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The absurdity would make this almost funny if you weren't suffering. I hope your replacement counterweight bar arrives quickly and you have lots of enjoyment with your scope

Hi and welcome to SGL and back to stargazing 👋

This is an engrossing read 👍👌 Literally chronicling a labour of love Are you sure you weren't a watchmaker in a previous life? I think the only pieces of kit you're short of are a lathe and a laser-cutter to precision cut out things like the washers. It won't surprise me if you have a lathe though.

I think you can do it. An equatorial is just an altazimuth with added tilt! Oh and a bit of balancing. I know I am oversimplify it but essentially that's all it is. My point is, I think you have the skills and experience to do it, even if you can't face it.

I guess everyone must be bulk-buying from FLO; all these clouds and bad weather. Can't everyone time their purchases for full moons when I just don't give a damn! 😔

Hi Richard 👋 and welcome

They're pretty good pictures! If you have a decent photo printer they're worth printing, even to A3 size if the resolution is there. I've barely dipped my toes into imaging and probably will mostly only do lunar and maybe attempt some planetary (deep sky is just too much work to me) When I have enough images under my belt (I never rush) I'll consider firing up the A3 photo printer, getting a couple of spare sets of black and grey ink cartridges and printing a few off. Before you ask 😉 ... for resolution of the print; as long as the image on the paper does not begin to go mushy or pixellate at intended viewing distance then it's all that is necessary. Examples: a billboard meant to be seen from hundreds of metres away might be bigger than your house but only have a 2 megapixel image on it. An A4 photo that is to be held and viewed might be 6 - 8 MPx. Your monitor screen might only be 72 lines per inch (roughly 3 pixels per mm) and look at how sharp and clear that looks.

What equipment did you use for taking this image?

Well, I'm not complaining!

Howdy from the UK 👋

Hi and welcome 👋

Abso-lutely stunning!

Send me all your gear or she finds out 😃

Maybe he went to the Milky Way

Good question Stu! This is my first and only noctilucent cloud display, 7/7/2014 0123 to 0212UT. Friend of mine WhatsApp'd me to get me to look outside thinking it was an aurora. I gave up looking for noctilucent clouds yonks before due to bad northern horizon and light pollution. Pics were taken with a Samsung Galaxy S mk1, handheld.

I sense a new challenge there. How cheap can you go ... Oh I think if the Astral 500 comes back to me, I qualify as free. It originally was my 16th birthday present, so either way I wouldn't have spent a jot!

House is being taken over by telescopes. Mine was one of the funny blue colour ones, a circle T - Towa one. I might end up with it returning to me eventually. He doesn't use it. All I need do is get a 1.25 adapter for it and it'll be a lovely scope, with the eyepiece set I have.

A 60mm refractor can do it if it is good quality. I remember splitting it with my Prinz Astral 500, 60mm years ago. I actually gave that scope away to a friend about 10 years ago and I do miss it.

Don't matter: if your favourite spot is taken, just park there anyway! Returning to the topic at hand, there is the dangers of non-native plants like giant hogweed in the dark, so it pays to gain a bit of familiarity with the site you're at. As for weapons, there's very little leeway in the UK; everything is a potentially illegal offensive weapon if it can conceivably be used to harm someone, right down to the jelly babies in your pocket if a police officer suspects so. Paradoxically enough, there's quite a few surprisingly dangerous weapons that are perfectly legal to own, as long as you have a good reason to be carrying them - self defence isn't amongst those reasons though! That's quite a subject of its own. Just don't mention "butter knife loicences" though 😉

Might be great for a Mak or SCT but anything else will look silly 😉

Guaranteed to always give you a vacant parking spot and free road! 😉

Hi James 👋

I just call in the cleanup crew But I try very hard to not get dirty lens elements. I favour the blower bulb and Baader route if I can't get the cleanup crew around in time. I have to agree that lenspens are fine for a first use only. Another option is that liquid that turns to a jelly that peels off, but that's not much good for tiny lenses. But then I don't particularly go in for lenses with short eye relief, or excessive either.

I just cannot get handheld photos through the eyepiece at all that aren't a mess. I've tried a few times and given up in sheer frustration. I've done a lot better with cameras mounted to the scope.

That's good news