ScouseSpaceCadet

Giving up on the weather forecasts I've not even checked for the last week. Tonight locking up, I looked out and the sky was crystal! A good opportunity to try the Opticron 15x70s on my old aluminium Monfrotto Art monopod & Neewer ball head. The whole system worked as expected I managed about 45 minutes just gazing really. Lunar, Pleiades, Hyades and about half the session spent on Orion. I could definitely make out the 'wings' of M42. The longer I looked, the more I saw. The binoculars really provide a sense of scale compared to a telescope view. M42 looked massive against the background expanse. A nice relaxing session at a balmy 8°c. Unfortunately I forgot to wipe the damp off the garden chair and my bottom was soaked when I went in. 🙄

I don't see Nico Carver in the above lists.

The Geminids is one of those showers I can usually see from my urban garden if the sky is clear. Not this year; rain, cloud and then early hours fog stopped play but I'm glad you got to see them. 👍

A big investment for me too... I was interested particularly in your use of the OIII filter. I have a UHC, but believed the 'not in small aperture' advice/mythology about the use of an OIII. What brand do you have and do you think it is worth buying to compliment UHC?

Ahh the big red button has gone stealth... Numlock is probably the ejector seat button too.

Be warned SGLers, don't give dodgy advice, post your terribly processed image or a pic of the same 4" frac eleven times. Mark may call in an airstrike! 👊 (I can't see the big red 'do not press' button.)

Great report Wibblefish and I am most relieved you are happy with the Starwave! 😬

Not a great mount probably, but still a 70mm f10 for £45... A good deal if in excellent condition and you're really skint. The moment passed anyway Neil. It wasn't a friend selling it.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/opticron-binoculars/opticron-adventurer-10x50-t-wp-binocular.html Highly recommended. Sit back on a reclining garden chair to keep them steady or go with Mr Vader's popular trigger grip (mine is under the Christmas tree woohoo 😁).

I really do not want you to skint yourself more than necessary. You had a max budget. One could think, "well if I just spend a bit more..." and keeping going. Stick with the 705 AZ3 if you can stretch to £149 plus delivery costs. If you both really get into the hobby, save up for better eyepieces and a larger telescope if you really want one.There's no rush. Many members here have telescopes that size and smaller for travel or very quick sessions. It's enough to get you both going. Under darker rural skies especially, it could keep you busy for years. Afterall... "Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space." Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 😀 https://www.firstlightoptics.com/startravel/skywatcher-mercury-705.html

United Optics/Kunming make those sweet 4" f7 scopes that are all the range atm so the bins should be good? Is anything APM spec'd bad?

I've heard on the grapevine these are rebadged APM binoculars made by United Optics in China but don't quote me. 😉

Visiting the local society's observatory and looking into a Meade 12" LX200... I got to observe Uranus and a spiral galaxy. Immediately hooked, a few months later a Skywatcher 130P was delivered and I've been skint ever since!

This year I bought the Opticron Adventurer T WP 10x50 to replace my Olympus DPSI 10x50 and was not disappointed. The view obviously was much brighter and clearer, confirming Steve Tonkin's assertion that they're not stopped down as much and the coatings decent. Worth a punt imho. I've been so happy with them I had no qualms about buying the 15x70 Opticron Oregon.

The 705 is actually very small. The video below is old but it's essentially the same model. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q0YK9968ubY If you're really pushing your finances and concerned about size, go with the Heritage. Some of those other telescopes in the list are massive in comparison.

I'm actually torn: The Heritage 100p. https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/reviews/telescopes/sky-watcher-heritage-100p-tabletop-dobsonian/ The most aperture per £ and assuming you travel by car, it won't take up much room. You can always pick up a used tripod later should you wish. The Mercury 705. Compact & a wide field of view so objects are easier to find. The best mounted refractor you listed. Also the most expensive by far though. It also comes with a 45° spotting diagonal ( the thing the eyepieces go in). Not ideal for astronomy so in the future you may want to purchase a 90°. Priced about £20 to £300!

Great Joe. 👍 The only problem you have now is when at home you know what you're missing. ☹️ For me, seeing the likes of M31 and the Double Cluster with the naked eye is wonderful. You need to travel with binoculars... and have a ready supply of coffee because you won't get much sleep next time...😁

I'm not that old thanks! I was being a bit dramatic. Laying down during work hours is a no-no, a nap at my desk is the best I can do. 😁 Those boots are nightmares though. A couple of buyer reviews stated they were difficult to get on. There is no calf loop to grab on to. I'll perservere though. Hopefully they will stretch a bit with use. 🙄 Good luck with your socks. May I suggest a Sock Puller Upper. 😀

Ahhh... Greymouser not mentioning the f6 ed72 in the opening post was a trap! My rationale was based on owning two... Thinking the f7 ED would manage decent quality views at higher mags while also about 2x the fov of the f13 so better for for widefield. Plus as prevously mentioned, easier to manage, mount and store. Adding the f6 ed72 along with the f13 that you're happy with suggests you don't need another. 😀 Maybe treat yourself to some Pentax XW eps on sale at FLO before there's none left in the country? 😉

The Decathlon £14.99 snow boots arrived. I'm a 9 shoe and 10 boot so bought the 9.5-10.5 size. Getting my foot into them was a trial I almost had a heart attack! Once the foot was in, with walking socks they had at least a cm of big toe space spare, but are very snug in the width. I had to go for a lie down after trying the first boot so didn't try the other foot!

Soz I didn't know FLO were not taking calls. Email them stating you have been on the forums and feel stuck. Tell them your very max stretch budget and ask for recommendations for your 11 yr old's Xmas present. They won't try to gouge you! 😁

Basically, an altitude azimuth mount you plonk it down and point the telescope at an object. Equatorial mounts you at least roughly point the mount at Polaris before using it and counter balance the telescope. That is very very basic but as much info you need for now! On the whole, a cheap alt az mount is less complicated and less rickety than an equivalent equatorial. Just easier all round to start using. One less thing to work out. Again over your budget by a bit but another option: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/sky-watcher-mercury-707-az-telescope.html about £118 with delivery and in stock from a trusted retailer. The National Geographic refractors don't have a good rep and are often seen for sale used on Ebay. Regarding binoculars, you can see Jupiter as a bright disk and its 4 largest moons. The moon , you can make out larger craters and mountains. If you're somewhere dark, then deep sky object such as nebulae, open star clusters and some globular clusters resolved as 'fuzzies'. Many double stars, comets if you are very lucky. Last year comet Neowise was a fantastic binocular object. Also some of the brighter galaxies. If you camp somewhere really dark, you can see the whole width of the Andromeda galaxy. Give First Light Optics a call. They're very helpful.

Fantastic!

I missed this one...Great Neil. The sunlight reflections off the cliffs is amazing.

True but the op just can't spend that much so we have to be realistic and compromise. The little she spends the better really. Binoculars may be the best option actually. There was a recent thread were one of the members was asking about binoculars for an 11yr old niece. I'll try to find it.