Stu1smartcookie

My first outing for over a week. Lots of high cloud ( as is the norm these nights) making the moon look less contrasty , but still happy to see it . Tried to look for a few DSO’s but , due to the diffuse light from the moon and the persistent cloud it proved to be fruitless.  So just contented to look at the likes of castor and regulus and a few other bright stars . In a normal ( if there is such a thing ) clear night this would be the absolute basic I would expect but we have reached such a “low” when it comes to actually using the equipment, that any patch of clear sky is now seen as a little victory .

One thing I did try was my new 6.3 reducer for the Celestron c8 … bought to use as a visual aid for a wider view … probably a bit fiddly when I want to revert back to view planets , but , I reckon it’s a good addition

Coverage in Indianapolis has to be the best so far ... Absolutely amazing . 

So, with total cloud cover I , like so many others are being amazed watching the NASA channel ... The total solar eclipse ... Amazing 

8 minutes ago, 900SL said:

You may choose to think that, but I don't consider that to be correct. I'm pretty certain that most astro-imagers don't feel threatened or undermined by the Seestar. Many seem to find it quite cute, like a little nodding dog doing tricks and cartwheels

It has been designed to provide a quick n dirty grab and go / point and shoot experience, and appeals to many who either lack the ability or ambition to bang their heads against the wall that is astrophotography, which ultimately produces far superior results

"Lack the ability" ????? We are surely not worthy ... Honestly , you really should choose your words more carefully .

On 29/03/2024 at 17:54, paulastro said:

I'm really getting fed up with how this thread has been hijacked by pages and pages from traditional  imagers  moaning that people actual have the temerity to  buy an S50 and even enjoy using it!  Shock/horror we don't all want to do what they are doing instead!

As Seestar users we shouldn't feel  we have to justify what we are doing and why.

It used to be a forum for exchanges of information, images and developments in the software etc for Seestars users.  Where users could encourage each other and enhance their own skills and knowledge.

Where someone new comes and looks at the forum now they must wonder what on earth is going  on and probably look elsewhere if they actually want to have some encouragement and help.

I'm considering 'unfollowing' the forum as almost every time I open a post it's not what I want to read about.

I'm surprised that the moderators haven't taken a look at it.

Well said sir.

No Need for me to add any comments really except to say that people i believe get a little frightened of anything that remotely undermimes what thay are doing . IE , someone who has spent thousands putting together a rig which basically does what a little smart scope can do for a fraction of the price . The real problem isnt the tech , its the people who cannot embrace someone with little knowledge who is able to "produce" an image without hours of painstaking processing through a little black magic box . And these scopes will only get better and better . Maybe the astro photography fraternity can't handle it ? One prominent YouTuber actually described the SeeStars as "cheating"!!!!!!! That was enough for me to unsubscribe from his channel . 

16 minutes ago, SwiMatt said:

One of my biggest fears right now is that while central Europe is getting terrible heatwaves due to global warming, we are getting this weather - and it will be the same year after year 😭

I think you are right ..and it's ruining the hobby for ALL of us . There are  only so many YT videos one can keep watching about astronomy  . I hope that we will get some settled weather soon but of course that will coincide with lighter evenings 

40 minutes ago, MonsterMagnet said:

Following on from this post, the Seestar did make it to the island in the South China sea and I have access to targets that I don't see in London.

It's obviously not as good as a full rig, we are all in agreement about that, but I simply couldn't bring that on a mainly city based holiday in Asia.

The skies are dark though and I think the Seestar did pretty well.  Here is 1 hour of 20 second exposures on a section of the Carina nebula (processed in PI), clearly something I wouldn't get to image with my main rig at home.

MM

 

A good point well made . I had a Seestars but sold it as I didn't feel a connection to the night sky when using it( after the initial euphoria of seeing things that I had only seen before in magazines) as I am a visual astronomer... But the portability is one of its, and the Dwarfs main strengths. I actually still have a Dwarf 2 . These smart scopes have their place in astronomy and are here to stay and will only get better. I think we all should embrace things that promote astronomy and being it to people who are put off by the hobbies formerly stuffy image . 

