russ

1 hour ago, Stardaze said:

I’ll probably end up with one as the 1.25” one isn’t too costly. Might be worth a punt over a 4mm EP? 

 

I prefer to Barlow my 12mm rather than use the 6mm Plossl. Keep the viewing comfort of the 12mm BST. 

9 hours ago, Stardaze said:

I think if I were going to get a better one, I’d probably get the ES 2x extender, but not sure I really need it. It’s way down the list atm 🤔

I definitely recommend the ES as an upgrade over the Skywatcher. I only recently got the ES myself and so far dead impressed. Maintains the image quality of the original eyepiece, needs less adjustment on the focuser and the build is excellent. 

That's incredible. Perfect glob image.

Looks like its working well Ant. Nice sharp field as well. Very promising indeed. Just sold my EQ3 to buy some bits for the 200P. I know i'll regret it as I won't be allowed to take the HEQ5 camping but the EQ3 i could sneak in.

5 hours ago, John said:

Russ,

Do you remember back in 2009, you had an Aero ED30 on loan from FLO then passed it on to me along with your thoughts and I added some of my own to produce this review

Was that really 11 years ago !!

 

Omg the time is just flying by so quickly. John, Did I bring the eyepiece down to you and we met just outside Bristol on the M5? 

11 minutes ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

Hi Russ.

More encouraging advice from some one experienced with both the 200 & 300p It sounds like you achieved some real gains in detail even with the BST eye pieces. I have a 30mm Aero ED on route to me at the moment. I would hope this would give similar views to your Meade 5000 30mm in the 300p

I might be fortunate that I will only need to purchase a few lower power eye pieces initially and use my high power BST's  in both the 200 & 300p

In short, The 300p looks the better option now as I will still have the portability aspect and excellent views for if I ever did manage to get to a dark site. That said if I did manage to do this I would want to take the 200p along also to see what it is truely capable of! 

 

Regards

Baz

Btw I didn't want to put you off the 350P if you have set your heart on it. If you think you can handle the weight and bulk, pretty sure the aperture will be worth it. I've never looked through a 350P but i did peak into a Meade Lightbridge 16" at the Salisbury star party and the view was awesome!!!!  But as John said, it was monster setup.

I stuck with my BST's (8mm, 12mm and 18mm) and the TMB's (6mm and 9mm). I found them acceptable for me in the 300P. Under more critical eyes i'm sure they would not be acceptable. Aero ED 30mm will do the job. Had one of those and enjoyed it. 

I found the 300P was still practical enough to move it around in the car. And our car was only a small supermini sized Nissan Note. Under darker skies the 300P was a big improvement on the 200P. Night and Day difference. For example. Under New Forest skies the 200P would struggle to show the Witches Broom at all. Just get hints of it with an OIII filter. But the 300P, with the OIII, was a delight. Same for the galaxies. M51 went from two smudges in the 200P to an actual spiral galaxy in the 300P. 

The quality of the eyepiece really helped. I was using a mixture of BST's and TMB Planetarys. But another member dropped in his 31mm Nagler and bosch.....epic view. You don't need a 31mm Nagler mind. After that i found a reasonably priced Meade 5000 30mm UWA and had the same impact. Full on space walk effect. 

In short i would definitely recommend the 300P as an upgrade but you will want to get it away from the LP to get the most out of it. Dark skies are everything. 

Just as quick side note. I took the 200P to Astrofest, and under truly dark skies, it through up a view of M51 that the 300P couldn't hope to match under poorer skies. So if you bought the 350P to only use from the garden you really would be losing out. Better to drop a size and get out and about with the 300P.

Looks so peaceful and calm.....bliss.  And a stunning horizon. Sounds a great session.

That's a beautiful scope and mount. A work of art.

Excellent stuff John.  I was out a little earlier taking a look myself. It was surprisingly steady and taking good power. The crater detail was stunning along the terminator. Was going to be an imaging session but abandoned that in favour of some visuals instead.

8 minutes ago, Asmodeus said:

Was looking at this for a good all rounder https://www.wexphotovideo.com/baader-mark-iii-hyperion-8-24mm-clickstop-zoom-eyepiece-with-225x-barlow-1557712/ 

Any opinions?

Its a great lens the Baader 8-24 but unfortunately it won't give you a widefield at the 24mm end. Like all zooms that is its handicap. Gives a nice widefield at the high powered end though. So would end having to buy another eyepiece to compliment it, if low power wide is what you were after.

Sorry, John had already answered while i was typing...lol

We have the C6 which we love a lot. Just a great scope. I used to team it up with our steel tripod equipped AZ4 and take it camping with us.  But its bigger than you think, especially when room is tight as it always is when camping. And i quickly found it was essential to still have the powertank and heated dew straps along too, the corrector plate dews up in seconds. Which defeated the point of taking the fully manual AZ4. 

Anyway i bought a small refractor (Astrotech AT66) for the camping. Its rock steady on the AZ4 and just perfect under dark skies. So perhaps maybe Skywatcher ED80 on the Skywatcher AZ-GTI that HK recommended could be a good alternative.

Wow...just wow!

I haven't done a star trail since 1989. Great stuff Ant.

Really nice work Ant. So much detail. The mosaic is excellent.

14 hours ago, LukeSkywatcher said:

I'd be more concerned about all the veggies down your scope.

Darn, i should have taken those out first. 

I got some of these in the post today. Stretchy Food Lids. Spiders kept crawling up the back of my 200P while stored in the shed. By the next day full of webs. Not anymore....

On 27/05/2020 at 21:30, Chris Wright said:

This arrived today for my Astro mini pc as the 1Tb mechanical drive was running HOT! Still more than big enough for DSO imaging. 

I have the same drive in my laptop, made such a difference to speed and heat. Laptop boots in seconds rather than minutes. And no longer hot to the touch underneath. Best upgrade. 

2 hours ago, Alan White said:

Delivery person, not postie today.

My new to me trial Pseudo Masuyama 12.5mm Celestron Ultima.
Nice build quality, hope to test it tonight 🤞

I used to have a couple of those plus the Orion Ultrascopic and Parks Gold. Preferred them to the TV Plossl.

4 hours ago, Louis D said:

Which ones?  The Meade 8-24 is $64 at OPT while the Starguiders are $60 at Agena Astro.  Pretty much the same price.

Wow they certainly weren't that price back in 2008.......pretty sure it was £150 back then. Same as the Vixen. Everything has got so cheap.

Fantastic image, so much detail. Amazing the amount of other galaxies in that image.

Those are stonkingly good images

Just now, Dantooine said:

Russ,

my wife’s a nurse too and she’s not into Astro either. Must be a nurse thing. 
 

Dale. 

haha i think you are right  

That's a beautiful image. Fantastic even exposure and great detail.

Hi,

Welcome to the forum. Astro is certainly proving a great way to relax and unwind during this unprecedented time.

My wife is a nurse in Southampton and the last couple of months have been a testing time for her to say the least. Being able to get out for longer walks again has been a blessing for her (she's not into astro).

Like John i haven't spent loads but i have been browsing UK Astro Buy n Sell more than usual. Picking up little nik nak items for the scope.

Russ