Bruce Leeroy

12 hours ago, Kdiveruk said:

I am geting a double image

Sometimes your eyes will deceive you so if the double image is from collimation ( 1 side higher in the left eyepiece - _ than the right eyepiece for example ) you should rotate the whole binocular so your left eye is looking in the right eyepiece and see if the difference is the same - _  or _- as when you viewed them normally. Hope I'm clear enough 😛

21 hours ago, bond19 said:

If I close the right eye

I find keeping both eyes open the best way to focus binoculars when focusing on a star.

Get best focus then adjust diopter then try a small racking in and out of the main focus until best star shape is achieved then maybe a final small diopter change.

The most comfortable/stable viewing I have is using a binocular mirror mount it's like sitting at a microscope and is easy to pan around and raise from horizon to zenith, you could even use a refractor with the mirror mount (straight through viewing with no diagonal), I know this doesn't help with your reflector issue but may be food for thought if you haven't considered this type of observing.

Saturn and Jupiter are something special , so long as you know how far off your RDF (red dot finder) is then all you need to do is keep placing the red dot offset for now and tune the alignment during the day if that's easier.

Ment to add...make sure to download stellarium its a free night sky utility (for PC) that will help you find/identify objects.

Don't forget to turn off your RDF when your finished for the night, it's always a face palm moment for me the next day when I find its been left on all night and drained the battery, don't talk to your eyepieces either or they will fog up with condensation

2 minutes ago, Alex_o0 said:

need something to dim it in the future 

Try sunglasses for now or if your scope came with a moon filter use that!

4 minutes ago, Alex_o0 said:

Jupiter  and Saturn are right above me

You should try Saturn, locate it using the 20mm eyepiece then if your confident you've found it swap to the 10mm eyepiece and refocus to see the ring in better detail...if that goes well you should align the red dot finder while Saturn is central in the view then swing to Jupiter using the red dot finder (you have to get your head at the correct angle to see the red dot reflected-make sure to turn it on).

I think the sun has well set in Melbourne, hopefully they are just enjoying the views

The 1st minute of this video applies to your type of scope.

Point it at a roof or tree and draw the focus tube outwards...if the image is still not in focus then release the eyepiece and slowly draw it out and see if focus is achieved.

Use a 20mm eyepiece rather than the 10mm

The reflections your seeing are what you'd expect to see and normal. I can't tell from the pics how good the collimation is but I would advise leave it as it is and try it out on the night sky before adjusting anything.

7 minutes ago, DaveL59 said:

wonder if sharpcap would pick it up

Works fine in Sharpcap, the resolution is fine for checking cloud cover I imagine but yes it's not exactly high res . If you search Ps3 eye in SGL there's a fair amount of discussion on them. There also good for motion capture/head tracking using high frame rates this is where removal of the ir filter has it's advantages.

You might get a slightly better result using a PS3 eye camera, in windows using the drivers supplied with CL-Eye-Test.exe I can get a 10 second exposure, these cams where available for 50p in CEX but the price has gone up to £2.50 last time I checked. I have 1 in my shed pointing down the garden and if Saturn/Jupiter are over my roof it picks them up and I can see clouds, there is a prefered model with a good lens if your going to remove the ir filter (i mention this as the bad model seems to have a solid pink lower right corner when you set a long exposure).

In the next few days I will point it up at the clouds and post a pic here if it helps.

Just checked, the price has gone up to £3.

https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail/?id=SPSEYEE001&sku=SPSEYEE001#.WZgRyMaQyUk

Hmmm I think I may see it...it could be in the small 2x barlow 😮

2 hours ago, wookie1965 said:

Check if the arrowed piece fits onto the diagonal

That's the nosepiece for the 32mm.

I think the nosepiece is stuck in that barlow.

2 minutes ago, Starboy6969 said:

how would I do the straight through method you stated?

Put the 32mm eyepiece into the focuser and secure the screws then wind the focuser  until the thing your looking at comes into focus 😛 OK I'm off for now good luck in your endeavours and I'll look for your updates tomorrow, welcome to SGL!!

The proper nosepiece should thread on and feel secure and not screw on so far as to scratch the small mirror. If your not sure about using the diagonal for now you can try just attaching an eyepiece directly to the telescope.

Ok I think that's for attaching to a camera, your looking for a small nosepiece/barrel with a suitable thread that fits into the diagonal. If your unsuccesful today in finding the attachment you could try what's called "straight through" viewing this way you wont need the diagonal but it will be akward looking at high elevations.

Just place an eyepiece directly into the telescopes focuser.

Just be careful not to force any threads together whilst your finding your feet.

The nosepiece may be inside the long thing in image 1

Your missing the nosepiece of the diaganol in your latest image.

Theres a loose screw on barrel next to your 32mm eyepiece, try to screw that onto the star diagonal then place that barrel into the focuser making sure to fasten it inplace using the locking screw then place any eyepiece into the diagonal again securing it inplace with the locking screw/nut.

On closer inspection 😛 that barrel/nosepiece may be from the 32mm eyepiece.

On even closer inspection 😛 I see a machine thread coming out of your longest eyepiece/barlow,  it's possible that the nosepiece of the diagonal is inside (it's sat next to the diagonal in the image)...

9 hours ago, Robindonne said:

if its just a case of extending the tube, then i’ll try it.

If you have a barlow you could try removing the lens element and use the body as an extender, you can stack 2 or more together if 1 isn't enough or if your just mm away don't put the eyepiece all the way to the hilt. HTH

2 hours ago, BellP said:

I spotted a small but very bright meteor

Would this be about 01:00 hrs? If so I seen it in binos and it was jaw dropping for me

3 hours ago, bingevader said:

Any suggestions on snapping Comet Neowise with a smart phone?

Take a few quick burst shots and stack them in a paint program or you can stack the single image ontop of itself multiple times and get a slightly better result.

For wide field you'd want high ISO and high exposure and if possible a long shutter setting to capture more light, with possibilities of taking a burst of shots in quick succesion then stacking the individual frames into something like Gimp (free image manipulator), for the moon and planets you'd want a lower exposure setting (very low).

Quite often headphones with a built in volume control can work as a shutter release to eliminate camera shake, or there are some very inexpensive bluetooth versions I know poundland used to sell the bluetooth version for a £1.

Hope that helps.

On 16/07/2020 at 23:51, Victor Boesen said:

This was a very different experience but I'd really like to hear if anyone else has experienced something like this and if they've "heard" the entry of a meteor.

I had a very similar experience last night, but I was hand holding 7x35 binos and seen the whole thing enter and break up filling the fov with bright colours and showers of debris, as you say it initialy looked like the ISS/large bright sattelite then burst open, jaw dropping for me😀, I didn't notice any audible noise, this was more or less just above Neowise.