wesdon1

Thanks for the info about your experiences and the qualiuty similarities of your older Japanese EP and the Meade 140. I shall remeber this for future purchases as if i can get as good quality as TV cheaper then it's a no-brainer. You obviousely know a lot more about these things than myself so i thank you for the great advice sir!

Hi again everyone! I ended up buying second hand and saved some cash in the process!. I bought a Televue 2X barlow, which the quality of which is simply astounding!?? My goodness the quality difference between my "Standard" SkyWatcher 2X Barlow and the Televue Barlow is like a brand new Eurofighter Typhoon Military attack Jet and a beaten up rickety Cessna that can barely fly!! haha seriously though i'm so so happy with it!! I also bought a Televue 8mm Plossl EP. I Paid £77 for the Televue 2X Barlow and £55 for the Televue 8mm Plossl. These things rock!! haha i'm genuinely shocked how much better they are than my SkyWatcher EP's that you get as standard with any low to mid priced SW Telescope!! I CAN'T WAIT for Jupiter and Saturn, amongst others, as after testing my new Barlow and EP on Moon a few nights ago, I am expecting special things when the weather is good and hopefully the seeing is acceptable! Thanks so much for the great advice everyone! I'll keep you's posted on my experiences with my new toys! haha! Sincerely, Wes.

Haha hi again "Susan". Ye definitely i'll let you know how i get on with them. I've thought about 2 speed focuser ( if thats the same as a micro-focuser ? ) myself to help with perfect focusing. It's something i will eventually buy, because as you wisely point out, it's cheap to get into but once you're hooked the bills increase exponentially! haha Wouldn't it be lovely if one won , say, 100 Million on the Euromillions and be able to afford to build ones own private Observatory with something huge like a 2 metre Aperture Reflector inside! oh that would be amazing! I'd never be out the place! haha Well back down to earth, i'll be more than happy when i get my new EP's!

My goodness i'm so sorry sir! I mistakenly called you "Gerry" ?? I got your name mixed up with another SGL member!?? Apologies sir! Oh right i didn't realise a 6mm BST wasn't available ? I will just do exactly as you have suggested and buy BST 5mm and 15mm, and if i can afford it this month, the 32mm Plossl as well. If not i can always buy the 32mm next month. I will let you know how i get on with buying them and what prices i paid/performance etc etc. I'm so excited and can't wait to build up my eyepiece collection and see the views they give me! Thanks so much for your help and advice sir! Wes.

Oh my goodness that's very brave indeed sir!! I'd be TERRIFIED of the laws of physics catching me out and the hoover hose sucking itself onto my beautiful ( Very EXPENSIVE and DELICATE !! ) Mirror !! haha Respect to you my Friend !!

Hi again Gerry. Thank You for your kind and very informative advice. Yes my 'scope is F6, and i have a 130/900 SW Newtonian Reflector too, which is F6.9 ( Effectively F7 i assume ? ). Yes i do wear glasses though they I do get fairly good views without Glasses, though with Glasses the view is obvs much sharper. I'm now thinking, after all the kind comments and advice, to initially try purchase eyepieces second hand online, so i can get more quality per pounds spent. I think i'll buy a Baader Ortho 18mm, and a BST 6mm, and then judge what i find is best by what my views are like. Would you say this is a wise decision or could you please suggest 2 eyepieces, one for low power and one for mid-high power? Either from 2 different brands or the same brand but reasonably priced both new and used? ( No pressure! haha! ) I have around £150 to spend this month. Thank You in advance for any advice and obvs Thank You for all your kind and wise advice you have provided me! I'm learning fast but still have years of experience and knowledge to acquire! Thanks Gerry Wes.

oh right i see? I didn't know they only slightly increase temps? I thought the awful thermals that ruin veiws when using 'scope in urban areas would be replicated on a tiny scale with Dew Heaters but obviouselty with such a small temp increase it shouldn't really happen i would assume?

Hi. I've always wondered if using a heated dew shield will cause a blurry image due to thermals created by heat in really cold environment? It makes sense to me? The warm air will rise and distort the light coming into the objective/opening of Newt. Reflector or Refractor/SCT etc etc ? Wes, Liverpool, UK.

Thank you for your advice sir. I like the idea of buying GSO and/or Revelation eyepieces as they are fairly priced. I will definately have a look at that option. Thanks, Wes, Liverpool, UK.

