. Apologies in advance if it annoys/upsets SGL'ers that use the other manufacturer/brand that also begins with the letter 'T'.

No… it’s a refractor. I use my ES UHC with my TV Ranger [480mm/70mm] without issues.

Get a UHC filter. The details revealed for DSO’s and other ‘fuzzy’ targets will be worth it. I have the Explore Scientific one. Has pretty good reviews for a mid-priced filter.

@Dean Hale‘s TeleVue 8mm Radian to go alongside my 6mm… and the rest of my TV e/p collection. Something tells me that I am becoming a ‘closet TV junkie’.

Hi Joesph & Katherine, (plus the cats), and welcome to SGL.

Hi @Redmike and welcome to SGL. I think it is a great idea... especially if you are purely a visual astronomer or for grab & go observing sessions.

Nice composition and beautiful yet simple image.

@200pman means a water butt base/stand. It will give you an extra few inches/cms of height.

Just another thing to add to the mix… are you going to be observing from home? or do you intend to travel with it?

Hi @huddo and welcome to SGL. If you are just a visual astronomer, then I would purchase a ‘Dobsonian’. Simply find a patch of level ground, (preferably grass/lawn), place telescope and base on that… and enjoy. As I am 61 years young in six months time [July 2nd] and purely visual most of the time, I find an alt-az mount is easier to use. Using an EQ mount requires a bit of setting up, i.e. polar alignment, balancing the OTA, etc… plus being a flexible ex-Eastern-bloc gymnast helps… as eyepiece placement is not always where you expect it.

It’s a mini-Buzludzha 🇬🇧 / мини-Бузлуджа 🇧🇬 Below is the ‘full-size’ Buzludzha… Sadly, this amazing piece of Soviet architecture is falling into a irrecoverable state of disrepair.

Hi again @Emlyn Hope to see you at the next RAS meeting…[Sat. 19th Feb. 2022].

Despite passing through clouds, (and some chromatic aberration), here is my contribution... note: North is up - East is left. Full disc image of the Sun showing AR2396 taken with my iPhone 12 handheld over the eyepiece at 13:47GMT/UTC today. Equipment used: TeleVue Ranger, Lunt solar/Herschel wedge, AstroBoot 18mm WA e/p - I did not use my Baader solar continuum or single polarising filters. Edited in MS-Photos app to convert from .HEIC to .JPG and no other processing apps/tools used.

Hi @Craig solomon and welcome to SGL. My first 'nebula' filter was the Baader neodymium. It was ok, (and still is with some targets). I often call or refer to it as my 'Swiss-Army knife' filter. A few years ago I purchased secondhand an Explorer Scientific UHC and Olll from the classifieds section here on SGL. Out of the three, the ES UHC is a clear winner for for visual IMHO. I could not afford the Astronomik prices, (or should that read... Astronomik[al] prices), at the time, so I settled on the ES ones instead... plus I like the ES boxes!

Hi @DamianL and welcome to SGL. Judging by your description, it sounds like it may need a collimation tweak. Very few reflectors are 100% collimated when you receive them. Due to shipping and handling they do loose it... a little. Have you decided on what collimator to purchase? - If you go for a laser collimator then you will need to check it for collimation too, before initial use. There are YouTube video tutorials on how to do it. Alternatively, there is the 'Cheshire' collimator or collimation cap and these require no pre-setup. Stars [and planets] nearer the horizon will be difficult to get perfect views, as you are looking through a thicker portion [and dirty layers] of the Earth's turbulent atmosphere. Also if viewing/observing on concrete, tarmac, over rooftops, other buildings, etc., they will be releasing heat... so you will be seeing the thermals from them too!

When I was on furlough, I made this...