adyj1

'all-inclusive' as it were 😉

That's a whole other subject - Never go 'plane-spotting' near a foreign military airfield, for sure (unless you are trying to dramatically increase the length of your holiday, and don't want to do any more sight-seeing 😉)

You are right to check and double-check. The last thing you want to do is find out when you turn up at the airport..

also never had a problem with a small refractor (virgin atlantic) and a small newtonian (british airways), both in carry-on (no way am I trusting them to the hold). Hopefully the anecdotal evidence will put your mind at rest, but as binos don't fall into any of the 'dangerous' categories I would be surprised if you can find something that specifically says you can. Ady

BA allow up to 150Wh , but I have found out I'll be going with Virgin and they have a 100Wh restriction so these are now no good for me 😞

I've seen these - look any good? Ultramax NP12-12 / LI12-12 12v 12Ah LiFePO4 LITHIUM Battery https://amzn.eu/d/j9lCYSo

I'm just looking for what to take on a trip to the USA in October (annoyingly a week After the eclipse) , so I'll have a look at these - thanks.

I bought these (in 5.5 / 2.1 guise) ; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175828428910 Can't say for sure they're any good, but cheap as chips with free postage and reasonable-for-China delivery time...

Today I learned these existed... 😮 Ordered a couple from ebay 👍 Ady

Finally, v2* of Affinity Photo is on sale (until Tuesday 1st Aug). 25% off means; - Windows or MacOS - £49.99 - iPad - £13.49 * (reminder that the latest release of @James Ritson's excellent astrophotography macros only work with v2) Ady

Astounding. It really does warrant opening up the link and zooming in on the larger version. Ady

yes! You just need a PC that you can leave on throughout your imaging sessions and has cables that reach... You could use a laptop if you wanted. A mini PC fits this bill and can also be mounted on the scope itself if you want, drastically reducing the number of trailing wires. I didn't go for the OTA-mounted PC and got an i5 with 8GB RAM on ebay for £60-odd quid. A mini PC is also easy to take with you if you go on an astrocamp 😉 Ady

I had to do the same thing - mine had banding with a bit of amp glow (?) for good measure. Finally took the plunge with the recent Amazon deal because the price was really good (£611 interest free) and returns are easy. Unfortunately had to make use of the returns process immediately. On the plus side, Amazon included a free 12v 5A power supply with the camera so at least I knew I was giving it enough beans... Ady

Are you looking for accommodation to do the actual astrophotography from, or one to use as a base to then travel further into the dark area?

Well, I took the plunge and bought one... I wanted to like it, I really did but before it had seen first light I had problems with darks. Both banding (which I've seen reported in other reviews) and amp glow... 🤯 The reason for buying it from Amazon was the easy return policy, so I didn't pursue any sort of lengthy remedy with Svbony and just returned it to Amazon. https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/411875-is-this-amp-glow

Yeah, I was going to mention that...

Thanks Adam - I used the 5A PSU that was provided with it. An earlier attempt was with the power lead i already had from a DIY power distro box and that had savage banding.

Attached is a single 300s dark exposure (gain 130) from an IMX533-based cooled OSC. Can you tell me if the brightness in the top left corner looks like amp glow (which you aren't supposed to get on the 533 sensor...). Taken at night and with an imaging train that I haven't had any issues with light leak. I rotated the camera (unscrewed a quarter turn) and the glow was still in exactly the same location. Thanks Ady Dark Library SV605CC 2023-07-18_2023-07-18_03-53-16_DARK__-5.00_300.00_SVBONY SV605CC_130_40_66ED-R.fits

As @Stuart1971 posted elsewhere, this is now on an Amazon deal of the day for £611... ! (up to 12 months interest free payment option is also offered 😉 )

Depending on credit rating, etc. you can also get it up to 12 months interest free - if you're into that sort of thing 😉 . But that is the 'wrong' camera for this thread, so discussion should probably continue here:

@GTom, thanks for looking in to it, but I tried to do the same thing and realised I was still guessing, to a certain extent. I'd like to know if anyone has bought high-value goods from the SVBONY official site (or similar) and what they were actually charged.

Does anyone have a difinitive answer as to what extra costs there will be over and above the $899 dollars and postage? I'm assuming 20% VAT but is there duty (and carriers fees for collecting the duty) as well?

Firstly, an update to the link: The best solution of 55mm back focal length – ZWO ASI (astronomy-imaging-camera.com) (I can't edit the post) Yes, use the IR cut filter on it its own on suitable targets. As for whether 2" or 1.25" - it would be your choice. I'd have thought that the 2" would be more convenient for you as you will need a bigger filter if you upgrade your camera to a one with a larger sensor (esp. as the cost difference between the two sizes for UV/IR is much smaller than other filters). HTH Ady

This info comes from the Amazon.co.uk site: If the manufacturer's warranty were applicable I would expect you would have to send it back to the US (sold by Amazon US). Seems too much of a gamble if you want the warranty, although in reality you would be getting the same warranty as buying a second-hand camera - bearing in mind these aren't really available second hand. You pays your money, you takes your chance...

Nice. The big question is... do you have the same number of fingers as when you started putting it together? I found the thin metal lethal (on those occasions I took my gloves off to do something fiddly and then forgot to put them back on!) I have an 8 x 4 version of this that I've converted to a ROR Obsy.