Hi Gerry, so sorry for late reply. I only have SGL on my home PC so sometimes i don't know i have messages until i visit the site. I was thinking of getting a Baader Classic 6 or 10mm as the Morpheus and others are quite expensive. I assume you own Baader Classic eyepieces? Is that what the BCO stands for? Are you advising me against the 6mm Baader Classic? is so, why? Is it not as good as the other sizes of the same line? Thanks Gerry. Wes.

Thanks mate. I'm thinking along the lines of buying a nice Baader Planetarium eyepiece as they're relatively cheap from what looks to be a quality brand? Or maybe a Celestron Omni EP? Wes.

Awww i'm sorry you haven't quite gotten to root cause of it. I suppose you will just have to bear with the situation and hopefully in time you will find the cause and rectify it. Yes very true, if the 'scope is a good one with a price tag to match, then these anomalies shouldn't be happening? Which makes me think if it isn't stray light, it has to be something in the image train? a flattener, corrector, filter, barlow, eyepiece etc etc etc? Surely a quality 'scope wouldn't be so easily affected by stray light, if indeed thats what is causing said issues? I'm confident you'll find the cause soon enough sir! Best of luck to you! Please let me know when you solve the problem what it was. Wes.

Thank you all for your advice and views. I really like the look of Televue and Baader Eyepieces, but they're quite expensive, especially Televue! What i think i'll do is buy a decent Baader Eyepiece, and see how in compares to my current EP's? That way hopefully i will see if the extra cost is a worthwhile investment in terms of viewing pleasure? I'm obsessed with and love my new hobby and only wish i would have bought a telescope years ago cos i've always been fascinated with night sky/planets/DSO's but for different reasons i never bought a telescope!?? I think every child in the country should be given a decent telescope and taught how to view night sky because it really gives you an insight into the beauty of the Universe, how fragile our tiny planet is, and how important the planet is to us and the Science behind our very existence! to think that in oredr to travel to plto, even if you somehow managed to travel at speed of light, 186,000 Miles PER SECOND! It would still take you FOUR HOURS TO GET THERE!!!??? and thats just in our Solar System!!!??? The size of the place just fries the brain trying to comprehend the numbers!!!??? 7 laps of planet earth PER SECOND and yet it's still FOUR HOURS at that insane unfathomable speed to reach our farthest Planet!!!??? and in cosmological terms our Solar System is TINY!!!!??? I think i need to go have a lie down...haha!

Hi all. has anyone managed to see Pluto recently? It's close to Saturn at the moment, but i live in light polluted area and only have 130mm reflector aperture so don't know whether i'm seeing Pluto or just a very faint star? has anyone here ever seen Pluto through their 'scope, and if so, whats it look like? we're currently having a Moon Jupiter conjunction, then i believe Saturn will do too with Moon, and even Pluto i think? Thanks!

That sounds a very plausible scenario with the flattener? You could try a process of elimination, and when/if it is the flattener, try contacting manufacturer for advice? From my experience with photography, it's often a whole host of different reasons why an image can have imperfections/distortions etc. Light can do strange things when we play around with it! lol How did your Wednesday session turn out? did you get to the bottom of it? Wes.

Hi. It looks like diffracted light coming at you telescope from an angle, hence the diffracted colours of light showing. Has to be a source of light from somewhere? Unless your telescope needs blackening on inside in case it's reflected/diffracted light bouncing around inside telescope? Hope you resolve the issue sir. beautiful image by the way! Wes, Liverpool, UK.

Hi all. Just wondering if people can tell me is it worth spending £100+ on a eyepiece when there looks to be great ones for around £22-£30? Reason i ask is all my EP's are cheaper £12-£22 ones from SkyWatcher and Celestron and although they give decent views of planets, i'm not sure they will serve me well with Nebulae and Galaxies? I did veiw M42 Orion Neb last winter with them and saw grey fuzzy cloud around stars, which was such a buzz! Basically all i'm asking really is will i see a noticeable difference in contrast and brightness of objects with more expensive eyepieces, all other variables being equal? Thank You in advance for any advice. Wes, Liverpool, UK.

