Girders

I love my v.1 Virtuoso and now use it with a Mak 127. Would consider upgrading if the mount was available on its own (to avoid the limitation in alt before the scope bottoms out) but I’d really miss the physical L/R up/down buttons as they are easy to use with an eye on the eyepiece. Can’t really do that when controlling in a phone screen.

Thanks again everyone - I managed to dislodge it this morning by tipping it up and giving a very light tap. Mirror looks unaffected and hopefully collimation still ok.

Thanks for all the replies. I'll sleep on it (the decision, not the telescope) and get someone to give me a hand tipping it vertical tomorrow and see if it dislodges. Difficult to get a clear look at it, but can't think of anything else it could be. We do get a fair bit of leaves blown around and it was fairly windy for the hour I was out tonight. Will let you know if I decide to do anything.

Looking for advice please for debris on the primary of a Skyliner 200p Dob.. I know that I should largely just accept a bit of dirt and dust as inevitable - and that I'm generally more likely to do damage by cleaning, but this is a single bit of debris on an otherwise very clean less than a year old mirror. Probably a bit of leaf or similar that's blown in but doesn't dislodge by tipping the scope downwards. I know it won't affect views, but I'm concerned leaving it there may cause damage to the mirror. Debris circled in red in the attached pic. Any thoughts/comments/warnings/reassurance welcome. Thanks!

Hi all, about to start dipping my toes into very basic imaging. I can’t even justify calling it “imaging” - I’m just hoping for a few better/easier planetary photos than I can achieve with a smartphone adapter. Thanks to the ZWO sale at FLO I’ve got a 120MC-S arriving today. I’m expecting to use it on my Mak 127 on a SW Virtuoso mount with the WiFi adapter providing full go-to ability. I’m aware I’ll need to do a good alignment when setting up the scope but before that I’ll also need to make my finder alignment as good as possible given the narrow FOV of the camera and scope. I can do that during daytime to make it easier and was wondering if I can also do a basic test of the camera at this point also or if the daylight would totally overwhelm the sensor? I’ll be hooking it up to a MacBook using a USB cable and for now I’ll just be using the ASI Studio software (although may also try direct viewing by hooking it up to an Android phone). Any point in even trying to connect things before dark? Any other tips greatly appreciated too! Thanks

I've been a few times. Lots of tall trees - so definitely no option of setting up beside your lodge. May be worth a look down by the lakeside and the "street" lighting is fairly limited. Depends how dark you are looking for. I think you can come and go out of the village overnight but it could be a long walk to the car park each way depending on your location in the village. And although it's a fair bit further south than me in Glasgow, your hours of darkness will be fairly limited if you are going soon.

Although it's a well loved and rated scope, I know I'm not alone in finding the focuser tricky for fine adjustments. I've read of DIY solutions involving clothes pegs, but I very quickly decided I needed to add a helical focuser. Made a real difference to my enjoyment of it.

Hi Michael & Jaden, As others have suggested, tracking is a huge benefit for anyone who will be having "shared" viewing sessions with adults or any age/ability of child. The fact you can set the scope on a target and the object will stay in view for several minutes makes such a difference (speaking as a dad doings sessions with a now 7 year old for the last 3 years). My first scope was a small tabletop dobsonian mount but with motorised tracking (skywatcher Heritage Virtuoso) at around £180 if your budget would stretch to that. Comes in 2 versions - 114p Newtonian or 90 Mak. Both have advantages/disadvantages but would do what you're after on a good night - tiny but clear rings of Saturn and at least a hint of the main bands of Jupiter. Simple set up for each session will give fairly reliable tracking for several minutes. Full go-to capability can be added with the Skywatcher wifi adapter (£50ish) along with a smartphone but for it to be accurate it does require time/effort to align things each time. Good Luck with whatever you end up going for.

Thanks. Have downloaded for a play later. Had previously given KStars a go and not got along very well.

