Greymouser

This has got me thinking regarding my recent try at observing Jupiter, between the houses on Thursday, with my little C5. I started out with an ES 26mm 62 degree eyepiece and thought, that I was getting a half decent view with several bands/ belts in view. Thing is was I imagining it at only about 48 x magnification? At times I thought I could see more, but was not at all sure. Could I have been seeing festoons at only 48x? I then tried a Baader Hypeion 10mm eyepiece, ( 125x ) which lost me a lot of detail, dimmer and a lot less sharp. ( I do not think I like this eyepiece at all, it is just not as comfortable to use as the ES. ) Then I tried my cheap Seben zoom, with and without the Baader 2.25x classic barlow, which whilst better than the Hyperion, but was still not showing as much detail, nor as enjoyable as the ES. The zoom did take it as high as 351x though, so perhaps understandable. at about 8mm and 156x it seemed decent too, better than the Hyperion, but still the ES had it better. My last question has to be about the ES 62 degree eyepiece, just how good is it considered? Certainly to me it is the best of my eyepieces, budget as I am and certainly better than the Hyperion, but on the scale of quality, where is it considered to stand. I ask because knowing will help me to decide where to go next with regards to my future eyepiece selection.

Nor me to be honest. I have just been diagnosed with a frozen shoulder, which has made me reassess my setup, regarding portability. The Evolution 9.25 is still very doable, with a setup time of less than ten minutes, from upstairs, then a wait whilst it cools down and it gets proper dark, but still very easily manageable, with little pain... ( Expensive option though. ) That said I have recently got a C5 on a photo tripod, which is just ridiculously easy to set up, with one hand! You could get a second hand C5 or C6 for a very reasonable price too.

Which is why I suggested the Evolution instead and as Geoff said, it doesn't have to go on a goto mount. The dewshield and cooldown is hardly a real chore either, just set up and go for a cup of tea, or two... As for F10, well I enjoy F6.3 in fact! 😜

I too ordered this last Monday, too hard to resist at that price! Dispatched Tuesday, Arrived Thursday! What more can you ask? Great delivery of a very good backpack, thank you again @Philip R for the heads up. I will add a few photos to give a better idea of scale, if you don't mind... Loads of space with my C5 in it, should be able to add in the AZ Gti mount, when I can finally persuade my wife to buy it for me! Then with the padded top protection, which is indeed about 50mm thick and very good. Then the bungee on the base of the pack. These last two are the outer pocket for the bits and pieces etc; then the fact that a ST102 fits in as well! though it has to be said that it is quite a tight fit! 🤪

Not arrived today, but on Thursday: Superb backpack, especially when you consider it only cost 9.99 Euros!

I would suggest rather the Evolution version as the mount is a lot steadier and comes with a built in battery, for power. I have the 9.25 and whilst I thing the 9.25 is right at the limit for the mount, I imagine the 8 to be close to perfect? Of course I could be very wrong... I don't imagine either would be a lot lighter, but would be far easier to manage as they can be split into three: Tripod; Mount; OTA. I can say the setup on the Evolution is a real doddle too, especially with the supplied handset.

Hello and welcome to this wonderful forum. Well met too, at least virtually.

Hi Nikki, welcome to the forum and better late then never eh?

Hard to argue with, but I prefer happy-kat's answer. 😜 After all, what is the use of jewellery? Of course in fact, yours is probably the best option. I am sure I will appreciate it long term...

No,no, not he lethal type, but ammunition to support my urge to get more astro gear. Not from my point of view, that needs no encouragement, but from my wife's, who is sure I have spent too much on it already! ( I will not mention how much here! ) I have always justified it by saying it is a good investment, that excellent kit can even gain in price, if you are lucky. Certainly, it will only loose about a third of its new value, if bought new, with a better performance with second hand kit. All good then eh? Well, my wife says that gold will be an even better investment, in particular lovely jewellery for her. I have no idea about dealing in gold stuff, other than knowing it can go up and down in price considerably. So can any of you very clever people help me with this? I have no objection with my wife having nice jewellery, indeed would love her to have some great stuff, but to be frank, if we spend as much on Jewellery, as I wish to spend on astro gear, we will be bankrupt! Please bear in mind I wish to find justification to buy new astro gear, to encourage her that it will be a good thing. I hope this is the right part of the forum for this thread, but would not be surprised if it gets moved to the lounge, but I do not see why it should, because it is essentially about buying astro gear!