Hi again Steve. Again thank you for such awesome advice sir! I did recently download Stellarium, and that has given me some great pointers for which general direction to look for interesting objects. It's a fascinating app, even telling me where satellites and meteor showers are. I have a Red Dot Finder ( Is that the RDF you mention? ) and this saves me so much hassle as i initially never used to use it, not knowing how to or it's importance, and would be driven desperate trying to find something that was right up there staring back at me but for the life of me i couldn't get it in the 'scopes field of view! haha I do believe i will eventually buy GoTo as it looks amazing plus i believe it can be linked directly to my Stellarium Programme and you can literally pick an object on the screen and it will command your 'scope to slew directly to said object? If this is true, that would be amazing! I will definitely look up the Binocular newsletter as it's another great way to receive relevant up to date info on current objects available to find and view. As for phone apps, i have one called "Star Walk 2" which i use to identify constellations. I find though that it sometimes says a constellation that i know well, is much farther to the left or right than where i can actually see it? I'm guessing this is due to my phones positioning being out in some way? I can't recall if i mentioned, but i'm 10 months and 3 'scopes in, and have so much to learn, so the expertise advice from people such as yourself is invaluable and is infinitely appreciated, so thank you again Steve! Wes

Hi. I'm so sad to read you saying you're thinking of quitting hobby due to problems with finding objects and hauling your 'scope around! I'm a newbie myself, 10 months in, and on my 3rd 'scope, an 8inch Dob like yours. I struggled terribly in my first few months with finding objects, and simply trying to make sense of the sky and my equipment! I tell you though, if you persevere, i promise you when you get the hang of things you will never look back! You just need to be patient. I found watching video bloggers on YouTube who do astronomy, astrophotography etc etc etc were/still are a fab source of knowledge and help. I'd also suggest you buy a book called "Turn left at Orion". It's a brilliant book for beginners like us. Please try and persevere because it will DEFINITELY be worth the effort when you see some of the awesome objects up there! Star hopping/searching for objects will become second nature to you in the coming months! Best of luck! Wes, Liverpool, UK.

Hi Oh right? I didn't even think i would have a chance to see it again until longer nights? Thanks so much for the advice/tip! Cheers, Wes.

Thank you so much for your advice sir! I've seen the Plaeides ( Open? ) Star Cluster and that was amazing! So many stars close together! M42 was faint grey fuzzy with my 130mm/5.1 inch reflector and still beautiful! So with the 200mm aperture i hope to see more detail! I will let you know how i get on! Thank you again so much sir! Wes

Thank you so much for the excellent advice sir! I never realised an OIII Filter would be any good for visual astronomy so that's definately something i'll buy! I just thought they only served Astrophotography so there's more exciting possibilities for visual! I'll heed your advice on the "M" objects and stick to the brighter types. I haven't purchased a GoTo yet because i'm only 10 months and 3 'scopes in and i want to learn my craft first and hunting is much more interesting than simply pressing a button and having my targets handed to me on a proverbial plate! lol. That's not to say in the future i won't utilise such fabulous technology. I will let you know how i get on in coming weeks and months sir! Thank you so much!

Thanks for great reply/advice! I own plossl eyepices in following sizes-10mm, 20mm, 25mm, 32mm and a 3.6mm. 2 x Barlow. 5 x Barlow. SW Light Pollution Filter. Moon Filter/Green. Thanks again sir!

oh it's beautiful over there. As you say the difference bewtween city pollution and over there in rural Ireland is amazing. and you lucky so n so having a 12 inch light bucket to veiw those amazing skies over there! lol I'm very jealous! lol

Hi all. Just wondering, does anyone have enough experience to tell me what the minimum aperture is to atleast see "Faint Fuzzy" when using your telescope in a urban city light polluted environment? I have managed to make out M42 Orion Neb with my 130mm/900mm Newtonian Reflector, and basically saw grey fuzzy patch around dim stars? I now own a 200mm/1200mm Newtonian Reflector as well and i haven't yet used it due to no mount for it yet ( This is being remedied this week! lol ) but was wondering will i be able to see any Galaxies, Neb or DSO's in general? I can't wait to see M42 Orion Neb through it though cos i got very satisfying views of it with my 130mm/900mm so i'm cautiously optimistic that i'll get a substantially better view through the 200mm/1200mm? Obviously M42 won't be back until winter, as far as i'm aware? But i can't wait to see it through new bigger 'scope! Any comments/advice etc would be greatly appreciated! Thank you all ! Open Skies to all...