DaveL59

so the billion dollar roman candle is back on the pad, fingers crossed they get to light the blue touchpaper this time round... Artemis I Moon Rocket Arrives at Launch Pad Ahead of Historic Mission – Artemis (nasa.gov) 14-Nov currently the target.

So far no word on the launch date, clocks-a-tickin so hopefully something will be released soon.

now we just need you to figure out a good way to replace failing displays @malc-c 😉

In my case I started off wanting a TAL, either a TAL-1 or 100 series. The one for sale local suddenly went silent then eventually replied to say it was sold. Meantime a wee NatGeo tabletop came up for a tenner, hard to say no just for something to play with. Then a SW130 again at a great price. A while later a TAL-M came up with its wood case, same price as I paid for the SW130 and for a while it was my most oft used scope as its easy to pick up and drop into the garden. Then a 100RS appeared, round trip to Coventry to collect and its a lovely scope much as I'd expected and my most expensive purchase to date on this hobby. A short while after a Tal-1 came up and I picked that up purely for the 32 bore eyepiece as I'd wanted a 25mm for the M. In the end I shifted its mirror and fitted a TAL 1.25-inch focuser to that one and again, easy to lift and drop into the garden, gotta love those pedestal mounts vs tripods. I did also pick up a Celestron L70AZ starsense, for the license and at the moment that's become the easy grab n go, so light and easy to cart it outside. It will however be finding its way to my daughter at some stage in the near future. Oh I also picked up a vintage 3-inch drawtube focuser, hard not to for £20 and it'd likely have ended up skip'd had I not taken it on. Do I really need all these tho? Nope, and I should whittle down a touch, probably the SW130, defo the little NatGeo tabletop as it's not all that useful really. The TAL's to me are the core and keepers, so solid and other than some paint issues you'd not know they are all from the mid 90's. So no real method to the madness for me, more getting something to use then slowly getting the one(s) I'd wanted to have. As for camera lenses and bino's, don't go there, seriously just don't 😄

can you post a pic so we can see what you mean? I wonder if its possible to just fix it solidly with a dab of hot glue or shim it to take up any free play?

I've often thought the same when I get that old vintage 3-inch leather covered scope out too, wonder when it last saw Mars and what the lst owner (who may even have made it) looked at etc. I'd have loved to have had one of my aunt's original micron binos and passed that to my daughter who'd have treasured it also, but sadly wasn't to be. Still she'll inherit a lot of vintage optical gear when the time comes and can share that out with her young ones 🙂

I think over time they've learned to moderate the lights a bit following lots of complaints. The one opposite but slightly down the road was horrible bright when it first went in, hurt the eyes if I walked into the bedroom as it was then in direct line of sight with the curtains not closed. Lately that's seemed to have been dimmed a bit and I think dulls a bit further past 11PM so its now a lot better. Downside tho it doesn't cast as much light at my front door to see the keyhole in the dark, not that I'll be complaining there 😄

Today arrived this little pair of 7x15's, 8 degree FoV, in lovely condition and in the mint carry case too Only downside is its missing an eyecup, but that's an easy fix for me since I have another couple pairs (a 5x15 & 7x15) that aren't in as good condition as these. Everything operates smoothly with nice clear sharp views so they've been well loved prior to coming to me, they are from a collection from an estate clearance. I was keen to obtain as they're like the ones my aunt in Japan had which sadly mum and her sisters gave away as they'd thought they were just toys rather than actually useful. My aunt had used hers to zoom in on parts of a scene she was painting apparently. So while not the ones she'd owned I now have something very close which will remind me of her each time I use them 🙂

I guess if they can reduce the size and weight of the receiver and mount it on the back ot aircraft that'd solve the problem of long distance electric flight, just have specific points in the flight path to pick up an in-flight recharge... Would sure mess with comms while in the charging beam tho, might work, just so long as they've shielded the cockpit and passenger cell adequately so it don't become a tin can full of roast turkeys 😉

Do take a good look at both the main primary mirror and the smaller secondary (look down the focuser tube for this latter one) to check the condition. However if you shine a torch at the mirror be aware that it'll look dreadful so just use the available light to see if there's any surface imperfections and if it gives good reflection.

