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Everything posted by Stu1smartcookie
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Good and not so good YouTube astroinfluencers
Stu1smartcookie replied to 900SL's topic in The Astro Lounge
I tend to veer to reviewers of equipment , although i think i subscribe to nearly all the astro tubers . BD Observatory reviews some nice stuff for entry level . The old favs like astrobiscuit , and astro backyard .. although i like their earlier stuff more than the newer stuff. The astro biscuit video where he had to explain the £4k of gear to his wife was priceless . But , when he went a bit too nerdy and the videos got a bit intense it lost some charm . Pleased to see Astro Stace back on the scene . Small Optics is another youtuber aimed at the beginner . His vids are a bit hap hazard but are farily watchable ( see how mant times he says "OK" in a video ) To be honest we are blessed with a lot of good people keeping us entertained . Most seem to concentrate on Astrophotography rather than the visual side . -
What was it that Andy Warhol once said ?.. I reckon you will get more than your 15 minutes of fame for the photo , Lee Well done mate !
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Just a quick shout out to sing the praises of Altair Astro , Norwich . I ordered a small refractor which they duly delivered 24 hrs later . The box was completely sealed , but , when i opened it one of the screws on the 2" to 1 1/4" reducer had completely sheard off . There were a couple more minor issues with the scope so i contacted Ian by email (8;30 pm) . Ian responded that very evening and after a brief to and fro of emails we agreed to talk the next day , which we did and it was agreed that the OTA would be replaced ond the original picked up by the same courier . I am now the happy owner of a perfect little frac . But , just as important , i am also delighted by the service at Altair Astro. Once again they have speedily rectified something that wasn't their fault , with NO fuss , NO argument and with curtesy . Sure the product is paramount , but the service is a close second . Stu
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Dedicated thread for the DWARFLAB Dwarf 2.
Stu1smartcookie replied to Chaz2b's topic in Discussions - Scopes / Whole setups
Did anyone else feel like the Dwarf Labs Presentation was very ameteurish on YouTube yesterday ? Also they are updating the list of targets to , wait for it , 500 objects !!!! assuming 250 of those will be in the southern hemisphere , thats 250 for us in the NH . This Isn't the update that i expected .. The ZWO SeeStars is to have a database which includes a "Tonights Best " viewable from the users location . Thats how it should be done , surely . I love the Dwarf , but the presenters even described the interface as "rough" . Maybe the software should have been perfected before releasing it . After all the new interface does look better . Its just a shame about the limited target list . ( yes i know we can enter co-ordinates but thats fidly and time consuming and something that goes against the concept of simplicity of the product for the user ) I repeat ... i love the Dwarf , but it doesn't mean its above critisism . -
Lovely set up , and whilst waiting for those gas giants to appear at a reasonable time you will fall in love with the moon and some double stars
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I only got shown the posh parts .
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Noooo , Jeremy , do tell
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Hi Ian , yes … went to Alan’s house to collect it .. we had a nice chat . The CC needs the extension tubes to reach focus but I can get aaay with using just the 2” tube as long as I use a 2”diagonal . I must have missed Big Red as I set it up as soon as I got home last night lol .. had an enjoyable 45 minutes or so looking at the Cygnus region and the constellation Lyra .
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Yea indeed … I have had three of these mounts , so I must like them . As you can see from the photo I have a modified Starsense unit occupying the top clamp . I can indeed put both scopes on the mount but prefer just the one . The frac is for deep sky and the cassegrain for the planets and the moon . I can recommend the mount .
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A couple of scopes … the first is a 6” Stellalyra CC from FLO … ideal for A bit of Lunar and planetary . The second was a scope that “went on holiday “ from me to @Alan White and has now returned … welcome home , big red !
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C6 vs Bresser 127mm Maksutov?
Stu1smartcookie replied to Planets's topic in Getting Started General Help and Advice
I own the bresser Mak and it’s a very nice scope , but , being a Mak the corrector plate is a dew magnet so get a dew shield , also the c6 will suffer from dew as well . Although I kept the Mak I actually bought a stellalyra 6”classical cassegrain which I intend to use for planetary and Luna viewing . .. the advantage being , NO corrector plate and so the scope is less likely to be affected by dew . -
i suppose the worst conditions apart from the obvious blankets of clouds are spells of showery weather . Panic stricken quick teardowns of equipment that took 30 minutes to set up ! Only for the rain to last 3 or 4 minutes . Almost makes one start to cry !
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We say in the UK we have three months of winter and 9 months of bad weather 😂,which is a little unfair as we had a fantastic summer last year ... this year is more normal , cloud , wind , a bit of rain here and there . We take what we are given of course . But the good news is , the skies will slowly start to darken as from yesterday .
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I think a lot of us can echo your sentiments , Mike . So many variables have to "line up " .. if its clear then the sky doens't get truly dark at this time of year or its partly cloudy or rainy or too much wind . TBH unless its luna or planetary i tend to steer clear of setting up , in the height of summer .
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Great Pic Nik , saw the moon last night and really wanted to view it through my scope , alas , living on a new development which isnt finished i refuse to put my scopes out the front of the house because its like the Sahara out there, so , no moon for me at least until i can view it from the back garden .
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Why not start with a Star Tracker ? Ioptron SkyGuider Pro or the Star Adventurer 2i ... these are both in the region of £350 and if you already have a tripod you will be good to go . Its debatable which of the two trackers are best , personally i would lean towards the ioptron as it has a built in powercell .
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The "purists " ( not all of them) who are mainly into astrophotography scoff at the whole EAA idea . Maybe it twas ever thus , i can imagine when scopes started to be mass produced , "purists" dismissing them as "toys" . I do find an undercurrent of aloofness which tends to infiltrate the hobby . (personal opinion) . Strange really , after all , we are all in this hobby together , whatever equipment we use , whatever standard we are at ( i for one still class myself as a beginner ) . Indeed this forum encourages newcomers to the hobby to ask a question without being derided and ridiculed even if the question be a basic one . Surely we owe the same courtesy to a new product that brings another fascinating avenue to the many people who will be put off buying the larger variants due to cost . As the hobby evolves so does the equipment albeit at differing levels and quality .
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Skywatcher AZ GTI mount owners thread
Stu1smartcookie replied to AstroNebulee's topic in Discussions - Mounts
Nice , Simple set up , Lee . The az-Gti in alt az mode just as it was designed to be . You never know , it might catch on -
As a Dwarf Labs scope owner i am totally in favour regarding the See-Stars . If , like the Dwarf it manages to bring more people into the hobby than its a win for me . I can only speak for the guys producing the Dwarf , but they are upgrading their product "on the fly" although the updates seem to have slowed a little . The one thing missing is a complete database of objects to slew to . And that has to be updated to use the location of the user . Hopefully the See-Stars will incorporate this .
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How safe do you feel?
Stu1smartcookie replied to Samop's topic in Getting Started General Help and Advice
I will NEVER worry about clouds again 😂, after seeing this i am more than happy that we don't encounter such creatures (generally) in the UK -
Very nice , Martin
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Looks great Steve