jjohnson3803

If you go with binos, there are at least three good bino observing guides - Moore's, Sironik's, and Harrington's. Although I mainly observe with a telescope, I like bino books because I live in heavy light pollution and they give more realistic expectations of what I can see from home. I'd also suggest looking into buying a tripod or monopod no matter the size of any binos you might get. A lot of people have trouble holding binos steady and a mono- / tripod can make a great deal of difference. Enjoy!

Hadn't really noticed it until I ran an across an observing article that mentioned it. The article was in either SkyTel or S@N awhile ago.

I don't do photography, but I have the US / Astronomics version of the 102ED. Visually, it's a really nice scope - very crisp lunar views for example - and well made, but it's heavy / bulky, about the same weight / size as my ST120 achro. The 102 does not ride well on my AZ5 or my ScopeTech Zero with my carbon fiber tripod (RT90C) IMO and for that reason, I'm probably going to sell it rather than buy a new / heavier mount. I also tried it on my medium-duty Explore Scientific tripod (1.75-in steel legs) with the same results. YMMV.

2022: 2022 was spent trying out different combinations of scopes / mounts / tripods and a small amount of cellphone astrophotography. I did get a fair number of open cluster and lunar observations in - too much light pollution here for most faint fuzzies. Caught a huge fireball while camping at a dark site 300 miles from home. I did not make it out to either of my club's dark sites at all. Caught the recent lunar eclipse but the Mars occultation was clouded out. 2023: My new 72mm ED refractor has been sitting almost completely idle since I got it in early December due to garbage weather. I want to get that thing fired up and see what it can do on the moon and some double stars. I'm still pondering selling my ST120 and my 102ED - maybe this year. I want to get out to my club dark sites at least once a quarter and go camping with a scope at least 4 times over the season. I want to start observing two or three long term variables regularly like R Leo and Chi Cyg and maybe start a double star program.

Way too much air traffic near / over me to get a laser. The Federales take an extremely dim view of lighting up cockpits, even by accident. YMMV.

Not sure if this was mentioned, but some of the table Dobs can be mounted on a tripod if you ever want to go that way. Also, some people have written about boring shallow holes in a wooden barstool seat for the Dob feet and putting the Dob on that. Quite a clever idea IMO.

I'm nearsighted with astigmatism, so I usually wear my glasses when observing. For me, I think about 10mm is the lower limit on eye relief. I do observe occasionally without them, but the difference is quite noticeable.

I have several refractors, but I'm thinking about getting a 90mm and maybe selling a couple of the bigger ones. I'm slowly coming to the belief that a 90mm is probably a "Goldilocks refractor " for me right now. Enjoy! BTW, I got a new 72mm around the first of December - it's been 100% overcast almost the entire time since. 🙄

There are historical statistics here for North America / UK / Europe: https://weatherspark.com/history You'll have to drill down a bit to get to historical cloud charts for your area. Interestingly, they show the winter months to be the cloudiest here and summer the least cloudy, while south Florida is just the opposite. That seems like a good argument for me to become a "snowbird" and spend winters there while spending summers here.

Very true. Lots of old goats over there - "Nahh, nahhh, nahhh, nahhhhhh!" However, some gemstones can be found in the fog of oral flatulence if you have the patience to search a bit.

Go-to mounts are good for finding objects quickly and tracking them, but you still have to level them, align them, and so on (at least as far as I know - I only use manual mounts). And you'll need spare batteries and/or a power supply or make sure your phone can keep a good charge. Some people claim that automatic mounts keep newcomers from learning the sky. Not sure how accurate that is, but I can understand how that might happen. I'd go with Option #5. If the mount / tripod is sturdy and doesn't wobble, that would be a scope that could last her a long time. I certainly wouldn't call it a toy. (And you could upgrade the tripod and mount later if you wanted to.) Just my opinions. Good luck! I should add that wandering around the sky at random can be quite rewarding - I've stumbled across a lot of interesting objects and asterisms when I've had no target in mind. I almost always do a random scan at the end of an observing session to wind things down.

