Wouter1981

I live in a bortle 6 sky and the only galaxy I can find is M31. There is just to much light pollution and I have a (almost impossible to dodge) streetlight shining up my garden. I tried M81, M33, M101,... I recognize the starpaterns so I know I'm looking at the right spot. I am wearing a hoody and try to shield my eyes as much as possible and still, no luck. I'm only using a 4inch refractor but the main problem is the light shining in my garden so I never get fully dark adapted eyes. But don't worry, much else to see. Planets, the moon, doubles, clusters....

Welcome fellow Belgian!

Nice setup, I use something rather similar: Skywatcher 102 f5 AZt6 from TS optics which is the same as your Altair astra mount Baader zoom +barlow Maxvision 34mm 68° 2 inch diagonal reddot finder The weird part is that I almost bought a equinox 80 to replace my 102. Our setups would be almost identical! Great minds think alike ? Perhaps you should invest in the screw-on barlow for the baader zoom? It's really small, you can see it in my picture next to the red dot. You could have a magnification to 140x with just a little bit space lost.

Practicality is most important for me. I have a lot of light pollution and need to carry my telescope several times around the garden to dodge lights. And when I'm finished, I have to carry it inside over a small step. I can't imagine doing this with a 20 inch dobson, so for the moment I'm stuck with a 100mm refractor and a 15x70 binocular. I am looking at something bigger and I have the impression that a 8 to 10 inch dobson is the sweet spot between cost, size and weight. Especially the 8inch is remarkable portable for such a aperture! But I'm rather immune for aperture fever and my next scope will probably be a 150mm refractor, which is less practical than a 8 inch dobson, so I'm contradicting myself ;-) But try to see a 12 inch dobson in person. They are rather hefty pieces of equipment and a online picture just do them any justice.

I don't think it's much use upgrading this telescope or buying a 80£ telescope. There are some telescopes available but imho they are still rather small and you will outgrow them quickly. You'll want something better within a few observation sessions. You are much better of saving a bit longer until you can afford something like a 100mm refractor or a 6inch dobson. Both can be found for around 250€ which is a lot more than your 80£, but from a dark spot, you'll be amazed what you can see with them. Of course, there is always a secondhand market and sometimes you can find decent telescopes for not much money. If you really want to spend your money I would suggest a 7x50 or a 10x50 binocular. It's literraly 2 50mm telescopes bolted together in a small easy to use package. I have a Nikon 7x50 A211 which can be found for under 100€.

I live in Melle, just next to Gent. I've also tried EEA to combat the lightpollution. Although I found it impressive, how on my first try I could see the orion nebula appear on my screen in color, but it just didn't do anything for me. For me it made about the same impact as a Hubble picture after a Google search. The same night I looked at the nebula with a 100mm refractor and although it couldn't come close to the details on my screen, I liked it much more. I have tried astrophotography, which I totally didn't like. And then the penny dropped. I just like to watch the skies. I don't care how much I see, or how detailed it is. Being alone in the dark and trying to grasp how big everything is. THAT is what I like. And now I've found something new I like even more: rebuilding and improving (secondhand) telescopes: My 102mm f5 has been adapted to be as small as possible. I replaced the focuser with a 2speed, bolted a dove tail directly to the tube. Removed a lip on the lensholder so the dewshield can slide up and down and repainted it. I still need to polish the dewshield. The telescope with a 2 inch diagonal, baader zoom with barlow, Maxvission 34mm and reddot now fits easily in a case which is only 46x33x15cm. My second project is a polished and copperplated 102mm f10. That's one of the great things about astronomy. There are so many different aspects, from naked eyeviewing to narrowband imaging. Grinding mirrors to studying astrophysics. Something for everybody.

Hello, new here from one of the most lightpolluted countries in the world: Belgium. I recently restarted observing but lately I'm more and more having fun with adapting secondhand telescopes. That is also one of the reason I registered on this site. I'm already active on "cloudynights" but that's more populair in Northern America and I have the impression this forum is more European,, so it would be easier to find more secondhand items closeby.