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2 hours ago, Nigella Bryant said:

On the tenth day of Christmas 

my true love sent to me:

ten clear nights

You definitely CAN'T be in Britain then! 😂😂😂

Hi and welcome, Dan 👋

I am going to mention that you might need to collimate that telescope too. That is adjusting the mirrors so that they are all centred and aligned. But that is something you will be doing fairly often with that optical design anyway. An inexpensive simple device called a "Cheshire eyepiece" will make it a lot easier. So if you find that your views are bad, that would be the most likely problem. Just look for collimating newtonian reflector / telescope for how-to.

There is a thread on here and other forums on how to do it

Edit: I think it is possible that the tube was pushed in to hold the secondary mirror in place (if the tube is larger than the secondary mirror)  for shipping - not that it is a good idea. But if you push the tube back out the focuser and you disturb the secondary, you have not broken the telescope unless you chip the mirror. All that will need to be done is collimating the telescope. Only thing that you or anyone needs to worry about when collimating is not to drop anything down the telescope tube onto the mirror. Like all things, first time or two will be the worst but it will get easier with practice. 

Hi there 👋

Hi Mozza 👋 Welcome to the lounge 

On 19/12/2020 at 10:10, Paul73 said:

Dark sky is what you need. It is almost impossible with my 16” Dob from home, but it has been done using far less from really dark sites.

Paul

PS the horse’s head is possibly the most underwhelming sight in astronomy. Don’t expect too much.

Messier 33 from my garden beats it for underwhelming!

17 minutes ago, Pixies said:

That's a star in line with Jupiter's moons - outside of Callisto:

I was getting worried with the number of moons I could see!

You could have named the interloper "Sidus Ludovicianum" 😉

I just managed to see Jupiter and Saturn about half an hour ago between the scudding clouds.

Total time I had of clear sky was about 8 seconds, over 2 gaps in the clouds. 

Used my Canon 10x30 IS binoculars.

Low down over the hill crest but looking fantastic. 

I'm going to look again but I think this'll be it. 

As good as can be expected for Northern England... 

Edit: Went back upstairs for another look after posting this and managed to get a longer view with my Nikon 8x40 CF binos. But only through the bathroom window which is stuck shut.

Watched it til it was hidden by a low cloud and just before it would have disappeared behind the roof of the old farmhouse a short distance away.

It's over for me now, unless a miracle happens tomorrow. 

1 hour ago, wulfrun said:

Actually, there's a "Tactical" version of the PD35 I posted a link to above. It's the same price, surprisingy and has some minor feature differences. As for what it means, I doubt there's a definition of what makes one "tactical" and the other not. Just a buzzword that's meant to hype it with no real logic and (usually) inflating the price.

"Tactical" usually equals flat / matt black 😉

18 hours ago, Tiny Clanger said:

Just pointing out I believe you left out the word 'Tactical' in that remarkable instrument's name, It would be priced at least 50% cheaper without it ...

Otherwise a helpful review, thanks. Did you get the torch free from the importer in exchange for an honest review on Amazon ? 😀

🙋  How tactical is "Tactical"? And what tactics are used?  

2 minutes ago, Tiny Clanger said:

Were you hoping I'd say ... afraid not ?

 

Knot at all. I just want to know the special ones that only work on glow in the dark versions 

1 hour ago, Tiny Clanger said:

So, my heavily astro modded solitaire (red finish, original bulb model) seems collimated , but reckon the lumpy PVA glue that holds the layers of red acetate to each other and the front glass may be affecting the smoothness of the light pool somewhat. Anyone know the refractive index of dried PVA glue ?

By the way, for any tactical flashlight fans out there, yes, that thumb loop is glow in the dark paracord .

Do you know any glow in the dark paracord knots? 

7 minutes ago, Gfamily said:

And soot on the telescope eye-cup?

I prefer dark coloured ink on the mouthpiece 😉

Looks much funnier

7 minutes ago, wulfrun said:

Can't resist this one, in the spirit of the thread. Years ago, I worked in surface coatings, which included colour matching. We had a spectrophotometer in the lab (fancy colour-measuring gadget) which had two calibration standards - a white tile and a light-trap. The white tile is barium sulphate and not very interesting. A light-trap is a tube, closed at one end, matt black inside and containing a matt black cone which tapers to a very sharp and equally invisible point. Visitors would casually pick it up and ask what it was. "It's a light-trap". "Oh", first thing look into it, second thing insert finger to see what's in it. We kept the pasters nearby 🙂

That is like my favourite little trick especially for those that love to kick snowmen. I build a little snowman around a brick! 😈

14 minutes ago, Tiny Clanger said:

Can't help with that, sorry, my solitaire (bulb, not the newfangled LED) is heavily astro modded. I don't want to disturb the stacked circles of red acetate, or the PVA glue that holds 'em on the lens ...

