Guy65

Thanks - I hadn't realised that the wifi adapter could replace all the functionality in the handset. Will certainly take a look!

Thanks @Geoff Lister & @malc-c - I'll open it up and see what happens!

Signed!

Hi folks. I have a V4 Synscan handset on my EQ3-2 mount purchased in about 2018. Recently the display has stopped working properly and I can only see the first line of the display, the second has the odd blip or line in it but nothing readable. Any suggestions for how I might approach troubleshooting this and fixing the problem? Replacement handsets are about £180 on Ebay and I'm reluctant to spend that much. If that's my only option then I may upgrade to a better mount instead.

Ah yes - thanks very much!!

Just nipped outside in the freezing cold to take a quick look at Venus and Jupiter in the West using my SkyMax 127. Venus is so bright it is hard to see a disk even at higher magnifications but I did see a double star system directly above it - perhaps 20 - 30 arc minutes above. The pair were separated by a couple of arc mins I'd guess, the brighter being whiter and the companion more yellow. Any ideas which double this would be?

Thanks - very helpful and totally makes sense. The consensus I'm getting here is that aperture isn't going to be that helpful for me.

Thanks - that's really helpful! There's certainly a lot of local light sources from streetlights down the hill and next door's security light... I am probably being too optimistic about being able to spot objects immediately and just need to take my time under a hood to maximise my chances.

Thanks - sounds like something else to add to the Wishlist!

Ash I use a remote site based in the canaries (and also in Chile). IF it's the same one as you then they have loads of quests that you can participate in that will give you an idea of the sort of objects to observe. As others said you can use Stellarium or similar and change the location to that of Tenerife. Conveniently the Canary Islands are in the same time zone as the UK so a lot of suggestions of objects to view in the UK will work for there too (especially those that are quite low down in the south in the UK).

Thanks. Small bright things might be the way to go. I hadn't thought about EVAA - a whole new area to explore!

Thanks - certainly gives me food for thought. I have pretty dark skies within say 45 mins - it's just the hassle of packing everything in to the car, finding a good site, setting up etc.

Thanks. I should've said in my post that the Skymax is on an equatorial mount. I hadn't thought about exit pupil size before. Did some calculations and realised that even with my 32mm eyepiece my exit pupil is only 2.7mm which presumably will limit any value I can get from a filter?

Hi folks I have fairly bad light pollution to the South (Bortle 7 or 8 I would guess) and struggle to see anything other than the brightest DSOs with my Skywatcher Skymax 127 (I know that's not an ideal scope for DSOs) which I've had for several years. I would just like to be able to see more of the Messier catalogue (to start with). Would a bigger aperture help with visual observation of DSOs? I was thinking of an 8 or 10 inch Dob. Or would I just be getting a brighter view of the sky fog? If I went down the Dob route how do people find star hopping with it? I know that if I move my scope on 1 axis it's always E - W and N - S on the other axis. Doesn't Alt - Az get confusing when you are starhopping by reference to a chart, or Stellarium say, where the orientation changes all the time?