I used to see it as an annoyance when I wanted to observe DSOs, but I've come to enjoy lunar observing, especially around the first and last quarters. I don't observe it when it's full or for a few days either side of full - features are too washed out for my tastes. I didn't realize how much detail is visible until I really took a hard look instead of just glancing at it.

That line of thought is one thing that's kept me from going down the AP rabbit hole. However, there's a compromise available - buy some time on a remote telescope site. There can be glitches, but it's no fuss, no muss for the most part and I got some reasonable images from remote sites. I eventually let my subscription lapse though - I decided I didn't really want to spend time processing images when spectacular images are available all over the Web I've taken some wide field smartphone pics with Nocturne and Starry Cam, but I'm staying visual at least for now.

I rely on my "Clementine Atlas of the Moon" (out of print, but used copies are available). Section map on one page, plain photo from lunar orbit on the opposite. But it's more a desk reference unless I copy pages for use outside. Outside I use the Charles Wood spiral bound atlas. Another thing I want to try is printing screen grabs from Virtual Moon Atlas 7.0 and then putting them into clear plastic sleeves I can mark up with a grease pencil or Sharpie or something. That way I can just check off lunar features on the map and identify / log them later. And it would be no loss if any sheets got lost / damaged.

I pin mine together with old fashioned diaper pins (nappy pins in the UK?) before they go into the laundry. Haven't had a mismatched pair since I started doing that.

Early dinner at a favorite Italian restaurant, watching American football college bowl games. Mostly cloudy with rain forecast overnight, so probably no chance to do any observing. Found a good book on Ancient Egyptian history at a used book seller, so that might tonight's activity.

Agree. I alternate between using my AZ5 and ScopeTech Zero. I think my ST120 and 1002ED are at the upper limit of what they can realistically handle though. I tried 2 or 3 friction mounts and didn't like them at all compared to my AZ5 and STech slo-mos. YMMV.

Shame on me I guess, but I use M10s and 3/8s interchangeably. They've worked ok so far. Hope I'm not really screwing up the threads on anything - no pun intended.

I've tried a couple of neutral density filters, a green "thing", and a couple of colored filters. I find a yellow #8 to work best followed by a medium orange #21. The others were marginal at best IME. I think I read somewhere that some people use purple filters on the moon, but I've never tried that. OTOH, Antares 1.25-in filters sell for about US$10 - US$12 each, so experimenting is not costly. You can even stack them if you want. Usually I observe around first and last quarters though, so I don't bother with a filter.

I have 15mm and 25mm Paradigms / Starguiders / Whatevers and I find them to be a good value for the price - about US$65 now IIRC. Relatively wide fields and good eye relief since I wear glasses while observing. I also have a couple of Vixen SLVs and IMO they're noticeably better, but they do cost 3X as much as the Paradigms. I'm about to order an Astronomics PF 10.5mm to try in my little 50mm finder-turned-refractor. They're not definitely not premium EPs, but have received some good reviews. Good luck!

I'd go with an 80mm to 90mm achromatic refractor. They're inexpensive, have a small form factor if you keep the f-ratio low, are easy to transport if you go to a dark site or on vacation, don't require a king-hell mount, and seem to hold good resale value. True, they have some chromatic aberration, but mine - 50mm, 80mm, 120mm - all do an ok job on the planets at lower power and the moon at moderate power. CA doesn't much matter IMO on deep sky. Full disclosure - I did buy 72mm and 102mm ED doublets for lunar observing and double stars, but they each cost 4X to 5X as much as my achros.

I've used rubber craft foam for padding out a camera lens ring for my 50mm. Comes in several thicknesses and colors and is about $1 US a sheet in craft stores here. As mentioned, it won't allow tubes or whatever to slide.

Legos are great for keeping 90-degree joints true and square - learned that trick assembling miniature structures for model railroading.

I use hole saws and as mentioned above, run my drill anticlockwise at low speed or turn them by hand. Depending on the type of foam, using heated cutters can release toxic or at least irritating fumes, so user beware. IME pluck foam comes apart after minimal use. Some people hot glue the blocks together, but why bother when there are other inexpensive options available? But to each, their own.

Used Manfrotto 475B? The geared elevator column was quite convenient when I used one for my 15x70s. Addendum: Oops! Just saw you already ordered a pod.