Stu1smartcookie

yes its a serious consideration ... i only avoided it due to the fact that my only experience of a zoom EP wasnt a pleasant one. Although if i am honest it was a very cheap and not so cheerful EP !

Now thats right up my street !! Good show . ... looking forward to the pics

As i have probably the worst collection of Eyepieces imaginable i am going to , albeit slowly , build up a decent collection ... starting today !! I have a couple in mind ... a baader Hyperion 8mm or 10mm . Having NO experience with decent EPs i hope that the Hyperions will give great views from my two small scopes , a 420mm Evo 72ed and a 102 mm Mak . Any views ( no pun intended ) much appreciated on these EPs . I also like the look of Explore SCientific EPs . Before everyone points me to EPs costing 500 pounds plus please acknowlwedge i am married and i want to stay that way 🤣 Stu

would the op have to point it south ? as hes in the southern hemisphere ? or is that me over thinking it

Also , make sure you are mounting the scope on the left side of the az-gti, when using it in alt az mode

Another “me being the postman “ as I travelled past the Widescreen Centre today …I bought a nice 11/4” Williams optics dielectric diagonal ( I was going to go for the 2” but the additional weight wasn’t welcome on my small scopes

So , not the postman … but me and the wife ( I think she came just for the ride ) picked up a couple of nice little beauties from Widescreen Centre yesterday .

Hi , congratulations on choosing a wonderful scope . You’ve made a great choice as a 200mm reflector will enable you to see some wonderful things . I personally would wait before buying more eye pieces . Sure , the 25mm and 10mm (especially) are not the best quality but they are supplied for a reason . They will give you more than acceptable views and are ideal as starter EPs . I still use the 25mm that came with my scope ! Of course better EPs will be your next step along with maybe a telrad finder( this will give you a non magnified view but help you point the scope to your intended target ) , oh , and a collimation device . In fact the collimating device ( either Cheshire or laser ) and the telrad would probably be the best purchases at this stage . Other opinions may differ to mine . As for making things easy to “jump into” , you have already done that … the first thing you need is enthusiasm and maybe reality of what you will see through the EP . Download Stellarium. I believe you can simulate the views you are likely to see through the two EPs . And , try to familiarise yourselves with the night sky . You’ve picked a great time of year to start your astronomy journey . The gas giants are well placed and the moon will be a wonderful sight . And of course the winter constellations are beginning to appear . clear skies to you and your son and welcome to SGL Stu

Fascinating thread... its given me a bit of a headache though... Do i go for the Heritage 150p on the vituoso or get a gte with a smaller reflector. I know the GTE doesnt have freedom find but if im honest i have only used freedom find twice and i find that the encoders have a detrimental affect on the goto system . ( my opinion , others may disagree ) I already have a new 72ed from skywatcher which i will put on the mount . Connecting the virtuoso thing to a tripod is interesting ... not sure how that looks though . Anyone done this ? Stu

A fantastic scope that I let slip through my fingers , but I am on the lookout for another lol . The build quality is superb on the zs73 .

Thank you for the really nice report @Zermelo. I am in the market for a small frac (again) and reading your excellent nights work has enthused me even more . I really like Bresser scopes , i have in the past owned a 102/460 and used a 127L , which incidently gave me my best view of the inner planets .

To be honest , a 200mm dobsonian is not too heavy , but the size means its bulky . But its a simple two part movement and is ready to go in five minutes ( not including cooling time ) .

"A" for sure ...I like the definition .

Cant wait for the winter Constellations . It will be my first winter season with my 12" Dob , Dave ,... and your report has fuelled the enthusiasm even more .

And the telrad and finder compliment each other . I added my Telrad only the other evening and found M13 and M31 in an instant ! It brings so much more enjoyment to astronomy to be able to locate targets easily .

When i fixed mine to the tube there was enough room and i have focuser , telrad , finder ,.... i get what you are saying but for me , having the telrad the other side of the finder was a bit of a trek .

Agree with the above ... i purchased a height extension for the telrad which helps a lot regarding comfort of use .

Welcome to SGL .. and congrats on the scope. You’ve made a timely start as the winter constellations are on their way

This is right up my street ! I bought a 12" dob from another SGL member and the only thing "wrong" was that the primary was really dusty . I actually had to get the primary recoated in the end because it was quite badly stained. BUT... when my mirror was caked in dust etc i still got acceptable views through it maybe just losing a bit of contrast . I took the mirror out and cleaned it which made a difference. The views became sharp again , despite the staining The point i am trying to make is that the primary on my scope was in a very poor state but still produced fine viewing . If you are getting great views then why clean it although i bet you are like me ,can't stand seeing dust on the primary . But cleaning a mirror isn't the perilous procedure that we are led to believe .

I concur with this . The skywatcher steel tripod was one of the best things i bought ( and i regret selling) . There is no getting away with the tried and tested " a solid mount is imperitave " that is always written when people ask about new equipment . Many , including myself have tried to get round this but failed . Learn by others mistakes .

Unexpectededly clear last night , out with the 12" Dob , looking at M13 ( my first ever sighting of this ) and of course the Ring Neb . No Freak rain but a chill breeze which heralds the cold nights to come . You know , the ones where you look like a complete idiot sitting outside whilst everyone is warm indoors 🤣

Alas no, Heather ... i packed away at about 10;30 last night as i have a 5;30 alarm call during the week . Tonight is not looking too promising but , if its ok i will be out a bit later Isn't it nice to at least be outside and able to view the night sky ? Remembering the shocking weather we experienced last month , September is proving to be a god send for astronomers .

Absolutely , Heather .. i feel even more annoyed as i have such a large aperture scope and i still haven't bagged the little blighter. lol. The street light acutally gets turned off at 1am ( or so i'm told ) . I have a fairly good southern sky , although no southern horizon to speak of . I think tonight is going to be the last one thats really clear in my area for a few nights so i am going to try and make the most of it . As for the Moon , it rises tonight at 20.05 so its going to be a pest although , Neptune should be do-able . Watch this space ! ( er , no pun intended )

Thanks for the tips Nik ... one bonus is that the moon rises just a little later every night . I only observe up until around 11pm on a school night but im going to give it a go .

I think we were spoilt with the previous night being so wonderful for observations . I was a bit disapointed last night if i am honest and Neptune is still an enigma for me ( damn street light washes a lot out ) . But , a fairly clear night forecast tonight , hopefully better seeing .