robbymain

The Vixen APP-TL130 tripod is a lot better than the standard one supplied with the Porta II....

The Lacerta Microfocuser upgrade is excellent - I have one on my 150P.

Hi All Calling all iOptron AZ Mount Pro owners! I was considering an Alt-Az mount for my CT8 reflector and have been investigating the AZ Pro as a Goto option - but it would appear that I would have to install it upside down with the finder underneath if I want the focusser to be 'outside' as the pointing direction is fixed as per this: Seems like a major oversight if you can't swap this direction in order to select which side you want to install the scope on. Any thoughts? Cheers, Rob

Hello all Just in case anyone has tried this, do the Skywatcher EQ-5 dual axis drives work properly on 5V delivered via a USB battery? It's designed for 6V using 4 D cells.... https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-mount-accessories/enhanced-dual-axis-dc-motor-drives-for-eq-5.html All the best, Rob

Welcome Timdog from Bristol - my old Dad is from Ashington (now in Edinburgh) and have family who are in Morpeth, Whitley Bay and Walkworth etc. Cracking bit of the world and fabulous dark skies nearby. The most impressive stars I have ever seen was one random night near Coldstream on the Northumbria side 😃

Hi Andrew I’m very much looking forward to picking up a used CT8 from a fellow SGLer once lockdown rules allow and will be putting it on my classic green Vixen GP-E. It should be ok for visual use (I’ve had a precursor to OOUKs VX8 on a GP before and it didn’t complain) and but I’m hoping to find a used SX2 before too long that has a photographic capacity of 12kg - I do agree that it’s better to have plenty of loading capacity spare if you plan to do much imaging at all! All the best with the CT8, perhaps we can swap notes once we have some use under our belts?!

Hi Neil and a warm welcome! I grew up in Edinburgh within sight of the Royal Observatory and miss it very much. If I remember correctly, the local Astro Club has a very good Dark Site near Eddlestone just off the A703 Peebles Road - what I wouldn't give to visit a similar spot at the moment!!!

Useful thread for me - I tried and failed to visually pick up M51 or M101 last night in a 6" reflector and rubbish skies. I will see about getting the Bortle measurement for my back garden... OK Clear Outside reports Class 6 but my estimate based on the criteria is 7-8.

Hello all Here's my best effort from my second try at imaging Venus with a 500D - this time through my 150P reflector: Quite pleased with the lack of CA compared to my previous attempt using a Megrez 72. Just been taking a look at the expert's results in the Planetary Imaging forum and some of those images are simply fantastic - it's pretty epic what the stacking techniques can produce! Stay well everyone, Rob

Extraordinary stuff! Well done 😃

Hello my fine fellow SGLers, Following a much needed brandy-laced hot chocolate around the firepit (amaretto for her) after a bit of a frustrating day working from home, I enjoyed lunar first light through my new-old Megrez 72 with a Baader Hyperion Zoom (picked up IAF 2020) and dedicated 2.25x Barlow. Slowly exploring the terminator of the 96% full moon provided some rewarding sights - the jewel-like mountaintops poking out of the Southern shadows and I spied what looked like a narrow valley protuding to the NE of Riccioli - very pretty! Stay safe everyone, Rob

Hi folks Here's my first attempt at imaging Venus, taken at dusk on Sunday evening: Again this is with a Megrez 72, 500D and a 2.25x Baader barlow - only post processing is cropping away a lot of empty sky (!) and some chromatic aberration correction using Rawtherapee to remove some red fringing. Not very sharp but I'm chuffed you can see the phase properly! Stay well everybody, Rob

Mmm Isn't there an option to download the image in various sizes including original?

Does this work..?

Hello people My first stab at the Moon using prime focus with a 500D and a 2.25x Baader barlow on my Megrez 72. Think it was 1/120 of a second at ISO200... This was taken at early dusk - and a good thing too as the sky was covered in cloud by full night! Also had a wee go at Venus which I will post in a bit 😃 Stay well and safe all, Rob

Cracking shot!

