Stu1smartcookie

So , the second night of thunder and heavy rain , what did I see tonight ?? I watched Interstellar ( again ) , at least I felt a bit closer to the stars . 

4 minutes ago, PeterC65 said:

M31 - The best I've seen it,

Agree about M31 , i have never seen it so clearly as i did last night . 

The Baader 8-24 has , i believe the Best FOV in any of the zoom EPs out there in that mag range and will be an excellent addition to your EP collection 

As others have noted , there are times when its the only EP you actually need for a whole session . 

I have used many zoom EPs and the baader is the best , imo .  A good choice 

Gave my little Sharpstar 61 version 2  it’s first light this evening , a quick session on the nexstar mount . Beautifully sharp stars and a great view of M31 , onto the double cluster and the owl cluster and then to Jupiter . The planets are obviously not this scopes forte but with the 8-24 EP it was clear with two main bands visible along with the 4 moons . Neptune and  Uranus were tiny but I could make out the colour of the discs .

A lovely little Sharpstar 61  (2) arrived today …. Put it on my Nexstar mount for a quick first light … lovely sharp stars   

1 hour ago, Alan White said:

I think this is more the ticket for @JeremyS, saves on fuel and is of course TV colours as requested!

 

It would be akin to painting the 4th Bridge ... by the time hes cut the grass it will be time to start again , which would mean he doesnt need his scopes as he won't have time to use them  

I expect to see a "For Sale " sign , @JeremyS   

18 hours ago, markse68 said:

2 more !  

I'm finding the Celestron EPs to be very good , across their range .

Only out for a short while tonight as the clouds were around ( it’s perfectly clear now though , typically) but having got my Wi-Fi module sorted out for the 8SE I concentrated on Jupiter . The high , thin cloud actually helped dampen down the brightness of the planet to such a degree that I was able to see more detail than of late . Very rewarding but ultimately short session . 

People … I have success … of course it wasn’t down to me but a very short YouTube vid that showed me what to do .. my iPad when connected to the scope was set to sky align , I originally didn’t know how to change this but went into settings and entered into manual align .. at this point after centering the first star or planet in this case I just had to point at another star on the SkyPortal map and the scope slewed to that star ( ish ) and after centering I did the same for the third star and hey presto I am aligned .. and now I am happy. Just want to say a really big thanks to you all for your suggestions , ALL of them were genuinely helpful .. I hope by listing what I did it might help someone else who may have the same issue as the instructions are at best ,questionable . Tonight I have to continue building a wardrobe !!!!! I think we all know where this is going 😂😂😂… those instructions are even worse !!!

Royal Mail ( finally ) decided to relinquish their grip on a lovely , pristine 10 mm Luminos EP , well packed from  @Rob (many thanks Rob) and low and behold , Amazon delivered a 15mm Luminos EP at the same time ! 
Talk about London Buses 😂

17 hours ago, StevieDvd said:

Don't buy it from here though, and that's not including delivery.😮

 

WHAT A RIP OFF !!! 

3 hours ago, Starwatcher2001 said:

Stu, if lack of ports is a problem you can get splitters which allow you to plug two devices into one port.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-mounts/celestron-aux-port-splitter.html
 

(Just noticed FLO is out of stock for 90-120 days 😞  You may be able to pick one up elsewhere)

Harrison seem to have them: https://www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/acatalog/celestron-aux-port-splitter.html

Many thanks , I can get one from the Widescreen Centre tomorrow  … if I can make the wretched module play ball lol 

Hmmm I will need to check this , unfortunately later , as we are out this morning .. thanks for the continual ideas and suggestions here by the way , all very appreciated 

Stu

Hi , I’m using the standard 8SE on its alt Az nexstar single fork mount . I’m using the Celestron SkyPortal ap which runs a version of Sky Safari  I checked the handset previously and made sure it was in alt Az mode 

13 hours ago, MalcolmM said:

A quick 10 minutes this morning between breakfast and heading out for a day's hiking. FS60CB and the TOE 4mm just frames the moon nicely. Very sharp and great contrast. I use Hadley as my yardstick of seeing and it was easy, though very small. Tried the TOE3.3 and things were still very sharp. Next the TOE2.5 but that was too much for the conditions. In the 3.3 Hadley was even easier than with the 4. No sign of the rill, possibly not the right conditions and possibly too much for the CB even if the illumination had been suitable. Posidonius looked very interesting, a band of light on the shadowed wall and the A crater blazing in the middle. The crater on the rim also standing out beautifully.

Malcolm

Really nice , Malcolm .. can I ask , what tripod ( mount head ) you are using please . Looks so brilliantly simple , and sturdy . 

