cletrac1922

Merlin Documentation in Queensland https://www.police.qld.gov.au/programs/weaponsLicensing/fees/Documents/Laser-Pointers.pdf John

We have 7 clubs in South East Queensland Under Section 67 Offensive Weapons Act, astronomy clubs have to be gazetted on Queensland Police Force website, use of laser pointers Politicians pass the legislation, then try and get gazetted on Police Website Took combined societies committee over 2 years Done now Check down there with respect to astronomy clubs been gazetted on the Vic Police Website, and then except from annual fee Have attached copy of Cubs Space badge, which put together, with some of the group leaders John Space Badge.docx

Geoff First of all welcome from Land Down Under Where I am, you have to be a member of a registered astronomy club, to own and operate a laser pointer Not sure about where you are Where we are, laser pointers now come under the Offensive Weapons Act, same as fire arms do, and only 1mw output I use one for pointing out deep sky objects when do presentation in primary schools and scout/guide groups There is also a disclaimer, with respect to laser pointers on our club website, http://sas.org.au/ About SAS Home About the Society News Pimpana Meetings Event Horizon Library Membership Links & Resources Laser Pointer Information Contact Directory John

I leave home around 4-30 every morning for work Stop and look up This morning had Scorpio, CRUX main features Had a bit of a storm last night with a nice light and sound show Lightening dancing around the ranges, around me This morning, the air was clear and settled, and no dust pollution https://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/crux-constellation/ John

If all else fails Reach for a mintie Beam me up Scotty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minties John

Steve Welcome from Land Down Under Try using right angle 9 X 50 finder scope No laying on the ground either, trying to view through a straight through finder scope Pic shows right angle on my dob John

Alpha I have a SW ED80 on a EQ5 mount Light and easy to transport, and use a single half size weight Shown with solar filter John

You have the latest firmware for the SynScan I recently purchased the WiFi adapter, and downloaded the SynScan App Takes the guess work out of setting location, date and time What sort of power source you using to power the dob I use a car battery jump start kit Have run my EQ5 mount for a week on it at Astrofests

I use a car jump start battery Have used it for over a week continuously at Astro festivals

Greg Welcome from Land Down Under John

Use laser pointer as well Just lay laser along the wedge of the spotting scope, and aim laser to object want to observe Then use finderscope to fine tune Also there is adjusters on your finderscope, and adjust to see same image in both finderscope and eyepiece I usually do in day light, and pick out an object some distance away, like a tree, or mobile phone tower

Relpet Better to use distilled water rather than tap water Tap water has a lot of chemicals including fluoride, chlorine, salts and rust from pipes A while ago, had a club 10" collapsible dob come back off loan, and the mirror was covered in cockroach muck, and spiders web in the tube Club member who had it, said he stored it in his garden shed I used distilled water, with mild detergent, using handful of cotton wool soaked in distilled water Unlike tap water, distilled water leave no residue on the mirror Others will disagree with me using cotton John

Dan Comes down to personal choice I use a 9 X 50 right angle spotting scope on my SW 10" collapsible dob Right angle saves having to lay on the ground, when observing something directly overhead John

For observing dob way to go If want to adventure into AP, then you will need a scope with go-to mount Have attached pic of both my 10" dob, and ED80 on EQ5 mount ED80 is fitted with solar filter John

Hi Alan from land down under If you want to do AP, then you definitely going to need a mount with GoTo Was not aware that the HEQ5, came without GoTo, and SynScan hand controller I have a EQ5, with a SW ED80, and recently purchased the Wi-Fi adaptor, and use APP from my Android phone to control the mount John

Just for visual, I would go for a SW 10" collapsible dob Easy to set up, and I use a laser pointer to find where want to view Get a right angle spotting scope, as do not have to lay on the ground to align objects overhead The dob comes with a 10mm and 25mm eyepieces I use a 17mm wide-angle eyepiece for young eyes, and invest in a 2 X barlow as well With club belong to, go into primary schools, scout/guide groups I use a small kitchen 2 step ladder for 6-8yo's to observe Can relate to been kids yourself, and when that age used to lay on back lawn of our farm, and watch the yanks go over Gemini project Have 6 and 3 yo grandkids, and they also interested as well John

