LukeSkywatcher

Hands up anyone who is using an Astro trac or barn door system!!!!!!!. They qualify as an EQ system. Anyone!!!!!

I dont do imaging. I'm the last person to ask about imaging. I'm sure on the day i'll figure out what works and what doesnt IF i want to capture an image.

I'm not planning on imaging the event, but its such a long event that even for me as a non-astro imager there is plenty of time to take things slow on the day and attach my 450D to the scope/wedge and experiment without being rushed or getting flustered. I'd absolutely no interest what so ever in the Venus transit. I wasnt convinced that watching a little black dot cross the solar surface even counted as astronomy. I had never even done any solar observing at that time either. I'm into this transit, but wont be watching it start to finish. If there is a nice sunspot or grouping which the planet may intersect during transit........that will be worth watching/imaging.

I am NOT an astro imager but i do respect what you people do. Ive been looking through this thread for about 10 mins and all i can say is the statement "you need an EQ to image" could not be further from the truth.

I have the same tripod which is fine but it does limit how far up to the zenith you can point your bins (i have a set of 20x90). During last summer while doing some solar observing i thought to myself: "what it i unscrew the handle (the pan and tilt handle) and rotate it 180 degrees (so instead of facing me, faces away from me). A couple of minutes later.....i had done it and the end result is that i can now mount my 20x90 bins on the 8115 and point them upwards 90 degrees and observe at zenith. It takes a bit of getting used to panning and tilting with this configuration...........but it works. Essentially.........the pan/tilt handle is no longer being pushed downwards and hitting the tripod........but is being pulled upwards where it has all the space in the world to move about.

I gave up bringing astro gear on holiday with me because it doesnt get used. At most now all id take is a set of 10x50 bins.

I had my solar gear outside today for the 1st time since maybe June 2015. Not a lot going on up there but it was great to be out again with a BIT of winter sun heat hitting my face.

The weather has been dry and clear the last couple of days. I know there aint much solar activity right now but i think this weekend if it remains dry and clear i will have to take the solar gear out and have a look.

I hope both your finderscope and RDF are properly filtered also. I should add that my solar set up also contains an ND3.0 filter for safety.

Here's my solar set-up: 70mm Refractor Hershel Wedge Hyperion 8-24mm zoom Horizon 8115 Tripod

I bet the finderscope on that big boy is even bigger than my 70mm frac.

I didnt mean right now over the summer. I'll work through them as the seasons roll by. Off hand, i only know the location of about 6 galaxies without having to use a reference chart etc. They are the ones i have spotted so far over the yrs: Leo Trio,Andromeda,Black Eye and the other one eludes me right now. Your summer list tickles me pink. Sadly i really dont do much summer observing mainly because of the time it gets dark and im too comfy infront of tv and/or ready for bed. I'll do my best this summer but i will be away for most of August with only 10x50 bins.

I dont know how ive never seen this before. Absolutely brilliant stuff,Rob. Hopefully i'll be ticking off some of the galaxies you have listed quick smart.

As much as i love the look of the Moonrakers, i could never own one because i'm a bit OCD about fingerprints and i'd spend more time cleaning one then using it.

I used to drool at the sight of sumerian scopes. Lately though i tend to drool at the sight of Moonraker scopes. Stunning.

Thanks (i think).

Here's my little 70mm taking a rest from solar observing (Hershel wedge and Hyperion 8-24mm zoom on the business end).

Is it wrong to be in lust with those Vixens?. How much for the whole rig in the image?.

She'll be grand. I hope she already hasnt sold the other one.

I was looking at the moonraker site last week. Some stunning scopes there.

These tripods look really sturdy and not very expensive: http://redsnapperuk.com/camera-accessories/RedSnapper_Tripods.html I use a Horizon 8115 tripod for mounting my 20x90 bins on and also for my solar observing 70mm scope etc. Its a really good tripod but there is better out there. One day i will upgrade to a red snapper.

Love the eye cups on those 20x100's. I'm wondering how hard it would be to replace the rubber flip-up ones on my 20x90's with a pair of those.

OK enough about scopes already!!!!!!!!. I know most of us have at least one set of bins which we keep by our side while out observing (usually 10x50). Binocular astronomy is and always has been my 1st love. I always end each scope observing session with a bin session. Here are my main bins: Strathspey 20x90 and Strathspey 10x50: To be honest i cant remember why i started buying Strathspey bins (maybe someone online said have a look, and i liked the price). I do know why i still buy Strathspey bins (bought my 10x50 a couple of months back) and its because John who owns the company is such a great guy to deal with. Each time i bought from him, he sent me an email a few weeks later asking me how i am getting on with the bins, and he even shipped out the 20x90 to me when i bought them even though i owed him an extra 20 quid for P&P (which i did send him). That to me is top quality service and after sales customer care. TH did the same when i bought my 8115 tripod. FLO are just as great. Most of my gear is from FLO. I digress.................. Show us your bins.

Où est la femme ?