Moonshed

I am not having any luck finding a supplier that sells packing cases in single units. I thought I was onto a good thing with Davpack and a triple layer cardboard box that would be plenty sturdy enough, but it’s only sold in packs of 15. If anyone can help with a supplier I would much appreciate it. This carriage business is proving more of a challenge, and cost, than I anticipated. Cheers Keith

I have now placed my Celestron and mount up for sale, no turning back now! I have placed it here of course and on the information given by members also placed it on Astrobuysell.com. Can only wait now and see what happens. I found it very difficult to judge what is a fair price as there are so many different prices quoted depending on age and condition, and in some cases I feel the sellers were pushing their luck. The only way to find out is to see if I get any offers, if not I will have to reduce the price. Time will tell, but I want it gone so not bothered about taking an offer. Looking forward to using a small refractor, the Sky-Watcher Evostar 90/660 AZ Pronto from FLO looks promising, I will probably go for that. Any advice from members regarding this scope would be appreciated. Cheers Keith

The first thing any British group would do is to form a committee, after first having formed a temporary steering committee. Then they would take a few months to decide who would be chairperson. Following this they would argue endlessly as to how to apportion the votes, based on cash, experience, connections, etc. Then they need to vote on what equipment to buy, where to put it and how best to pay for it. By the time they get around to trying to figure a fair way to decide on telescope targets and allotted time half of the original members will have gone to the big telescope in the sky. They then have to decide on how to vote new members in. This starts a whole new process........... I don’t think it has a hope in hell of working, unless I personally run the whole operation of course as undisputed and unchallengeable all powerful dictator 😉. That could work 😂🤣😅 Cheers Keith

What a magnificent combination, the brooding atmosphere of Glen Coe and the majestic Orion constellation. Wow!

Thank you @saac that is an excellent explanation and one that I can understand. It makes sense now. Cheers Keith

The only reason I am selling my Celestron and going for a small refractor is that due to my health problems, not so different from yours, I can no longer manage to lift my gear in and out of the shed. That plus all the hassle of setting up. With a small refractor I will be able to lift it easily and set it up in minutes, meaning I will be doing a lot more observing than I have been. It also means I will be able to take advantage of a small break in the clouds, something that is currently not at all practical. I have stopped lusting after a larger aperture and instead I’m looking forward to using a scope that I can enjoy.

Totally agree. When I first got my 8” Celestron back in 1991 (I still have it) I would write up my observing sessions in a small note book. This was my first serious scope and I had been desperate to get one for many years so I was dead keen to use it at every opportunity. Following your comment I dug the book out and had a read. What comes across is how little I knew about observing, but more than that the excitement I had just looking through the scope. The final sentence, although a little embarrassing now, sums up all that excitement, and awe! “...one of the moons in transit (Jupiter). Will have to look up which one. It was a God’s eye view, breathtaking to take it all in” There are many more similar entries and reading through them certainly made me determined to get back out there. Here are a couple of photos from the book, the entries were made in January 1992 in east Glasgow. My writing was, and still is, appalling.

That is a very interesting video, I thought I knew a lot about the VLT but I was surprised by how much I didn’t know. The new telescope, “the largest that will ever be built”, is mind blowing. I have to say I always enjoy Tom’s videos because he attacks every subject with so much enthusiasm and inside knowledge.

When we lived in Ayrshire, Scotland, bad weather was the norm, it was to be expected, the Celestron rarely came out of its foot locker in the garage. Then 13 years ago we moved back to sunny England and settled in North Norfolk. We got off to such a good start with more clear skies in one week than I had seen in a whole year in Scotland. It was so good that six years ago I even got into astrophotography and spent bucket loads of cash on new gear. Things went well at first, then it started to get cloudy on a more regular basis until we have the situation today whereby the weather is heading towards how things were in Scotland! You can’t win! Cheers Keith

Lots of good advice given. Two that particularly resonate with me are as follows: 1) From @NGC 1502 “An old saying with astronomy- the best scope is the one that gets used! If it’s too heavy, too complex and time consuming to set up…..that’s a hobby killer for sure!” 2) And from @pbyrne “I had sold all my large equipment and went to binocular viewing and this dropped the set up time with larger binoculars to a minimum., handheld to nothing, duh! The idea of not spending half an hour or more setting up is a definite plus.” From my own perspective I find spending half an hour every now and then observing the Milky Way and favourite constellations through my trusty bins is extremely rewarding and really charges up my batteries again.

