Stu1smartcookie

3 hours ago, Ratlet said:

Think tonight is going to be clear for a lot of the country.  Going to be WILD in here tomorrow lol.

Hoping some more folk will post some sketches lol.

And ….. yes yes yes , very clear although a bit nippy , but I have gone outside with shorts on !!! Viewing through some 15x70 Celestron Binos tonight , the plaides , double cluster look great … but tonight the best view so far is Andromeda  , definitely my best view yet .

Hmmm not convinced, we will see, hopefully  

Nothing but cloud cloud and more cloud over the last few nights zzzz . Nice to read that others are having better luck though . You are my eyes on the sky !   

A nice little Baader Mk iv from the Widescreen Centre and some Bobs Knobs from FLO 

3 hours ago, 900SL said:

Don't believe a word Trevor says. He's a YouTube influencer. 

Yeah , its a bit of a shame ... i really like the guys presentation and he seems genuine but he got involved in the Radian Raptor shenanigan where he maintained he designed the scope , when in reality it was a carbon copy of the Sharpstar 61 . For the record , i must have one of the better Star Adventurers as mine tracks and works perfectly . 

50 minutes ago, tbones147 said:

Sorry for the cloudy skies going forward, the postman has kindly delivered a Svbony 7-21mm zoom lens. I'm just hoping its better than my stock 25mm & 10mm. Not got the funds for anything expensive so have gone this route. Still new at this lark, and learning the ropes.

I think you will be more than happy with that EP ... its a real bargain . 

4 minutes ago, TheycallmeRiver said:

eVscope 2 arrived.

Mid life crisis confirmed 😆

This is where i am going to end up  .... love this tech , cant wait to read your report after 1st light .

Set up with plenty of time to spare , no dramas , no rushing . 

Went outside earlier , for my first effort since my op ... It didnt last too long though as clouds have rolled it . Should have got everything ready a lot earlier as camera batteries were not charged ( schoolboy error ) but polar aligned the Star Adventurer and "thought " I was doing ok , until I realise I had forgotten to put the memory card in the camera zzzz . But just nice to actually be outside again .

2 hours ago, Alien 13 said:

Nice, that tripod looks very much like mine. Those bowl levelers are brilliant.

Alan

Hi Alan , I bought an inferior product that I had to adjust three screws , what a faff , but as you say , these are brilliant and really reasonable price wise .

Well I bought my tripod , and a little leveller which seems to work a treat 

Manfrotto get a good press , many thanks for the suggestion , I am on YouTube checking out stuff so I will look for this tripod ... Many thanks @Pixies

Hi Mandy , the plan as it stands is to get an EQ mount but also to use the small scope with the star adventurer  , so you are a bit ahead of me 

I have an AZ 4 , fhe tripod is equivalent to the EQ 5 but it's heavy for a set up that I want to be light but stable . Choices choices ... Lol 

Just thought i would get a few ideas regarding the tripod you use to mount a star tracker . Assuming the max payload of 5kgs ( or under ) i have used , in the past , a steel EQ5 ,with adapter, a Geekoto Alluminium tripod and a sirui carbon fibre tripod . Each had their pluses and indeed minuses . The steel tripod was rock solid but of course the portability suffers , the alluminium tripod was ok but a bit flimsy , whereas the Carbon Fibre was a nice weight although a bit on the pricey side . For the record  i rarely take equipment out into the field prefering the back garden . but its still nice to move everything outside witout too much weight .

My set up includes a sharpstar 61 ii scope and a dslr .  

If anyone has any specific tripods in mind, or any sugestions  , let me know please .   

Not my first one of these , but a very timely purchase all the same . Thank you @TerryJ. All in excellent condition and well packed too .

Lowering , by definition will be easier as gravity gives you a hand . Those bolts are not the best and some people change them . You could loosen both bolts then unscrew one of them and manually raise the mount . Its not ideal but it works , then you can tighten them enough so you can make fine adjustment . ( sorry if i havent't explained this very well ... its easier to say it rather than write it  )

I generally have two scopes , although i do tend to change scopes quite a lot . My Sharpstar is for widefield , my 8SCT is for planets . But ive no "middle " scope so another purchase may be necessary , especially as i have 3, soon to become 4 mounts !! Damn this thread ... its encouraging me to buy 🤣 

2 hours ago, Ian McCallum said:

I'm at a point where I no longer want to go further into the rabbit hole that is astrophotography, due to costs of getting more equipment.  Whilst I can do AP on a budget, I find that the time required to set up the mount, polar align, connect all the gear and run the software (allowing for computer problems) is killing the hobby for me.  I'm tempted to go back to just purely visual observing.

