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Lurcher

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Everything posted by Lurcher

  1. Amazing drawings and observations as everyone else has said. Well done Mike. I only ever see Mars as a bright distant disc. I've never managed to make out any detail at all! I shall have to try again.
  2. Hi, Hoping I'm getting doing this correctly. (Not entered any challenges or competitions before, (sympathy vote). Here's my sketch I did last night from my back garden between 9.05pm and 9.30pm. I could see the moon would be visible for a while between the Scots Pine tree in our garden and the back of our house, so I set the telescope down to give a good view, but unfortunately, despite forecasts for fairly clear skies there were a lot of clouds rolling around. So much so I decided not to bother doing a two star alignment and simply kept moving and adjusting the scope as the moon moved through the eyepiece. I noticed after a while that Phad in Ursa Major and Arcturus behind me were perfectly clear and everytime the moon clouded over I was tempted to quickly try an alignment, but I was then persuaded to keep going by a small gap in the clouds which might have been the last one as far as I knew! The sketch was done between the times shown. I then added the text this morning after finding the area I had drawn in Philip's Moon Observer's Guide. Thank you for looking. Clear skies!
  3. Great website Victor. Your enthusiasm and love of astronomy and observing really comes across. Great sketches. I recognized M42 immediately. You've done well to find so many deep sky objects. I still haven't actually been able to see the Blinking Planetary Nebula. My telescope says it's pointing at it, but I've never made it out. I must try that again actually. I think it might be higher in the sky now than when I did last try. (And yes you used the correct translation for milk crate ?). Looked like a brilliant night.
  4. They're brilliant. Very inspiring. I've chickened out of trying to draw the faint deep sky objects of late. You've encouraged me to have another go one night if I can see these objects well some time! Thanks for posting.
  5. Brilliant sketches. I particularly like your sketch of M82. That's what I remember seeing.
  6. Lurcher

