jjohnson3803

I love my ScopeTech; as mentioned, you can clamp it down pretty tightly. I'd be inclined to try a cheaper solution first though unless you really want to change mounts.

I can recommend a Wixey. Inexpensive and mine has proven to be quite accurate when used with object altitudes from SkySafari. Seems to have a long battery life also. I did have to put a couple layers of red tape over the display though to dim it down a bit.

50mm AT RACI finder on clearance. It comes without an EP and I'm going to try it as a small RFT, although it's been said it will need an extension tube to come to focus without the EP hanging halfway out. That's ok though - I feel like experimenting with something and I'm finding that I'm just not that much of a bino fan.

My Wixey has a green backlight. I covered it with a couple of layers of red tail light repair tape to cut down the amount of light. Under $5 US. I imagine it would be inexpensive in the UK as well.

Interesting! I use a Vestil adjustable height chair which folds flat, but this might be easier to transport.

Clouds and snow. ☹️ Hopefully things will change soon.

I'm of the opinion that cheap LEDs are a major culprit here, especially solar powered ones. If it only costs a few cents to run 24-hour LED lights, what's the incentive for morons people not to do so? And if there's no cost aside from acquisition cost for solar, why not cover your garden / deck / whatever with them? Nevermind that most people rarely even look out their windows at night. Anyway, I've found that the best thing I can do is observe in the early morning hours before sunrise. Many fewer indoor lights without window coverings and luckily there aren't many porch lights on. A bonus is that the solar "accent" lights on a neighbor's back deck have been pretty well drained, so they're much dimmer than before midnight. I'm in Bortle 8 or 9, so most galaxies are invisible no matter what; it's a good thing I like open clusters and double stars. All my scopes are small aperture (80mm - 120mm), so I do take one to a dark(er) site whenever possible.

I'd go with old favorites so I could see what they "really" look like. I'll hopefully be in B2/3 skies for vacation this summer, so we'll see if I stick with that plan.

Although I use my Jumbo Pocket atlas most, I miss my ancient Norton's. It was disintegrating with age though, so I binned it. Probably a mistake. I have a set of Burnham's that I purchased in the mid-70s, but I rarely use them. No real reason, they're just on my harder to reach bookshelf. I also have O'Meara's Messier book, but his illustrations are nowhere near what I see. But I'm in heavy LP and he apparently has the eyesight of a hawk, so... TLAO is a mainstay along with several bino books. The bino books match what I see with my scopes at home better than telescope guides.

Went out for a short session before dawn today with my 102ED. Discovered I have to change the angle on my mount arm - I was only able to get to about 60* elevation, so the Ring was just out of reach. 🙄 But I was able to view Albireo, Stock 1 cluster in Vul, a few assorted double stars, and ended with a look at the Dumbbell. I much prefer to observe before dawn, but with summer coming on I'm going to have to consider changing my sleep cycle to stay up later. Twilight is already starting at 0445 here, so morning sessions are limited unless I want to roll out at 0300 or so.

I have an ancient Lumicon nebula filter and also an Astronomik. I only had time to use the Astronomik this morning, but it really brought out the Dumbbell (M27) in my 102ED refractor at 48X compared to unfiltered. (I'm in heavy light pollution, so filters are pretty much a necessity here.)

Very nice shots. I might have to upgrade my iPhone 7 to something with a better camera one of these days.

Houses blocked my view, but I was able to see it close to dawn.

Very nebular looking - gotta love it! 😀 I've only managed time to take a few shots with Nocturne, but it seems like a good app, at least for widefield.

I just finished that book last week. Great narrative, makes me long for simpler times like when I was a kid and spent time on my grandparents' Bortle 2 farm.

I don't think software like Deep Sky Stacker cares about the source of the data, so the workflow should be the same.

Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.

I had a similar experience at a B2 rental in rural Wisconsin. I'll always remember how Cancer actually looked like a crab as opposed to being mostly invisible. I didn't even use the 80mm that I had brought along, just my eyes and my 10x50 binos. The binos revealed so many clusters and bright nebulae that I didn't know what objects I was looking at.

Interesting. I wanted to love my US version of the AZT6, but I could never get the tension / balance properly adjusted so I sold it. Here's my latest - ScopeTech Zero on a Manfrotto 475B tripod.

While I grew up and started observing in a Bortle 4 and my grandparents' farm was probably a B2, it's a question on return on investment for me. My club has two B4 sites, the closest of which is a 45-minute drive one way. Even with weather permitting, I have to consider how much time to load, travel, unload, set up, and how much time I'll be able to observe. I drove out once when everything aligned and there were massive harvesters roaming around with headlights like airplane landing lights, so there can be surprises. I've never felt unsafe and I prefer solitude, but I understand why some might not feel comfortable alone at a dark site. My suburban home sky is B7/B8 so my most memorable observing has been at campgrounds or rural AirBnBs. Again though, one has to factor in time, travel, expense, and so on. Hopefully, a trip to B1/B2 skies in June will be successful, but if not, at least I'll be well away from the disgusting city that I live near.

👍 That's my experience as well with 2-speed Crayfords replacing stock R&P focusers.

I'm sure others have no problems with pluck foam, but the pluck foam I originally had in my EP case came apart after about a year. Granted, it's a cheap case (Apache), but you'd think the foam would last a bit longer. I had some white packing sheet foam lying about - denser than pluck but not as dense as pink / green / blue extruded foam insulation, so I just layered that into the case and cut EP holes. FWIW.

0330-0400 to sunrise is my favorite time of day. Magical time. Quiet, nobody about, birds are starting to sing, and most neighbors' outdoor lights are off. Indoor lights too - it seems few people believe in window shades / blinds / curtains around here. And observing winter objects like Auriga in September / October beats the heck out of trying to observe in subfreezing temps...

I do.