Tks Lars Will try with my Canon 600D Not sure has Wi-Fi connectivity John

Rob Great post Have to agree with you when observing Saturn and Jupiter Recently was doing a presentation at local primary school, and after all the students been through several scopes club members had set up Had one parent walk back up to me, and he had a iPad, with image on Saturn on it His comment to me, he can see more detail on his iPad of the rings of Saturn, then he could through the eyepiece on my 10" dob I reminded him, we were observing something which is 1.3 billion kms away, and the image you looking at on your iPad, was taken through a telescope, and magnified many times over Had another lady walk up to me She said she was 83 years of age, and first time she has seen both Saturn and Jupiter through a telescope, and was overall by what she observed She went onto to say, her great grand daughter, is in grade one, at school, was giving presentation, and could not thank us enough, for giving her great grand daughter, the opportunity to observe Saturn and Jupiter, which took her almost her entire life time Does not matter how big or small, an object you are viewing, it is the enjoyment of sharing That night also focused on Jewel Box, Omega Centauri, been in the southern hemisphere Looking forward to your next instalment John

Just cleaned club 10" collapsible dob which had been on loan to a new member Not sure where he had stored it, and found cob webs in the tube, and cockroach muck on the mirror Taking outside, just used a wad of cotton wool, damped in distilled water, and dabbed the cockroach muck gently with distilled water After a couple minutes using fresh wad of cotton wool, and distilled water, gave primary mirror a gently wipe over Everything came off, and then just wiped with a soft micro cloth, and bingo, nice clean mirror Left out in sun to allow any water around base of the dob to evaporate No need to do any rubbing of the primary mirror

I use 17MM wide angle eyepiece with 2 X barlow on my ED80 Try using blue filter as well Experiment with your filters

Last Saturday night, at my astronomy club workshop, used for second time, and found heaps of bugs Primarily if do a 2 star alignment, wanted to use Sirius and Canopus with my ED80 on EQ5 mount Selected Sirius as first choice, and the adaptor wanted me to select second star of its choosing, and could not find an option to choose Canopus as second option Went back to 1 star alignment, and chose Sirius, and was way off Then had problems attempting to save In Help advises last two movements is up and right, then click confirmation button Did not matter how many times I tried, could not get to confirm, and gave up During the day, used the adaptor with my Coronado SolarMax 11 which have recently purchased on my EQ5 mount When access solar mode, there is a built in safety feature When turn on solar mode, disclaimer comes up about solar safety The APP then gives you a mathematical question, which took a bit of working out Had to click on the ? a couple of times before keypad came up and type in your answer The other issue I found, at the end of the night, selected home, and came up DEC Did not matter what figure put in, got an error messge Assume looking for a figure in degrees, and been in the southern hemisphere, have north leg of EQ5 mount facing south Overall happy with the APP and the Synscan Wi-Fi adaptor To a comment one of the previous posts, takes guesswork out of normal Synscan controller with respect to Longitude, latitude, date and time, as picks it automatically from mobile phone or tablet Cheers John

Lorenzo Welcome from land down under In this forum you travel the universe, and make friends along the way John

Geoff The solar image used Baade solar film, underside small cap of hard cover Taken with Android phone to eyepiece John

Liam I have a 250mm, 10" Skywatcher dob, and use with astronomy club belong to for schools and scout/guide group presentation Very clear images of rings of Saturn, Jupiter, Orion Nebula Been in Southern Hemisphere, around the CRUX, Southern Cross able to observe Jewel Box, Omega Centuries globular cluster, Been a manual scope, recommend getting a right angle spotting scope, and I also use laser pointer and just lay along dovetail mount of the spotting scope, to aim the dob at object you want to observe Also with the dust cover, take off the small cover, and attached some Baader on underside of dust cover, and you can also observe the sun Have included pic of my dob at a recent public viewing night with my club Also image of 2012 solar eclipse Where I was only had 80% eclipse Cheers John