Out for what seems like the first time in weeks … the Williams Optics ZS81 sitting on the nexstar mount .. clouds coming and going but the Beehive looking resplendent. Plaides were nice too … colour correction on the scope is great ( first light for this beauty) . Tracking is better and better thanks to the mounts “sync” control . A good evening 

A friend of mine has just told me this very sad news regarding Alyn.  I , like everyone , am stunned by his passing . Sending thoughts to his family and friends .He will be greatly missed by us all . RIP 

Lol it could be the moon, although nobody really knows what it looks like anymore. 

I would like to have a Tak in my collection, but i am not sure even a Tak can cut through the incessant rain and cloud. In reality i am quite happy with my three scopes . Different focal  lengths and ratios . I might even get to use them one night lol 

2 minutes ago, wookie1965 said:

Yes it is and I really should not of got it as I have been shafted before from them with the Meade 127mm, the flint and crown where the wrong way around and the focuser was plastic jumped around all over the place I got a Skywatcher dual speed focuser and had a adapter plate made cost me over £250 I really should never have sold that. 

The unacceptable side of buying used , i think most of us have had shall we say questionable purchases .I really hope you are able to sort everything out . 

Shout out to RVO who without drama sorted an issue and sent out a replacement item all within 24 hours . 
That’s great service from a company that knows how to treat their customers. Together with Widescreen Centre I find both a pleasure to deal with . The key is being actually able to communicate verbally . Emails are all well and good but they often cannot convey the right tone . And often are perceived to be rude . Well done Adam and the crew at RVO . 

Sometimes you define a company on how they put things right . The DPD man brought me two items , a polar scope for my AVX and an Aux splitter ! But I ordered a polar scope and an Astro gadget Celestron WiFi module !!! 
RVO , were quite rightly full of apologies and were going to send the correct item out … 

As luck would have it , we are travelling to Yorkshire tomorrow!!! So , a trip to RVO is now part of the route . 

 

1 minute ago, bosun21 said:

Now on reflection and after reading so many recommendations from members I think I may have been a tad hasty in giving up with them.

I dont think you were a tad hasty , Ian ... you outlined perfectly why the EP didnt work for you mate . I second what you have written . What do we say " horses for courses" ?

This EP has been around for some time and generally gets rave reviews , i owned one briefly but , even though i dont wear specs small top lens was a bit prohibitive . 

I did like the "click stop" though and it seemed really well constructed . Compared to the cost of the TV its a no brainer buy as our sky in the UK doesnt have the best clarity for the majority of time ( no matter how good your optics are , the atmosphere is a bit of a  leveller) . 

At 3mm though through my 180Mak with a Focal length of 2700 ( x900 mag) its shall we say a bit of a no go . 🤣

But SVBony do make great gear and i reckon its a real winner . 

Mr DPD brought me my latest aquisition ...  An AVX mount , fresh from the FLO warehouse ... still boxed and in the car so no pics , but hey , we know what they look like don't we . 

Hopefully i can get some nice Moon photos with my 180 Mak . Using a 10mm EP with that Mak on a mount without tracking was akin to seeing a Formula One car race by a small window at 200mph !  

UPDATE

Unboxing was the usual " what the hell am i going to do with all this packaging " .. Slight issue with the motor cover which tbh is cheap plastic. It was broken where one of the screws fastens it onto the mount , but , as no plastic was missing i was able to glue the offending part and now its fixed . Shouldn't have to do such stuff and it did wind me up but , all's well etc . Of course i tried a few dummy runs and , using sky safari as a reference found that my alignment was very good . One thing that did please me was the sound of the mount whilst slewing . I seem to remember my last mount was quite loud whereas this one seems a fair bit quieter, maybe thats just me imagining it , but i'm happy . 

lol... you certainly can tell when the sky is cloudy . Posts like this appear . 

