Cornelius Varley

The black area around the central image is caused by the eyepiece.

Please upload a jpeg or PNG version of the image so that it can be viewed in the browser.

True north not magnetic north. The tripod doesn't need to be absolutely level, near to level is sufficient. Probably best to ignore the latitude scale and just use it as an approximate guide. 

32 minutes ago, Earl said:

I was in Grundarfordur it was early evening after 5pm. I cant get the app to set the location and time.... Hate apps tbh always have needed features missing or have to do a funny handshake to find...

Your location makes more sense.

19 minutes ago, Mick J said:

Not sure what I am doing with this, made some assumptions.

 

Maybe in Iceland but not in the UK.

33 minutes ago, Higgs_Bozon said:

I got the optical tube mount and eyepiece together, I'm only missing the star diagonal. I have an extension tube lying around though, I tried using it, the images are forming but the stars are distorted. The best focus has a point in the middle and a spill on the top right, like paint spilling. Do I have to get a star diagonal or is it a scope problem? 

A diagonal just bends the light path. Any other distortion is probably due to a problem with the telescope optics.

Quick screen shot from https://www.mooncalc.org showing the rise and fall of the moon yesterday. Apologises the the residents of 11 Ipswich Crescent, Great Bar

10 minutes ago, Earl said:

Stellarium confirmed it

Which way ?

16 hours ago, Earl said:

Just caught it before the clouds hid it.... North... My brains boggled

Are you sure about that ? The moon rose last night slightly north of north east,  (azimuth 38° ish) but not due north.

10 minutes ago, brenski said:

how much of the extra extn tubing can i now remove?

Probably all of it.

Is the telescope fully extended ?

29 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

I just downloaded Stellarium onto my new laptop as my old was on its way out. The old laptop had the older version of Stellarium on it and worked just fine. However on installing the new version I saw this MESA shortcut. It slowed things down so badly and the application completely froze. What is this MESA? 

MESA or MESA3d https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesa_(computer_graphics)

6 minutes ago, MattBin said:

I have an EQ3 which I converted to Goto, the box containing the parts indicated it could be used on EQ3 or EQ5. So if I get an EQ5 non Goto mount can I take the parts off the 3 and use them on the 5? I would do this to give me a bit more load capacity for use with my camera, mirror less Fuji xt20.

The answer is no. Skywatcher use the same box for the two kits but the contents differ.

1 minute ago, WEASEL007 said:

Hi just now watching out to the west seen a straight line of 12 to 14 could be satellites heading from west to east  all disappearing overhead,  all equal distance apart. Any ideas never seen this before. 

Starlink satellites perhaps?

11 minutes ago, Trippelforge said:

What is an RCD? 

Residual Current Device

Residual-current device - Wikipedia

@Glen M The OP hasn't visited the forum since July 2022 so don't expect a prompt reply.

6 minutes ago, Astro Fremen said:

Hey! I know this is an older post but thought I'd reply anyway. I just picked up the 150pds and CC used off cloudynights for a great price, and have a 600D too. The seller used the scope and CC no problem. Did you end up getting it?

The OP hasn't logged on the SGL since Aug 2021 so don't expect a prompt reply from them, or ever.

42 minutes ago, SkyPhil said:

Does,for instance, 6.4mm refer to the diameter of the eyepiece lens.

6.4mm refers to the focal length (fl) of the eyepiece. FL (telescope)/FL (eyepiece)= magnification.

42 minutes ago, SkyPhil said:

Or is there a way of getting the same magnification with a larger lens (guessing costs for up of course)

A barlow lens will increase the effective magnification of the eyepiece by the power factor of the barlow lens.

Select the option "Start/connect at startup" . Also make sure you also selected "Load on startup" from the plug-ins dialogue screen prior to configuring the telescope control.

1. Open Stellarium and press f2
2. Go to Plugins and scroll down to Telescope Control. Select Load on Startup and the press the  Configure button.
3. Select Add
4. Choose the first option "Stellarium direct through a serial port".
5. Select start/connect at startup.
6. Scroll down and select Skywatcher Synscan v3 or later. 
7. At this point you will also need to know which com port the usb-serial adapter has been assigned. Select the com port from the list.
8. Press OK

Restart Stellarium

I think you answered your own question. The current Synscan firmware version for v3 handsets is 3.39.15 which can be found here Sky-Watcher | Sky-Watcher Global Website (skywatcher.com)

5 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

When is the SGL App going to be available?

No need for one, so probably never.

3 hours ago, JeremyS said:

I’m still trying to find where to download this more than a short cut but not App thing.

For Android (Edge) open SGL in the browser and then press the three bars at the bottom of the screen. From there select "Add to phone" to add SGL to your home screen.

28 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Where is this App?

There is no downloadable app. You can add a shortcut to your phones home screen.

15 minutes ago, adyj1 said:

I checked my running programs and it is called 'sgl' not 'chrome' and runs completely in its own instance, so I checked it wasn't  just 'a browser shortcut'.

@Cornelius Varleythe prompts I followed said 'app' at least twice during the install, so it's a bit unfair to lay the inaccurate description at my door... 

 

 

 

The way you described it suggested that it was something you installed from Google play and not just a browser shortcut that installs on your home screen. I needed to check with admin just to confirm this. I wasn't the only one who was mistaken into believing it was a downloadable app.

8 minutes ago, bottletopburly said:

Can’t se anything on iOS  App Store 

There isn't an app as such. It is possible to add the website to your home screen depending on which os and browser you have. @adyj1 should have explained this better.

2 hours ago, SkyPhil said:

Hi

My AZ Gtix, seems to get ahead of the target slightly. Phd2 is not compatible. Does SkySafari help with better tracking? I would hate to splash the cash and end up with same problem.

I have tried different payloads, Star Trave 120, Meade 105 ETX and just a basic camera, same result each time, so I'm sure it's nothing to do with the payload or balance.

Cheers

Guiding (Phd2) and goto (Synscan handset/app/SkySafari) are different things. Guiding requires a second smaller telescope and dedicated guide camera to make continual adjustments to the motion of the mount to keep the target centred. Goto sends the mount to the required target based upon the location/date/time inputted into the handset or from the mobile device, after which the mount is left to its own devices to move at 15^o /hr until another goto command is sent to the mount by the operator. Goto is quite dumb in this respect, it points the mount at where it believes the target is based on the information but doesn't know if the target is where the mount is really pointing. The tracking problem could be due to either bad balance or a problem with the mount.