cletrac1922

Welcome from Land Down Under You travel the universe in this forum I totally agree with what Geof said, about rocking up to your local club Club members only to happy to show you their equipment, and sort any issued you have My own club, also has loan scopes as well, LX90, several 10" Flex Dobs, Lunt solar scope as well John

Barry something I left out of my initial message You can also use your Dob for solar viewing The hard plastic cover has an removable cap Just sticky tape some Baader visual solar film underside, under the removable cap The other detent hard cover, is to stow the removable cap The attached Solar eclipse pic, was taken holding smart phone to eyepiece of my Dob, using baader film hard cover hence not good quality You have flex or solid tube Dob John

Simon Welcome from Land Down Under I have a ED80 on a EQ5pro mount, and had now about 10 years, and running latest version 3 on the SynScan Have recently got the WiFi adapter, and download the SynScan App I also use a jump start battery pack to power the EQ5pro mount Some might say weight issue with EQ5pro mount, takes up to 10kg, and used with Canon 600D attached as well The attached pic taken at a recent club solar viewing day, and in background is a ED80 on HEQ5 mount, with camera attached John

Welcome from across the ditch, Pacific Ocean One of the best things you can do before racing out and buying something which might not work for you, is rock up to your local astronomy club Members there are only too happy to assist, and Meade is a popular brand with many club members My own club, we have a loan LX90 for club members, including an assortment of eyepieces and barlow Our club Dobs, also have case of eyepieces You can then try different eyepieces belonging to club members to give you the view of Saturn and Jupiter you are seeking I am out couple of times per month also doing presentations in primary schools and scout groups, and I use 17MM wide angle eyepiece with my Dob John

Welcome from Land Down Under John

Hi, and welcome from Australia I think one of the best people you can talk to is Professor Alan Duffy I have know Alan for a number of years, and he is based at Swinburne Institute of Technology, in Melbourne Australia Alan does a lot of modelling on large scale computers with astrophysics Alan is like a modern day version of the late Professor Julius Sumner Miller You might even be able to come out to Australia and further your studies under him The attached link gives you all the information you require about Alan, including contact details https://www.swinburne.edu.au/research-institutes/data-science/people/alan-duffy/ John

First question I have, the scope appears to be more of a department store, or camera shop origin My cousin was given a similar one recently and brought over to set up for him The eye pieces were smaller than 1.25", made of plastic, not glass It came with 3 different barlows, one was marked for objects closer than the moon, which isn't anything The first thing you have to do is verify if the eyepiece is actually 1.25" Best advice before racing out and buying anything, is rock up one night at local astronomy club, and members there will only be too happy to assist I have T-ring in my carry case have eyepieces in, along with compass and other handy items Attached pic shows my carry case taken at a recent club solar viewing day John

I am in same situation, and been looking at ZWO ASI 290MC, matched with ZWO ASI 290MM mini as autoglider One of my club mates uses ZWO ASI1600 cooled camera on his Celestron Take really beautiful images Comes down to really on how much you are prepared to spend on a ZWO ASI outfit John

I have the 10" flex without the GoTo With my ED80 with EQ5pro GoTo mount, I have also recently purchased the WiFi adapter and downloaded the Synscan App Not sure about you, I have difficulty saving first star when doing two star alignment, and the APP, wants to pick second star of its choosing, not the one I want, as been in the Southern Hemisphere Is the attached pic, the WiFi adapter you have? John

Alternately you can go for a SW ED80 or ED100 I have ED80 on a EQ5pro go-to mount, had now for almost 10 years, and been very reliable Do you intend to do AP as well, or just purely visual Attached pic of my ED80 recent club solar viewing day Second image sun blocked out by bush fire smoke over the weekend John

Mark Welcome back from Land Down Under John

First of all welcome from Land Down Under This time of the year I use Sirius and Canopus to align my ED80 on EQ5 mount Also use an App called Ulysse Gizmos for my GPS location and has a compass which you can also set to allow for magnetic variation Where I am, magnetic variation is 12 deg east Some trivia I posted on here some time ago, is there is actually 3 Norths First been True North, which is line between north and south poles The second is Magnetic North, which is the direction a compass faces north, and can be either east or west of true north depending on where you are Currently with Magnetic North high latitudes Northern Hemisphere, Magnetic North is tracking further east towards Russia Finally we have Grid North, which is the lines drawn on a map, with Grid North been top of the map Before we had GPS on our smart devices, we used to use street directly to find our way around our cities Top of map in a street directly is also Grid North Hope been of assistance John

