DaveL59

I had wondered about that arrangement around the focuser, thanks for explaining it 🙂

Does look nice and I'm the right side of the Thames if a lot further into Kent. Not really looking for another scope tho, too many already, had that come up when I first bought gear I'd have opted for that one rather than the SW130 EQ2 I currently have and rarely use now. Pity, worth the price for just the mount and eyepieces even.

Now received the mask from ebay, looks well made. I note there's a slight dimple in the rim that fits into the S50, possibly to get it to snug fit and hold in position. Also found my x1.4 tele/wide adaptors which are Tokina ones. Quite light so may carry easily enough on the S50, 49mm thread and a 52mm adaptor, so with your filter ring I'd sort a 49-48 step-down to fit it, perhaps. In case useful for verification, diameter across with the nib. Depth of the section going into the S50 opening 4.7mm.

The problem will be weather resistance for pretty much any, since it'll be aimed upward which isn't the normal deployment. I do have a couple on the shed, one is a small dome assembly that I fitted a small IP CCTV module (a Hik compatible little 30x30mm cube unit from Ali) into it with a fisheye lens. Needs care to get it well sealed as water running off the dome will pool where the seal is but a smidge of clear RTV helps. No need for a dew heater on that since the module runs quite warm but there is a Silica Gel sachet in there also. Can monitor it via the HikVision iVMS app on the phone/tablet or desktop since it's cable LAN connected back to the house. Not good enough to pick out the stars unless very bright but gives a view of cloud cover and direction. The other I built using a PTZ dome assembly, bought non-working of the bay. Gutted, replacement clear dome with nitrile gasket to keep the weather out and put a HD webcam in which worked OK but not quite sensitive enough for stars. I'm considering replacing the HD webcam with a Logi C270 that I put a fisheye onto the other day but not had a chance to test its sensitivity yet. I made a dew heater using ceramic resistors for this one as the webcams don't generate enough heat. Of course you then need a way to connect to it, for which I use a USB-network server so I can link to it from my desktop and use Sharpcap as if it is a locally attached USB camera, not possible to use it via phone/tablet however.

Does seem that if you want to, some post processing can improve the results. Just released vid shows him using pixinsight for example Not sure I'll be going this far with it, more likely to just use as EEVA and perhaps play a little once in a while if I feel the urge to.

A sound suggestion, thanks 🙂 I will eventually locate my old ones, can't recall the brand that was now but was fair at the time, tho the Nikon with ED glass would likely outclass it. If the experiment with the one I have works then I'd consider getting an 'upgrade'. I'm figuring some adhesive velcro tape on the back of the moving assembly would allow a small weight to be attached when needed to aid with balance.

I only ordered recently so a fair old wait for me but at least the alpha and beta testing should be well out of the way by the time I get mine 😉 Agree re lobbing a wide/tele, weight may be a factor, will have to locate the one I had and see if its even worth a try. A bit of double-sided tape to hold the adaptor down might do the trick tho if not too long/heavy. More chance it'll confuse the smarts tho but for planets if you can manually target it may just add enough to wow the grandkids and encourage them to want to see more via a real scope/eyepiece.

Don't have mine yet either so can't help with measurements, but you can mark me down for the pair if you're also looking to get a scope on numbers 🙂 What thread pitch would the 48mm have?

Been a while for me, but idling some time I took a closer look at one of the Logi C270's I have kicking around when I'd picked a couple extra up cheap. An 8mm (M8) lens and I wondered about trying it as a sky camera, perhaps. So duly ordered an M8 fisheye lens that arrived this morning. So off with the trim and faceplates and remove the std lens that has a dab of glue locking it into focus position and that of course made screwing the new lens in quite tight. Looking at positioning I refitted the faceplate and screwed the lens in which fits just fine. Had to use a plier to grip the lens enough to screw it in far enough for focus but it works. Didn't take a snap of the lens as delivered but heck it looks the same as any other M12 type. Here's the lens fitted tho: Some scuffs from the pliers but not so worried about that, a touch of black paint pen will cover that nicely 😉 You don't get a full 180,probably close to 150 degrees wide, but for literally a couple quid the lens works and if the C270's low light ability delivers it may make a fair replacement for the generic webcam I currently use that these days picks up almost nothing. Of course with the skies here more grey than black nowadays, may be a pointless endeavour but its been something to do for a short time 😉

For me that's the main attraction also, I'm not wanting a further/larger scope and tired eyes makes trying to pick out the faint stuff harder these days. Add some Solar abilities and it fills all the gaps nicely at a decent price and will hopefully add interest for the daughter/grandkids since it'll be a lot easier looking at a screen together than taking turns at a manual alt/az scope.

