cletrac1922

Derek Welcome back from Land Down Under John

Some of the old timers in my club, also use 35MM film canister, with a small hole drilled in the centre of the bottom, and fit perfectly If you happen to misplace the plastic cap for the eyepiece, have used 35mm film canister on club Dobs as a substitute John

Sam Welcome from Land Down Under You travel the universe in this forum Do not have the regular clear skies normally have due to multiple bush fires burning across eastern Australia The attached pic was taken couple of nights ago, sun setting through bush fire haze John

Taman I captured the attached couple of nights ago Sun setting ranges to west of where I live, through bush fire smoke haze John

Tony Theory was when we have solar minimum, northern hemisphere can go into long term wet, even freeze, and southern hemisphere permanent drought Global warning has turned that on its head, and latest from NASA indicates now solar minimum only small factor My previous should had been Spaceweather, not Weatherzone, which is an weather APP where I am Link to Spaceweather https://www.spaceweather.com/ NASA Climate change statement https://climate.nasa.gov/blog/2910/what-is-the-suns-role-in-climate-change/ John

Tks for your concerns Lot of houses been destroyed in bush fires Unfortunately also loss of live Rural areas as so dry, and we have had no rain in almost 4 years Farmers no water for crops and live stock NASA has reviewed its statement on global warming as well, admit very real with carbon emissions upper atmosphere We also going through solar minim as well, if you monitor our sun There is an APP The Sun Now, which has images updated regularly from SDO Also I keep a daily check on website WeatherZone, and tells us what sun is doing, solar winds John

I have SW 10" flex tube dob, F4.7, and out couple of times per month doing presentations in primary schools and scout groups with my club I use primarily TeleVue 15mm and 17mm wide angle eyepieces Find with both eyepieces, give good eye relief, and able to see rings of saturn, bands and spot on jupiter, as well as moons around jupiter Ideal also for other DSO objects such as Jewel Box, Orion Nebula John

Taman Welcome from Land Down Under You travel the universe in this forum We have a different situation where I am at present Last few weeks not been able to observe anything due to heavy smoke pollution from surrounding bush fires Current south east air stream pushing bush fire smoke from inland over coastal regions John

I have the 600D twin lens kit Still learning how to drive it for AP Connect directly to scope with T adapter Viewing not been good last few weeks due to bush fires around us, and smoke been carried in from other fire effect locations John

Andrew First of all welcome from Land Down under Did you buy your scope new, or second hand Been new, there should been no need to touch the collimation Too many people get carried away when comes to collimation I am out couple of times per month with my 10" Flex Dob, doing presentations in primary schools and scout groups, as well as monthly club meet, and hardly ever need to collimate I also use a Saxon laser colliminator, and takes about 30 seconds to do, when scope needs it I can tell when needs doing due to transporting scope away from home, as not able to focus on what trying to observe Using laser collimator, just align red dot to mark centre of primary mirror Then adjust base of scope to bring secondary to centre of disc of laser collimator Happy Viewing John

Neal Welcome from Land Down Under You travel the universe in this forum John

Welcome from Land Down Under First of all have to ask yourself, what I want to use a scope for Observing or AP If the former, then Dob the way to go I have a 10" flex Dob, and when separated, the tube and mount take up entire backseat of my SUV For AP, then you will need a tracking mount, something like a HEQ5 I have a ED80 on EQ5pro mount You can now also get a WiFi adapter for SynScan controller for EQ mounts Pics attached of both taken club field days Scope in background my Dob is a Meade LX90, behind that 8" flex tube Background ED80, is a second ED80 on HEQ5 mount Hope been of assistance John

Scott First of all welcome from Land Down Under I started out about 15 years ago with a 10" Flex Dob Has given me ours of pleasure observing, and I am also out a couple of nights per month with my club doing presentations with primary schools, scout groups Where Dob comes into its own, just couple of minutes to set up, and you are away I also have a ED80 on EQ5pro mount, for AP, and recently got Solarmax11 , which fits same mount Where I am there ism not much price difference between 8" and 10" Dob Attached pic is of my Dob, taken at recent club public viewing night In background is 8" flex Dob with shroud fitted The money is really in good quality eyepieces When doing presentations, find 15mm or 17mm wide angle eyepiece gives good eye relief John

