Oldfort

Looks good from Shetland at 23.30.

https://www.shetlandwebcams.com/cliff-cam-3/

14 minutes ago, Kim2010 said:

But still, I wish I knew what that aftersales folk did..

The work was done by Steve Collingwood, then at Telescope House but he now spends his time building and installing observatories (Pulsar).

I think a hard knock could have done this.  I had a 10" SCT which took a tumble, due to me not tightening the tripod legs enough. On one side of focus, the image was elongated vertically and the other side of focus the image was elongated horizontally.

I don't know wht the fix was because I took it back to the retailer (when they had an after sales service) but it was sorted out quickly and cheaply.

There's the Borg 107FL.  The objective is in the large unit at the top.

2 hours ago, Rusted said:

Your colour choice was interesting

I agree.  It's a bit sludgy, but I got bored fiddling around.

This is my first proper go at the sun with the Starvue solar filter on a Canon 600mm f11 lens.  I've done a bit of post processing, but I don't really know what I'm doing.

I took about 40 raw images, using a AZ-EQ5 in alt-az mode, and I'm wondering whether stacking them is worth the effort.

5 hours ago, BrendanC said:

How about these? 

https://www.gwr-fasteners.co.uk/m4-x-6mm-socket-cap-head-screws-din-912---aluminium-7075-91248-p.asp

I've used GWR before without problem.  Accu.co.uk also do M4 alluminium bolts, but the shortest they do is 10mm.

I'm not sure that mixing aluminium and stainless steel would be a big problem in your case, as there isn't going to be much force applied, and anyway you can get anti-galling compound (often called anti-seize compound).

Having been tempted by this thread, I bought a StarVue solar filter.

Here it is on a Canon RF600mm f11 lens (with reducing ring as well).

Here's a sample I took yesterday.

Avocette, Thanks.  I don't know how I missed this.

I have had my AZ EQ5 for 6 or 7 years, and until recently it has performed well enough for my needs – visual only, alt-az mode.

In the last month it has developed an annoying degree of slop, first in the dec axis, and now in the azimuth.  My guess is that it needs re greasing of the bearings and gears.  This is not something I want to do myself.

So I have 2 questions:

1.      Does anyone have any recommendations for a good company/person to do  a service, preferably within reasonable driving distance of Greenwich?

2.      Alternatively, is there a simplified process I could go through, given that I’m not looking for perfection being visual only.

Widescreen Centre, from whom I bought the mount, were unable to help, and suggested DarkFrame.  However they have had very mixed reviews and so I am wary of using them.

Here are the next few I took moving into the red:

I think the last one shows Hα

I took mine with an Lhires III.  It was a long time ago, but I think I used a Canon 5D Mk2.  I don't remember what resolution grating I used, but I was pleased with the result.

Does this help?

Welcome to Greenwich.  Although the sky is bortle 8, it has many other attractions.

I have tried star hopping from London skies, and gave it a really good go a few years back.  I couldn't do it and bought a goto scope, which has been great.  I did however learn that not all finders are created equal, and some of the cheaper ones performed better than the more expensive ones (the Skywatcher evo 50mm being an exception).

I didn't have the benefit of having learnt the craft under dark skies, and I hope your experience is better than mine.  But having said that an alt/az goto or push to doesn't take much time to set up.

Rather nice that the contact person for the scope is Jon Shanklin, co-discoverer of the hole in the ozone layer, and keeper of the BAS comet page.

And one of the two Shanklin Glaciers was named after him.

Also not an app but, a great resource.

https://sourceforge.net/projects/virtualmoon/

How about a clamshell?  I think the Televue version for the TV 76 is 3 inch. 

Ther'e also AliExpress.

2 hours ago, Stu said:

I agree with josefk that it depends on the use case and it depends on the scopes used and whether they happen to match up or not. For lower power views it’s not likely to be a problem. For me, I often use two solar scopes side by side (WL and Ha) at high powers and any misalignment shows up quite obviously and can make it hard to compare features.

I’ve actually just acquired an ADM Maxguider adjustment plate to allow easy, tool free adjustments to be made and I’m very pleased with it.

Not a cheap bit of kit so I do agree that waiting to see whether you actually find it’s a problem or not is the best option.

I also use 2 solar scopes side by side.  The alignment is in that intermediate zone where they are not too far apart, but a bit further than I'd like so the maxguider is pricy in terms of marginal utility.  Where I'm located (on a corner balcony) there's been no direct view of the sun since November, but it's on it's way back now.

On 27/01/2023 at 12:48, 123Star said:

Is it any good sites to order equipment from eu? It is not so much to choose from at Norwegian retailers, and its expensive.

Some manufacters/suppliers list dealers.  For example

https://www.baader-planetarium.com/en/storelocator

https://televue.com/engine/TV3b_page.asp?id=193

I'm not endorsing them, as I have used only a few of those listed.

Good luck

Strangely, this featured in physics.stackexchange.com today.

I did this equation for A level applied maths in the 70s, but I don't think it's inluded nowadays , which is a shame as it's an interesting result.

I too have the same experience with a PST.  Some is due to the marked sweet spot on the PST, but there is a significant improvement with time and con encentration.  However I only see it with surface detail and not prominences.

As a purely visual observer, I find it very helpful to have an image that doesn't capture too much detail, as it's much more like what I can see from a Bortle 8 location.

26 minutes ago, Captain Scarlet said:

Good heavens no . I plan to use it as a super-finder in much the same way that @markse68 has done. I now need to get hold of a T-2 1.25” diagonal to screw onto the FF, plus a short-path focuser on the other side, and I should be good to go with my Panoptic 24 to give me very nice 10x50 finder views.

You can get a T-2 to 1.25" eyepiece holder from Baader, and plug your diagonal into that.  The evoguide gives a really bright and sharp view visually.

There's a detailed review from Roger Vine here:

http://www.scopeviews.co.uk/Borg90FL.htm