russ

Awesome, can I ask what time for the transit? And can you believe its forecast clear.

Space a bit limited in the bongo with two kids, awning, camping gear, food. Just about get in. lol But an ST80 on a Giro would have been perfect. Or even an ED80 or ED72 on a Giro would be epic. All academic now sadly as the camper is no longer with us.

Would a pair of 15x70 or 20x80 binoculars be easier to stash away in the camper? I left a pair of Celestron 15x70's in our Bongo when we had it. Very capable under dark skies. Although i always wished i had a scope with me. A Skywatcher Startravel 102 or 120 on an AZ4 would have been fun but my wife would have done her nut. Surprisingly very little space in a camper when going away. Binoculars were the limit i found.

Hi Andrew, yes that was moniker on UKAI. One of the benefits of co-founding the group, you get the name you want as there are no members

Hello Andrew, I remember you on UKAI, I was still a member back then too. I too dropped out of the hobby about 6 years ago. Tried to make a come back last year but it didn't quite happen fully. Trying again. My boss is just getting in the imaging side and bombarding me with questions as if I would know. Things have certainly moved on. I haven't taken an image since 2008. Everything i recommended was obsolete 10 years ago. But some things are still going that I thought would have been superseded. Hope you find your feet again. Regards Russ

Considering how low it is this year I think you have done a mighty fine job of it. Some nice detail. I tried a visual of it last night but it was a dead loss to be honest. Maybe out in the countryside with an excellent horizon it would be okay but from the town it was awful.

Hmm that sounds like you unscrewed the locking knob...lol The slow-mo you can turn forever and they will just simply turn. The slow-mo are the long flexi adjusters. You can see the slow-mo in the picture above, its near the pointy arrow.

It could be that you do not have the locking knobs on each axis tightened up. The slow motions knobs will just turn endlessly with no acutal mount movement unless these are locked.

The Panasonic G7 is a good camera, especially for video and blogging. But the sensor is small and struggles with noise in low light situations. That’s not to say it couldn’t do it. And the smaller sensor would better suit the 1.25” focuser on the scope would no vignetting. Have you looked at a Sony A6000? Brilliant camera. Same 24mp APS-C sensor as the Fuji X-A5. But with viewfinder. They can be found on offer all over the place for £499 with 16-50 lens. Massively capable camera, image quality to match anything the DSLR can do.

Definitely worthwhile, the X-A3 will be as capable as any APS-C Canon or Nikon DSLR but with some added bonuses. Such as very small size and weight, so less stress on the telescope. Plus it has excellent Liveview, great LCD. It's a fully manual camera, noise reduction can be completely turned off. The downside is i doubt any of the astro software is geared to Fuji. Adapters needed for Fuji are readily available on Ebay. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Adjustable-T2-T-Telescope-Lens-to-Fujifilm-Camera-X-Pro1-Adapter-S4L8/282491388560?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649 That adapter will let you attach the Fuji to the barlow. Which is okay for lunar imaging but the mount/telescope are going to be an issue if you want to image galaxies, clusters or nebula as its an AltAz tracking mount. It follows the stars in a stepped motion. Plus using the barlow will only make matters much worse, amplifying the problem. You can use a 1.25" prime focus adapter in combination with the above adapter, like this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/M42x0-75-Astronomical-Telescope-DSLR-Camera-1-25-T-Mount-Adapter-Metal-Bracket/201461255637?hash=item2ee806cdd5:g:nGoAAOSwHsRYExTE So you don't have to make any mods but doesn't get round the tracking issue.

Fantastic set of eyepieces Dave. And it takes me back to 2004 when I had a set of Orion Ultrascopic (rebadged Parks Gold) eyepieces. Loved those eyepieces so much. So sharp and contrasty. Regretted selling them.