Littleguy80

12 minutes ago, terrain_inconnu said:

Just received my TS Optics Herschel Wedge and first light did not disappoint: a crisp image full of contrast. To my surprise, I did not mind the green tint at all. This is a well designed and performing product, thank you for recommending it.

Yay! I’m glad you’re pleased with it  It doesn’t take long to get used to the green and you can easily swap out the filter if you ever did want a white sun. Just be careful to get the right ND filter for course 

Beat me to it. I was going to say I posted some pics over my TS optics wedge showing how the filters are screwed in. 

Just now, John said:

A night to remember 😁

What did we do to deserve this ? - put up with all that rubbish weather over the past few months I guess 😁

Haha I was thinking about how we’ll be talking about this for years to come. The bad weather is soon forgotten!

Dream come true to see the Aurora naked eye like this. My daughter loved them too. Can’t believe this is all happening above my own home 

30 minutes ago, John said:

Great setup Neil 🙂

Do you leave the Tak tube clamp bolted onto the side of the mount and lift the scope tube in and out of it ?

I've just realised that I could take that approach with my FC100-DL and the Skytee II but wonder if it's more or less hassle than using a DT bar bolted to the Tak clamp, as I do now 🤔

Thanks John!

Exactly that. I don’t think it’s a big hassle to take the Tak in and out of the clamp. Saves a bit of weight that and generally makes it all feel a bit more compact and easier to move around. The scope doesn’t catch the tripod at all even when pointing up at the zenith. 

Give it a try with the SkyTee and see how you find it. The only draw back I can think of is you’d need to switch back if you wanted to use another scope that doesn’t fit the cradle. 

First light for Rowan AZ75. Absolutely love it. I’ve now had the Tak FC100DF a year. I struggled with a bit with it to start with but have slowly refined the setup. Now I have the Berlebach tripod, the MEF3 micro focuser and the Rowan AZ75, it’s a real joy to use. No more wobbly views or struggles with fine focusing. It’s been a real lesson in considering all the elements of the setup. Even replacing the red dot finder with a SkyWatcher 6x30 finder made a notice improvement to my enjoyment. I feel very fortunate to be able to enjoy this hobby with such a great setup.

Lovely transparent night in Norfolk. Despite enjoying some solar views with the Tak earlier in the day, I decided it was a dob night. Started out with Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS). Small but bright in Virgo. Looking forward to seeing this develop over the coming months. M51 followed by M13. I wanted to catch the propellor which I did after increasing magnification with the Docter and Baader VIP. This was my primary eyepiece setup for most of the observations this time evening. Also picked up NGC6207 nearby. After this it was mostly a planetary nebula spree. The Green Turtle and White Eyed pea in Hercules. The Ring in Lyra plus a split of the double double. The blinking planetary nebula in Cygnus and finally the emerald nebula in Ophiuchus, which was every bit as green as its name suggests. Lovely mild night with very little moisture in the air. Just a little taster of the summer evenings to come. 

24 minutes ago, Stu said:

This little gem just turned up courtesy of @John. Looking forward to giving it a go. Hopefully might have a chance to compare with the 22mm Type 4 Nag, but that depends on the weather and when it sells. I hope I don’t regret the change, but doubt I will. This is either my second or third, I can’t remember 🤣🤣

 

Will be interested to hear how the comparison goes. A recent thread left me wondering whether to do the reverse and sell the APM HDC 20mm for the 22mm Nagler. It probably means it’s been too long since I last bought an eyepiece 😂

I guess the most likely explanation is it’s a very small amount of air so seeing those effects is much more difficult. The effect is probably negligible compared to everything else that could affect the views. 

4 minutes ago, geoflewis said:

Well done Neil, I got it from South Norfolk too…. iPhone 14 10s handheld

Thanks Geof! Wow! Love your photo. Great colours!

Was out observing the Moon when I noticed the Red Aurora alert. Couldn’t see anything visually but picked it up on camera. First time for me! Well chuffed!

2 minutes ago, Saganite said:

Hi Neil,

 

I have just parted with an APM 20mm 100 deg in favour of the 2" Nagler 22mm and the weight difference was 30 ounces to 24 ounces for the Nagler 22mm .  

Nice. Thanks Steve! The figure I found for the APM must have been wrong. That’s defo a nice weight saving. 

Other than the 20mm 100 degree eyepiece, I’ve happily dropped to smaller FOV to have improved optical quality. The smaller size was an added benefit 

Out of curiosity this thread had me looking up the Nagler 22mm as I have the APM 20mm. From specs that I saw, the Nagler weighs the same? I’m assuming it’s physically smaller. Just thinking about the OP wanting to reduce size and weight. 

Just now, SwiMatt said:

A 1000 thank you I swear I will buy an Atlas soon 🤣

Haha no worries. This might be a little better. 

12 minutes ago, SwiMatt said:

A little moment under the Moon was what I needed 😍 I did a sketch of this three-craters feature, I wonder if someone can help me identifying it. I thought it was the Ptolemy chain, but by comparison with pictures it does not seem right... 

Here you go  

Despite the seeing being a bit poor this is making for a very enjoyable Sunday ☀️ 

Haha I can relate to this. Whenever I try to image I always go through these struggles and feel like I’ve wasted good observing time. On the flip side I have taken a few images over the years that I’m really pleased with so I guess it’s a case of taking the rough with the smooth!

1 hour ago, wookie1965 said:

Check the laser is collimated first I have had two of those and both needed collimating. The first one went in the bin it would not hold collimation dont know why had it doing a 2mm circle at 26ft but put it in the scope it was nowhere near checked again and it wasnt collimated.

Three days I and many hours I tried in the end I smashed it with a hammer out of frustration.

Paul

Thanks Paul. This one had been collimated in a lathe so should be good. Will definitely give it a check to make sure though 👍

I’ve often looked at Laser Collimators but have never tried one. So for £13, I thought I’d give it a go. I’m curious to see how well collimated my Dob is using this. 

17 minutes ago, Saganite said:

Hi Neil,

After our discussion on the riser for the Berlebach Castor, I thought of you when I saw this up for sale, and I am pleased that you got it.  What a result.....

Thanks Steve! Really chuffed with it! As you said, I’ll never need to worry about the mount for the Tak now. Just get on and use it 😁

1 hour ago, Nigella Bryant said:

It's what they're using for the new Artimus lunar missions to accurately land on the moon, lol 😂 

I’m gonna need to buy a brass cog filter now for when I go out observing 

2 minutes ago, MartianHill said:

Baader wonder fluid will sort the dirt out 👍

First thing I did when I came in 😂

I hesitate to share this as my eyepiece looks so dirty but I did take a quick snap of Mercury through the scope on 24th March. Showing a nice phase

34 minutes ago, Highburymark said:

At eighty quid and a long-awaited week in the Canaries around the corner, I have caved in and have a 3-8 on the way. Means I can just take three eyepieces away with me. It certainly covers an incredibly useful range for travel. Look forward to seeing how it compares to my other eyepieces in this range - a Delite, 3xTOEs, an XW, an XO, a couple of orthos and an Ethos. I’ll report back, particularly if it comes close to keeping pace with them!

That’s some tough competition, particularly the XO. Very much looking forward to your report. Have a great week in the canaries  

39 minutes ago, Stu said:

Excellent! Reckon you’ll love that Neil 👍

Thanks Stu! It looks fab. Looking forward to giving it a go