ScouseSpaceCadet

I've sent the link to the hard cover version to my kids for Father's Day. Thanks. 👍

Newtonian diffraction spikes when observing planets drove me to refractors. I appreciate I'm losing resolving power but I'd rather have a higher contrast cleaner view.

22 minutes ago, TiffsAndAstro said:

Earth is incredibly fragile. As far as we can tell, the only place in the entire universe where life exists. Asteroid impacts, nearby supernovas, jellystone exploding, nuclear wars and I'm sure there's more.

As I said, the planet is not fragile, human civilization is, almost totally because of our own actions. Those activities will be taken with us.

Life crushing asteroid impacts millions of years apart likely won't bother us. In fact the last big one gave our furry ancestors a boost by wiping out the competition. 

Nearby supernovas really? Sorry but again not likely during the course of our civilisation and moving to Mars won't help!

Volcanism is something we just have to live with.  Sending a few people to an irradiated rock won't make a difference.

24 minutes ago, TiffsAndAstro said:

Getting all our eggs out of our single very very fragile basket is surely the highest priority there could ever be though?

Moonbase etc would be a start on that.

Earth is not 'very very fragile" though is it? What is fragile, is human civilisation. Mostly due to our own endeavours to ruin the planet and kill ourselves.

The highest priority for the influential mega rich and governments should be clean air, water, etc for all and not the greedy planet ruining systems we have now.

Moving a few thousand people to another planet we are not evolved to live on won't change the above. 

Do you really believe Elon Musk when he states he is aiming Mars for the good of the human race? No, it's about resources n business.

I hope we can get to the moon and learn to live there but will doing so actually benefit all of us in the longer term? Probably not.

If I can convince the missus to come on a 5+ hour drive and presumably not shower for at least two days I'll come. 😁

Otherwise I find very long solo drives massively boring. Around 3hrs is my limit. 🫣

Good luck either way. The place looks lovely and the beer selection is magnificent. 😄

On 11/05/2024 at 19:56, LondonNeil said:

I've got hold of a little refractor upgrade over the st120.  I HOPE!   Scousespacecadet was kind enough to deliver his altair starwave 102ed down the road to my MIL in L31.  I'll not get to pick it up for a few months yet unfortunately.   Several months of wondering... its is too much for my mount? A gtiX  As far as I can determine its only ~100g heavier than the 120. It's also the f7 version so only slightly longer.  By my calculations,  just under 500g for my 2" diagonal,  just over 400g for one of my heavier eps (Hyperion) although my Morpheuses...Morpheii, are 70g or so lighter,  and 40g for a red dot.   The total package should be 5 or 5.1kg, well within the 6kg single side limit. Even with the mak127 on the other side the total should be under 9kg and well inside the 10kg limit. It should work.... it will work.   Only..I asked Harrisons for a view and they thought it was too much....so I've a few months off wondering.   

If the dew shield is anything like a chunky as on the st120 then replacing that with an astrozap like flexible shield will save 300g if the scope will still balance. Fingers crossed. 

I'm excited. Hopefully I'll be moving on thy st120 in the autumn but.... fingers crossed!

If the ST120 works then I imagine the ED102 should be fine. It's a great scope for the price. Blows away the ST120 on most targets and Neil your MIL looked impressed until I told her you spent three grand... 🤣

You really have the hang of this lark now Lee. 😁 Fantastic 👍

You're not alone. Since an amazing Kielder camp early November I've been out three times for short garden binocular sessions. Dismal weather, increased light pollution along with work and illness have put me off.

I'm downsizing but not giving up at all and have used the down time to read more astro books, watch lectures on YouTube and plan how to block the neighbours' lights when the weather improves, muahahahaha! 🤔🧐😄

Chin up. Weather will change in your favour at least a bit... comets arrive, planets reach opposition etc The universe isn't going anywhere...

3 hours ago, stephec said:

I've been observing from my garden in the M28 postcode area for a couple of years with a Skywatcher 150/750 reflector, and am looking to broaden my horizons a bit. 

