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My long awaited Sky Atlas 2000.0 bought from Sky Publishing in the US. 

2nd edition 2016 includes more stars than the original 1981 as Hipparcos mapped stars have been added, so up to date. 

This is black sky white stars & laminated. Shiny but strong. I have a loose leaf same colour scheme first edition for holding individual pages. 

The whole volume is heavy foolscap size. A transparency overlay with grids and a Telrad circle is included, same as the desk/deluxe version but white lines. 

The way to use it is back lighting, shining a red torch behind the page you are looking at to make the stars & symbols stand out. 

4 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

NPLs are cracking eyepieces for the money IMO?. What you gain with LVWs is build and wider fov, but on axis there is very little to choose☺.

Dave

The SLV range is in-between, highly recommended. 

1 hour ago, Piero said:

Nice purchase Mike! 

I have the 42mm and works well with the Tak, when focus is obtained at 50% from the edge. Very comfortable eyepiece for scanning the sky.

Grab one while FLO still has stock IIWY!

Amazed people who have used one want to sell ?

Good for those who want one though ?

Geoptik bag to put the 120 Equinox in as the SW case it came in is coming apart.

I bought the size for the 6 inch 1200mm refractors, a bit oversize, but other stuff will fit in too like dovetail and rings and things.

Is the problem just only with wifi/cordless then? GPS is good but I have found on other devices that use it, that it is not smooth continuously progressive. 

Therefore if GPS from a mobile phone, the pickup and thus transmissed co-ordinates might be affecting your mount's tracking etc. 

2 minutes ago, Ande said:

There probably is something in settings on iOS, if I can find it. I’ll have a mooch.  Still don’t like having to keep looking at the phone just to find the buttons though. Maybe I could make a little cardboard template, with holes cutout for the buttons.

I like that. Low tech solution to high tech problem. You could make the template have physical buttons you can feel from a spongy material as well. 

Idea for Blue Peter on BBC

3 minutes ago, Ande said:

I’ve got this mount and, on the whole, using a mobile phone app is a great idea.  It is certainly a lot easier to set the mount up, and get it aligned, with the phone offering up it’s precise GPS data, and time etc. And all of the info about the night’s viewing is wonderfully laid out.  It’s a very easy, and intuitive app to use.  

However, for me, the biggest problem is when it comes to using the app to move the scope. On my iPhone, the virtual buttons are very small, and my thumb invariably wanders away from where it should be. Which then means that I have to look at my phone, and it’s bye-bye night vision. Although the SynScan app uses a black and red colour system, the iPhone always insists on showing an info bar  at the top of the app screen, which is very bright.  It wouldn’t be so bad if the app had a full-screen, buttons only page option that could be called up.  I find a handset far better for keeping my night vision intact.  Maybe I should just wrap an elastic band around the offending menu bar.

On Android you can choose not to display bars, & also change colour. Might be worth going into your Settings to see what can be done, or get a cheap larger screen phone. 

I would need to get a SW corded remote as fond of physical buttons. Maybe a Discovery would be cheaper as a package then. 

What is the largest SW scope the mount could handle easily?

2 hours ago, Ricochet said:

That is both shocking and unsurprising at the same time.

 

It's been in my garage as I have to modify it's intended dob mount first, had visitors for Easter so got delayed. 

9 minutes ago, Louis D said:

That is some seriously old school eyepiece construction technique.  Exposed retaining ring with spanner wrench notches?  It's probably why they covered it with that rather extensive rubber eye cup.

Cup stays on but rolled down to protect my glasses. Tak Abbe Orthos are the same old design. 

1 hour ago, Alan White said:

Oh yeah, until when? 

Until I can afford an ES or Masuyama 3 inch fit ep, and the focuser to take them

Bit late for New Telescope but yet to unbox the 300P. An OO UK VX10L up north keeps appearing in my dreams "you know you want a big F6.."  so maybe another one more. 

I doubt I will be FLO customer of the year, pricier buys than my total, look what imagers spend on mounts and gadgets, the real honeypot for retailers.

Happy to demonstrate real world Primaluce set-ups though

A coin, a clamp, and an eyepiece (my final buy). 

And here is the final eyepiece. A Takahashi 28mm 60 degree Erfle. 

It has about 20mm usable eye relief with its eye cup rolled down, or removed. Takahashi's largest AFOV ep. About on a par with Vixen LV eps. 

The eye lens is much much nearer it's cylinder top than either LE or Abbe Ortho eps. Eye cup aperture is wider. 

Being 1.25 the Erfle is light. Less than a TV 32mm Plossl. Same robust feel and checkered rubbery grip band. And Japanese made

My final eye piece, I am glad it's so pleasing. And intentionally an Erfle as was my very first, a Vixen 32mm. 

Many thanks to @FLO for ordering the Tak, & the other rarey eps I have bought from them recently.

This 28mm joins Vixen 32, Antares 32 & 40, TAL 12, Fullerscope 20 & GSO 30 in my Erfles case. 5 lens fun. 

Need to get to use some now!

2 hours ago, John said:

Here's one from my dim and distant past. Circa 1985, Astro Systems (Bedford) 6 inch F/6 (David Hinds primary mirror) on a Fullerscopes Mk II equatorial built for me by Dud Fuller. Saw Halleys Comet with this one

 

Ah, the deluxe "Export" finish. ? My Mk 2 was on a pedestal with black wrinkle paint. Still got the Vixen focuser that could take the 36.4mm screw thread eye pieces. It was not solid enough to keep a 13mm Nagler type 1 steady, let alone Barlowed. 

2 minutes ago, Paz said:

Here's mine...

Can just read 14 under the wires!  

2 hours ago, Grant said:

They are very, very different products - I doubt very much one will replace the other!

Please can you explain the differences, apart from obvious shape.

1 hour ago, FLO said:

Sshhhh! It wasn't a large delivery. We aren't sure how much longer they will be available 

The new wifi Star Discovery AZ mount is probably taking over, so maybe GTi has been discontinued.

Only 2 more pieces of kit to come now, a Tak 28mm Erfle & Primaluce clamp. Then done. 

I remember Kieron from the South Somerset Astronomical Society days back in the late 80s to early 90s. Kieron, a guy called John Brimble and another, Greg McNelly ran the SSAS then. 

Baader semi-APO 2 inch, big brother to my 1.25. Mainly for the TV Genesis using higher magnifications when 2x Barlowing the 20/22 to 10/11mm. 

1 hour ago, Alan White said:

Well the incoming has arrived, thanks Tring Astro.
Mmmm a collection starting I think.

That now makes 22mm, 13mm and 8mm LVW's.
 

3.5mm will be no problem. 5mm & up getting pricier. 30mm may still be around. 17 & 42 seem rarest after the 22 (which I see being advertised in the classifieds). 

10 minutes ago, nightfisher said:

Mike, looks a nice scope, hope it lives up to expectations, and really good to see pics of it, sadly my big Bresser has failed to impress me for imaging, great visual tube but most of my Luna visual is spent looking at the screen of the canon dslr, so sticking with old faifhful Mak 127

Nice to have a scope that's good for each

1 hour ago, iPeace said:

Mike, I thought you were going for an 8 inch. Did a dob seem too much? 

As a VX10L F6 attracts me, despite having a F5 10 inch, I can understand the appeal of longer FL/FR. Easier & less critical collimation & use of longer FL eyepieces are the appeal to me. What was your rationale?