    M94

    Yet another one I don't think I've managed to see myself yet. Thanks for a brilliant and honest sketch Mike. Well done. I know what I'm hoping to see now thanks!
  7. Brilliant to see what one can actually expect to see when viewing these galaxies. Well done. I really don't think it's an easy challenge to draw these really faint objects without over doing them. Great subtlety. I haven't seen this one yet. I shall have to try when I get to a dark site. Thanks.
  8. Sounds ingenious! Can't wait to see the video. Looks brilliant.
  9. Exciting stuff. I look forward to seeing the video. Your friend is going to be very lucky to own such a brilliant thing. (I love those split blocks!! - and the end cylinder that houses the secondary mirror also).
  10. Ahhh, that's a shame. Thanks for asking and checking it out though.
  11. That would be very timely. I want a new eyepiece too!
  12. The long range forecast for last night for where I am was looking really good for last night. I was going to meet up with a couple of friends at a site near us all, but I called it off as the later forecasts were for cloud coming over later in the night building to possible rain; but it was already cloudy by early evening. So I thought, well it's forecast to only get worse, no point in heading out. So I cancelled meeting up, ---- and it cleared! I got out in the back garden but only got frustrated with light pollution and possibly poor seeing conditions also. Could barely see or find anything! (Although strangely enough M51 seemed to show up quite nicely and I normally struggle to see that!).
  13. Hi John. I really liked the look of those, (and the price!), but FLO recommend them for scopes of f5 or higher, so I wasn't sure whether to go for them or not. (My scope's just slightly less at f4.9. (I don't know if that would make enough of a difference to worry about really?). But I noticed the Explore Scientific lenses are recommended for use with "fast optics", so although they're more money than the BST's perhaps I might have to dig that little bit deeper and then hopefully I'll have something where I'm not constantly wondering if there's blurring that shouldn't be there or not. Maybe?! Thanks. Ooh, and thanks to Bobby and Ben also. I do keep trying to buy second hand where I can, (I'll check out FLO's clearance offers too). Thanks all for your help and suggestions.
  14. Hi John! Yes sorry, I know that limits things a bit, but if I could stick to a £100 limit that would be ideal for me. Thanks
  15. Thanks for all your recommendations and suggestions everyone. Much appreciated. Thank you.!
  16. I have been wondering about that as a cheaper option in the long run, and less bother than changing eyepieces, but this is an anniversary present in a few week's time so I've got to stick to budget. Thanks though! Thanks I haven't looked at those, I shall take a look. (I originally had the 200mm SkyWatcher until quite recently. I only changed because I managed to get the 12" version on e-Bay for £620.00, and knowing I would be able to sell my 200mm scope on for around £450.00 so not leaving much of a difference in the price. Otherwise I would have stuck with the 200mm. I still miss it. I knew I would! Thanks for that. I'm not sure if I can afford the 82 deg ones but I shall take another look. I didn't consider the Pentax ones. I'll check them out too, and thanks for another recommendation for the Vixens. I shall look at those too. Thanks. And thanks for the aperture suggestions, yes - that'll be the next decision! lol
  17. Brilliant. Thanks for that. Feels good to know where I'm going with this now. (Nice scope by the way. I really like the look of the Orion Truss scopes). Thanks for your reply.
  18. Haa! I first thought of Explore Scientific. (I like the attention they give to even the packaging). But I got so bogged down in not knowing whether I should be going for the 52 degree or the 62 degree or the 68 degree blah, blah, blah, I gave up and started looking at other brands. So thank you; I do like the sound of the Explore Scientific and I had forgotten they were so reasonably priced. Looks like a good option. Thanks for your advice. Martin.
  19. Hi, Sorry, I do worry that you are all probably getting really bored by people like me asking the same old questions, but here goes! I own a 305mm SkyWatcher Flextube Dobsonian with a focal length of 1500mm. So the scope has a focal length of f4.9. At the moment I'm using the standard Celestron Plossl Eyepieces that I bought second hand as an eyepiece and filter kit, but I've really started to notice the lack of sharpness and the difficulty in focusing. (Particularly noticeable on globular clusters). I would love to start upgrading my eyepieces one-by-one over time to better quality ones. I had read great reviews on the BST Starguider eyepieces, but I noticed FLO say they're ok for scopes of f5 or higher. So I was worried they might still not be the answer. I then looked at the Celestron X-Cel LX eyepieces but I couldn't see any information on whether they would be any better than the BST Starguiders. I then saw the Baader Hyperion 68 degree eyepieces and really liked the look of them. I like the fact that they're colour coded, can be either 1.25" or 2" and can have a DSLR camera attached to them; but I've just this morning read some more reviews on here saying some people felt they weren't as good as hoped for on faster scopes. Any thoughts please as to which eyepieces would be best suited to my scope please? (I should have said at the outset I can't afford Tele Vue prices! - Sadly). I think the Baader Hyperion lenses might be at the top of my budget at around £98.00 per eyepiece). Many thanks for any advice. Thanks, Martin.
  20. I love your scopes. I've watched a video on Youtube so many times showing the construction of a 20" Dobsonian. I love the detail of the split blocks in particular. I was about to ask if you'd seen it as it was so similar to yours, and then realized it was yours! So glad I didn't just ask a really stupid question again. I would love one of them (ideally with a GoTo as I'm a bit useless without that). Really nice designs.
  21. Lurcher

    Saturday 2 2 19.jpg

    This is beautiful too. Such a beautiful texture and I love the bright filament of yellow light near the top right.
  22. Lurcher

    9 2 19 Ha .jpg

    Yes this is brilliant. How did you make this amazing image Marios??
  23. Clever stuff Gina! Well done it's beginning to look the business. ?
  24. Hey well done! I think I've read your previous posts and know you've waited a long time to finally get a scope and be able to use it outside. We had a clear sky last night for the first time in ages too. It's such a welcome after so long isn't it!? My back garden is pretty limited too, with the only benefit being that Orion is directly behind me at the moment at night, so that works well at this time of year. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I looked quickly at M31 last night too as that's always a good one, but I was really disappointed with the views of it last night. It was quite high in the sky but, (and possibly due to the neighbours' sodding external lights), I could hardly see anything! So if it was looking good for you last night and you managed to find it you did well. Well done for getting out with your scope last night and the write up.
  25. Lurcher

    Christmas Day Dip

    Hey well done!! You've put me to shame! The King Ethelbert Pub at Reculver organize a Boxing Day swim and I always say one year I'm going to do it with my Daughter who's keen to join in, but then every year, I say, "I can't do it as we've now been invited round to see someone or another." Perhaps next year I should be more determined, make it a priority, and not find excuses! Well done again!
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