Sunshine

Well I wouldn't say that, none of us got into astronomy because we saw a great price on a scope and bought it on impulse with the thought of maybe getting into astronomy one day. First comes the curiosity, the spark, born of some impromptu brush with astronomy which then sends us hunting for our first scope. By this time it is usually too late, that scope is coming one way or another.

Here's the same image with corresponding mirror segment.

Photons Received: Webb Sees Its First Star – 18 Times – James Webb Space Telescope (nasa.gov)

My Viden GP has one motor on the RA axis which is powered by a heavy battery pack using four D size batteries which I usually hang off the accessory tray and is unwieldy. Solution, I have several Lipo RC batteries which produce just the right voltage, are a lot smaller  and weigh a fraction of what the giant D-cell pack weighs. This particular battery produces 8.4v max but I only need to charge it to 7.5-8v which when tested, ran the mount for an hour straight with lots of power to spare. This is far more than I ever need as I only track for a minute at a time when imaging planets and for outreach I use it to keep on target for maybe 10 min stretches. It is now more pleasant to use  as accommodating the brick heavy old battery pack was a pain.

Anyone out there use SkyGuide? while surfing youtube I ran into Dylan’s post regarding this software which seems to be leaps and bounds ahead in the esthetic department. In the Video he presents the IOS version, not sure if there is an android version but that aside it is beautiful. A few adjustments to preferences and a quick look at the night sky reveals beautiful star colors, planetary details, photographic quality in nebulae, clusters, galaxies etc. zooming in on an object reveals stars in true colors as though viewed through a fine scope, it took me all of five minutes before I handed over the $49 yearly subscription for the pro version. So far this app has been a joy to discover and explore!.

Cool tip: holding a finger on a particular spot opens a circular filter wheel window over that spot which can be spun like a filter wheel via a little dot on the edge of the filter circle which allows for the object to be seen in microwave, x-Ray, gamma Ray, radio wave and a few more, screenshots below.

A beautiful and super sharp image of the moon and wow what a setup you have there! a future astronomer this young man looks to be.

A beauty of a mount, congratulations! Jealousy meter overloading!

Excited about great seeing and tolerable temperatures tonight!

Update: now, after a most perfect star test, only minutes later clouds roll in, I could cry in the fetal position!

Spending only leads to feelings of guilt and regret after, I am told giving it away is far more rewarding, my address is..... 🤣

14 minutes ago, gorann said:

Just got my dual-RASA rig in action, unfortunately the bl-dy moon is quite near but I hope the IDAS NBZ dual band filters will keep it under control. I am iaming at a possible but hardly ever imaged PN.

CS, Göran

Monumental, how does this work? do you collect data on one object then combine? this is an imagers dream.

Wow! beautiful and I love the measurement guides all around this!

2 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

Grabbed a 20 minute gap on the clouds to go back to Orion (it's like a magnet🧲😊)..

 

I've been using a very nice Celestron Axiom LX 23mm lately and just gazed at M42 and surroundings for the whole 15 minute micro session.

The 82 degree field gives spectacular views at 45x, and at 90x with a 2" AP Barlow, the view became really involving, even in conditions which included fast moving scudding clouds, and an increasingly bright moon..lots of wisps.and tendrils of gas going in all directions.

I was beaten by the clouds after just 20 minutes, but I knew the forecast would make this a short session, so I just picked the one target, the one eyepiece and made the most of it.

Dave

Sounds like a short bit sweet session, what a wonderful scope!

Great report! I would say your observing skills haven't fallen off one bit.

Brilliant!

6 hours ago, Stu said:

On this specific question, I would say no. No matter how good the mount, with clutches totally off a scope with binoviewers will not stay put when pointed up towards the zenith without additional counterweight offset at the front.

This I learned first hand while using my scope on my new (to me) alt azimuth mount which I have very little experience with alt-az mounts to boot. While I thought I had the scope perfectly balanced, when I pointed close to zenith (clutches off) with my heavy XW's, to my surprise the scope drifted further downward rather easily. An unavoidable trait of alt-az mounts it seems, I guess counterweights would remedy the situation but would they not then create an imbalance on another orientation?, interesting stuff.

Ahh ok great! I'm sure you're well charged up about it, I cant wait for you to get it 🤣 first thing anyones eyes would go to is an inspection of the mirror, especially after its been sitting for years.

When you saw it did it look like this? this is the 200P

Congratulations! I'm a bit baffled as to which model this is, is it a dobsonian or an OTA requiring a mount like the Quattro series? when you say "forerunner to the 200P" it would imply it is a dobsonian. A quick google 

search yielded varied results but nothing with a GTX label attached to it, maybe my search criteria was flawed. i'll be watching to see what others post about this scope.

Not sure what to make of this, either its a well done concept ad or it is actually in the making which is doubtful as there is no , mention of it on SW website.

Wonderfully detailed and presented! wow

16 minutes ago, Stu said:

I don’t wish to go round that awful loop again, the counselling is just starting to have an effect (🤪), but to confirm it will NOT have slow motion controls. The motion is very smooth even without them. Please do not start another discussion around this.

Sure no problem, I wasn't aware you have been fully saturated with this question already 🤣 

11 hours ago, Stu said:

We should be getting the final iteration with some useful improvements to test within a couple of weeks so hopefully it’s getting close now. Not sure of exact dates though.

These had to wait for the machines to finish the AZ75 parts first but hopefully are next up to be worked on.

What will the weight capacity be for the AZ75 and will it have slow motion controls too? it seems the AZ100 has slow motion controls.

Are there any updates on the AZ75? I heard it was being tested by a couple of members, I'm curious!

15 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Goes to TV and now watching The Doomsday Machine. 👍🏻

I’ll do the same! ordering Thai right now and will put it on!, doomsday machine and Thai, perfect combination!

One of my fav episodes

2 hours ago, Dean Hale said:

A pair of more blue tube rings (they are rather nice), spacers and a couple of right angled adapters.

Those are seriously good looking rings!