Raph-in-the-sky

If you wanted to do a quick DIY for a 9x50 finder and a Telrad, how would do?

Hey Guys, Up until now, I beleived that dew wasn't affecting me... It sounded like a terrible plague to which I was immune ... Turns out I'm not! Last time I went out, after about 45 min both my telrad and my 9x50 finders were covered in dew and unusable for the rest of the nigth. My main mirror was fine though (SW 250px full tube). So here is my question. What should I do? I ve heard of dew shield (including home-made), heated dew shields, hair dryers,... What do you use and what would you advise for this issue? If someone could point me to a specific piece of kit that would be great! Many thanks, Raph

I would focus on getting a few decent eyepieces (probably plossls). Those will stay with you when you upgrade your scope (which you will probably do sooner than later if you get addicted like most of us). Colour filters are mostly useless and if you upgrade the scope you will probably get a decent finder anyway. Do not neglect second hand market. Prices are often close to 60-70% of the value new and astronomers tend to be really cautious with their equipment!

That sounds about right but I think that a book is necessary to start and those scopes won't fit with OP's budget. In addition, the eyepieces you get with those scope are trash so OP would have to spend a bit more cash to get at least a few decent plossls. Second hand is often a good option. That would be worth looking at

French + Beer ... you are ready for Belgium my friend. You should pay us a visit!

I meant a small AND decent car

Hello and welcome to SGL, First, let me tell you that you re partner is lucky to be with someone as thoughtful as you. You ve come to the best place to get advice (although it's not gonna come from me 😉 ). For your budget a good pair of bins is clearly the way to go. I cannot give you advice regarding which to choose but if I were you I would include a book dedicated to observing with bins. If you were a french speaker, I would recommend this https://www.stelvision.com/astro/boutique/coffret-ciel-aux-jumelles/ Maybe you should just quickly learn French 🙂

What almost killed it for me is my first scope! When I was 10 my parents got me a small refractor (60mm) for my birhday. I had a few looks at the moon which was great but I ve never been able to find anything else with it. I had no idea how to find planets (interenet was not what it is today) and the small book about DSOs I had only refered to scope from 114mm to 300mm ... Not knowing what to point at and the terrible quality of the scope almost killed it for me. I only got back to it recently when I realised you could get a great scope for little money. I used to beleive that a 10'' Dob was worth as much as a small car!

Oh... and Telrad is GREAT! Telrad + 9x50 RACI (right angle corrected) is a very efficient and popular combo for Dobs

I know it's a popular piece of kit but to be honest, I don't see the point of buying one to get a couple of decent pics of the moon and a few terrible pics from jupiter/saturn. Some will disagree.

I also recently got a 11mm T6 (second hand ) as my first TV EP. I just got first light with it but so far it seems to be a cracking EP!

To OP, If you re still looking for cheap EPs you should have a look on UK ABS. Especially those 2 ads: https://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=155552 https://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=155553 Most of these are less than £10 per piece and are better than what you would get in the Celestron kit

I just got my baader neodymium and it s great! This filter is mostly used for jupiter, mars and the moon. Some say it improves some DSO but people tend to disagree on this point. It is by no mean a UHC or OIII filter which are much more restrictive.

For the filter, most of us start with a UHC because you can use it on more targets. The OIII's main/most famous target is the veil nebula which is amazing and warrants the purchase of an OIII by itself (especially since it is very dificullt to see without it). Regarding the low power EP, I'm currently having the same questioning. I am currently using a GSO 32mm plossl which I find does a decent job but only give 1.38° of true field of view so I'am considering upgrading. So far the contenders are: 1) Skywatcher Aero 30mm +-£110 2) Skywatcher Panaview 32mm +-£100 3) APM UFF 30mm +-£180 In the end, it might just come down to what I can find in second hand.

This is a very good question. x240 is probably the maximum magnification that you would be able to use on a semi regular basis. If you go for an 8mm, you will be able to use it more often but you won't be able to push the magnification when you have a very good night which might be frustrating. These EPs will be used mainly for the moon, the planets, globular clusters and double stars. If you plan to get a Barlow at some point maybe you won't need the 8mm (15mm/2=7.5mm). Sorry for not giving you a definitive answer. I got the 5mm first but was really happy when I got an 8mm... Then I realised that 11mm would be nice too and bought a Nagler.... now contemplating buying a 30mm APM UFF. The quests for the right set of EPs for you is long and difficult and in the end it is very likely that you end up with a 5mm and an 8mm. Deciding what you want first is a matter of "do I feel the need to be able to push my scope to its limits when the weather is right or do I want an EP that I would use more often". I know I felt the need to be able to push the scope but I'm pretty many on SGL would advise against that.

Bortle 5 isn't that bad actually (I live in Bortle 9). UHC works well under a light polluted sky but will yield even better results under dark skies. My advice is to try to go to a dark place at least every once in a while ... it's worth it if you can manage

Good man! Telrad is the best kind of finder IMHO. Placing it first with something temporary to check if the position suits you is the correct way to do it. Afterwards you could fix it permanently.

One more thing to consider...have you got a Telrad finder? This is one of my favorite accessories !

Yes, this is exactly what I mean. I really preffer short focal lengh EP than EP + barlow... Despite having a pretty good barlow, I seldom use it. On the other hand the UHC filter comes out every single time I go out. It really significantly improves the contrast on many objects (only nebulae but it is a kind of target I really enjoy). Regarding the Skywatcher UWA, I have some of those and some BSTs and for a similar price I would choose BST's any day of the week and twice on Sunday!

I know its all relative and depends on one's taste but I will tell you what I would do if I were in your shoes (and I was not long ago). So, for £200, I would get BST Starguiders 5mm and 15mm, a GSO/Revelation 32mm Plossl and instead of the Barlow I would get a decent UHC filter (Explore Scientific sells for £44 at FLO).

There you go! https://www.firstlightoptics.com/astro-essentials-eyepieces/astro-essentials-nd96-0-9-1-25-moon-filter.html No need to buy a whole kit useless if you just need a moon filter!

Definitelly better off with on BST starguider than this kit!

You ve just made your first right move by joining the best astro community on the net! Welcome to SGL!

Hey guys, I would like some recommendations/comparison between cheap coma correctors. In another tread @Louis D mentionned the GSO/Revelation. How good is the GSO/Revelation coma corrector? Obviously, I am not expecting Paracorr performance but does it compare favourably to a SW or baader for example. Thank you in advance for your help! Clear skies, Raph

Fair enough. I'll start a new topic.