ScouseSpaceCadet

Time to practice my Brian Cox look into camera provoking thought from the viewer followed by a gentle but firm turn of the head to the right tilted up at a distant cosmic object contemplating existance while the soundtrack reaches a crescendo look... (Breathes).

I've taken a punt the sun will be shining and booked annual leave on 10/06. 7.5 hours leave for ten minutes observing... The things we do... Luckily NHS leave entitlement is quite generous. 👍 Americans will be aghast! 😁

There's much to be appreciated and gained from summer lunar observation. Get yourself a lunar atlas, a comfy seat, t-shirt a cold drink and enjoy our nearest neighbour.

A bit late to the party but a great review allowing me some reminisence! The first telescope I looked through was a 14" LX200. I was blown away by Uranus and an unknown spiral galaxy back then. I've never recovered from the experience!

If you're on a very tight budget then yes that will work.

Yea thanks. Handheld in a light breeze isn't so easy, and the illuminated limb is a little over exposed, but the details on the terminator I wanted to capture turned out OK.

First time out lunar observing using the Altair Lightwave 9mm LER 1.25 inch 55° Planetary Eyepiece. This ep presented a great 79x full disc through the Starwave Ascent 102ED f7. Combined with a GSO 2.5x 3 element barlow gave a very relaxed and clear 197x view too. 79x through the 9mm with a hand held Samsung S6. A single frame and cropped.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/telescope-bags-cases-storage/oklop-padded-bag-for-small-telescopes.html The Bag for Small Telescopes may take the tripod, mount and accessories but I would rather you confirm that with FLO.

This - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/telescope-bags-cases-storage/oklop-padded-bag-for-150mm-750mm-newtonians.html I had both the bag and ota - a perfect fit.

I worried about the same issue, but then decided just to go by the tripod level with the mount attached. It just made sense and seems to work fine. The AZ-GTI's own bubble has a mind of its own. The bubble moves when the mount moves!

It's a great combo. The small size and long focal length combined with easy, no prep required Point and Track is especially good for very relaxed lunar sessions. Great for summer.

Circumstance has dictated your kit and you have made the most of it. You're blessed with a talent for astrophotography. Going from 0-60 quickly judging by the results using very light weight kit. It can take a while and lots of swapping, buying and selling to get a feel for what suits. Apparently Stusmartcookie's owned 57 telescopes in two years & John took 43 years to find his balance. 😄

Badhex, don't feel terrible about the EQ6-R. You're a prime example of someone discovering what suits their circumstance, rather than what you think is the best generic solution you're supposed to have. My 102mm refractor and AZ-GTI has me observing within fifteen minutes and can be taken anywhere. If I swap out the tripod for the light weight aluminium and change to the 102mm Maksutov, I'd just about be bus friendly (in the unlikely event a bus is required..). The only change to my current home/astro camp setup will be an EQ5 sized mount as the 102 frac is right on the AZ-GTI limit and I don't want the mount wearing out. That's still relatively light, grab n' go. Our experiences seem to be quite common, I went up to 8" dob and back down again. Prefering the smaller kit. Poor decisions probably put a fair few people off the hobby unfortunately. Rather than finding a balance, they just sell the kit and give up.

I'd love a 12" dob, 14" sct or whatever, but simply do not have the storage space while the kids are still at home and although the garden is just about big enough for a small dome observatory, I don't think that would be useful given the Bortle 7/8 light pollution. Circumstance and practicality demand a smaller telescope. The fact is, unless you're massively orientated toward deep sky observing, around a 3-5" refractor or 6" reflector is all you need. They're far from toy like or 'beginners' instruments. Getting those telescopes to dark skies opens up the universe. Meaningful scientific observation is within reach of this aperture class, for instance variable star observing. Imagine resurrecting Galileo Galilei today. He would consider a 4" apochromatic refractor a wonderous instrument!

Absolutely nuts. I checked out the Orbitrack app for confirmation. By the time the last one flew over, the first was over Ukraine. Then tinfoil hat time as a Soviet spy satellite launched in '87 flew right over the house... Yes I know, too much spare time!

Nice Stu. I managed a second extended look on Thursday evening, followed by an astonishing Starlink train. I counted 53 satellites..! They were popping into view two at a time through the 10x50s in the fading daylight.

Great set up. Looks ace. Great for an overnighter (if you're fit 🙄) My solo tent is a bit too big to be wild camping in. It's a light weight expedition tent meant to be carried by two. Loads of space inside for one though and easy to pitch. The Hi-Gear 5 man is getting a run out in September & October around new moons. Pandemic permitting, long weekends are booked in Cumbria and Shropshire Hills AONB. 👍

A brilliant session. Demonstrating it's not so much the telescope but where one uses it... I've two long weekends booked mid September and October for dark camping trips. I just hope mother nature obliges with clear skies! Well done. 👍

Finally, at 21:35 clear skies to the west, and Mercury high enough to bag with the 10x50s over roofs and fencing. Almost obscured by the thankfully shielded LED street lamp. The only planet I've not seen. It's a shame the scopes weren't out, but I'll settle for a 10x50 view!

They're decent bags for the price. I've owned the 'Bag for small telescopes' two years with no issues. The bag for 150mm reflectors did the job too.

The Coleman tents are sturdy, with decent head height, internal space and good ground sheets too, but I found the fibreglass poles absolute pigs to bend and slot into the rings. One weekend with fellow SGLers had us queueing up to have a go. I was sweating lol. Hence replacing it with the OEX with metal poles. Much easier to pitch. Similar to Vango. The old Coleman in action. That was a cold & windy weekend in the Peaks.

Only owning tiddlers, protecting the scopes is a non issue... If at a public, non astro orientated camp site, then the Skymax 102 is packed up after each session and put either into the car boot, or one of the two tents I have for camping. If just me, an OEX Coyote III or if accompanied, a Hi-Gear Enigma Elite 5 & extra canopy. Astro camps - a large Ducksback outboard boat motor cover envelopes a mount and telescope up to a 150/750mm reflector. I just have to remember to pull the bottom drawstring tight and tie it off securely.. If the weather looks a bit ropey, and I'm in the Hi-Gear, the whole set up can transferred to the tent's add on canopy and not interfere with tent life too much.

As seen in the "Postie" thread, along with Olympus DPS-I 10x50s, I've added the much lauded Opticron T WP Adventurer 10x50. The Opticrons have a greater range of ipd adjustment and less furniture so feel more comfy to use. The tethered objective covers are a nice touch and the neck strap is actually comfortable. Astronomy use has been limited to a quick twenty minutes however the image is definitely brighter than the Olympus pair. During day use I did notice some CA when checking out birds in a fir tree, unlike the Olympus which are totally CA free...

Pants. 🙄 (Have a good night 👍).

All of the above... and loads more.. while having a peek at m51, galaxies m101, m106 and m63 will be at zenith around midnight. Worth a try. Under dark skies with 127mm aperture, just about all the seasonal messiers should be within reach. Use the Synscan tour function. Again very late around midnight, the binoculars will be great for sweeping the Milky Way. The constellations Perseus, Cassiopeia, Cygnus and Sagitta will all be sitting on the Milky Way arch, albeit quite low but worth a go without light pollution. You're going to be up late to make the most of the last of the season's darkness, so have an early cat nap. 😉