Stu1smartcookie

The world relies on oil . its a captive audience . They set the quantity , they set the rate . And the rest is history , a very expensive one .

yep , defo a male scope , a Mak !

as well as in Ireland

really ????? what about OPEC ????? ( only just read a previous answer ) .... OPEC meet to discuss reducing supply which in turn increases the price of oil "to" the oil companies who in turn put up pump prices to all which translates to higher costs which then get passed onto the beleaguered consumer who basically pays twice !!! Fuel rarely goes down in price ... maybe a penny here or there ... unfortunately we are in the middle of a round of fuel prices being hiked which means higher costs for EVERYTHING potentially

That sounds like my situation ,as we have a flat in southern Russia, edge of park location . When i go there i will be observing from a balcony too . As Heather "says" a mak or an sct is a good choice .. although , Heather .. i don't think Joyce is a good name for a Mak lol

Just an observation , but if you look at fuel prices and how they are now rising (The oil companies have a cartel and they artificially increase value by restricting production ) things will only get worse . Fuel prices mean price rises for EVERYTHING that is transported . I work in the timber industry , timber has gone up 35% for certain species ! I'm sorry but as distasteful as we all think it is , there will be no decreases in astronomy equipment prices for the foreseeable future , if indeed at all .

Definitely avoid zoom binoculars ... and , if you can, get a bracket to mount them on a tripod . Holding binos steady for a length of time can be a pain sometimes . Just seen an ad for a guy selling some 20x 80 binos with a tripod on Facebook selling site , £140 collection from Grimsby ( not bad )

Really looking forward to a review of this scope Dave .

Hi Jonathan .. a warm welcome to SGL

aaaaaah Happy days ... lol, glad you are buying

I get this ... its the thrill of pushing the scope , and your own eyes.

Aperture Aperture Aperture !! Its what we are told . " Bigger is better " for visual .... its a wonder that smaller aperture achromats even exist .. let alone small Maks and table top Newts . I've owned a few 10" dobs , and large reflectors on EQ mounts ... and very good they were too. But , i am now the owner of a 4" Mak and a 3" Apo frac ... and , to be honest my interest in the hobby has never been greater . When i started i was told that nothing smaller than a 3" Frac or a 6" Newt would do . But optics are made so well these days that even a 3" frac can show plenty of detail on planets and those smaller Newts on a dob mount are a joy to use . Sure , living under a dark sky with a large scope pointing to the heavens is a wonderful sight to behold , but a lot of people tend to live in built up areas, towns , cities ... maybe flats , even in high rise flats . So larger scopes are not viable . Owning a small scope used to carry a stigma , a " oh , you are only playing at astronomy " look ... a snobbery that you weren't part of an exclusive club. Fortunately all of that has changed , as i wrote earlier , build quality, optics and accessories are now better and cheaper . Small aperture scopes , whilst still annoyingly labelled as beginner scopes ,are now available , not in supermarkets but are now sold as precision instruments from reputable dealers , by people with knowledge ( generally) . With the worrying increase in light pollution , small scopes and portable mounts have never been more popular . Indeed small Apo fracs are the instrument of choice for Astro photography Now i know that many people will be thinking , " surely you buy a scope with a certain usage criteria in mind " and that , generally would be correct . lets face it , you are not seeing that distant smudge in a 75mm frac , but , as we know , there isnt a single scope that does everything 100% well . Those large dobs hit the mark , until you need to transport them... that lovely EQ6 is great unless you need to break it down and haul it back inside if the clouds unexpectedly roll in after its taken 30mins to set up ! That 180 Mak is a beautiful scope but i need to wait an hour before i can use it ! Of course , there will always be exceptions . Those plastic £50 ebay knockoffs will sell, because of the price, to unsuspecting newbies but in general mass production from China has made small aperture scopes acceptable instruments for viewing . We can all be thankful for that , whatever you think about China . Any thoughts on the above ? ( I have in no way intended to offend anyone who doesn't share my pov ) Stu

Hi , i don't think you need to worry about a dew shield ... as for filters , i would try the scope without them first . It's a really nice scope and a good size too , plus the mount is a nice solid platform . a powertank is a good idea . It's tempting to buy everything and anything ( been there done that ) . Stu

I actually agree with you on this point ... whilst it’s a great book I found it a bit daunting at first . But , in its defence it caters for beginners too . And , it’s always on the shelf if you wish to use it as a reference . I wouldn’t be without it .