Ok folks , showtime again last night … I placed my small scope in the mount , levelled it , pointed it north , plugged in the Wi-Fi module on the one port that Celestron gave us ( what were they thinking) , turned on the mount connected up my IPad to the Wi-Fi module ( all good so far … the connection NEVER drops btw) pressed connect and align in the ipad screen … but , at that point I notice my reticle ( which shows the scope position on the ipad screen ) is pointing somewhere else !!.. the ipad thinks the scope is pointing at Polaris not level to the horizon ! This is what I get when I use the Wi-Fi module .. I can two star align if I use the handset although sky align NEVER seems to work . But I cannot use anything other than sky align when using the Wi-Fi module ( the other alignment methods are not shown ) 

very frustrating and tedious and , another evening completely spoilt by a bit of tech . 
mom sure there is something I may be doing wrong , but , it’s not the connection , as that is rock solid .

Stu 

Thanks 

4 hours ago, Shimrod said:

You don't mention what mount you are using, but you need to follow the same alignment procedure using your iPad and wi fi as you would for the handset. I would expect that to be pointing north and level at the start 

You can leave the hand controller connected, but it isn't necessary - I did find it a bit easier to control to be e mount movement using the handset (because of tactile feedback from physical buttons). Now I use an Xbox game controller instead via CPWI.

Thanks , I thought you couldn’t use the hand controller and the Wi-Fi module or am I thinking that because it’s the case with the Starsense system .. I am going to try it again shortly . Fingers crossed eh ? 

6 hours ago, Knighty2112 said:

When I had a Celestron wifi unit a few years back I used to turn my house wifi off before I used the wifi on the mount. Used to get similar issues where it would not connect, or drop out sometimes. Used mine on a 6/8 SE goto mount. Worked Ok with the house wifi off. Try see if yours works any better with house wifi turned off.

My iPad only connects to the Celestron , I didn’t connect it to the house Wi-Fi , but thanks for the answer as I know it’s a relevant point

I have a Celestron WiFi module and used it for the first time last night . I say used it , but it was so frustrating. Connecting to my iPad I tried to align and every time it failed ! The handset , which is a nightmare to remove and reconnect wasn’t touched so I was purely using the Wi-Fi . In the end I took everything indoors and noticed that my location in the iPad was still set to 55 degrees !!! I’m in a 52 degree location … I updated this , and re connected , without a scope .. I didn’t connect and align , just connect . Then I noticed on he iPad that the scope target icon was pointing north and the mount was pointing east .. so I moved the mount to face north ( just picked it up ) pressed connect again and finally the mount slewed to the intended target , or at least near it . My question is when using the Wi-Fi module does one have to point the mount north to start ? I understand the scope should be level . Also is it necessary to disconnect the hand controller entirely or just leave it plugged in without using it ? Sorry if I’ve not explained the above very well .. but I’m out shopping with the wife and it’s always a stressful experience lol😂

18 hours ago, bosun21 said:

It’s time I tried one of these SVbony zoom eyepieces. I opted for the 7-21mm. If I don’t like it then I’ll pass it on to my grandson who loves the Celestron LT70 I gifted him (once I removed the starsense unit).🙂

 

SVBony gear is really good value and to be honest very good quality 

5 hours ago, Hadi Jafar said:

Hahaha and that is why deciding it making it a bit difficult. Thank you very much @Stu1smartcookie really appreciate your input do tell if you have more that would be easier for me to decide 😁 

Well , i can only really comment on the 127 Mak ... which i have owned , er , twice ...lol . Its a really nice compact scope that fits very well on the az-gti . And as planets and luna are its forte , it would be a great buy ... especially now when Jupiter and Saturn are so well placed , from here anyway . 

Stu

3 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Sore point. My lawnmower went in for repairs 4 weeks ago. I just called them again and it’s still not done 👎🏻

Stick to the paths them pleeeeeeeease !!!!!

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

Leofoto Carbon fibre tripod for air travel set-up courtesy of @Second Time Around

looks great ... but please cut the grass ... you could trip over in that thick lush green stuff .. i am feeling anxiety with that Tak in mind. 

The AZ-Gti is certainly a good , compact mount , agreed . The Mak 127 mm is ok for certain DSO's but has a very narrow field of view (FOV) ... yes the AZ-GTi can be converted to EQ mode but you need to factor in buying a wedge ! I have an 8" sct and its a great scope , but the mount , hmmm , a bit "iffy " although it does the job . The fact remains that the bigger the aperture , the better . But , the 127 and GTi mount is a good package and will serve you well . 

The choice is yours .

Ok so to put my limited knowledge to some use ... the 127 SW Mak apparently has a slightly less that 127 mm aperture ...so in effect the difference may be more than 1" . 

Both will give fine planetary views . 

The corrector plate on the front of the C6 is thinner than the plate on the mak . 

Both are "Dew Magnets " 

Larger Aperture invariably is better 

Maks tend to hold collimation better ( imo) 

You do get a bit of mirror shift in the mak . 

Stu