Nyctimene

One of my best buys 2012, the "Füssener Astro-Stuhl" in the magnum version:

Extremely sturdy (Birch plywood and mountain ash (used for traditional sleighs)); the retailer, a man of heavy weight, has been reported to demonstrate it's stability by jumping up and down on the seat board put in the top position!), doesn't topple over; I'm seated safe and comfortably in the highest position when pointing the 18" towards zenith. Easy to handle; you can change the height of the seat within seconds without looking and (it's well balanced) shift it with one hand. Stretched out (using the rope shown), it serves excellent for binocular or meteor observation. Folds down flat to 45 mm thickness, so easily to store and transport. Bought this from here (website in German only; of course, no affiliation etc., just a pleased owner!);

https://www.intercon-spacetec.de/zubehoer/astronomie-zubehoer/stuehle/4889-ics-astro-stuhl-magnum-grau-hoehe-115-cm-beobachterstuhl.html

at 248 Euro not cheap - but just the price of a better 2" eyepiece, and much more useful!

Stephan

18 minutes ago, Dinoco said:

I’ll have a read of you review when I have enough time

Read first before ordering.....; you will want to make an "informed decision", to avoid disappointment.

Neil English's review (I linked you this before) is very informative (you can skip the paraboloid maths, as I did)

20 minutes ago, Dinoco said:

I don’t have any trouble with lights so shouldn’t be that bad but if I do I will consider that option, I think I’m going to buy one everyone has been saying good things about it condsidering the price.

If light pollution isn't an issue, I'd go for the Flextube version, because of it's compactness. The collimation, in my experience, stays spot on even after several extraction/retraction manoeuvres. And you can add a DIY light shroud anyway. The focuser slop can be cured easily with some PTFE plumber's tape. The Seben 8-24 mm zoom or one of it's clones (still within your budget) works well with the 130 P. Add (later on) a Baader 2,25x Barlow lens, and you can split double stars at 188x mag. You will  be very pleased with this scope, as I am (Dobsonaut since 1986....;-) )

Stephan

Review of the Light Shield "Red Eyes XTRA Dark Cling" (Sirius Astro Products)

Since using SkySafari, running on my two Sony Android smartphones, I was always annoyed by the amount of the grey-white LED backlight disturbing my night vision, even in Night Mode. Following the usual suggestions, I tried to block this backlight by using a deep red sheet of acryl, applying two layers. The results were not convincing, and I was always struggling with the stubborn sheets, when using the smartphone directly at the scope.

About ten months ago, I stumbled across an article on the CloudyNights forum dealing with red light issues, and found a member's vote for the abovementioned light shield. There are two sizes available; a smaller size suited for cellphones (3"x5,25"), and a larger version for iPads and other tablets (6"x9"). Prices are affordable: 5,95$ resp. 13,95$. I at once ordered the smaller sheet directly from this website: http://www.siriusastroproducts.com/index.html

Payment (by credit card) went without problems. Delivery (to Germany) was within a week, in a small extra envelope.

I cut the sheet according to the display size of my Sony Xperia Z Compact. The soft and flexible vinyl material immediately clings (one side) to the display and stays there without slipping during use, even in a jacket's pocket. Yet it can be removed without any residues, and put on repeatedly without losing it's "clinginess". Fingerprints and dirt, which seem to impair the adhesive function slightly, can be washed away with water and some detergent, restoring the "clinginess" to it's default state.

I'm using SkySafari Pro with my smartphones. For optimal function with the light shield, I switch to the Night Mode (which displays the toolbar comfortably), and adjust brightness using the smartphone's display settings. You can go down to very low (almost "Namibia-suited") light levels. Alternatively, there is an app: "ScreenDimFull" with even more functions available for Android.

The light shield suppresses, contrasting to red acryl or SkySafari's Night Mode, completely any backlight (LED-) illumination of the display, which is of immense value, when observing faint, extended Deep Sky objects as galaxies and gaseous nebulae with low surface brightness. Even the typing of numbers and letters, when I'm using the "Search" function, highlights these now just in a somewhat brighter deep red colour (in SkySafari's Night Mode, they appear shortly black on white!); not really annoying. The display's sensitivity to fingertouch is in no way impaired by the light shield's vinyl material.

During use, I almost forget the existence of the light shield. It clings unremittingly to the display; only during one cold night (-6° Celsius) it was within an hour slowly losing it's "clinginess" and behaved finally similar to an acrylic sheet (recovering rapidly in higher temperature).

Within nine months of use, the vinyl surface has got some scratches, but they don't affect the view. The corners show a very slight delamination (about 1 mm), resulting in white light transparency, again not visible any more in the dark.

At the scope, the combination of smartphone, SkySafari and the "XTRA Dark Cling Light Shield" replaces more and more the traditional paper atlases and maps (so my very nice collection is gathering dust....); but I still need the comprehensive description of objects and the drawings found e.g in the Night Sky Observer's Guide.

Below a picture, comparing the"XTRA Dark Cling" (above) to a deep red acrylic sheet.

Very recommendable!

Thanks for reading

Stephan

German amateur (semi-professional) Klaus Wenzel, Wenigumstadt, has been observing very successfully for more than 20 years DSO's and especially QSO's (at the moment, more than 100 visually!) from his roof observatory, which is fitted with a sliding window. He is equipped with a 16" Dob; the room is unheated.

Contact: wenzel.qso@t-online.de

Could be a solution to be considered...

Stephan