 

I'm looking for somewhere within half an hour from me where I won't be limited by streetlamps and neighbouring buildings, does such a place exist? 

I doubt there's anywhere really dark within half an hour however you're not too far from the Yorkshire Dales, Forest of Bowland, the Peak District and North Wales. Late Summer/early Autumn I've enjoyed a few camps with binoculars in these places. 

You may find some gaps in the light pollution nearer to you using

https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/

Pick the World Atlas 2015 overlay.

More toilet reading from WoB:

18 hours ago, paulastro said:

A bit late to the party, but is it correct you have the scope on an AZ5?  If so, could you tell me how it handles the scope please?

Best regards, Paul

I tried the scope on the AZ5. Not recommended! The Celestron AVX holds the ota great however on a couple of occasions the star diagonal has caught the tripod legs.

I'm currently mulling over other mounts...

I managed another view on Saturday evening @ approx. 1945. This time with 15x70 binoculars. Considering the view to the west is dominated by awful light pollution from Liverpool city centre and Hamal is one of the very few naked eye stars I can see in the direction, the obvious fuzz with a bright core was a surprise.

Incredibly sad. A young very talented bloke so passionate about his hobby it turned into a full time job. He came across as very pleasant too. 

RIP.

1 hour ago, PeterC65 said:

Is that Pex Hill in Widnes? I come from Widnes and regularly went to Pex Hill as a child but didn't know there was an observatory there.

Aye.. Pex Hill in Cronton.

https://liverpoolas.org/weekly-meetings/

I visited Liverpool Astronomical Society's Pex Hill observatory tonight and while having a natter, one of the chaps who was demonstrating in the dome ran down the stairs to tell us they had in the eyepiece 12P/Pons-Brooks. So up trotted twenty amateurs forming a disorderly queue. 😄

I managed a good peek through the club's LX200.  Very unexpected considering the horrible weather this evening. We were lucky the rain stopped and clouds parted for several minutes.👍

I've been mulling over this question for many months and came to the conclusion I only need one all rounder. The Stellamira 125ED f7.8 refractor is relatively light weight, easy to store, move around and mount. The scope itself cools very well and the view through it is all I could ask for at the price point.

My 102ED f7 and Skymax 127 are now up for sale. Great scopes but the Stellamira does the same job and then some.

Although choosing one scope means I really don't need several mounts. The Azgti is sold, I'll get around to selling the AZ5 and although the Celestron AVX steadfastly holds the SM125 and otherwise performs great, the scope is a bit too long and Celestron don't sell extension tubes...  So that will need to go and replaced with something else....  Likely a used HEQ5 so I can pick up a Skywatcher extension tube.

Keeping one scope is more complicated than it seems!

Five years in and tried and sold a few:

Sky Watcher 130P

Sky Watcher 120ST

Sky Watcher 200P Dobsonian

Sky Watcher 150P

Sky Watcher Skymax 102

My current Skymax 127 and Altair Astro Starwave Ascent 102ED have for several months been earmarked for sale. They're definitely being advertised next week...

I only need one scope at the moment and the carbon fibre Stellamira 125ED fits the bill plus a couple of binoculars for travel.

15 hours ago, Oortraged said:

Hi folks, apologies if I am running afoul of any moderation rules by responding to a post that has been inactive this long. I just wanted to say a big thanks to @ScouseSpaceCadet for the information here - your neat solution has prompted me to follow a similar route for powering my new AZ GTi (and, yes, I also ordered the ADM saddle on your advice!). As this was the best source of information I found on the topic from a google search, I thought I would weigh in with the approach I have taken - order placed today, will keep updated with once it all arrives.