I did hit buy on the ebay one, but if you do go ahead I'd be happy to buy one and the filter adaptor if you do one of those too, might work well for if/when I give the tele lens add-on a go 🙂

Is the voice from the tablet/phone app or the S50 itself? Perhaps a headset would be worth considering if out late and disturbing the neighbours is a consideration? tbh I found similar with the starsense explorer app when it bings etc but at least managed to turn off or quiet it enough, hopefully similar can be achieved.

can't comment re solar as I'll never do that directly by eye, I don't do bright objects very well, migraines and all. With the S50 tho at least I can give it a go and not cause myself issues so it'll do fine for me 🙂

Reviews so far seem to say their AF works pretty well, but at least with one you have the means to verify. If manual focus come along then it may be useful as an aid should you feel the need.

If anyone wants a bahtinov mask for theirs someone on the bay-of-e is doing them for £10.99 inc postage, 3D printed https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/276044825431

It ships with a solar filter that pops in in front of the objective so can do solar out of the box 🙂

heard about it on the radio this morning when the wake-up alarm turned on, they made the story last a fair while and clearly struggled to no laugh all the way through it 😄

I recall in one of the vids that the issue was the lack of user adjustment of exposure time hence no brightness control. Did you try the daytime scenic mode, that may give a bit more control but IIRC the reviewer didn't find a way around it. At the time I was thinking some form of filter (CPL or ND) might help but so far I don't think anyone's tried it, at lest not in the review vids.

That's kinda why I was thinking of trying a x1.4/1.7/2 tele adaptor. It'd up the mag and as we know when adding a barlow, reduce the brightness of the target. Perhaps a polarizing filter might also? I think tho the grandkids would've been wowed to just see that image but I figure it may be worth seeing if we can squeeze a touch more out of the base kit 😉

So I dug out the fisheye adaptor as I knew where I'd put it and unfortunately the slightly thicker than filter sized part is macro rather than tele. Somewhere I do/did have a tele/wide set for the video camera from some time back so will have to find that. Thinks tht set was x0.7/1.4 so yeah should be worth a play with both. My thoughts on the tele one was a bit more magnification on planets and darkening the image a touch since we'd have no exposure control. Would make it easier for viewing with the grandkids etc perhaps. Of course there may well be issues with its ability to solve what its seeing if using it like that for starfields, but planets/moon (for a closer look) once focused and locked on it should be able to track, time will tell. Gonna be a while before I get to play about tho as I doubt I'll have an S50 in my hands for a couple months yet.

ahh but it ain't a filter, I was talking about adding a tele-converter lens on the front to increase the mag, so a bit (lot) chunkier. Hey ya never know, the diameter of the opening might match a threaded filter adaptor and it'd just screw right in with a bit of persuasion 😉 It'll be an experiment once I'm happy I've figured out the system, hopefully it won't affect its ability to g-to and track. Risk will be remembering to remove before "parking" or that may give some nasty moments. The tele adaptor landing on the ground would be minor vs the graunching of (likely plastic) gears 😮

So an adaptor ring and some hot glue might be needed then 😉

The one across the road from me was way too bright and sat on the sofa it'd be just nicely aligned to cause glare to my eyes it was that bright. It did however help find the keyhole when returning home in the dark lol. How the neighbour opposite tolerated it lighting up their bedroom tho was another matter and I expect they complained as for a while now it dims from around 10PM or so. Flip-side of course is I now have to fumble about truing to get the multi-ridged security key into the door lock to get in, first world problems huh 😉 Sadly here too the sky is grey since the past couple years compared to the velvety black it was when I moved here 7 years ago. The Brexit lorry park a bit further down the M20 sure didn't help that along with the blanket replacement of old with LEDs all around.

Only issue is when was it manufactured, as sammy cease production. For the Note-3 and Note-1 I got pattern ones of a make that had good feedback and they've been just fine. Of course the later "sealed for life" devices are much more of a PITA should you need to replace and sadly most/all jumped on that trend following the fruit seller 😞

and the battery is replaceable, tho not sure what type is used.