Stu1smartcookie

Agree ... flipping freezing !!

It would have been a problem but I angled the EP a full 90 degrees and it worked a treat . To be honest Ian I actually prefer the starsense on a dovetail but then I can only utilise one scope ( first world problems eh? ) The brilliant thing about the starsense is that it doesn't mind what scope it's paired with ( what a tart !!) I think I might go down the EQ route the same as you and add some motors for silent tracking as I found the SkyTee a bit clumsy . I suppose describing it as "industrial" just about covers it Clear skies mate Stu

Lovely report Ian ... Cold out there wasn't it ? But totally worth it . Tonight and Tuesday night is forecast clear . We are a hardy but incredibly enthusiastic bunch aren't we

Me too , regarding no view to the west ... Unless .... I set up at the front of the house which I rarely do because there are numerous houses around . But Monday evening I'm giving it a go because most of the "action" in the sky is there. Targets will inclued Venus and I might have a small window to view mercury .

So, the next three nights all forecast to be clear... Setting up the large and the small with another hybrid bracket for the starsense... Got to line everything up before darkness.. the wind has dropped considerably which is nice... Hopefully everything goes according to plan... Good luck to everyone setting up tonight.. we've earned these clear nights . Stu

I sold my StellaLyra on here ... so it was probably mine you saw for sale lol ... but i reckon i would be looking at a larger size maybe a 10" or a 12"

Interested in this EP ... seems its performing really well , nice one , and a nice report . Stu

Very nice Paul ... i kind of regret selling my Dob , and now you are confirming it .. 😂.

This set up makes the skywatcher wedge llook like a toy , fantastic .

Thanks Paul I wanted a computerised GOTO mount at first but because we have families with very small chidren on both sides of us i was worried about the noise that a motorised mount makes ... especially in the summer time when we (might) have warm weather and windows are open , so the Starsense has proved a game changer . @StevieDvd has printed another bracket for me so the starsense can now be fitted to individual scopes which will allow two scopes to now be used on the skytee . Oh , and another plus for the starsense is that it can be used with a non GOTO star tracker if its attached to the scope/camera which will mean easily finding non visible targets , saving a lot of time . Stu

Our First clear evening for about 2 weeks saw the "real"first light of the 152mm Starwave on the SkyTee , along with the modified starsense unit . Aligining the starsense to the scope and RDF was a simple process that literally took 2 minutes . The starsense needs to be pointed at a clear sky , and it needs to "see" stars . That may sound obvious but i noticed it was almost 8;30 before the final callibration was complete ( Damn you BST ) . Once complete and the starsense had done its plate solving i slewed to the first target . I chose an easily visible one ( Mizar) just to make sure everything was working . Absolute breeze to use . One has to move the Scope or in this case mount quite slowly otherwise the starsense gets a little confused but the arrowed area remains and to be honest i found it soon caught up with my eagerness and speed . Right on target then ! The plus point for waiting for darkness was that the scope was cooled and ready to go ... a 6" frac does need a decent cooling time . Ok i went on to view a couple of other visible stars ... and then set about the challenge of finding some dimmer objects . I had a northern , and sothern sky to aim at so M81 & M82 were next on the list ... straight to the target , no faffing about . The onto the Beehive cluster and then to M67 , which i had never seen before . I was switching between a 28mm EP and my "new" 18mm ortho EP . Finally i wanted to view the Leo triplet which was due south . My first ever view of these and a great sight . The thrill of seeing a small fuzzy patch will never wane . So , a successful evening all made possible by the starsense and the lovely Starwave . , Happy but a bit cold lol Stu

A nice post lady brought me this lovely EP courtesy of @F15Rules (Dave) . Really looking forward to using it tonight . I now have the 6mm, 10mm and the 18mm .

Don't worry Stu , they all look the same colour in the dark ... having said that my Starwave has been sitting in our spare room on show instead of being under dark skies due to weather . It looks lovely on a white skytee mount .

Maybe we can start a 152mm Starwave club ... tonight is forecast (almost) clear ... sooooo looking forward to putting the starsense and this scope to the test . I have a dual fitment for the starsense so it can even be deployed in the finder bracket on the scope , but its a perfect fit for the skytee with the dovetail .

Not the best scope in the world , but a very important part modified by @StevieDvd (part one with the second part to come ) a lovely starsense module robbed from an LT70 AZ .. just need a clear dark sky to finish the alignment, guessing that will be the most difficult part... The clear sky bit !

Early evening near Ely , Cambs looks promising. So I set up my az5 out front where Venus and our moon are making a fine pairing . Moon looks great in the 127 Mak but despite a counterweight keeping the tripod weighed down the wind is at its menacingly at its worst . I persevered for about 30 mins before giving up … that’s the problem , the first proper clear night for ages and the wretched wind spoils it . Zzzzzz But it’s such a quick set up , I’m ready for the next opportunity.

I really liked his early YT vids, ... the funniest when he blurted out the cost of a scope and his wife heard . Priceless ... and something we all fear lol Actually , on a serious note .. his stuff was so engaging for people just entering the hobby and showed that astronomy doesnt have to be expensive .... where did i go wrong ?

i would love to use it Craig ... it seems the weather gods didnt like me buying it 😂

Thought i might add a photo of my 152mm Altair Starwave ... Its a bit heavy at 9kgs but reasonably short (750mm ) with the dew shield retracted . Alas its only been on my SkyTee mount for two very brief sessions as the weather has been quite shocking ... still i like looking at it when its stored in our spare room 😂

What a great post ... many thanks Ags . Such an interesting world .Fascinating .

How very very true .

I had the sony F1 which included a Betamax video recorder ( in two parts ... linked by a thick cable ) and the Sony F1 camera ( which was akin to the size of the old tv cameras .. but somehow listed as portable !!!!) My back still aches just thinking about it . Having said that Betamax was the better system but the power of multiple companies producing for the inferior/cheaper vhs market (spit) won out . I aggree , David , knowledge is now more easliy obtainable and the S@N has stood still , so to speak . Its become nothing more than an occasionally interesting watch , but in effect has become even more niche . The program should imo concentrate on attracting new people to the hobby , have a section on astro photography and one based purely on visual astronomy . A real shame .

Great ...for them ! But , no disrespect , whats the point of a program being made for a British audience , being filmed in Australia . Its a complete waste of our money . Far better to concentrate on northern hemisphere skies, clear or not . Also they could revamp the program to include things that actually matter to ametuer astromomy enthusiasts . Thats why i like their monthly video on YouTube which gives us a guide to most of the interesting celestial events happening in the night sky . A very interesting 25 minutes . Its far better than the Sky At Night program , incorporating that into the SAN would be a worthwhile addition ., imo .

As a keen "watcher of weather " ...even more so now , for obvious reasons , i doubt whether the weather ,be it wetter or better , will listen to any forecaster . But full marks for giving us all hope .

Very neat .