DaveL59

600 injuries inc one death. 'elf & safety don't seem to matter 😞 https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/spacex-musk-safety/ Makes you wonder about his other companies practises too...

Another vid from Cuiv, imaging the PACman nebula but using the internal LP filter and an external dual narrowband which he says gets better results.

I'd have thought the limiting factor would be the optical train, you can't make it wider with a firmware update so it'd have to be support for mosaic which some have hinted may be coming on review vids. I have thought to try a video wide/tele attachment but not had time lately with workload other than a quick go aimed at a tree - didn't find focus with the x1.4 tele fitted so perhaps a non-starter. Agree tho about using a "real" scope and the light hitting the retina, for planets I'd pull one of the scopes out and be quite happy, when the eyes aren't too tired. Still remember my first views of Saturn and Jupiter, that was special 🙂 Mars I didn't really have enough magnification but still nice to see even tho detail was minimal.

You usually find the 2.4G band has a longer range (better penetration) than the 5G band, but lower data rate, tho you can band-spread to help that along. Also the further you are from the WiFi AP the lower the data rate you'll get. Achieved range will depend on the S50 and your device/router and what obstructions (walls, metal objects and interference sources (TV etc) and perhaps the s50's orientation relative to target and device. Quite likely the WiFi aerial is on the fixed part of the S50 so would be facing away from you at times. Only way to know for sure is to try it. I have mine connecting to my home WiFi router tho being a small house the S50 is only around 25-30ft away from it, seems to work fine running on the 2.4G band.

I'd agree John, when you look at the number of "lightweight grab and go" threads from many I'd almost bet those get the most use once you have one. I know I used the Starsense LT70 a lot more while it was here and prior to that the TAL-M, both very easy to just plonk outside and start using. The Starsense is now with my daughter - the phone app makes it much easier for them to use tho I'll admit they haven't much what with lots of work to do on the house and garden they're pretty exhausted a lot of the time, plus the kids being young so late nights not so practical for them. Being interested is one thing, having the time often a bigger issue. For me I've done very little of late what with staring at a screen all day, weekend and some overnight jobs like this morning leaving the old eyes not up to it. Hence I got a Seestar S50, lets me have a compact easy to set up toy that displays to phone/tablet so far less effort on my eyes. Not good for planets tho, but I've "proper" scopes for that when I've the energy 🙂

Seems to be on the google play store already for droid too 🙂

some more tips n tricks

So true, tho with cars I've seen a few go for several thousands above what they're worth and of course the listing ends and the buyer never pays up so it gets relisted. Easy to understand why many don't allow bidders with less than a certain amount of feedback etc. Seen too price getting to above what new + post would have cost, my ex did that a few times till I pointed that out to her, and she used to go on about how "money smart" she was... 🙄

Supply and demand I guess, with a bit of ebay bidding fever lobbed in.

Yep, you can only connect to one WiFi at a time so without mobile data turned on you aren't able to see the internet. Of course once you get the S50 onto your home WiFi then the phone uses the home WiFi to connect to it, problem solved. Not sure you could do that tho if you haven't yet registered...

Yikes, not the best way to hold the car in the air to work under it... 😉 For sure it's been a rough few months with the weather and like others I'm grateful to be near the top of a hill and above the road level. Downside of course when it gets icy and you're trying to reverse up the drive tho that hasn't caused me any issues where neighbours have struggled to just get over the dropped kerbs.

Ahh that's likely because once the phone connects to the WiFi of the SeeStar it no longer sees the internet via your home WiFi network.

On my Note-10+ which is an uptodate droid, it seems to store the images under internal-storage/DCIM/com.zwo.seestar

If you open a file explorer on the phone you'll likely be able to find them by checking the various folders. If it has a "recents" option then that'll show them also. Not had a chance to try solar yet so can't comment there. Have fun, once you've got familiar with the app and the S50 I'll all seem easy 🙂

Not having a 3D printer I bought one of these https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/276090459472 It is a touch loose in fit but does the job and not expensive at least.

Not sure how or how well it works, it was a recent addition I guess to allow the user more control, say a "pro" or "expert" feature. The app has evolved in the short time the device has been out and overall it seems pretty good and the device itself amazing at this price point.

The AF works well on its own but the mask lets you confirm accuracy if you wish to. There is a focus control in the last app/firmware tho I've not tried it so far. Welcome to the club tho, now we just need some clear nights and in my case nights I'm not working 🙄

Can't swear to it but my EQ5 has that SynScan kit that also says EQ3/EQ5 so quite likely. Ahh OK, just seen @Cornelius Varleys reply, hadn't realised that, talk about confusing.

It's just a gimicky "breathing" indication that the device is on and working, doesn't really signify anything other than that from what video reviews said. I guess perhaps it reduces the overall power used by an LED that's always on but probably insignificant with regards run-time.

Oh that sounds like it'd be "fun" to have it securely held and stable, esp if there's any slight breeze. an interesting idea tho. A lot of trust seems to be placed in 3D prints to hold loads, not sure I'd want the weight of the Seestar doing that at height tho and for me it wouldn't solve the large oak obstructing the SE-SW view 🙂 I'll be working from 01:00-07:00 tonight so for me it'll be trying to take decent naps this afternoon so I have a few working grey cells ticking over during the critical bits of the works. Same next Saturday night with the time change, so won't be up to doing much with mine unless we get some clear sky during the midweek window.

never having tried long periods on one target, in fact had little chance to use mine with odd work hours and weather this month, might it perhaps be better to do as suggested in one of Cuiv's videos to obtain the longer integration times? As in run a shorter capture 30-60 mins and repeat over several nights? Of course anyone wanting to do that spanning the next couple weeks would need to consider the BST-GMT time change next weekend and adjust the start time accordingly.

Yep the trailing number is the mm diameter of the threaded part (to include the thread). Does look like the one on the right is M5 from the pic. I have a mix of M4 and M5 depending on which scope and if using OEM or other holders so bought M3 M4 and m5 nylon screws to cover all eventualities.

For those in the UK looking for a lens cap, a seller on the bay is offering 3D printed ones: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/276090459472 Mine arrived today, fits pretty well, just a touch loose but stays in place when the arm is parking and very low profile so it doesn't interfere with its movement. Pretty pleased for £4.99 +£1.55 postage.

lovely images guys 🙂 For me it was a weekend of skool nights as I've been working so no chance to play which was a shame since the sky looked clearer last night than it has in a long while. Same for trying solar or anything much really for me. Much the same story every weekend this month for me, such is life, so I'll just have to hope for some clear skies in Nov.

Yep, I'm not sure I'd have the inclination to span several nights on one target getting all the data to stack afterwards but it does show what can be achieved and that's pretty amazing for an entry level smart scope. I guess if we were minded to do that on a particular target we could run say 30 mins on that at the same start time each night and then go off and browse other targets. Over a week that's build up a few hours of data to collate, not sure I'd be that disciplined nor organised tho 😉