I could have just stuck with my SW 200P Dob and still been happy, but with more money in my pocket.  I felt drawn to refractors, so got a 2nd hand SW Evostar 120.  That required a better mount and tripod than I had at the time, so I bought an SW EQ5 Deluxe mount.  I wanted to motorise the mount, so I got a SW Enhanced Dual-Axis motor drive kit.  This allowed my to do some rudimentary AP, using the ST4 port on the hand controller.  I then bought a ZWO ASI120MM mini guide camera, but I found that I didn't like ST4 guiding.  I then decided that the EQ5 Synscan Pro Goto upgrade kit was the way to go.  That certainly made improvements, as did getting a small RPi to do standalone stuff, very clever stuff!

I thought that a one shot colour camera would be even better, so I got the ZWO ASI224MC one.  It's gave me some good images, over the time I've had it.  I recently bought another refractor - a SW ST120 OTA, for wider views of DSO than can be obtained through my SW Evostar 120.  The idea was to do DSO imaging with the ST120, along with a Baader Contrast Booster filter attached to the from of the ASI224MC.

A mixture of poor weather, technical limitations of the budget equipment and my own limitations, have caused my to pause for the moment and reconsider... 

I'm thinking of selling the cameras and going to back to purely visual, but getting a AZ5 mount for the existing tripod (with adapter).

Ian ... what a refreshingly honest assessment , and one which i certainly understand .  

Buying the AZ5 is a great idea as it gives you the freedom to just set up in a few minutes .  I wish you well with your new direction . The key is , you are still into astronomy . Good luck mate .

4 minutes ago, WolfieGlos said:

I've had the SW 72ED since April, used purely for imaging. Despite collimation issues in the corners, it's been a good beginners scope to me.

I imaged the Moon 2 nights ago with a DSLR, single shot between the clouds. Cropped and enhanced with Siril wavelets.

Nice clean shot . Small fracs are more and more popular these days ( I'm a big fan , owning a sharpstar 61 ) . Really portable and fun to use visually and of course for widefield photography. Gives the op another reason to consider the 72ED . 

2 hours ago, Louis D said:

Not so much in the US.  Without sales tax, the SW 72ED ranges in price from $400 to $540 while the Astro-Tech AT72EDII FPL-53 is $489.

For comparison, the Astro-Tech AT70ED is $329.  It is the closest successor to my AT72ED.  The TS-Optics 70 mm F6 ED is identical and priced at €318.49 excluding VAT.  Both brandings have an R&P focuser.

Yeah it seems a high price in the States , which is a shame . 

I have owned a 72ED and its a loverly little scope , but , as has been pointed out there are some shortcomings , a slippy focuser and the said focuser not having much travel . A 127 Mak has a real sweetspot when it comes to Lunar .But the Evo  72ED is very well priced and gives very clear views ,  and sits very well on a photo tripod or star tracker . For a quick G&G its a great buy . 

So , come on , lets end the disagreement here , and now ... this is becoming akin to being on Cloudy Nights !!!! 

I'm sure the op didnt bargain for what has been written . 

BTW the OP asked for help in choosing a starter set up . I do understand that people , including me , have different opinions to give and we may all get a little irked when people disagree with our opinions , but , in the scheme of things we should be helping the OP . 

5 hours ago, scotty1 said:

My friend calls it Thunderbirds 1 , it's Bury St Edmunds. 

 

FAB SCOTT

12 minutes ago, Astro_Dad said:

You won’t be spending your time researching future ‘scope purchases at all will you  ?!😊

lol , Andy ... i'm doing just that , sitting here at work 🤣

1 minute ago, paulastro said:

I hope your recovery is as quick as it can be Stu, and you're back at the eyepiece before too long.  Take care of yourself.

 

Many thanks Paul ... it really is surprising how much one misses the simple joy of looking through an EP ... hence the set up in the bedroom plan for tonight ... need to enlist Elena to set everything up though lol