What worries me more is I've checked all my cylindrical form torches, and every single one only has the one spring in the battery compartment , and no locking screw(s). How on earth can the cells be accurately aligned ?

A good way to hold the acetate on is a metal disc soldered around the edges to secure it. It'll also help prevent ruining your dark-adaptation. Comes in handy as a dark light too for cancelling out any unwanted light

2 minutes ago, Tiny Clanger said:

Can't help with that, sorry, my solitaire (bulb, not the newfangled LED) is heavily astro modded. I don't want to disturb the stacked circles of red acetate, or the PVA glue that holds 'em on the lens ...

What worries me more is I've checked all my cylindrical form torches, and every single one only has the one spring in the battery compartment , and no locking screw(s). How on earth can the cells be accurately aligned ?

Maybe it's 

48 minutes ago, wulfrun said:

Solitaire uses a bulb, that's ancient technology. You need an upgrade. I'd suggest something like this:

https://www.fenixtorch.co.uk/Shop/Fenix-Torches/LD-Series/13756-Fenix-LD02-V2.0.html

Never needs collimation. It's about the same size, runs off the same battery (which lasts a lot longer) and is at least 5 times brighter. I have its predecessor, somewhat worn but still works perfectly. Top tip: don't use on astro trips unless to find your way back, it'll ruin your night vision in an instant.

That torch worries me. I'm scared that I'll get sunburn from holding it when it is in UV mode 😀

1 hour ago, vlaiv said:

I think your collimation is fine - it is tilt that you are seeing in your image

 

Maybe the diagonal mirror needs adjusting.

Where's the diagonal mirror on my torch? 

1 hour ago, Tiny Clanger said:

😀 I'd strongly suggest you upgrade to something with more aperture and power , maybe a maglite 3D ?

Only £50, so if you are serious about torches it's a wise investment ... 😀

 

Is there a set of Bob's Knobs for it? 😃

Yesterday morning while it was still dark I shone my little Maglite Solitaire torch ("flashlight" to you folk across The Pond) at the wall and noticed that the dark hole wasn't centred. Can anyone please collimate it for me? I've no experience at collimating torches and can't find the collimating screws!

Here's a picture of the what I was getting...

On 15/12/2020 at 14:30, Davey-T said:

If you have no security lighting to light the burglars way and they trip on a loose paving stone they may sue you for insufficient illumination 😂

Dave

Post a warning sign on the gate:

BEWARE OF THE DARK

Sorted! 

On 18/05/2017 at 15:58, RayD said:

There is.  I looked in to this as I have them quite bad, but it is a very intrusive procedure, and only recommended in very extreme circumstances.  They basically replace the "gel" inside the eyeball, which is where the floaters live, and which I suspect is nothing like as easy as it sounds.

Pretty high-risk too. The damage caused by any complications after the procedure can be worse than even the worst cases of vitreous floaters. I know - I  have them really bad and the local hospital near me went from "no way will we do it" to over-enthusiasm to do the vitrectomy in the space of a year.  A little bit of quick research convinced me that I didn't want to be a guinea pig.

If you are wondering how bad mine are: any light to see anything, no matter how dim; my floaters show. Views through an eyepiece give distortion fields like refractive errors drifting across my fov and if the exit pupil is small, the view is like a dense snowball globe. I just try exercise more patience when looking. 

12 hours ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

Summer observing can be enjoyable, especially if you like to camp and/or don't mind staying up late. The observing hours are very limited, so it's quick sessions, with small telescopes or binoculars. There are a couple of weeks midsummer when it's an almost pointless pursuit but...

Casual astronomy in shirt sleeves, a cold can of beer or three handy, with a cool breeze and wildlife (including dreaded midges!) to keep you company can make a pleasant night.

 

Some people swear by Avon Skin So Soft with citronella in it for a midge repellant.  Others just swear 😉

You don't know what you're missing...

Cygnus

Hercules

Lyra

Aquila

Perseus

Ophiuchus 

And a load more

And ALL the goodies that come with those!

And you're not freezing your cajonies off whilst you're outside 😄

My tuppence-worth says that you'll be limited to low-power sweeping from a house window. Forget anything involving magnification for the reasons already mentioned and no matter what, what you'll really want to look at is bound to be just out of reach of where you can point your scope to.

Worth doing for when you can't get out for whatever reason but limited.