Older Padawan First of all welcome from Land Down Under If you are not aware, we actually have three Norths, where I am South 1. True North, which is the line drawn along the meridian between North and South Poles 2. Magnet North This is the direction a compass points towards the Magnet North Pole Depending on where you are on the earths surface, Magnet North can be either East or West of true north Where I am, magnetic north is 12deg east 3. Grid North This is the direction of lines drawn on a map Before adaption of GPS, we all used to use a street directory to work out where we wanted to go The lines drawn on a street directly run North/South, East/West The top of the map is always North On a geographical map, in the margin, there is printed a 5 pointed star showing grid north, and magnetic north What I have to do, when setting up my ED80 with my EQ5Pro mount, is face the North leg of mount south, then use a compass, allowing for magnet variation to set mount facing south Then do a two star alignment You will find what you been doing with two star alignment, once have base of your Dob aligned to true north, be more accurate than relying on alignment with Polaris Hope everyone is more knowledgeable now with respect to different types of north John

Nick First of all welcome from Land Down Under I use a car jump start to power my ED80 on a EQ5pro mount Have run it for over a week at astro festivals, and out couple of times per month with my club doing presentations in primary schools and scout groups Attached pic of my ED80 Scope in background with my Dob is a Meade LX90 also using jump start pack John

Brendan The attached article was posted on here some time ago Might be of assistance John

Rich First of all welcome from Land Down Under What sort of mount you have with your 200pds, Dobsonian or tracking EQ Good place to start is by downloading APP Sky-safari, as shows what above us currently HeavenAbove is also another useful APP Been down under, I have an entirely different objects to observe, depending on time of year Our winter months have JewelBox in Crux, known as southern cross, assortment of objects to observe Scorpio Currently we have Jupiter and Venus western horizon, just on sunset, and Saturn trailing both of them John

Neil I have a Saxon right angle finderscope on my Dob Has two adjusting screws to align the cross hairs With most finderscopes, you will find the image is upside down Pic of my 10" flex dob with right angle finderscope John

Dan Welcome from Land Down Under You travel the universe in this forum You will have fun with your new toy from Santa For a beginner scope should be ideal For finding objects to look at, suggest down load Skysafari With your scope been of a Dobsonian design on a manual EQ mount will give you a lot of satisfaction Have attached pic of my beast, 10" Skywatcher Flex Dob John

George First of all welcome from Land Down Under I am out a couple of times per month with my club doing presentations in primary schools and scout groups When observing planets and other DSO objects with my 10" flex Dob, I use either a 15mm or 17mm wide angle eyepiece When comes to the moon, as lot closer to us, and brighter, I find if use 25mm eyepiece gives you nice view, without cutting off the edge, as happens with 15mm or higher eyepiece John

Same Down Under 10% Goods and Service Tax added at checkout (GST) The ZWO ASI 533 is available my local astronomy shop for A$1499 plus 10% GST Been looking at the ZWO ASI 290MC, which retails for A$420 plus 10% GST John

Where I am, Southern Hemisphere, do not have a Polaris star to polar align When setting up mount, face north leg south, then use a compass to align the mount, allowing for 10 Deg E magnetic variation South Celestial Pole Done that, then do a two star alignment The mount will track any object you select A lot of people get very confused with polar alignment, keep going in circles Have also recently got the WiFi adapter, and use the SynScan App What found with the SynScan App, when come to pick second star, the APP wants to give a list of what it thinks, not where you want to use Still have issue also with SynScan APP, when trying to save first star used for alignment Instruction indicate up and right to save, never got it to work Maybe another issue in a different forum John

You read any of the reviews, and the word which jumps out at you the most is cheap department store scope, avoid at all costs You better off going for a 8" or 10" flex Dob, if not intending to do AP For AP, you need a tracking mount, such as a HEQ5, with either a ED80, these days ED100 or ED120 Have attached pics of both my 10" flex Dob, and ED80 on EQ5pro mount John

Hi Neil Welcome from Land Down Under Agree with SkySafari There is a few other useful Apps as well HeavenAbove has a lot of useful information Also ISS Detector for Android devices, gives prediction when ISS is flyover your location Good to see you now have your scope sorted John

Hi Armando Welcome from Land Down Under You travel the universe in this forum John