Thanks - and for the tip about sequator as I hadn't come across that before. Unfortunately (for astro stuff anyway) I'm a Mac user which is the other reason I've kept away from imaging as there seems to be a definite lack of Mac stacking software. And time. And technical skills. Which is why I stick to the single shot stuff. But please do PM me the settings you used and I'll maybe have a go over th Christmas break as I'm considering sticking a Windows partition on my Mac.

Thanks very much for such a detailed reply - much appreciated. It explains a lot though as I'd assumed your shots were single images (or night mode style integrated "stacking"). It never even occurred to me that you could use a phone for that many images or use flats etc. I'd only ever been tempted to do something with video. Now I know the work and effort you put in I'm quite happy with mine 🙂 I may be lured to the dark side of proper astrophotography eventually but for now I'll stick with point-and-click type images on my phone adaptor. But after your comment I'll give manual settings on the phone camera a go next time the skies are clear... sometime around 2023 I reckon. Thanks again for all the info.

Great pics. Can I ask what phone/settings you were using? I took some last night with 8” Dob and a Pixel3 using astrophotography mode but was having to stop the capture after a few seconds to stop overexposure and rotation. This was best I got but yours seem much crisper/sharper.

Hi Synq, Firstly, I'm not into the astrophotography side of things, but I do have this camera. This is a bridge camera with a built-in long zoom (12x?), so there's no way to attach it directly to a scope like you would a DSLR. It's also probably too heavy/awkward to attach using a phone adapter behind an eyepiece. I think I tried at one point setting it up on a tripod behind a scope but was never able to align things correctly. If I remember correctly you'll also have the problem that the maximum exposure length is short to keep the sensor from overheating - 4 seconds maybe? As such you'll probably find you can get better results using your mobile phone for bright planets or the moon - and even for the stars if your phone has a good night sky mode. Sorry that's not more helpful. On the plus side, I found this a brilliant camera for taking shots of the northern lights on a trip to Norway - much better than he Fuji HS-20 that we'd bought several years later. If anyone else has had more success using this camera I'd be delighted to hear about it!

Copy ordered from FLO for my 7 year old daughter. She'll love the book and the fact that a little boy only a little older than her wrote it.

Unfortunately not. It seems to be rather a niche product - possibly because it limits the weight to small scopes. But if you have search on the forum you'll see there are quite a few of us very happy with it. It comes in two versions a 114mm newtonian and a 90mm Maksutov - both have their merits. But yes, stock before Christmas will definitely be an issue (as it will be for most good telescopes at the moment). I think the binoculars and cheaper tabletop is a good way to go if budget allows. There are a couple of 76mm tabletop ones available - a skywatcher heritage one and the celestron one (which I think has a couple of variations). I *think* I've seen people suggest the Skywatcher as the better option but not sure of the details (I think the fact it has a finderscope was a plus). It's probably worth starting a new thread and asking for thoughts on the various 76mm options as you'll get input from people that wouldn't stop in to a thread on binoculars. But don't let people push you into more expensive options if you've decided that a basic entry level would be what works best for you and your son - and I agree with Tiny Clanger on the 'ownership' side of things that it's probably important he feels it's "his".

