Stu1smartcookie

41 minutes ago, Ian McCallum said:

I tried out my new Sky-Watcher Startravel 120 OTA, yesterday evening. 

i am getting the itch to get another ST120 , and posts like yours are only encouraging me , Ian .. which is both bad for the wallet and for marital relations ... still its only a short scope ... may be able to hide it away  . Of course i would like the evostar too... omg . where does it all end ?

20 minutes ago, Epick Crom said:

Wishing you a speedy recovery Stu👍

many many thanks ... cant believe im back at work only 24 hrs after but its better to moan here than to myself back at home , anyway the way things go with me , i should have ensured clear skies for everyone for the next week 🤣

Under the surgeons knife yesterday , and of course missed a fairly clear night last night , pleased that a lot of people were able to take advantage though . 

Tonight is looking crystal clear but , alas , im not able to lift anything remmotely weighty for a couple of weeks , maybe my little sharpstar on an AZ4 peeping out the east facing upstairs window will work ?... got to be better than watching tv .

The aerial is too close to achieve focus , try an object that is further away . I assume it’s to line up the finder with the scope why you are trying this . 

46 minutes ago, Ian McCallum said:

A new Sky-Watcher Startravel 120 OTA from Auntie @FLO. She confused me by having it sent straight from OVL! 😂

No clear skies until well into next year now! 😱🙄

I like those scopes ... along with the big brother evostar 120 

54 minutes ago, grjsk said:

Haven't seen alot of pictures of the newest ADM replacement saddle, so I tought I'd post one of mine. It is smaller than the original dual saddle, and now it also includes a protective "cup" that prevents dust and dirt getting into the internal mechanisms. A very nice upgrade!

That looks really neat 

19 hours ago, bingevader said:

 

deleted due to me being confused ... it happens a lot these days 🤣

3 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

Conversely, eye-wateringly expensive small, fast apochromats are among the best. 

Absolutely , Olly ... hence my Sharpstar purchase ( you have given me justification for buying it ... i will show it to the wife 🤣 )

5 minutes ago, Mandy D said:

Thanks. That is great to know. Any idea how much it moves the focal plane? I'm currently able to image with 75 or 100 mm of spacers on my RC6 with the D800. Do you know if I need to remove more and roughly how much?

I am not an imager Mandy so cant comment , but visually ES FE loses nothing in brightness giving clear concise views 

15 minutes ago, Mandy D said:

My new, secondhand, Explore Scientific x2 focal extender purchased from @HollyHound arrived today, well packed and in it's beautiful original box. I just need some clear skies and the energy to get out there and use it, now. Thanks, Gary.

I've had chance to test mine over the last couple of nights  , you won't be disapointed , Mandy

1 hour ago, AstroMuni said:

. After that it was a joy to use and as a family we have enjoyed great views of the stars and planets. I even managed to get pictures with my phone attached to eyepiece

That one sentence is enough to know what ameteur astronomy is all about ... enjoyment . 

2 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

To my mind an aperture of less than 70mm for visual use is best left to binoculars because it ceases to deliver a truly 'telescopic' view.

Whilst i certainly accept your opion here Olly , my opinion why small fracs have their place for visual is the varied magnification they can achieve by using EPs of differing focal lengths ... although primarily using mine for widefield viewing , sometimes , just looking at the moon with up to 100x magnification gives breathtaking views . Also of course , they cry out for a bit of widefield photography , but , thats another topic altogether

1 hour ago, bomberbaz said:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/evolux/sky-watcher-evolux-62ed-ota.html

Could do worse than one of these at a reasonable cost and with ed glass and high quality build should serve you well. 

I second this as it's built like a tank despite its diminutive size , however the st102 is a great option and 100mm of aperture is a really nice size . I have owned one of those and it's bigger brother the 120 and in all honesty despite the size difference I preferred the 102 

14 minutes ago, andrew63 said:

Some really good choices, the more compact the more versatile.

The age old saying " the best telescope is the one you use the most " comes to mind . 

Hi , I bought a sharpstar 61 just for this purpose ( a bit over the top as its pricey- but i simply love the compactness ) . I often just plonk it on my AZ4 mount and have a scan round the skies ... in fact its the most enjoyable part of this wonderful hobby for me . I can push the magnification to about 100x and see perfectly crisp views ... with no CA . 

So , yes, buy a frac ... the bresser scopes are a really good choice 102/600 or 102/460 if you want really widefield . There is something lovely about simply focusing a frac .

