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jjohnson3803
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Posts posted by jjohnson3803
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1 hour ago, The60mmKid said:
How dark are your skies, out of curiosity?
Short answer: Not. I'm in a suburban to bright suburban zone. I do get out to dark sites though, either specifically to observe or when I get a chance while traveling for business.
I'm mainly wondering about the class to cut down the bouncy stars sans tripod, but have a decent amount of aperture. I've never owned a pair of roofs and I'll be near a store with a boatload of Vortexes on display while traveling in a couple of weeks. Always nice to bring back a souvenir. 🙂
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I have a little extra astro money on hand and I'm seriously considering getting a pair of 8x42 roof prism binos. I have 15x70 IF - kind of heavy, really need a tripod, Aculon 10x50s - they're ok but a little hard for me to keep steady, and a pair of 7x50 military surplus porros - built like a tank, less bouncy views, but maybe a little low on the mag.
So what says the collective mind? Would 8x42s be redundant, considering what I have? There's a good chance I'd sell off one or more of the others if the 8x42s did the trick.
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4 hours ago, JOC said:
What is it about the anonymity of posting online that makes people feel they can say things to someone in an internet post that, you have to hope a lot of the time, they wouldn't dream of saying to someone in person?
Because if they hide behind the Internet, they won't get punched in the mouth? 😉
I think it's akin to road rage. Some people think it's ok to act like jackaloons as long as they have a steel shield around them. I prefer Qigong myself.
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I'd suggest a short tube 80 (ST80) - an 80mm f/5 refractor. They give reasonable views of the moon and other objects and are cheap enough that you're not out a lot of cash if you decide you don't like it. They're also pretty easy to sell, but selling a used one might not be worth the hassle since they are pretty cheap new.
You will see some chromatic aberration when looking at bright objects - looks like a purple fringe on things - but a filter can cut that down quite a bit. Actually, some people don't even care about it, so YMMV.
Take care to get a good, solid mount. Even a scope with fantastic optics won't be any fun if your mount is wobbling / shaking. I'd also be wary of Amazon. They sell good stuff, but they also sell some junk.
I live outside Chicago and have ordered several things from First Light in the UK. Never had a problem, shipping via DHL isn't that expensive, and things arrive quickly. Actually, I have an order due to arrive today.
Good luck!
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And the mystery deepens.
I downloaded Synscan onto my iPhone and I can save user defined objects, both celestial and terrestrial. Still can't get anything to save in Pro on my phone.
I can save user defined objects in Synscan on my iPad also, so it appears to be something with using Pro.
I don't have easy access to a voodoo priest right now to sort this out, so I guess I'll just run with Synscan for now.
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Yes, check the plumbing section. I bought a number of 1.25-in rubber O-rings to use as parfocal rings for less than $1 US each.
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6 hours ago, DirkSteele said:
One of the main reasons I am not a member over there. Incredible depth of knowledge, but far too much emotion in many threads.
After being a member for several years, I've come to the belief that a fair number of posters on CN are cranky old goats who derive joy from arguing for the sake of arguing. My ignore list is probably forty members long now. (Maybe that makes *me* a grumpy old goat. 😀) I agree there's a lot of knowledge though, so I do sift through forums from time to time for technical info.
Anyway, I find SGL to be quite informative with civil discussions even when disagreements arise.
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I went to uni with a person who pronounced it "bettel- gweece". And he was an astro major.
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Bourbon and Diet Coke with a shot of lime juice. Oh wait, that's for breakfast after I'm done observing. 😁
Seriously, If I drink anything it's usually warm Irish breakfast tea or a Diet Coke for more caffeine. Occasionally, I'll drink sweetened coffee but it has to be decaf or I get too jittery.
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27 minutes ago, happy-kat said:
Are you in emulator mode while practicing?
No, I'm using the app on my phone in normal mode, but not connected to the mount. Sounds like I either have to be connected or in emulator mode.
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On 14/05/2022 at 02:23, herne said:
2) If you know the coordinates of the double star(s) you want to look at you can enter those directly to the app. From the main menu tap User Objects > Celestial Objects then define what you are looking for using RA/Dec co-ords. I believe you can save those so in effect you create your own list. That’s the only way I can think of to expand the list of doubles within the Synscan app.
