Alan White

Looks great Mike,. I take it that Mrs Dnight is now fully aware of her generos contribution to the cause.

Nice to see that you have one of those fine fettling tools so loved by Astronomers, That well know tool the Pick Axe 😉

I will watch with interest, filming for the One Show is great fun, did it a few years back for work.

@PeterStudz loved that book as a child and have owned one again for a while. Tickles me to include it as a resource for my Astro Club talks each month. The Meteor image makes me smile.

Oh no, no, no Those trays with holes need a good dose of wood filler 😉

Clearly I will turn it into a Tak Mike, little bit of foil, stickyback plastic and a Milk bottle… 😉🤣

That last line just made me go OH no. That was a possibity for the Vixen/s going forwards based on availability, but probably parked for me for a while anyhow.

Focusers make or break a scope in my experience. I too see the point in enjoying the interface. Do I own a FT, well no I don't, but await one for my Ha scope, its taking its time, been months so far. I also happily use a single speed focuser, but its how that focuser works that to me counts. China, Taiwan, German, Japan or where ever made is no fuss, as long as it works well. One day my Vixen will be decked out with a nice rotatable focuser, but the stock R&P single speed actually work very well, its far more rigid than the Tak ones I have used in the past. The Altair 152 5.9 has a very nice, smooth and rotatable focuser, stock with the scope made in China I presume. I do think the upgrade path in this hobby can become a hobby in itself and adding bling becomes part of that as well, however if that upgrade improves the experience, then why not. I understand that FT had a cahnge of ownership due to i think I recal a death, this has intereupted supply, hence why I an d I expect other have a long wait. My incoming FT is single speed.

Lucky you having access to such a fine site.

Postie or Parcel Farce have been with a recent purchase from @Stu Most pleased with this and part of a side project I forgot how slim these are, so a pleasant surprise

Yes two, ND and a 80A blue filter, this darkens the view notably and helps show something. It took a number of tries to tease out a hint of detail, nothing Jupiter like, but it suddenly stands out, when you see images it confirms that what you are seeing is real. My Venus eyes are still nothing like @mikeDnight though, MIke has eyes of legendary status.

Great report Neil, love that observing site, looks super. Is the site your club one?

Last night, I took advantage of the sky and spent some time again observing Venus and what a pleasurable time I had looking at clouds, good Venusian clouds of course, not Earthly ones. OK I could tease out a hint of detail if I am honest, but its improving. The swap to using the EQ GP mount helped I am sure. I also as in another thread used a 7x30 SW straight through finder, first time in years and boy was it a blast from the past and a natural enjoyable way to go. Funny how absence makes things the fonder. I then swung around some targets to try straight through finding and all went very well, so much so that I will stick with this for a while. May be a rose coloured specs thing, time will tell. Not much of an observing report as such, sorry, but sometimes its about the whole and not the actual targets. While sitting at the scope, I observed our visiting Vixen come in to see what food was about. I shot a short video too. Of course just missed the Bat flying over by seconds. After it got dark, had a visist from our Badgers and some foxes. IMG_6197.mov

Based on this thread piquing my interest, I dug out a long ignored x30 SW traight through finder and foot and set up for my SD103. Gave it a whirl last night on my GP mount as well, in for a penny, in for a pound. Well I was transported to my roots, first scope and finder on an EQ mount and in moments it all came back to me, in a good way. After a chunk of time on Jupiter oops typo! Venus I targeted various targets and it was very simple to use, found it far nicer than my Rigel last night, which in my book is quite something. So thanks for this thread, if nothing else, its made me look at basics again and given me an evening of great fun and pleasure.

My joking aside on attire.. Those sketches look super, shows great observing skill as well as an artistic one. It's books like this and sketches like these that drew me into the hobby.

How we all let the side down, observing in non-formal atire. Bring back jackest and tie for observing I say 😉

The SD103 on my GP mount, had forgotten how enjoyable a GP is in full manual mode on Solar A real Vixen fest this afternoon going on.

Had a moment of clear sky and feeling less full of cold too so grabbed an hour WL solar. Feel refreshed now. Oh and I cut my grass too, just to keep everyone else company...

You might wish to read your signature then my friend 😉 or is my PC playing tricks??

Garry @garryblueboy interesting signature, Do you have 2x Tak FS102 NSV?

Have I missed something here? Is the 7.5nm different to the previous Baader Solar Continuum filter?

Stu, I imagine the extra resolving power will notice. If it was my scope it would be used allround, but I fully understand any reticence on this step.

Why not use it Stu? Mind you I would say that wouldn't I, its not my scope. Honestly, is the 128 any more special in glass terms over the 100? Not as in what it will reveal, but actual glass. This comment is not meant in anyway be disresepcting to any scope maker. I would use any scope on solar WL observing with correct filtration of course, why not.

Some eyepieces can have that effect from time to time on me, depends on what I am observing and how an agressive a pan I make. To be honest, I have either learnt to pan slower or just not do it, or in some cases have sold on the EP in question. Panoptics did it for me, they are no longer in my case.

Sorry for slow reply Flange face to glance face 186mm, outer saddle to outer saddle 227mm, hope that helps