Have to say i cannot remember a time when i drink anything whilst using the scope , but if i were to then it would be tea . I do have some lovely Georgian wine in the house which i will save for when i am having a very relaxed evening without worrying about incoming clouds or rain .

1 hour ago, M40 said:

They are orion optics rings, here's the linky...

https://www.orionoptics.co.uk/product/cnc-cradles-222mm-dia-to-fit-celestron-180mm-mak/

Not cheap plus my ones were not a tight fit so I put a thick belt of material plus draft excluder between ring and ota which worked perfectly. 

It is a bit of a task to fit them as the existing dove tail is fixed by loose nut and bolts but it can be done without affecting the collimation of the skymax. The corrector plate is held in place by three screws and it goes back in exactly the same position. Neil H and myself flocked the tube at the same time, that will affect the collimation but it is straight forward.

There are two topics in the diy astronomer section, one by Neil on the collimation and another by me on the handle/flocking. Neither Neil nor myself found a good source on the flocking/collimation of the skymax180. Captain Scarlet has done an excellent post on reverse engineering the Skymax180, again in diy astronomer so if you choose to do the handle, it would be well worth a read. All the best.

Many thanks for the above . I am not too confident regarding taking the 180mm apart at present but i think rings are a good idea . As for flocking etc , hmmm i'm a little hesitant but as they say , never say never . 

Ok , so , AVX ordered from FLO ... for a delivery ( hopefully) tomorrow . 

1 hour ago, M40 said:

Fully loaded the 180 is 11.00kgs. This includes a losmandy bar. The skymax sits nicely on an heq5.

what size rings are those please 

1 hour ago, F15Rules said:

I have found the exact same Stu..

About 6 years ago I was driving to work and my right (dominant eye) vision quite quickly went very blurry and "milky".. it was a scary experience!

I got an urgent appointment with an optician, who advised it was age related (I was 62 then) and he likened it to bits of material detaching from the sides of my eye and floating around - rather like a snow scene ornament you shake and then watch the "snow" settle..

He said it should settle by itself but that there is no treatment for it. Thankfully it did settle a fair bit. But I can't now view with right eye only.

I trained myself to view with my left eye, which thankfully is still reasonably good.

I have also found that binoviewers definitely help with viewing Moon and planets..there is some light loss when using binoviewers vs "cyclops", perhaps c half a magnitude, but more comfortable.

And I definitely find when binoviewing that my "good" left eye "lifts" my bad right eye, not the other way around.

For stellar images (point sources), doubles and fainter clusters I find left eye only viewing best.

So now, I have Maxbright II binoviewers and 3 pairs of eyepieces plus barlows, and c 8 single eyepieces plus an eyepatch to cover my weaker right eye for cyclops.

HTH,

Dave

As i have sort of settled on planetary /Luna viewing i think i am going to try BinoViewers (again) . Firstly i think they take the pressure away from using one eye but also , despite a slight brightness limit , i think the overall experience can only be positive . Not for everyone of course . 

It seems the AVX gets a lot of love... Payload is good , price is good , and the ability to limit the slew speed . 

13 minutes ago, Shimrod said:

You can set the maximum slew speed of the AVX to limit the noise. In normal tracking operation you won't hear a thing, but it is noisier (although I don't think noisy) when slewing between targets. Setting maximum slew speed one down from maximum eliminates the noise issue for me. It takes a few seconds longer to move between targets at opposite sides of the sky, but if moving between targets in the same area of sky you probably won't even notice the difference.

Thats a great shout ( or whisper if we are talking about reducing noise ) , Many thanks for that .

Well well well , the weather geeks have done it again .. got it wrong of course .. meant to be cloudy all evening but there is enough clear sky and the seeing is absolutely perfect.. in fact I’ve never seen Sirius so still . The moon is the star of the show with plato looking resplendent . A happy Smartcookie just sitting outside . I left my 180 Mak outside for just over an hour before use . It proved to be a winner .