ScouseSpaceCadet

Personally I would make the most of the 102's strength i.e. its widefield capability and choose a 2" diagonal. Iirc Barry you have a dob with 2" eyepieces? https://www.firstlightoptics.com/diagonals/stellamira-2-90-di-electric-diagonal.html Or keep an eye out for a used 2" and not get too hung up on the brand. I was perfectly happy with a Sky-Watcher 2" dielectric in my ST120. There's a few 1.25" and 2" used dielectric diagonals on Ebay at the mo'. I do only use a 1.25" Sky-Watcher dielectric with the f7 however that telescope's a different beast and due to the AZGTI mount, prefer to keep weight down to a minimum.

Sheesh. I'm on my 5th night of grey cloud. Before that, a week of storms. These smashing pics are driving me nuts! Have fun all. 🧐👍😄

Nice. Buying two works out cheaper, but only one was required.🙄 There is a nylon pocket inside that the Talentcell 6000mah battery fits into perfectly, so I'm happy.

I totally mis-read that as, "It's still a dream of mine to watch a launch of Mrs.C from Kazakhstan...". Maybe it was just me projecting.😁 Cool vid Grumpy M.!

Expecting to see more than three or four galaxies under Bortle 8 skies with a 114mm reflector is flogging a dead horse. You will be lucky to spot m31, m81, m82 and on an exceptional night maybe m66. Stick to open clusters, globulars and double stars, Saturn, Jupiter, Venus and our moon. Those alone can keep you busy for years. Save the deep sky objects for camping trips. Regarding the red dot finder, they're perfectly adequate when used in conjuction with a 9x50 right angled correct image finder scope.

A 127mm mak and below wouldn't be worthwhile if you have a short apo. It will do the same job pretty much. A perfect condition & very cheap dob would give you access to aperture+ for those dimmer DSOs... no hard sell or anythin'. 😁 The reasons I kept my 102mm mak after buying the 102mm f7 frac are it's compact and will do for camping trips. Also getting the mak cheap as I did reduces the worry of having it stolen or broken on campsites. Otherwise the mak would be long gone.

Red or gold?

Ahh... 😉😉 Then good luck with the 73mm.

Looks good. I'll add 5. Discover a Supernova. 😉

That looks like a really nice little telescope Stu. However, is this new instrument going to be your primary setup? If you're really visual but on rare occasions will have a go with a dslr, why not go for a short fl 80mm? You may be grateful for the extra aperture and focal length while still maintaining a compact set up. FPL53, 2.6kg, 555mm fl & beefy 2.5" r&p focuser. 430mm with the dew shield retracted, still very grab n' go and the AZGTI will handle it easily. In stock. https://www.altairastro.com/starwave-80ed-r-ed-doublet-refractor-telescope-466-p.asp The Altair refractors are really nicely engineered. I fall a little more in love with mine every time it's used (despite the common as muck FPL51 glass 😉 ).

Really excited about viewing this. Lots of thick grey cloud here the last two nights though. There may be a window of opportunity tomorrow. Thanks Jeremy.

Bum bag indeed... It's a Tactical Compact Water-Splash Resistant Multi-Purpose EDC Utility Pouch! 😉 I still have a couple of flag shoulder patches kept for posterity, but they're a bit small for a statement piece... 🙄

Not to mention the Moon is also a very easy object to view. Expensive equipment and darkness not required. Uneffected by street lamps etc. Available all year round. Since last summer lunar observation has come to the fore for me, mainy due to the weather... Great pics Skipper. Very impressive. 👍

Nothing very exciting or expensive today... A water resistant molle pouch for the Talentcell battery powering the AZGTI and a Union Jack to attach.

I watched this on Youtube last night. Essential viewing for anyone considering binoculars. Thanks to the BAA and Steve!

Highly likely a satellite. There are approx. 6000 in orbit around Earth and from an urban garden on a clear night several can be seen with the naked eye. An asteroid would usually require prolonged observation over many hours or days to even notice movement.

I've owned for a year the Olympus DPS I 10x50s and I'm happy with them. Amazon drop the price occasionally and I was lucky. Around the same time, my dad was bought the 8x42 version. Although they're lighter and easier to keep steady, they don't resolve quite as much under light polluted skies and there is some slight colour fringing around the moon. Theres two or three brands around the same price as the Olympus that are recommended. Check out the site Vader linked and the forum binocular section.

Aliexpress? I was so tempted by the ES 24mm 68° prices on there, but played safe going for the Altair UFF...

Get that scope out to rural skies and it actually will "blow your mind visually". 😀 The difference really is amazing. I'm glad the ST80 has given you the bug rather than put you off. 👍

Good point. Astronomy isn't the only area affected by the logistical problems. Luckily I upgraded our two gaming pc graphics cards before the pandemic. Pre Christmas 2020 finding a decent AMD cpu to replace my son's Ryzen 1600 was difficult. I ended up settling for a 3600XT. The new Ryzen 5600 was non existent unless one was prepared to pay a ridiculous price. Likewise the Playstation 5 debacle. We still haven't got one despite joining mailing lists etc. I'm surprised there are not more shortages of Chinese made tech. including the humble television.

Nightmarish! It looks like you will need to do something like construct a tarp shield about seven foot high or more and be prepared to lose access to the observable sky in the direction of the lights. As for the parasol, it won't do any harm to try. Don't wait for the telescope to arrive. Take it out and test it... I replaced my aged rear wooden fence with a 8ft job just to block one LED street lamp approx. 20 metres distant. It meant losing the western view from about 70° down but was worth every penny. The tarp shield behind blocks an unpredictable insecurity light. You're in an unenviable predicament!

After using an 8" dobson, two small reflectors on alt az mounts, two =<f7 refractors and a 4" maksutov, I'd say standing while observing through the reflectors was the most comfortable, followed by the Mak with the light weight tripod height at near minimum whilst sitting. However the standing position with the reflectors, despite the comfortable eyepiece position, did produce some fatigue during longer sessions. The slight awkwardness experienced using the refractors is offset by the sitting position allowing longer, less wearing time at the eyepiece and that occasionally awkward posture will be cured when I eventually pick up an adjustable observing seat. The dob kicked off my lower back pain despite trying a platform. If I was shorter it would have been fine.

If you want to save money, not carry more than necessary, saving on luggage space, want true convenience and the option of day time use on hikes - 10x50 binoculars.

I imagine most people do exactly the same the first couple of nights. I did. You enjoyed the night, now welcome to the frustration of looking for objects and not finding them etc 😉

Thanks. I've visited three times and a prospective member allowed to Zoom meetings etc. The worm turned after looking through their 12" LX200... It's probably bortle 5/6 there but better than full on city 7/8. 🙄