Were/are you able to go see it before agreeing to purchase and have it demonstrated so you can verify that it is working correctly and to get a look at some distant objects to confirm it gives a good image? If the seller is willing to do that for you then it would give some idea that it's a working setup, as well as the chance to form an opinion of how genuine they are. There's no guarantee of course that it won't fail or have issues later on which is the risk you'd take with any used electronics/motorised mount, so be listening out for gears grinding or binding etc as the mount swings from target to target. Note that a goto mount can be tested in daytimes, you just pick a target that is offered, no need to be able to see it in the eyepiece as we're just testing functionality here, so if an excuse is made that you can't in daytime it isn't a valid one 😉

so what's the tin can for, garnish? 😉 Very nice Agnes, how's it performing?

lol I'd guess that's true, depends how much you like diffraction spikes tho huh 😉

holy thread ressurrection, thought this had long passed into obscurity after the heated debates lol in fact that was part of the reason I started this thread, in a lot of cases I'd seen there was no enquiry as to circumstances etc and in fact in one case where the OP had mobility issues if I recall, it was still dob dob dob and of course, its always a big one like a 200mm. I do agree there's a lot of knowledge here and its freely shared but often seems very big dob-sided when that may not be ideal for the person asking. I'll admit too that I'm not a dob fan, too much bulk and just seems too crude having to prod and poke to try to make small adjustments to my mind, I'd rather have geared movements for fine adjustment and I like EQ for the ease of tracking a target across the sky adjusting only one axis, they aren't as complicated to use as is often made out and aren't expensive to motorise with an RA drive which makes things even easier. Sure that adds cost for the mount and thereby a smaller aperture scope perhaps but it's rare that anything other than a dob is suggested unless for imaging.

I'd expect one problem with leaving it could be as it rehydrates on cold moist nights there would be a tendency for other things to get stuck in the mix, pollen, fungal spores etc. That might certainly create risk to the mirror finish over time. Down to personal choice tho, to clean or not, I would if it were mine.

nope, just opened the web page and looked it up. Am vaguely interested tho can't really justify it as it'd push my scoped a bit far. I've 0.965 EP's below the 7-8mm of my existing zooms, down to 4mm if I ever really want to so am resisting temptation, well so far at least.

Not sure they pre-charge the VAT & duty tho so that may be an extra surprise when it lands? Here (UK) in theory it'd pass just fine as at that price it'd be under the £135 threshold, I think? and no, so far I've resisted temptation, just!

hmmm, unusually in current times prices seem to have lowered a bit... or £105 for GBP, damn why did I go look at their website! 🙄

the more I see this thread pop up the more I find the trigger finger itching, must resist! 😉

been a while but today received this 0.965 inch eyepiece which came with a 1.25-inch adaptor Didn't really need a 7mm as I already have a HM6 but I figured at the bargain price it was listed, why not add an Ortho into the mix 🙂

Looks pretty nice, am almost tempted but have far too many as it is 😞

+1 for cleaning that off since its organic. So far not had this on a scope but a fair sized one did wangle its way into the smart cat-flap a couple years back. Woke one morning to find my kitties sat in the garden complaining as they couldn't get back inside. Darn thing had slithered across the control board and fried itself, wiping the kitties chip codes in the process, or at least scrambling them. Was a devil to clean the slime off and sort it all, with the added fun of 2 grown kitties who really really didn't want to cooperate so I could re-scan them back into the system 🙄 I've since filled every opening with BluTak which has been effective, but because of that I don't leave any scope electronics attached when stored in the conservatory - somehow slugs seem to find their way in, esp in very wet weather.

I see a video has been posted on the BBC but not of the impact, of the crater Stunning meteoroid impact crater detected on Mars - BBC News

I'd imagine it would be tip positive as those connectors usually are, can you not double-check using a multimeter on your existing cable?

I guess a lot depends on your view of risk. I've bought several times from Ali and never had a problem, tho cost to return would be a pain I expect. Most times shipping has been pretty quick and their tracking works well enough. Things tend to get slow once they hit customs here tho lol. I've bought SVbony zoom eyepieces, finder mounts, CCTV cameras (some shipped from germany when we were still EU) and lenses for them and a replacement ultrasonic motor ring for the Tamron 150-600mm zoom lens I got for a bargain price. Not fitted that yet tho as my bodge-it-and-leg-it conductive copper foil tape fix on the original motor ring got it going again pretty nicely.