jjohnson3803

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.

I'm in need of a tray or bag or something that can hang on my Manfrotto 475B tripod to hold an EP or a small red torch or whatever temporarily while observing. My Twilight-1 tripod has a steel spreader bar with some EP holes, but the 475B doesn't have a bolt extending below the head, so I need something that attaches to the three tripod legs. I was thinking of adding Velcro straps to a plastic frisbee or plate or hanging a small pouch on a leg. Any ideas or suggestions? I could fashion a tray out of plywood, but I'd prefer something soft / flexible. If there's a cheap commercial product, I'd consider that too. Thanks!

I was going to order one, but they were out of stock, then delayed, then ... In the meantime, I bought an f7 102ED. I'm curious to see if maybe I should have waited for 96mm to be back in stock.

I've never left a rig out in severe weather, but I use a Weber charcoal kettle grill cover. I use spring clamps to hold the bottom edge to the tripod.

I don't want to say it's aliens, but... it's aliens! 😁 Seriously, the Heavens Above web site might list some possibilities.

I'm curious about this. I use two AT and two Vixen SLV EPs. The designs are similar and I think the weights are very close. I do clamp down the az clutch when changing EPs, then gradually back off the tension without trying to rebalance. I keep the tension as loose as possible for the slo-mo to work. Maybe that's not the best way of doing things. Some people advocate using a zoom EP so there are no balance changes, but I'm not interested in switching to a zoom.

Interestingly, as I was driving home after picking up some fast food a couple nights ago, I went past a guy with TWO tripods in his driveway who looked to be in the process of setting up. So there appears to be another amateur astronomer less than half a kilometer away. 😁

I'm right dominant, but observe with my left eye usually. I should flip the orientation and put my finder on the right. What are you using for your az slo-mo control? Looks like aluminum.

Well, I just received mine two days ago and have used it once. I put it on my Manfrotto 475B which has a geared elevator, so no extension column needed. I tried it with all three of my refractors - ST80, AT120ED, ST120 - and it seemed to handle all quite well. I did not try very high power - that's a test for another session. I had no trouble with balance. I was surprised how easy it was to balance because I had a Stellarvue M1V (not sure what the Altair equivalent is called) friction mount and I sold it because I could never get the balance right. There was resistance in az with slo-mo at first, but that smoothed out. Balance is important in alt or you'll have to really clamp down the alt clutch. Slo-mo cables have fallen off almost every mount I've had, so I use knobs on my AZ5. I have shorties on the Zero now, but I'm looking for knobs for it. I find that cables with Phillips head set screws hold much better than thumbscrews. I also have a Twilight-1 tripod with a Berlebach puck adapter on it. I might try that with the Zero, but I really prefer to use the 475B. Anyway, that's my very limited experience so far. Edit: I should probably add that I think the Zero is a noticeable improvement over the AZ5 (not that the AZ5 is a bad mount).

I can assure you that shopping is most definitely one of my wife's hobbies.

I'm somewhat the reverse. There are some brands I absolutely will not buy, having learned from experience that they're poor quality or have poor customer service IMO.

My Zero showed up late yesterday afternoon. I put on two spare shorty slo-mo cables, but I think I'd prefer knobs. May I ask where you ordered yours? ADM has knobs, but they're $30 US per pair and I suspect I can get something similar for less. Thanks! Oh, BTW, the mount is performing quite well so far. There was a little sticking in az slo-mo, but that seems to have worked out already. Maybe it was just the lube needing to smear around a bit?

You might want to invest in an observing tent - not as a light block, but to shield your activities from neighbors until you build a permanent obsy. I'd wager you could resell it pretty easily later.

My first thought was one *can* take it with them when they die - you could be buried in that thing. 😁

Aside from my local club, I've not met anybody nearby who's interested. Seems there are many more model railroaders than amateur astronomers. And that's fine by me. I definitely prefer being alone under the stars and I never joined a model railroad club or anything like that. But I'm also 98% Finnish if my DNA test was accurate, so maybe the stereotypical reserved, self-isolating traits are at work here. 😁

Are Iridium flares still visible? I read somewhere that they were de-orbited or something.

👍 Exactly what I'm going to do. I ordered a Zero just a few minutes ago. This will be mainly for my 102/700 ED and hopefully my ST120. I have a Twilight-1 tripod, but I much prefer the Manfrotto.

I've been very reluctant to go down the EAA and astrophoto rabbit holes for the same, among other, reasons. I haven't done much with my iPhone, but the Nocturne app is great for constellation shots. I've gotten a couple of shots through my binos with StarryCam that suited me and I'm still learning Night Cap. If I ever want to get into heavy duty processing, I can buy datasets from ATEO and such.