Revisiting this - I tried entering Omega Cygni's RA and Dec on the User Objects -> Celestial Objects screen in SynScan Pro. It seemed to accept the info and I hit Save. I went back out and then revisited the Objects screen, and there's nothing showing under the Objects list / pulldown. I used JNOW and entered the name where it says "Current object". That happened twice.
I wasn't connected to the mount, just playing with the app.
Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong? Thanks!
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I was about to order one, but decided to hold off. The pix posted here and on other forums are impressive for the size / cost, but I have a niggling feeling that ZWO will come out with an improved, second generation system in a year or so. I spent decades in software engineering and the first release of anything was always driven by marketing concerns / timing over quality.
I'm not an imager, but I was also wondering if the novelty was going to wear off. I don't want to get bogged down with post-processing (at least not yet), and the best S* pix I've seen are, of course, those which have been post-processed.
I'm sure it would potentially be an nice adjunct to whatever kit one has already, but I personally wouldn't put all my eggs into the S* basket just yet.
YMMV.
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I finally was able to take out my new AZ-GTi and went ripping through a bunch of objects last night and this morning to test out the go-to and tracking.
M41, NGC 2345, CR32, CR140, CR135, NGC 2451 / c Pup, M93, M47, M50 last night. Omicron Cyg, Omega Cyg, NGC 6871, Chi Cyg, Albireo, the Coat Hangar, and U Sge this morning.
Still have to do some more fiddling with it and then I'll go back to observing objects instead of ticking off a list.
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My right eye is "stronger" uncorrected, but I use my left eye for observing. I find it more comfortable than using my right eye. I usually do wear eyeglasses when observing though.
I think my eye doc said I have more floaters in the left, but I don't recall details. I should compare the next time I'm lunar observing.
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Excellent, thank you. I just ordered one from FLO. I'll probably use it with a lightweight Benro tripod for traveling.
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Reinforces the belief that there's a lot of rubbish on the Web. OTOH, I'd hope that somebody somewhere is monitoring it, just in case.
According to science calculations, it's time for my breakfast.
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Well, yee haw! After sitting on the shelf for 2 months since I got it from FLO due to bad weather, etc. I fired up my AZ-GTi for some actual observing this morning.
It's only +15F though so I observed inside from my loft. I have windows to the S and E, so I was limited to Vega, Sulafat, Sheliak, and Antares and only a 1-star alignment, but I'm happy with how the mount works, especially since I had to approximate where north is.
I'm still fumbling with the app on my iPhone, but I'm a kinesthetic / visual learner, so I'll hopefully get better the more I play with it. Now I need to figure out how to connect to SkySafari so I don't have to scroll through menus. Also wonder if a hand controller might be a good thing to have eventually.
Cheers!
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The Suburu live feed is my default viewing when skies are cloudy here. Saw a bright sporadic once, but didn't do a screen capture.
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A lot depends on personal preferences...
Anyway, my all-rounder is a 72ED on a ScopeTech Zero alt-az mount (similar mount made by Sightron now) on a carbon fiber tripod, but that would be over your budget unless you buy used.
My next choice would be my SkyWatcher ST102. Big enough to gather a fair bit of light, relatively lightweight and reasonable cost. Mine does a respectable job on the moon although there is noticeable chromatic aberration. (I should try a light yellow filter sometime to see how much difference that makes.)
Dobs are fine scopes, but I like to store my kit in a wall unit. Not sure that would work with anything but a small Dob.
Good luck!
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Wow! Great idea! I've been struggling with my 15x70s. They work well on a tripod and fluid head, but I have trouble tilting my head back, so anything above 50-60° becomes a literal pain in the neck. And tilting the pod and fluid head over me when reclining is awkward at best.
I've been considering selling them, but a minipod might persuade me to keep them.
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Anybody know the weight of an AZ Pronto alt-az mount by itself? I'm only finding mount+tripod weights.
And if you've used a Pronto, how did you like it?
Thanks!
8x42 roofs?
in Discussions - Binoculars
Posted
Last time I had an eye exam, my doc said, "Nah, they're wide open" when I asked about my pupils dilating. He didn't actually give me a number though, so I guess I should ask specifically.