Barry Big welcome from Land Down Under I have the 250mm Flex Dob, as my first weapon on choice, and right angle finderscope is a good purchase, as saves laying on the ground when aligning the scope Normally have a Bortle 4 where I am, since late november been very poor viewing from bush fire smoke Attached pic taken on weekend sun setting ranges behind us, through bush fire smoke John

Lee Welcome from Land Down Under, and I also have a 250mm flex dob, which has given me many years of satisfaction, also an ED80 on a EQ5pro mount John

Helen The attached link gives a bit more of an insight into Indigenous Astronomy The emu in the sky, is associated with Southern Cross, also known as the CRUX, and not seen in the northern hemisphere They also have stories about the Sun and Moon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Aboriginal_astronomy John

Helen Thank you for that With club belong to, go into primary schools and scout groups, and do presentations One of the things I talk about is Australian Indigenous Astronomy which goes back over 30,000 years Was taught to me by the elders when first started primary school, who lived on the river back near our farm, rural Victoria Orion is very prominent with Indigenous Astronomy In women's business, Orion is chasing Pleiades, seven sisters, to marry one He can't, as belongs to wrong mob In men's business Orion is a pack of Dingoes, which is an Australian native wild dog, chasing Pleiades, which is a mob on kangaroo's The belt of Orion is also know as the canoe With Indigenous people northern Australia, when Orion first appears eastern horizon, just on sunset, around late October, it marks the onset of the wet season in Northern Australia Aldebaran also prominent in men's business Dreamtime story is a man stole another man's wife, and they hid in a tree to hide from man betrayed The man betrayed found them, and set fire to the tree The Rainbow Serpent came down and picked them up forming Aldebaran Every time an Indigenous man sees Aldebaran, he knows he is not to steal another man's wife Hope was informative John

Is it also open to international students, or just UK based Wishing everyone safe and enjoyable festive season John

Joe Good pick up I did not see that Agree with you John

I have had my 10" Dob for over 10 years, and has locking screw underneath as well Just leave halfway out so do not lose it, never use it Which eyepieces you have Try starting with supplied 25mm I am out a couple of times per month also with club doing presentation primary school, scout groups, and find 17mm wide angle ideal for viewing planets and other DSO's For moon, definitely the supplied 25mm as fits moon in completely been closer to us John

Welcome from across the ditch Pacific Ocean Hope you both have lot of enjoyment out of your new Celestron, you can not go far wrong with that particular scope John

Manick We have a couple of good moon atlas's as well in our club library I use APP also called LunarMap Lite John

Maniek Welcome from Land Down Under, Australia You travel the universe in this forum Do not be afraid to ask any questions, as lot of people in here only to happy to advise What sort of equipment have you purchased, and you have clear skies to view from from, of have fair amount of light pollution I have some light pollution where I am John

Few of the guys in my club, have a 3metre X 3metre garden shed, with pier Have roof of rollers so slides open in both directions , and walls lined as well with concrete floor to keep out moisture. Seems to work very well John

Andreas Welcome from Land Down Under Upgrade of equipment is something we all do, as we go deeper into this hobby John

First of all welcome from Land Down Under When you siting the Dob, how are aligning north There are 3 Norths 1. True north, which is the meridian line between north and south pole 2. Magnetic North, which is direction compass points. Depending on where you are on earths surface, magnetic north can be either east of west of true north, known as magnetic variation 3. Grid North, this is the lines on a map. Before advent of GPS, we all used to use a street directly, the top of the map street directly is north As I am in the southern hemisphere, and setting up my EQ mount with goto, I have to face the north leg south I use a compass to align the mount, allowing 12deg E for magnetic variation You should be able to do the same, setting base of your Dob facing north You using Polaris also to align the base of your Dob? Next step is to ensure you entering your GPS location correctly into the SynScan controller, time as well I also have the SynScan WiFi adapter, and SynScan App Not sure what the difference between the SynScan App and the SynScanInit 2 is Have you tried going back to the original SynScan controller, and see if you able to do a two star alignment with that I also use a car jump start pack to power my EQ mount, which will work with your Dob as well More stable power source All else fails, then one night go along to your local astronomy club, guys there will only be too happy to solve your issues My club, I am the go to person for Dob issues, including collimation John