DaveL59

no chance here tho, what with white cloud right in the way and just looked out to see a solid band of dark below and creeping up above the house roofs in that direction too. Oh well...

sadly not, seems the law doesn't take too kindly even if you have to be doing something illegal to actually hit the live wire/plate No reason tho that you couldn't fit some sort of detection and a damn loud siren and big flashing lights to disorientate them while they try to flee. Hooked to an auto-sprinkler or better yet a water-jet with some of that special water and plod should have no problem proving it was them trespassing with intent

made me recall the stonehenge site where they put an electric fence around it to deter the brigade that sneak in at night to play. According to the security guy I was talking to it was hilarious, as dark fell they'd start to sneak across the open green and in the dark you'd just hear crack... owww and other noises

looks like a little tin man standing on his head Starting to look a lot like the real thing now, excellent work and skill to get this done!

oh no! 😢 Was a bargain at that price too. You could always try getting a pair of binoculars in the meantime while you shop. Or take a look at one of these which is well regarded https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/skywatcher-heritage-130p-flextube.html it's a bit more bit a good starter scope, downside is it'll take a while to arrive.

Fingers crossed, there's always tomorrow evening too Worth setting it up in daylight and have a play so you get familiar with how the scope is moved on the mount before you try using it in the dark, just be careful of the sun's position as you do, you don't want to be looking at that star unless you have a proper solar filter.

cool, good luck and enjoy If you get it before this evening and point it west when the sun has dropped out of sight, you may be able to pick out Venus and Mercury perhaps around 21:00-21:30.

at £50 you can't really go wrong if it's all there and in good order which it seems to be. Heck if it was near me I'd likely snap it up for a grab n go! Once you have it there are many videos on youtube on how to set p the EQ mount and use the scope as well as many here who will provide guidance. You may want to consider upgrading the eyepieces later on but meantime just use what it has as you learn how to use it and decide if this hobby is something you want to invest more into. Welcome to the club by the way 🙂

I think for our use waterproof is worth the extra as they won't mist up internally during colder nights leading to later problems. The Nikon Action EX should be good, if I recall quite a few use them successfully. With a tripod adaptor screwed into the front hinge on your camera tripod you're good to go. Probably don't need the Nikon one as its quite pricey compared to say the opticron one which I believe should fit it - others may be able to confirm this.

as the sky darkens when the sun has dropped, so maybe 9PM, this is the projection for where I am, circled in red are venus and mercury. Just hope there's no contrails obscuring them tomorrow as tonight was a drag as they just hung there and didn't drift away.

tonight, another chance tomorrow night tho Before it drops below the horizon, mercury should be below Venus to the south-west.

ahh yes it has a helical focuser not rack type so the phone will cause it to turn and defocus. Not sure the weight might not also make the telescopic section sag a little too. What sort of budget are you thinking of, and what plans in terms of what to see and photography? That'll help guide re the choice of EQ or ALT-AZ for example.

this may help Jennifer https://www.timeanddate.com/moon/phases/uk/warrington

even when you do, don't be thinking a 5x barlow would be good to get, it won't be. I've 3x TAL ones and also 2x Skywatcher and the 2x gets more use other than in the TAL-M where the 3x is the only option that fits it or the frac on the synscan mount. As Star101 said, you need to be very precise centring the object to jump that far in mag and if the scope isn't tracking then you'll be trying to find the object after you switch barlow and eyepiece over.

got a short look at Venus in the binos after she dropped below a contrail and before the neighbours high fence stole her away, but no chance to see Mercury from here for same reasons, so many contrails over West and barely moved so frustrating viewing tonight.

or just to a "rough" finishing job on the lower edge of the new fibreglass inside the lip... 😉

yep I know, having had conversations with the law after being broken into. Seems they can sue if they trip on a loose stair carpet even tho they had no right to be in your house, amongst other things. More rights than those they're stealing from/vandalising, not that it'll ever tilt back in favour of the law-abiding sadly. There are minimum height limits for barbed wire and a higher one for razor wire, but needs lots of signage etc. Hence a lot of walled places just put broken glass in the mortar atop the walls.

neighbours must have wondered, me jumping about flapping arms and slapping myself silly

could lay some old craft knife blades into the epoxy under the lip edge for the fingers that shouldn't be probing there so must be trespassing... Just remember they are there should you ever need to lift the dome for maintenance!

knowing my luck here it'd be the sudden erruption of flying ants all stuck to it. Had that a couple years back with the bedding hanging outside. Got covered in them trying to shake them off, never used the line since.

till the better half hangs the washing out and wonders what the black lines are that won't come out 😮

move the rug

I'd guess sand it down to key the surface and then find a way to suspend it so you can paint the entire thing (remove screws and protect the threads first. Smooth out any dings and chips while keying/flatting the surface. Depending on the finish you want (gloss/matt etc) then most good spray enamel types should give a reasonable finish. Light coats every 20 mins ish so you don't get paint sags/runs, 3 to 6 coats maybe should do it and then let it cure, at least a few days or more. Being an awkward shape will add to the challenge of getting it painted evenly and not run, been there with the TAL-M bits Hence light (very) coats and more of them will be best.

bear in mind if you want to use the inverter output you'll likely not get great run-times. Sure LiPo or better LiFePo batteries are way better than old lead tech, much lighter and less volt-drop under load, not to mention maintenance of. But to get one of those systems recharged by solar alone you'll likely need a decent sized panel and that's another chunk of funds. Unless you get a good clear sunny day the charge rate may leave you short on capacity for your night session, simpler to plug into the mains and charge that way, will cost pennies and a lot of electricity here is now generated from so-called renewable sources.

you know that reminded me that my old Fuji bridge can do 2x digital zoom but I never thought to try it, just stuck with the 400mm optical limit. Will have to revisit the controls I think