Littleguy80

The Tak FC100, Docter and Baader VIP Barlow are delivering some great views of Jupiter and the GRS. Very enjoyable unexpected session

Thanks Chris. Hadn’t thought about the wood being good for the cold too. Yep, the kids and I are excited for it now 😂

A Berlebach Uni 18 arrived today. Seems much more stable than the carbon fibre tripod I have. Thanks for all the advice

Must be a day for tripods. Berlebach Uni-18 for the 4” Tak. Based on a quick test it’s way more stable than the carbon fibre tripod I have been using. I have to put it away now until Santa can deliver it a second time 🎅🏼

My wife was “out out” last night. I collected her and her friends in the small hours and was surprised to see clear and transparent skies. Couldn’t resist getting the 10” dob out for some Comet hunting. Started with a quick look at M42 which showed a beautiful green colour. Comet 103P Hartley came first. It was initially a harder spot, quite diffuse. Showing better around 96x mag. I also tried my Baader SWAN filter on it. The effect was very similar to an UHC/OIII on a nebula. Contrast was greatly improved. Not sure if I was seeing more. I tried unsuccessfully for 62P/Tsuchinshan, with and without the SWAN filter. Comet C/2023 H2 (Lemmon) was much easier to spot with a more concentrated core. The SWAN filter again giving a nice boost in contrast but not obviously increasing the extent of the comet. To finish up, I enjoyed some great views of Jupiter with Io’s shadow and some lovely detail. Really enjoyable unplanned session. Was very pleased to be able to test the SWAN filter.

I know the 3rd anniversary is glass. Though the S in BBHS is, of course, silver (25th). It’s always possible there’s actually a BBHS anniversary that isn’t commonly known 😉 Whatever the number, Happy Anniversary, Magnus!

Which raises the question of where @JeremyS is getting all the kidneys…

Great report, Chris. Awesome to see the BFS back in service 🙂

Twice this week I've set an alarm and got up to try and observe Comet Nishimura. Both times, I've carefully prepared by leaving my 10" dob outside to cool, setting my Tak up with the right eyepiece and having my observing chair by the door ready to go. Neither time was I able to see the comet due to cloud. This morning my alarm went off at 4:20am, I hadn't intentionally set it so was a little surprised by this. Bleary eyed and feeling the after effects of one too many beers enjoyed with friends over a BBQ last night I got up. I took a look out the window and was pleasantly surprised to see perfectly clear skies. I took a couple of painkillers and began bumbling around getting the scopes outside. I was able to find Algieba in Leo fairly easily. It was very low down and my initial scans for Comet Nishimura were unsuccessful. With lots of consulting with SkySafari, I moved the dob to the correct location and observed what I initially I took for a fuzzy star. Adjusting focus, it dawned on me that I was actually seeing the comet! Bright and very compact, it was much smaller than I had expected. I recently purchased a Baader Swan Band filter in the hope of trying it with Comet Nishimura. There was a definite contrast improvement with the filter. With some gentle tapping on the scope, I was also detecting a noticeable tail. The biggest benefit of the filter was that it allowed me to observe the comet more easily as the sky quickly brightened. Although this wasn't my first observation of Comet Nishimura, I was thrilled to catch it as it nears maximum brightness. With the sky much brighter now, I switched over to Venus. A large crescent, reminiscent of the Moon sitting higher in the sky, was seen at 240x in the dob. Really quite superb. I enjoyed nice views of the Jupiter with Tak, the contrast on the belts being impressive. Wonderful to see Jupiter at a decent altitude again. Another look at Venus with the Tak and then onto the Moon. I'm not sure that I've ever observed the Moon at this phase. The rays of Kepler was the first thing to catch my eye. Schrodinger's Valley was superb as were the mountains within Gassendi. Coming up on 2 hours since my surprise alarm, I packed up with my sore head long since forgotten. I had to smile at the way things can work out. Two careful planned sessions that failed to deliver, followed by one completely unplanned and disorganised session which is among the best I've had this year. Venus in the dob

A couple of dumbbells in a bag helped a lot. Just had to make sure it sure they touched the ground. Otherwise the view swirled as the bag moved making it like observing after one too many beers.

Thanks both. Definitely seems like the 18 will be the better match

That looks neat. I hadn’t seen the Uni 19

Good idea. Hadn’t thought of that. It does have a hook on the bottom of central column

I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with the TOE from what I’ve read. There’s not much to choose between them.

Yeah, though I will dual mount with my Daystar Solar Scout 60mm. That’s not adding a lot of weight but might make the Uni 28 more worthwhile? Equally, it’s nice to have something lighter and easy to move around to find the gaps in the trees when necessary

From memory it’s quoted at 16Kg so in theory it’s fine. I guess the key thing now is vibration damping which is probably where a wooden tripod would come in.

I think I’ve pretty much ended up with that kinda set. APM 30mm UFF, APM HDC 20mm, Docter 12.5mm, Delos 10mm, Pentax XW 5mm and Vixen HR 3.4mm. I started out with a more matching set but over time just starting picking whatever seemed best for my tastes at particular focal lengths.

I’m using my Tak FC100DF with Giro-WR mount and 3 Legged Thing Billy Carbon Fibre mount. I do notice the view bouncing around a bit at higher powers. It can be a pain for getting focus right as a result. I think the mount should be fine with the scope so that leaves the tripod as the weak link. Berlebach seems the obvious choice but which one? There’s the Report 312, Uni 18 or Uni 28 which all seem like they should be suitable. Any suggestions/advice on which one or even other tips and tricks for making things a bit more stable.

I wonder if they changed the design at some point. I just checked the one I have and it doesn’t fit 2”. I’m not certain it’s the APM one though as far as I know no one else makes one

What adapter is that Jeremy? I guess you have to watch for the extra length in 2” mode and some diagonals?

It’s always a tricky one when it’s something a bit more specialised. At the same time, I don’t use my HB filter much but without it I wouldn’t have seen the California Nebula or Horse Head. The Lumicon SWAN filter was a lot more expensive which always put me off. This was priced affordably enough for me to go for it. I’ve observed 26 comets since 2017 so I feel like they’re frequent enough to justify it. Plus I may have been able to pick up some fainter ones with this filter.

The filter has arrived. Should get to test it with Comet C/2023 P1 (Nishimura) The green tint is quite noticeable

Swan-Band filter. With any luck I’ll get to test it with Comet C/2023 P1 (Nishimura) soon!

Fab unplanned session. Started out with the Summer Beehive (IC4665) before hunting down the lovely green planetary, NGC 6572. M2, the Saturn Nebula before Saturn itself. Some nice detail on the planet when hitting good patches of seeing. M71, M27 and then tracking down the trickier Blue Flash nebula. Spent some time with Jupiter before finishing up with the Moon. Tracking up and down the terminator with the 100mm Tak and 5mm Pentax XW was exquisite. I just used the APM UFF 30mm, Docter 12.5mm and Pentax XW 5mm with the Tak for the whole session. Mild but damp evening. Simple but very enjoyable session.

Got up at 3:30 to catch this comet. Compact and bright in the Tak FC100DF. I views it up to 148x mag with the Pentax XW 5mm. Responded really well to the increased mag. Really glad I got up to see this. Looking forward to seeing it more as it brightens.