Some good advice there from @Roy Challen

True. Not sure if it’s due to climate change or more people that keep on buying new gear!

Now that’s more like it!

Really, it’s that simple, the battery dissipates the stored energy as heat? That being the case is that why batteries kept in the cold go flat sooner than those kept in the warm because they are able to radiate heat faster? Or is that not true about batteries in the cold going flat quicker? I can’t get over there being such a simple explanation. I expected genius types (no disrespect to yourself of course I’m sure you are also super clever) with Masters degrees in physics and university lecturers and theoretical particle physicists and scientists at CERN, all to get into terrible arguments about it. But instead you come along and say the energy is dissipated as heat! I’m sorry but that’s just not good enough! Dear oh dear! Please come up with some super clever and confounding theory that sounds a lot cleverer. Thank you Keith

Batteries today are in a different league compared to those of just 20 years ago. The ones used in mobile phones and tablets are a good example. However, they all suffer from the same problem, which is after being fully charged, and even if left completely unused, the battery will, sooner or later, go flat. Tbis is my question, daft though it probably is. Where does all that energy go that was put into the battery to charge it up? That’s it. Thanks Keith

I have been into astronomy since I was 11 and bought my first (cheap) reflector at the age of 15. Over the years of observing, some 62 of them, I have had some ups and downs which is only to be expected. Long spells of bad weather can affect even the most dedicated amateurs and in the UK we do suffer poor weather and poor seeing. All I can say is hang on in there, take a complete break from it for a few months and try not to worry about it, it’s a hobby for great enjoyment, not something to stress over. @NGC 1502 makes some very good points in his post immediately above this. Cheers Keith.

At last, after all these years of longing, dreaming, yearning and waiting, my 15 minutes of fame has finally arrived. I can go back to watching YouTube car crashes now.

I know how you feel. I have lost my enthusiasm this year due to a number of factors, the weather being just one of them. My main problem is I have reached the age, and in poor health, where I am no longer wanting to lug my heavy kit in and out of the shed it lives in. Hence no observing or even the desire to try. I have received some very good advice from members and it boils down to this. 1) Sell my heavy gear. 2) Buy a small quality refractor. I am in the process of writing up the add to sell my gear and looking at fracs. I can feel my usual enthusiasm for astronomy slowly retuning. In your case though I would suggest give it a complete break, maybe until the new year, by which time the return of some of our favourite constellations being well placed could well tempt you into getting observing/photographing again. I hope you find your enthusiasm, it’s not a good feeling when we discover we no longer have it. All the best Keith

A lot depends on the size and type of scope you intend buying. A 50mm refractor could easily be stored in a small corner of the house whereas an 8” Celestron SCT takes up a lot of space, plus it’s very heavy and difficult to carry. I store my Celestron set up and ready to go in its own shed. When I had a 50mm refractor I stored it in a bedroom. Personally I wouldn’t store any scope outside with only a cover over it for protection, but TeleGizmos do a scope cover designed for permanent outdoor protection and I have seen good reviews for it, so something to think about perhaps? What scope do you have in mind?

I put my scope out about an hour before observing to allow it time to cool down. My Dew Heater is very basic and is either on or off that being the case it goes on as soon as it goes outside. Works for me.

I don’t own a dob and have no experience of them but with my Celestron I cover the whole set up with a TeleGizmos scope cover and that does a great job at keeping it dew free. Could this not be used to the same effect on a dob? If this idea is stupid please feel free to tell me 🤪

That is an impressive improvement @Bugdozer with only a tweak basically. Personally I have spent entire afternoons fiddling around with multiple adjustments in PhotoShop only to decide in the end it looks like a painting and not a photograph! Back to the drawing board.

Yes, that does have appeal, not standing around for ages in the dark and cold lol. I like to take photographs but I would never enter any competitions because I am just Mr. Average and some of the guys produce amazing pics. I just do it for my own pleasure, much as I do with my astronomy, never done anything useful, just observed for enjoyment, and you can’t put a price on that.

I have all the gear needed for that and it is something I intend doing, even started a new topic about taking pics of star trail around Polaris. Cheers Keith

I appreciate that is a working solution but it’s not something that suits me because I like to put eyeball to eyepiece. Thank you anyway. Cheers Keith