Hi Alexiaqq2, As I've got a recently turned 7 year old who was the reason I bought my first telescope a couple of years back I thought my experience may be helpful... First, a few words on your telescope. I wouldn't comment on the optics etc without doing more googling, but I'd worry about it's usability for children just based on the size and shape of it. When on the tripod and looking high in the sky, the eyepiece is going to be locate at the top of the scope - likely to require kids to e standing on a stool etc to view. It's tricky for kids to look through an eyepiece at the best of times without adding having to balance into the mix. I'd echo Scooot's recommendation of a tabletop dobsonian scope which should be in a similar budget to your Meade. We started with the Heritage 114p and virtuoso mount which adds motorised tracking - a big plus when swapping between people looking through the telescope. As for binoculars, I've stuck a pair of standard 10x50s on a £20 photographic tripod using a bracket and it works fine but as Scoot says, the benefit of binoculars is the fact they are handheld and you can scan the sky. My wee one has a cheap set of binoculars described as 30*60 but are 7 or 8x magnification. There are various versions on Amazon and they are fine for £10ish. She loves that they are hers, she can wander around with them and hold them without any difficulty because they are so light. And at £10 I'm not precious about them (although she knows to look after them and has been well warned about the sun!). I'd also pass on my biggest lesson. Depending on where you live and weather, don't overestimate how often you will be able to get out in the garden with a telescope. Admittedly we're in Glasgow so weather is a big issue, but so are the locations of the planets. In 3 years, although I've had plenty of fun in the middle of the night, there have probably only been half a dozen times when weather and planet positions have worked out at a sensible time for a young kid. Even without a scope there are great ways to feed a kid's interest in space - Maddie & Greg's Space Week on Lets Go Live on YouTube, Cambridge Astronomy's talks on Youtube etc. You can also pick up fragments of meteorites for under £10 which is a magical thing for kids to hold in their hands. Whatever you decide to do - good luck with it. My wee one is still going strong with her interest after 3 years and had a quick look tonight at a very small and very wobbly Mars tonight.

Hi all, I'm unexpectedly about to become a the owner of an 8" Skywatcher Dob thanks to FLO's Black Friday sale. I know that depending on target height will be an issue fo ray 7 year old daughter who often observes with me. With my current tabletop mount we often attach a smartphone for basic pics and to let her see images on the screen rather than viewing through the eyepiece which she finds tricky. Anyone tried casting video from an android smartphone to a Chromecast device attached to a TV or some other way to live stream to a laptop etc? I thought of posting in the EEVA forum but that's not really what we'd be doing as we wouldn't be stacking images or anything - just relaying the low quality images from the smartphone - so apologies if anyone thinks it would have been better posted there. Any comments or suggestions very welcome. Thanks

Ok, so, thanks to FLO's Black Friday event I suddenly seem to find myself unexpectedly expecting the arrival of a Skywatcher Skyliner 200P. It was always a scope I intended to pick up at some point (doesn't everyone have have one in their scope history?) but hadn't been planning an immediate purchase. But given the current availability issues when a customer return popped up on offer I quickly hit the BUY button. Normally I'd have researched and worked out any accessories and new eyepieces required, but now need to do that in a bit of a rush. I've got various bits and pieces from a previous tabletop 114 Dob and Mak 127 so have 25, 10, 6mm eyepieces (and a 4mm I never got along with) along with a 2x barlow. Should I be looking at a 32mm or 40mm for potential DSO viewing (although light pollution isn't great so I have low expectations for this). Collimation will be a new skill for me - are Bob's Knobs an essential purchase? A cheshire? Is there any benefit in picking up a 2" eyepiece of some size - would it be easier for my 7 year old to view through? And what else do I not even know that I need??? Any help much appreciated. Thanks

A few things in play here that affect the answer to that. In Glasgow I’ve certainly found it worthwhile getting the scope out for Jupiter and Saturn at times over the summer as long as you accept sessions will be late and fairly short. And shorter as you go further north. I’m in a pretty light polluted area, so even in the winter deep sky in objects are out of the question for me. But yes, if that’s what you are interested in, and your scope is capable of viewing them in winter, the lack of darkness in summer will rule out most of your targets. Personally though, I’m often happy with summer evening sessions looking at the moon. The brighter sky isn’t an issue and the warm(er) nights make for much more comfortable evenings than freezing in the winter! Stick some dates into Stellarium etc and see how the planets are located over next summer and work out when your best options are likely to be.

Hi samone, I’ve been very happy using the 127 on the Virtuoso mount. I’m just outside Glasgow so light pollution is pretty bad so my observing is largely the bright planets and the moon - which is why the mak was an attractive option. With my targets being low in the sky (for the foreseeable!) the issue of it hitting the base hasn’t been a problem If I was using the WiFi I think there is an option in there to limit the altitude to prevent any accidental bumps. I’ve just had a check and my diagonal makes contact with the base at 60 degrees - although I have a helical fine focuser in place between the OTA and diagonal so without that it would go higher before it was a problem. Hope that’s of some help.

