Mandy D

Thanks. It's nice and high here, but I am at a much lower latitude than you at the moment.

Tonight's Moon.

Whilst the UK is being battered by Storm Babet and my own region of North Derbyshire has severe flooding, we are enjoying some of the best skies I have experienced, here in Fuerrteventura. I hope you are all staying safe. Here are some of the photos of the Moon that I have grabbed since arriving on Tuesday, this week. Sadly, I am working with just 600 mm focal length, so not getting the highest resolution images with the D800 as it was impractical to bring the big telescopes. I am here until early November, so hopefully will capture the upcoming lunar eclipse.

Dunno, but he might be an improvement, if you get my drift!

There are moves afoot to return England to medieval times ...

@Trevor PC Try this link on astro threads. https://agenaastro.com/articles/guides/astronomy-threads-explained.html I don't know if it will have the answer.

@maw lod qan The imaging film is ND3.8, i.e. attenuation is 103.8 = 6300, instead of 100,000, so is not safe for visual!!!

I would use a 2 pack epoxy floor paint. You'll never need to paint it again. You will need to seal the concrete first.

Have a great time. We're off to Fuertaventura in just over a week. I think this is a great time of year to get away from the UK.

Lovely! I remember driving through Glen Coe and seeing Orion on New Years Eve one year. I'd never seen so many stars. We pulled over at the next layby and stood there for ages gazing up at it. Not like that here, this morning, we have fog. I hope you asre going somewhere better than here and have a great trip.

Try this one: 130F @ 62 V. By my reckoning that is 250 kJ. https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/supercapacitors/1797440?gb=s I had some incidental involvement in a project where they were dumping capacitor stored energy into lasers at power levels exceeding the power available from the entire UK grid!!!

When the engine is cranking over at normal speeds and failing to start, the number of people who suggest the battery is "flat" never ceases to amaze me! Failing availability of a proper battery tester, the simplest thing to do is stick the headlights on and watch the battery terminal voltage rapidly fall and the headlights dim. The Russians use super-capacitors (are they monolithic carbon, I forget?) in parallel with truck starting batteries in Siberia as they perform far better in sub-arctic temperatures and will deliver the current that the battery is incapable of, yet the battery can slowly charge them for a second and subsequent attempt, despite appearing to be discharged. As you said earlier, the battery voltage might be sitting at 13 volts, but that is with no load. There are too many confusing specifications on vehicle batteries for the average bod to understand, but maybe the most important one is CCA (Cold Cranking Amps), which gets abused by battery manufacturers who choose their own conditions rather than SAE or DIN standards. * I see your recent correction that now clarifies the point we have been discussing.

Yes, that is correct and makes sense now you have reworded it, thank you. But, the coulomb is not the unit of energy, which was my main point.

Say what? I cannot follow your logic. "1 coulomb of electrical energy"? Energy is not measured in coulombs, it's unit is the joule. Charge is measured in coulombs, where the charge on a single electron is 1.6 x 10-19 J. The ampere is a rate of flow of charge of 1 coulomb per second, hence given the charge on the electron we can calculate how many flow past a given pont per second for a given current. So, if you want the energy transferred into the battery (or from) it is the product of volts x current x time = volts x charge. Hopefully, that makes sense.

Expanding on what Vlaid has said, I think the centre bolt will foul the dovetail with most clamps using that method. I had not noticed that the mounting plate was not flat. I would pick up on the two end holes, put a stack of washers over them and bolt a piece of 6 mm or thicker plate to it that clears the obstruction and bolt it down. The clamp can then be bolted to the centre of the piece of plate. Drill and tap if you can, or just use cap head screws and nuts. It will make better sense when you have all the bits in front of you.

You need a saddle to clamp onto the dovetail. Quick release was probably the incorect term that my covid-addled brain came up with. I use this one from RVO. https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/rvo-mini-vixen-style-clamp.html I find it works very well and you don't damage the dovetail because the screws do not bear down directly on it. I have the green Skywatcher dovetail on my 200P and it works very well with this clamp.

Definitely. If you use a dovetail and quick release clamp, it will be very easy to balance your scope when you change accessories.

@R26 oldtimer Those are incredible images. I particularly like the second one where you feel as though you are seeing the view through the model's eyes. It really pulls you into the image and gives that feeling of being there. The colours in that tree are wonderful! You must be really pleased with the results.

Congatultions! Very much deserved.

Yes, it is huge! I think I recall meeting that setup when I came to your house a couple of years ago. It really is lovely and deserves a mention in my droolworthy telescopes thread! It looks like it has a serious purpose in life!

@Bugdozer I use VideoPad. It is an excellent full-featured video editing programme that will do everything you would ever need. Nikon DSLRs produce MOV files, which your computer is capable of decoding. It knows the file type, it's just that you don't. You need to turn on visibility of file extensions in Windoze. VideoPad can be used for free, but to get the full features you have to buy a licence. I cannot remember if it allows conversion from one file type to another in the free version, but if not there are plenty that will. I think it's about $80 for the full version. I found it a very reasonable price for what I was looking for.

Ian at RVO talked me into it. 😁

@Xilman I've finally joined the BAA (I think and hope! Still one last problem with my membership to resolve) and hope to be active on thier as soon as I ditch covid-19. I had to click your link before 2.2 mm aperture made sense. 😁 I think we have a winner, there ...

Probably not by solar power, at present! 🤣

Very nice. I would not have spotted that galaxy if you hadn't pointed it out. Thank you! It always sounds so much nmore impressive when you quote your telescope aperture in metres rather than millimetres. I wonder at what aperture you can start doing this without it sounding silly! I have a 0.3 m Newtonian now ...