Enjoyed a short session on Tuesday evening from my heavily light polluted garden in North Bristol - pity the reduction in people being at work doesn't translate to less lights being on at night!!! Finding the trusty Beehive in Cancer was surprisingly tricky but well rewarded in the TV 32mm Plossl, followed by an equally elusive M36 and M38 in Auriga. First time using my new 10mm Radian which was vey nice indeed. My wife is showing interest in seeing Venus kiss the young crescent Moon on Saturday 28th so I'll see if I can impress her with being able to see the phase of Venus through the telescope the same evening - I'll need the brownie points if I want to upgrade my lowly 150P in the near future. Thinking about an OOUK 8" or a 10" Dobsonian of some kind...?! Stay safe and well all my fellow SGLers!

Right I need me an 8 or 10” Dob lol

Righto Thats me off to to Tenerife on Tuesday - currently typing this with rain lashing against the patio doors here in Bristol so looking forward to some warm sunshine, and of course clear high altitude skies and DSOs 😃 I also booked onto the 'Teide By Night' excursion and considering visiting the Observatory - will report back!

I really enjoyed my visit on Friday morning - my first ever astro exhibition! Spoke to lots of exhibitors but it was especially good to meet and talk with FLO's Grant and Rob plus Rowan Astronomy's Derek and Dave on the Ikarus Imaging stand. I was really impressed with the AZ100 with Nexus DSC - far more capable and high performance than I could consider just now but one day...?! The StellaMira refractors were very nice as well. The 2 talks I attended (Doomed Massive Stars and The Inspiring story of the Hubble Space Telescope) were extremely good and I would have happily attended more. Chatting to the Naglers about their Apollo 11 anniversary eyepiece was another highlight! I did lookout for any of my fellow SGLers but the only person I bumped into was Eddie, a fellow member of the Bristol Astro Society 😃

Conference ticket bought for Friday a.m. session 😃

Yes I received mine - the reference on the online payment was RMI SERVICES LTD btw

It's a Manfrotto 055 Aluminium one - a chunk lighter and less bulky than the one supplied with the Porta 2

Hi All Having finished putting together a travel setup I wanted to share it with you good people on here. I know lots of folk are interested in an airline-portable travel solution so here's my take on it! The scope is a nice used William Optics Megrez 72 which only needed a little TLC - a quick dismantling, clean and reassemble plus some replacement of felt tape for getting a nice snug sliding fit for the dew shield (no lock screw on these older WO models). The mount is a Vixen Porta 2 with the saddle clamp replaced with an ADM upgrade - it's much better engineered than the Vixen original and works extremely well with the scope's short fixed mounting foot/L-bracket. The tripod is an aluminium Manfrotto 055 that I picked up new for a ridiculously low price before Xmas (25% discount from Wex plus £50 cashback from Manfrotto!!!) To mount the Porta head on the tripod, I bought the Vixen photo tripod adapter plate only to find that the centre hole is a 1/4" thread - and the tripod legs have a 3/8" stud? So, I bought the required tools and drilled and tapped the hole myself to 3/8" and I'm happy with the result. Funny that Vixen don't offer both options? Lastly, I drilled and tapped a new M5 hole in the scope for mounting the WO RDF in a sensible orientation - the provided position is correct for mounting the scope with the mounting foot/L-bracket underneath (suiting a camera/video-type tripod head, or a fork & cradle altaz mount like a Televue Sky-pod). Currently it's shown with a WO 1.25" diagonal and a TV 32mm Plossl which might be replaced with a 2" one and a Hyperion Zoom before it's off to Tenerife for the February new moon (thats the plan anyway!)

I bought the Vixen adapter not realising the mismatch and ended up drilling and tapping the hole to 3/8"-16 UNC to match the stud on my new Manfrotto 055. I wonder why Vixen chose a 1/4"-20 hole when the mount would clearly be screwed directly to a medium to heavy duty photo tripod?! Seems odd to me!