Welcome to our world on SGL

Nice ... well done .

Thank you for the advice , its very useful to me . To be honest i am going to buy an astro cam , when i can . Interesting about the dark frames , and something i didn't know about . When i bought my scope i swore that i wouldn't get hooked on photography ... zzz, by the way i haven't got a field flattener either so will probably invest in one of those too... hell !! what am i saying ... i only wanted to go visual lol

I've done this many times lol ...although with small screws that hold the 1 1/4 adapter in the 2" holder that ive unscrewed too much .. frantically searching for ages on the ground that makes me look like a complete @*%! lol .

A renowned classic .

lol I just keep telling myself that these things build character . I know .... I'm not convinced either

Thanks for the kind words of support ... i really do think the image sucks lol ( although i am pleased i even managed to get something ).. but its probably because i didn't do the calibration frames as i wrote .I am going to image this target again and this time , take darks and flats . I have a WO ZS73 on an AZ-GTi .

I think this is my first image on here , No calibration frames , so the image is really noisy . 50 x 30s light frames ,100d dslr . Now i understand why you SHOULD take Darks and flats ! But , as this is my first attempt , the only way is Up . The image has been cropped ( which in hindsight is probably a mistake lol).. so , I took some darks and flats and a few bias frames and I think my image got a whole lot better . I have learnt not to excessively crop an image and that calibration frames when using a dslr are really necessary .

Just going to Wade in with my honest opinion . So far it just looks like you are desperate to buy a scope , (understandable ) but you are restricted by budget and you haven’t really stopped to consider the purpose of your first purchase . What do you want to see ? You could buy a small refractor (ST80 ) on a simple alt az ( up down left right) mount which will let you see wide field views of the sky . Do you really want an Equatorial mount for your first scope ? Most people have pointed you to a heritage 130 . It’s no accident that these scopes are well received . Please do not be put off buying second hand . The thing about our hobby is people look after the equipment they own .. and in most cases add various items to improve it . Ie adding a different finder , maybe a collimation tool etc . I think a lot of people , myself included have made bad decisions in buying equipment on a whim . I really do understand your wish just to get a scope , but , honestly , with your budget you are limited . Please take the advice offered by the good people above on this thread . Even if you think a heritage 130 is not for you after using it for a while , it will still have a high resale value . And I will give you the same advice I was given .. the mount is more important than the scope ! This is another reason why the heritage is a good buy . A Dobsonian style mount is sturdy and will serve you well . On the case of the heritage , the scope is also decent . I wish you good luck . stu

Hi , last night i set up , Mount level , check . Pointing North , check , Everything tightened down , check ... focusing sorted , check . Great , lets slew to the Moon ... er ... whats wrong ? a deep bright band disecting the moon in my 2" 50mm EP ... better change the EP , what ? the same problem in my Aero 32mm !!! Getting a bit panicky now . It was then that i noticed that i had left the batinov mask on the WO ZS73 . zzzzz . My point in telling this little story ? when things don't seem to go to plan , its usually something really silly that can be rectified quite easily . It got me thinking though ... i'm sure i'm not alone in making silly errors . Whats everyone elses experiences ?

I'm afraid a dew shield IS a must ... i really dont know why manufacturers don't find a way of incorporating one into the design . They are not that expensive and you can make your own . but , really , its like buying a tv without a plug !! Us older members will remember that lol