I think you’ve done really well looking at the sky max and discovery options. Having been doing this with a 5 year old (now almost 7) having a scope that tracks makes a huge difference when sharing views. I’m also very happy with my Skymax 127 on a different mount although the narrow field of view definitely makes it tricker to locate things. You haven’t mentioned light pollution which may be the difference in your choice. If you are in a fairly urban area then you’re not going to see much in the way of DSOs anyway so go with the Mak, but if you’re rural the extra aperature of the 150 would be useful. You will want a power bank or supply. Do you have an outside socket if you think you’ll do most observing from the garden? You’ll need more eyepieces for the Discovery to get the magnification you’ll want for planetary, but the Skymax will need a Dew shield and has a notoriously fiddly focused which I found hugely improved by the addition of a helical fine focuser ( https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-accessories/zwo-125-helical-focuser.html ). You’ll probably also want a smartphone adapter which can be used for basic pics or as an alternative to viewing through the eyepiece which can be tricky even for older kids. Good luck!

Hi VaderAG, Here's what I've learnt over the last three years with a now almost 7 year old... My first purchase was a 114mm mini dobsonian and it was *just* enough to produce tiny images of Jupiter and Saturn that were recognisable. At the magnification required planets move quickly through the eyepiece. Taking turns is very tricky as by the time you've swapped it's moved on. I have a Virtuoso mini dob mount that's motorised and tracks - makes a big difference as things stay in view. Looking through an eyepiece is a skill that's hard for small kids to master. Even now my 7 year old struggles and prefers to view through a smartphone on an adapter. Even this is tricky to set up well. There are a very limited number of clear nights when the planets are well placed at reasonable times. Over three years, although I've had plenty of good middle-of-the-night sessions I could probably count on one hand the number of times my daughter has seen anything other then the moon (which she loves) . The Heritage 76mm (if you can locate one in stock) will give decent views of the moon, but even for that you probably need a 2x barlow to produce the kind of result a 5 year old expects from a telescope. I don't think there is a satisfactory solution for viewing the planets for kids under £200 (heritage 130p plus phone adapter plus additional eyepiece/barlow) but that would give you a "proper" telescope that would last years. But note that this would need to be an adult guided experience - although that probably applies for the 76mm also. Lastly, there are other (better?) ways to encourage a youngster's interest in space/astronomy. Lots of great books, Maddie & Greg's Lets Go Live Space Week on YouTube, Cambridge Astronomy kids talks on Youtube, buying them a piece of a meteorite (available from First Light Optics), or taking them out to a proper dark sky site on a moonless clear night to let them see how many stars are really out there. Well done for wanting to help their interest and for making your way here to ask questions. Good luck with whatever you decide to try.

If your budget is firmly fixed and the weight/size is OK for you I'd go for the Skyliner due to the focal length/eyepiece combination. Just using the supplied eyepieces the difference of a max of 75x and 120x is significant when you're considering looking at planets -difference between seeing Saturns rings as bumps/ears and as small but distinct rings. Both great scopes but I think you would need to spend more on additional eyepiece/barlow quicker with the heritage 150.

I suspect this talk will be pitched at a level above me and my six year old, but we'll certainly have a look at it later. I just wanted to say how great Matt Bothwell's talks aimed at kids as part of Cambridge University Astronomy on YouTube were during lockdown. Kept my daughter engaged throughout - and she would return for repeat viewings. All the CUA stuff was really good, but even the six year old knew that if it was a Matt Bothwell 'episode' it would be great. Throughly recommend them for anyone with young kids but I learned plenty too - Cambridge University Astronomy I *think* the first one is "Our Solar System & Beyond" . Definite #lockdownhero in this house along with Maddie Moate and Greg Foot.

That's very handy to know. Will have a think over next couple of days to choose which size to go for (first?) and will order one. I'll get the benefit from visual use myself anyway regardless of if things work out with the adapter.