I would be surprised if, in context, many people could deny that on this forum. Certainly not me... ( Curiosity can kill the cat though! Or would that be my wife in some circumstance? )

Two excellent scopes there, but these you post, along with other posted suggestions, raises a question in me: There is a huge price difference in those two scopes, but is there a corresponding improvement in quality, experience at the eyepiece? Or is it a case of diminishing returns? Never mind when compared to other cheaper options. I ask because the Tak is on my wishlist, as soon as I can persuade my wife, but now I am wondering if I should aim higher, or indeed lower, considering the great reviews of the Skywatcher Pro and Esprit. Then again the same goes for even cheaper ones. Just how are we all supposed to balance performance with cost? Where does it all end? https://www.baader-planetarium.com/en/astro-physics-130mm-f6.3-starfire-gtx-refractor.html?___SID=U 🤔 Or even higher?

Thanks for that. Mmmm, the padding doesn't look that thick in that image, is it of a decent thickness or not? Perhaps I am being too picky for a backpack which will cost just 9.99 Euro! Edit: Doh! Of course the sides are 12.5mm thick, you said...

Think I prefer last years, for now anyway...

I know it is a bit cheeky, but could you upload a quick photo of the interior please? Though at that price it is hard not to be tempted to go for it...

Hello and welcome to this wonderful forum.

Hi Geo, welcome to this great forum. Feel free to ask any questions, there will always be someone who can answer them. ( Though maybe not me... )

Welcome to this great forum and good luck with the astro photography, there are some great practitioners of that dark art on here.

Got a parcel from FLO today. ( Of course, it's rained most of the day since! ) A Lunt Herschel Wedge; Polarising filter and some wonderfluid. Now all I need is to improvise a half decent finder, as it seems simple enough and I dislike spending money on something I should be able to make myself. Oh and of course some decent sunny weather, even though FLO keep wishing clouds on me!

Welcome to probably the best Astro forum on the internet. I guess that is one way to keep your parking place reserved for yourself! Out of curiosity, did it attract any attention? Only it seems an odd way to start an outreach session! 🤪

Hi Simon welcome to the best Astro forum on the internet, probably...

Hello and welcome to a great forum. It is never too late to do something which has always appealed, until they nail the box shut over your head! 🤪 Go on, you know you want to, make your own telescope. Just nudge something else further down the list.

Well, firstly, much as I would indeed like to be living in the land down under, I am in fact in the UK, in Cheshire! 😜 Thank you for the welcome, but I am not new the hobby, ( or this forum, ) just the solar branch, as it were. I started over 40 years ago with a little Greenkat 50mm refractor, which I got an awful lot of use out of, including the solar in eyepiece filter that came with it. It is memories of that which has prompted me to get the Lunt wedge. I now have several scopes, including that very first one. ( I find it hard to throw optics away. ) I have a 150P; a 102 ST; a C9.25; a Bresser spotting scope and a C5. The 150P needs to go, as soon as I can persuade myself of the need. I intend to use the wedge on the 102ST for now, until I upgrade to a better ED refractor, maybe. I did consider a Baader solar filter for the C5, but was persuaded by others here, that the wedge is much better.

I am looking to venture into this section of the hobby again, having good memories of watching the sunspots with my 50mm Greenkat many years ago, along with the little eyepiece filter that came with the setup. Not at all safe, obviously, but I knew no better, I was very young. I am now about to buy a Lunt Herschel / Solar Wedge, so am going to do it much safer, but I realize that I know little about it to be honest and looked for a decent guide. I could not find one, but did discover this guide on how to make a DIY solar finder: https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/how-to-build-a-simple-solar-finder/ I have seen at least one such idea here on this forum. Thing is I do not know enough other things, or how to best go about this new, to me, observing branch. Can anyone please offer me some pointers on how to proceed please? Perhaps tell me about which direction to go in, regarding solar next? It can be very expensive, it seems and I would prefer to avoid too many mistakes. Any recommended reading matter too. I am quite surprised to so no such guide here already. ( Assuming I have not missed it! ) Thanks in anticipation.

Just got a new mouse mat, which whilst decent indeed, my use of my GoPro as my camera needs to improve... It is in fact the normal shape so, slight distortion there, sorry about that. For £ 5.99 off Amazon, not bad though...