Stu1smartcookie

1 hour ago, Ags said:

Looking at Stellarium it looks like you got the phase right.

Yaaaay , 🙂 Thanks Ags 

I was more than surprised as i really do not have mush of a clear horizon , er, any direction . Brilliant to see the little planet though . 

So , last night I bagged Mercury ( I think ) it was low down , about 6 degrees up in the northwest. I couldn’t definitely make out a phase as the sky was still quite bright , maybe just over half ? If anyone else could confirm then I will be happy . 
I wasn’t too happy with the rest of my evening though as a light that would double as another sun ☀️ shines right into my garden and inconveniently washed out a lot of the sky . And , although I have previously images M81 & M82 I couldn’t even find them last night !!! Judging by Astro Dads success ( above post) I reckon he stole them for viewing all for himself 😂😂😂

Just now, Epick Crom said:

I feel your pain mate, I just HATE when that happens!

Me too … how many times are we eagerly looking at the sky during the day , whilst at work only to find a cloud mass in the evening ! Fortunately tonight I will ( supposedly) have a clear sky . 

1 hour ago, Paul_Sussex said:

My first telescope - Ursa Major 6" F/8 Dobsonian...

very nice 

So , after what seems like an age …( about a week ) tonight will be first light for the “new” scope and mount , and the “new” nexstar as mount and camera .. it’s the first time ( apart from a short dummy run last night indoors ) that I will be using the camera on this mount . A bit chilly in the breeze out there but a beautiful clear evening of relaxed star gazing . Not even got a plan to view any particular objects. Just scan and see . Whereas I hope to get some photos of the area near the plough . My lens is the stock 18-55 … so wide field definitely on the cards . 
Clear skies to all ! 
stu 

3 hours ago, LaurenceT said:

I arose like Lazarus from my covid sick bed 😅 at 0515, went downstairs to make a cup of tea and was greeted by a beautiful clear moon in the dawn sky. The el cheapo Startravel 102t was already on the AZ5 with the Baader zoom in place so within 30 seconds I was in the garden. It was beautiful and raised my spirits no end. Even better with the barlow in place. The colour fringing was almost non-existent, possibly because the scope may be a good copy in that respect but also due to the Neodymium filter in place.

Back to bed happier.......

Nice One , Laurence ... i was on my usual morning walk and the moon looked wonderful . Last night for me , however , was spoilt by a thin blanket of grey cloud that persisted all evening zzzz, but , hopefully tonight i will be out . The ST102 is a much underated scope , Which displays little CA when using sensibly powered EP's

6 minutes ago, Knighty2112 said:

Took a chance and got a good deal on 2nd hand (but in very good condition) Celestron 6/8 SE goto mount. Been looking for one to get for a while as used to have one before but sold it on. Just testing it out with some solar observations. Seems to be tracking the sun nicely. Always liked the fact with this mount you could do a solar system alignment rather than having to use the stars. Great for daytime if you want to nab Venus. Got a smaller Mak that will fit on this nicely for when I need to get near to zenith, plus my C8 too as well! 😃

I got the 4/5SE version on Good Friday ... lovely mounts for lightweight scopes .

23 minutes ago, Olli said:

Think you have all persuaded me to get the scope. Sounds like a great bit of kit. I’ve purchased it with the az gti and should hopefully be hear on Saturday! Most expensive Astro purchase I’ve made, nervously excited!

Congrats on your purchase . Its a great set up .

Having owned er , a couple of the zs73 and er, a couple of zs61 in the recent past i can absolutely recommend either of those scopes for visual ... if you look at the FLO site they state that you should think "binnocular views" ... whilst this is correct the clarity that these scopes provide means you will be mightily impressed . Even planets , whilst small , will provide lovely views . 

You cannot go wrong with Williams Optics Gear ... oh , and they look good too  

2 hours ago, StevieDvd said:

Seems like he has a handle on the type of scope he prefers 🤣

Steve that is truly awful 🤣

2 hours ago, callisto said:

Back to the Frac's eh Stu 😉 👍

Oh yeah … lol … but it’s where the heart is ( don’t tell the wife I said that ) 🤣

22 minutes ago, Simon128D said:

If you want to have the nice weather back I'd be happy to take the scope of your hands. 😁

lol Hobsons Choice !!! 

So you search for a frac high and low and then you find one packed away in its case , very securely stored , doing nothing , just asking for me to buy it ! 

And , of course today the weather has turned from lovely sunshine into clouds !    😕

Thanks for the replies guys . I like the Dx5 as the scope will also go on my nexstar mount . I think any gadget that helps people is a boon in our hobby . 

Good evening everyone . 