I have opted for the slightly newer chemistry version of the battery. There is a seller that is a bit cheaper on Amazon for the same product, however that certainly comes with an EU plug on the charging brick. The one I have purchased does not specify, but is sent from UK, so I thought I would chance it and hopefully will receive a UK plug: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CGMTDC5Y/ref=pe_27063361_485629781_TE_item

I am also shamelessly stealing the molle pouch idea for holding the battery in use - will secure either similarly using velcro straps to tripod legs, or if it proves to be too heavy for that, use the D-ring to hang it from the leg spreader on a carabiner. This was the best match I could find size-wise for the above TalentCell still leaving room to store the cable. There may be cheaper, better options, but being childish, the unfortunately translated (presumably?!) company name and badge swung it for me: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CM91N3ZV/ref=pe_27063361_485629781_TE_item_image?th=1

Finally, I have opted for the Lynx Astro cable linked in earlier posts as it seems to be a quality piece of kit.

Will update on the plug type once it arrives, and sort some images in the hope they can be as much help to someone as this thread has been to me!

Ryan

Thanks Ryan. Happy to help. The pictured AZGTI and the same battery are still occasionally used although my astronomy has taken a different path lately.

On 28/02/2024 at 19:16, wookie1965 said:

My will to live. 

Very dark.... and the charger for my Orion lithium power tank has disappeared causing me some angst. I suspect idle female hands have 'tidied' it away! 🙄

On 22/02/2024 at 15:03, jjohnson3803 said:

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.

 

I bought 8x42s for my dad in his 70s. They actually fine for astronomy (compared to my 10x50s). I can hold them much steadier than the 10x50s. Worth a punt for that reason alone.

On 22/02/2024 at 19:27, Louis D said:

Check your cylinder (CYL) diopter amount for your observing eye in your eyeglass prescription.  It is a measure of how much astigmatism you have in each eye.  I have around 2.0 diopters in each eye, so I need to wear eyeglasses all the way down to fairly small exit pupils to avoid seeing spiky stars and blurred fine details.

Tele Vue has this chart for their DIOPTRX™ line:

It's fairly accurate for most observers.  For instance, I can get by without correction below 1mm exit pupil.  It still improves the sharpness a little bit by putting eyeglasses back on at sub-1mm exit pupils, but not tremendously as at larger exit pupils.

Also new to me. Thanks Louis.

SGL just keeps on giving! 😀👍

1 hour ago, Ratlet said:

Ah well.

Going to bite the bullet and order one too I think.  Was humming and hawing because of mounting concerns but @paulastro's review of the askar 103 triplet suggests the AZ5 will be good with the 103 up to x100 and since I usually tap out at my 8mm BST (x90) for quick viewing sessions i think this will be about perfect.

For longer sessions it'll be going on the gem28 orused for imaging on the gem28.

Now to tell the wife.

Edit:  will add that it's an az5 on the beefy 1.75" stainless tripod.  Sky watcher used to claim it increased the capacity to 9kg, which is a complete fabrication imho, but it did improve stability a good bit compared to my carbon fibre one.  Also going to get the ADM dual saddle for it as I'm convinced that the stock saddle is pants at dampening vibrations.

Don't count on the AZ5 and steel tripod especially with a heavier triplet. It's that bad with my 4" doublet I don't use the mount.

At home, possibly a cold beer, coffee, tea or maybe a hot choc...

At Kielder last Autumn approaching midnight the thermos cup was filled with a mix of coffee, hot chocolate and Pusser's Gunpowder Proof rum. A very comforting brew in the cold! 🥴

I thought hanging around with middle class nerds might rub off...

Seriously I was looking for advice, found some and decided on the whole SGL is one of the better internet hang outs I've used. Four years down the line I'm a fully fledged & somewhat integrated geek, spending too much money, joining an Astro society, doing star camps, jumping up and down in the garden thrashing branches because another neighbour has erected a LED light, comfort eating & considering smoking because I'm depressed about two week's cloud cover. All the usual stuff. 😀

18 minutes ago, Ratlet said:

I feel like I've asked before, but in terms of light grasp, how would a 4" f7 stack up against a 130pds?  Would the extra aperture be offset by the enlarged secondary?

I've had both a 130p and 102 f7. The 130p is a cheap & fun to use scope I would not knock however side by side there's no contest. The ED f7 refractor wins in all departments.