Peter Drew

Try a search for Justin Quinnelle, he has a website devoted to his pinhole camera imaging. 🙂

As usual when there's good activity. ☹️

I've seen the Quintet in 10" and 16" Newtonians at Kelling Heath. The full set in the 16" but less in the 10". Needs a dark site and good transparency. 🙂

So many things to impact on a good view at present. Both Jupiter and Saturn are too low in the sky to stand much magnification and 100x is going to give too bright an image to show much detail. Mars is receding fast and requires more magnification than the seeing often allows. There is a small possibility that the telescope is not precisely collimated, a star test should reveal whether this is the case. 🙂

A secondhand Vixen SP or GP mount would be the best bet for around the £200 mark. 🙂

It's easy enough to make long focus Plossl eyepieces with binocular objectives, if you have a lathe or Blue Peter badge. I've made several 60mm - 100mm Plossls, they give very flat colour free images but suffer the usual problem of small apparent field and long eye relief. 🙂

I don't have an equipment wish list, can't think of anything I would like that I haven't already got. 🙂

I think it might have something to do with effectively having 8 vanes. 🤔

I have a similar problem. According to my optician, I have a slight eye muscle issue which drops one my eyes slightly relative to the other. Like you, I can address it by tilting my head. I have to be careful to allow for this when collimating binoculars for others!. 🙂

I don't let anything annoy me! If I can't do anything about it I put up with it, if I can I do. 🙂

I'm an experienced planet "looker", not observer, I'm vaguely familiar with Syrtis Major, Solus Lacus and Hellas and was reasonably certain that two of them were on show this evening but I couldn't have sketched them with any confidence. I was able to see the SPC in the SCT but not convincingly in the ED. My main problem is that I have to pack up just as things are just settling nicely and I'm unable to return for an extended later session this time of year due to my chronic chest condition. ☹️

Been looking at this since 5pm. Unexpectedly clear as the forecast showed cloud!, excellent transparency but still some shimmer, 300x gives the best view so far on either the 150 SWED or the 16" SCT. Good solar views earlier this morning. 🙂

+1 for this advice. 🙂

Seeing the large number and variety of triplets currently offered to imagers I presume that it does matter. Imaging reveals uncorrected artefacts that are invisible to the visual observer. 🙂

I have one of these, it works as well as other similar binoviewers at its original new price point. 🙂

Congratulations John, you are one of a select few whose posts I always read regardless of the topic.

I get the feeling that the mass of a 2" version of a wedge might handle the heat issue more comfortably. What intrigues me more is the obsession with the care taken to ensure thermal equilibrium of optics for night time use versus the full heat of the Sun being introduced into the OTA when a wedge is in use yet the instrument still being capable of sub arcsecond resolution on a good day . 🤔

I've used my 1.25" Lunt wedge and a 1.25" Lacerta wedge on a 8.5" refractor without problems. A 2" wedge would be better, the Lacerta is about the size of a 2". 🙂

This is the problem with entry level equipment, even at these prices! There is a manufacturing tolerance which results in a variable example lottery. The PST etalon used in my 150mm Ha telescope was the best one out of a dozen or so. A friend once brought along a 60mm model which proved to be unexceptional, when fitted with a double stack unit, for someone noted for his low key persona, the outburst of expletives on looking through it said it all. 🙂

Users of single stack units will probably have noticed the significant enhancement of solar disc contrast which occurs when thin cloud passes over the image. This is very similar to the effect of double stacking in appearance. Pity it's so expensive to achieve properly. 🙂

Sad as it is for science, spare a thought for the local community for which the telescope was a huge economic benefit through tourism and services. Many livelihoods will have been affected as well as those of the scientific elite. ☹️

Definitely a contrail, often a good indication of air stability as you suggested. Aircraft in and out of airports don't leave contrails, they're nowhere near high enough. 🙂

Hello Andy, welcome to SGL. A pretty comprehensive list which should satisfy your interests. Main caveat would be that the CPC versions are pretty heavy as the components don't dismantle for set up and take down. It's not so much the carrying as the need to carefully place it accurately on its tripod whilst supporting the weight, you won't be 53 for ever. 🙂 I would personally go for the 11", the planets are not well placed for some time and there are countless DSO's for which the 11" will do better on. An after market additional focuser is very beneficial from the start, you shouldn't need any counterweight as the CPC's are fork mounted, the heited dewshield is essential. You will probably get recommendations for a completrly different telescope! 🙂

It really depends on what represents the best image for your interest. Double stacking enhances the contrast of surface features albeit with a dimmer image visually which detracts from prominence visibility, a hood or cover over the instrument improves this. I personally find the prominences more dynamic and interesting. 🙂

There still seems to be excessive "rock" between the wormwheel teeth and the worm, as though the mesh needs adjusting, I would expect no visual movement if all was well. One of the design shortcomings of the GEM is the relatively small area of contact support to combat the inertia imparted to the RA axis, relying on just the worm bracket and a few gear teeth. When I built the "scrap box" mount for my 8.5" F12 refractor I adopted the polar disc modification, this gives much wider contact support, the effective bearing diameter is over 12". My worm and wormwheel RA drive isn't on the RA shaft, a relatively small wormwheel is attached to the substantial main housing and drives the East bearing roller that co-supports the disc. Both RA and Dec gears are permanently adjustably clutched and the telescope can be finger tipped in any direction even when driven. Most users are surprised how easily moved and backlash free the system is, none more surprised than me!