I want to know if anyone has any in depth advice regarding the celestron starsense explorer range of scopes ? In particular I am looking at the DX range ie 5" or 6" sct's.  It seems an interesting concept to have a push to type of system which can accommodate various tubes . TBH it's the scope that I want rather than the mount. If I didn't activate the code I suppose it could be sold on . Has anyone used one of these ? 

My second question is about the star adventurer GTi mount which is due out soon , it has a payload which is the same as the current SA and the GTI mount . I presume that's for portability sake - question is , will people abandon their  original SA and GTI mounts to buy the upgraded mount ? If so there are going to be an lot of keenly priced mounts on the market - from what I've seen the new SA-GTi is being received very well . 

Stu 

1 minute ago, jjohnson3803 said:

Went out for a short session before dawn today with my 102ED.  Discovered I have to change the angle on my mount arm - I was only able to get to about 60* elevation, so the Ring was just out of reach.  🙄

But I was able to view Albireo, Stock 1 cluster in Vul, a few assorted double stars, and ended with a look at the Dumbbell. 

I much prefer to observe before dawn, but with summer coming on I'm going to have to consider changing my sleep cycle to stay up later.  Twilight is already starting at 0445 here, so morning sessions are limited unless I want to roll out at 0300 or so.

Yes , a fantastic time to see the pre-dawn sky . I usually go for a walk around 5am but its been constant cloud over the last few mornings ans as you write , its getting light at that time . I still would like to catch the planets in the early morning sky . 

The pronto mount comfortably holds a 102 mak but , whist it will hold  a 127 i think the additional weight will make it a frustrating experience . This is due to the focal length of the scope which in turn produces narrow field of view and high magnification.. why is that a problem? Well if the mount is not sturdy enough for that scope the vibrations  will be a complete pain when moving or even touching the scope . 

If you could stretch your budget i would say the 150 heritage virtuoso... or indeed the 127 mak on the same mount 

1 hour ago, Nrmh02 said:

Thanks pal, now just debating with myself if I get the basic model or go for the goto model lol 

I bought the basic one and added motors to it , a bit cheaper than the goto .. of course you need to find the targets but it tracks well .

31 minutes ago, Nrmh02 said:

was it easy to transfer onto the EQ mount?

Physically not a problem , the difference comes  when polar aligning , which by the way is not hard at all . The mount will follow the earths rotation and make viewing more enjoyable as you only have to concentrate on moving on one axis . Also if you do want to get into astrophotography then an EQ mount is desirable although not necessary. 

Every now and then i tend to Fall out of love with astronomy due to sheer frustration and cold weather , but then i read little reports like this and i get enthused to "try Again ". 

Thank you for the report Mark , much appreciated .

Stu 

Assuming you want an EQ mount then an EQ5 , upwards , will suffice . The C6 is faily light ,  i use the EQ5 for my 8" CC and it still tracks superbly... maybe for future proofing go to ( no pun intended) an HEQ5 . 

1 hour ago, Olli said:

Would you say it’s worth upgrading to gti? Would be nice to have go to. 

The AZ-Gti is a great mount. The convenience of goto in a small lightweight package , coupled with a nice 102 or 127 mak , or a small refractor = a great combination 

Hi , Welcome to SGL and to the community . Harrogate is a lovely part of our world  . You will glean a ton of information on here , regarding purchasing a scope . 

21 hours ago, badhex said:

Have been struggling a bit with anxiety, work stress (and an expensive astro purchase which didn't quite go to plan), all of which has made me feel like I couldn't face getting out even when we've had a stretch of clear nights.

Last week I decided to forgo the larger scope and get back out with the AZ-GTi and ZS73 to revisit a bunch of targets I've been observing in the 102 F7, allowing me to also compare the experience between the two. 

Targets included:

Uranus 

Delta Ori

Zeta Ori

M42

NGC 1980 / Struve 747

37 cluster

Satellite cluster (a new one for me) 

Double cluster

Mizar/Alcor

ISS naked eye

 

It goes without saying the ZS73 is noticeably less powerful at almost half the light gathering capability, but nonetheless still a great little scope with super sharp contrasty views, and super quick to get set up and cooled down. Nice to change things up and have different experience, and I felt better for getting back out. 

Firstly mate sorry to read about your problems but delighted that you got out with the ZS73 . As most of us know , despite that much used “aperture is everything “ quote , using a small scope can and is often more satisfying. 

8 minutes ago, neil phillips said:

Cheers Stu. How are you finding the the new lunar scope ? 

i love the scope ... although the moon is a bit conspicuous by its absent , and as for the planets ... i will hopefully see them in the evening in a few months ... but as i said , i love the scope . 

Looking forward to doing a bit of lunar photography soon ... not in your league mate , but , hey , you gotta start somewhere