15 hours ago, SthBohemia said:

I find it amusing that many within SGL advise those that purchase the mass produced, off the shelf 'things that masquerade as telescopes', to purchase decent eyepieces, 😞 Why bother? The cheap crap eyepieces that accompany the scopes match (possibly) the optical quality of the scopes themselves! Ye canna make a silky purse from da sows eyries.

Ok , playing devils advocate , i can see your point regarding the eyepieces supplied with scopes ,  but , they are there just to get people started . looking at most reviews . Those Mass produce scopes are encouraging people to take up a hobby that a few decades ago was considered elitist . And optical quality on those mass produced scopes is actually very good . What would you call those "things " that masquerade as telescopes ? 

Sure , there are a lot of factors that can spoil the hobby , Weather and light polution being two ... and those factors can be great equalizers where equipment is concerned . To be fair , there are still some awful scopes out there on the likes of ebay which are incorerctly sold with false advertising . But to label mass produced scopes the way you have , that have been recommended by users on SGL is imo wrong . 

Someone starting out in the hobby needs advice , where better to come than SGL or other forums from people who have actually used those products . 

A great session and totally unexpectedly clear last night . Set up my laptop and QHY camera to view Jupiter , more practice needed there , so I switched to visual and had my best view of the planet .Later on I noticed the plaides rising and was out late enough to see mars rising over the house . And  I caught my first glimpse of Orion  low down in the east ,southeast . The "extra hour " makes all the difference with darkness coming earlier . Oh , forgot , had a nice sighting of Uranus , clearly showing its lovely colour and disc , just using a barlowed 25mm EP (162 x mag)

Not looking too good for the week ahead though 

8 hours ago, Astro_Dad said:

29/30th October 

StellaLyra 8” Dob, no GOTO or StarSense!

An excellent  late night/early morning observing session and opportunity to use my new Dob on some old and new targets, enjoying the fun of manual star hopping.

The focus was mainly deep sky, taking in:

M45, M52, The ET/Owl cluster, M103  M81, M82 and NGC1664. The latter cluster was of particular interest and well worth seeking out. I’ve posted a more detailed report here:

I finished the evening on the planets, with a lovely clear view of Jupiter and finally Mars at highish power (170x) where I was able to start to make out some surface shading. 

Nice report , and pleased you were able to get out and use that Dob .

This made me go cold when reading . Unfortunately,I'm sure it will happen again to somebody somewhere  . But I think it's really good to share incidents like this . We all feel for you Alan . And I'm sure we are all going to give an extra check when setting up our gear in future 

if you wish to have the scope in EQ mode you need to install the firmware that staes "right Arm" in the title . Once installed as @Pixies writes you can still use it for Alt Az or EQ , but the scope would need to be placed on the right hand side of the mount ... when the mount is purchased its operating in alt az mode only and the scope has to be placed on the left hand side of the mount . 

Absolutely amazing , Neil . 

... just adding a bit more to this , there is an 8" skywatcher "goto" dobsonian which is around the 1k mark ... this will give you fantastic views with the added bonus of the computerised system . kids ( and old kids like me ) love computerised stuff ... its so "cool " to see it work , plus there is no need for manual tracking .

Stu

Hi , I will answer the last question first ... black Friday doesnt exist imo in our hobby . Always look at buying from a proper astronomy outlet when you can . Having said that , buying from people on sites like SGL ( where equipment is kept in really nice condition ..and prices are usually very fair ) is a great option  

An HEQ5 Pro is a great mount , one which has had the rowan belt upgrade , even better . Be weary about newts on an EQ mount . They are fantastic scopes but the EP can end up in any different direction and require you to manually swivel the tube at certain times . Its not a deal breaker but it had to be mentioned . Also , i realise you wish to start in astrophotograhy but the EQ mount does take a bit of setting up ... fine for you but if the kids want to see the moon and you are tired and dont want to lug that thing out ( we have all been there) there is bound to be disapointment . 

I seem to be putting a downer on things here , but , where a family is concerned the equipment has to be taken into account . 

If you can find a bargain HEQ5 , and possibly get , say an alt az  az4 mount then you are pretty much covered , a newtonian on the AZ4 is very useable and a breeze to set up quickly.  Although best stick to the 150mm pds . 

Stu

oh and i will mention it before anyone else ... an 8" dobsonian is one of the best scopes for ALL the family to use 

13 minutes ago, Astro_Dad said:

Almost too good to take outside

I have to say i was exactly the same with my small refractor 🤣

So , not only did a new AZ4 mount arrive from Rother Valley Optics  but also a lovely ES 1.25  2x focal extender  , thanks @azrabella.