jjohnson3803

Looks like Telescope Service is no longer carrying them - a search shows "not found", not the typical "out of stock" or "more coming".    Or maybe I'm not doing a proper search.

I used to use chemical hand warmer packs - held them on with large rubber / hair bands.  They worked well.

Four fracs - 50mm to 120mm, all short tube but one f7 ED which I thought would be my "forever" scope.  My first scope decades ago was a refractor so there might be a bit of nostalgia involved.   

The shorties are easy to store and transport which are important considerations for me right now.  The f7 ED has to go - too bulky and heavy and doesn't get used much even though the views are superb.  Maybe I should get a little 70-ish ED.

I had a Mak for lunar but sold it because, well, it was a Mak.  😁  (Actually, I probably should have kept that one...)

On 07/11/2022 at 11:37, JeremyS said:

Having a small scope [...] set up and ready to go at a moment’s notice can really help to keep the astro interest going in poor weather periods where there are only a few gaps.

Very true IMO.  I'm much more willing to pop outside even when the sky looks quite marginal b/c set-up time is essentially zero.  And the worst case scenario is I get some fresh air.

I probably have more than enough, but I still wonder if I'm truly in the Goldilocks Equipment Zone. 🤔

Oh well, my buying and selling keeps PayPal happy.  Life would be simpler though if I just said, "Enough!"  

Sidenote:  It might be worthwhile to get a good pair of lightweight binoculars to take along.  Portable, and useful if you can't get any scope time.

17 hours ago, cajen2 said:

I put some corals on a site as "free to a good home" and nobody was interested, yet the same people cheerfully shell out hundreds of pounds on shop-bought ones. Not sure if there's an astro equivalent...

I shut down my saltwater tanks years ago, but I'm willing to adopt any unwanted Taks or Questars.

I put a Lunt 2-speed Crayford on my ST80 a couple years ago.  Love it.   Enormous improvement over the stock R&P.

(I'm told the Lunt is actually a rebranded GSO, but as long as it works well they can call it anything they want.  😁)

After much soul searching 🙂, I'm thinking about getting a SkyWatcher Evo 72ED for lunar observing.  As much as I love the crisp moon views in my 102ED, it's too large / bulky for my needs and I'll probably list it for sale soon. 🙁

Any experiences / opinions re: the 72ED?  ( I want to stay with a refractor - had a 90mm Mak and sold it awhile ago.)  Thanks!

The norm here (US) seems to be 60-70% of the current new price.  That's assuming the gear is good quality, in good condition, etc.  Some older kit commands a higher price because it's hard to find.

One thing that can really alter the asking price is who pays shipping - buyer or seller?  For example, I sold a tripod that would have cost $20 to ship by weight.  But because the box was long, it raised the shipping cost to $50.  Some sellers are offering to split shipping with the buyer instead of one or other paying for all of it.

I have an ST50, ST80, ST120, and a 102ED.  The 102 is a thing of beauty, but gets little use b/c of its bulk.  The 120 is somewhat less bulky, but the 80 is what gets used almost every time I'm out - at home or away.

I'm truly torn about selling the 102 and 120.  On the one hand, I really dislike the thought of getting rid of good scopes, but what good are they if they just sit in the cabinet?  I'm thinking a 70ED or 80ED would be enough for my casual lunar observing and the ST80 can handle the rest.  I live in way too much light pollution to be a galaxy hunter anyway.  ☹️

There is allegedly a Stellarvue M2C mount head on a FedEx truck somewhere between me and the local FedEx terminal as I type this.  With luck it will be here before the end of the day.

Visit the loo, I suspect.

yr.no has been pretty accurate for me here in the US - better than forecasts from the US National Weather Service actually.  The details tab on the forecast table page(s) shows total % cloud cover as well as high, low, and medium cloud.

My Innorel RT90C has a little brother (don't remember model off the top of my head) which is lower price and has gotten good reviews for small scopes. 

I wanted a Berlebach Report, but it was OOS / backordered / "more coming soon".  C'est la vie in the astro world right now.

20 hours ago, jjohnson3803 said:

[...] my 102ED still seems to be too much for the Zero and 90C.  Damping time is better, but it's still longer than I had hoped.

Update - I took out my 102ED this morning for some lunar observing and while the image was spectacular, the mount / tripod combo are really too jittery for my tastes.  It was rather cold and maybe that had some effect, and maybe it was partly due to sticky grease in the focuser, but I have to seriously consider a different mount (Stellarvue M2C?) or using lighter scopes.      FWIW.

It looks like the SW AZ4 is rated at about 14 pounds capacity.  That means your 150 is going to be pretty close to the limit.  Generally, running close to the load limit gives less than satisfactory results.  Of course, there can be exceptions and I have no hands-on experience with the AZ4, just the AZ5.

On 12/10/2022 at 13:03, JeremyS said:

Me too. Which did you go for?

Innorel RT90C.  I much prefer the form factor of the 90C and its size when collapsed compared to my Frotto 475B, but my 102ED still seems to be too much for the Zero and 90C.  Damping time is better, but it's still longer than I had hoped.

I'm fighting the feeling that it's time to sell my ST120 and 102ED and get a fast 80ED.  Maybe light, solid, and aperture just don't go together.

3 hours ago, Shimrod said:

At full price I will probably review the other magazines available and consider whether I want to swap - I do like the pull out monthly round-up section.

I really like that section.  But being across the pond, issues usually arrived too late to use it much, so I dropped my subscription.

Boeing should be able to screw things up.   Oh well...

On 15/10/2022 at 21:15, Nakedgun said:

Finally, these two publications arrived from Europe. Ordered 01 October, delivered today:

https://discovering-astronomy.eu/index.html

 

I keep hearing about the Clarke books, so I downloaded a PDF for a quick look, thanks. 

Although the LP map map says I live in a B7-8, her Bortle examples indicate I'm in a B9.  Yikes!  😲

1 hour ago, Alien 13 said:

If Newton had one of these in his day we would have no reflectors now, had an ST80 long ago and the views were really stunning. 

Alan

My ST80 is my most used scope (I'm visual only).  I did put a Crayford on it - cost more than the scope did.  😁

Just received a carbon fiber tripod to try my Zero on.  It wasn't doing as well as I had hoped with my 102ED on a Manfrotto aluminum pod. Hopefully the CF will have shorter damping times.  It's more compact for easier transport at least.

Beer?

They're both fabulous pix.  I lean just a smidge toward the reduction.