Rob Sellent

I tend to use A4, 110g, spiral bound pads. These are handy 'cos I can draw two or three circles on each page and when out observing can sketch. I don't use the pad on every session and when in use, I usually do no more than one or two sketches for I find the process quite exhausting, time consuming and sometimes very frustrating. Obviously, on a given night many more wonders of nature are observed but these will not be recorded, neither in sketch or written form. Instead, they are submitted to memory, soon to be forgotten and when or if I return, become once again a new Wow moment

I wanted an upgrade on my Vixen's focuser. She's an old girl now - probably at least 30 years old or so - and I felt she really deserved a little treat. Before I ordered a Moonlite my first stop was to contact FLO for help. The team was fantastic, answering all my questions and offering me some great advice. I really appreciated this help for it just gives one peace of mind knowing that everything is in safe and knowledgeable hands. The Moonlite arrived in Spain this morning via DHL in under 48 hours. Absolutely courier proof, packaged in two seriously well padded/protected boxes, I fitted the Moonlite and it is every bit as good as I had hoped. Now the Vixen's fluorite can get down to some serious business. Thanks once again to FLO for your great service. 100% recommended

Welcome to SGL, @AsgharI'd second @Carbon Brush's advice. Try to avoid ebay and if possible buy secondhand here on SGL or as your first scope, it might be worth going through a trusted dealer like FLO who will give you sound advice, support and after sale service Loof forward to meeting you on the boards

@GlenM, you might like this review. The original is in Polish, so the link is in translation mode

I don't know if it is of any help but just throwing an idea out, I've put one of these together: It's not so much a wind breaker (very little wind where I live) but a light glare screen. I use king size black bedding sheets stuck together which simply slides over the frame. My own is over 2 metres tall and about 1 metre wide, but as you can see from the diagram, you could make it any size you want. The whole thing cost less than €30, takes minutes to set up and tear down at the end of a session, there's no gluing, and no fuss. I haven't used it in the wind but I imagine it'll act like a sail. For me, under my own circumstances, it's the best light block system I have yet to make; light, cheap and very effective.

Thanks a lot for that, Mike. When the Moon returns for viewing next month, I'll give it a go and post up my dodgy results

That's brilliant, Mike and thank you for going through this Next month when the Moon returns for viewing, I think I will give it a go and post up results.

Gorgeous drawing, Mike. You've really captured the Moon's desolute beauty. I just have a couple of questions: What scope, mount, eyepiece are you using? Are these pencil sketches? How long would you say an average lunar drawing takes? Do you draw on your lap or use some kind of board etc?

Bit of a long shot but I was wondering if anyone has any experience or knowledge of this mount? I picked up one secondhand at the end of the summer from a fellow observer in Alicante but apart from our own experience neither of us know anything about it. Apart from a few European retailers such as 365 Astronomy, Astroshop and Robtics (and a couple in the Oceania region) there appears to be not a single review or reference photo of the mount in use on the web. It has lazy similarities to the ES Twilight II but they don't appear to be the same. As can be seen, it is an unbranded mount at 365 Astronomy, Astroshop says it comes from Omegon which I think is just another name for Astroshop's products and Robtics says its from Skywatcher (like the SkyTee II, I doubt that very much). If anyone can shed a little light on this mysterious mount, it would be veryhelpful.

I imagine they're great fun to put together and use. To avoid unnecessary mishaps one would be advised to use only refractors, eyepieces without any cemented/glued elements (are they still commonly available?) and to be aware that in fast scopes the heat concentration will be significant. If the scope, for example, is allowed to drift, focused and concentrated sunlight might damage the interior of the scope, might cause a fire, or what have you. Personally speaking, I'm of the opinion that solar projection stems from an era where there was no real alternative. These days there are many much better and safer options and which aren't necessarily anymore expensive.

A little off topic - sorry - but not all courier services will cover optics and many insurance companies will demand proof of purchase in terms of legitimate invoices and receipts in case of accident or robbery.

VIEWING THE SUN IS POTENTIALLY VERY DANGEROUS! I'd be a little wary of any method of viewing the Sun which uses an unfiltered solar image. If any children, pets or careless adults just happened to get their eye to the eyepiece.......If you go along with the projection method, in terms of morality you ought to stay with the scope 100% of the time it is projecting which may be too much of a compromise. Peronally, I'd prefer just to stick with the Solar film method.

Congratulations on the scope @redhat. I'd recommend a set containing focal lengths around either: 24mm, 12mm, 8mm, and a x2 Barlow. Or (as @Stuhas already suggested) swop the 24mm for a 16mm Within reason, this will yield around 30x (star clusters and nebulae), 63x (most DSOs), 94x (small DSOs, Moon, planets), and 126x (moon, planets, small DSOs) and 188x (planets, Moon, double stars). As for brands, that'll depend on your wallet. The secondhand market might also be someting of interest.

I also find sketches useful tools of a scope's and oberver's possibility and potential. Just google in images astronomy sketches (+ name of object if necessary) 12", 10", 8" etc If you can supply a few links that would be great, for I'd be interested in seeing what folk have to say

Might find this graph useful:

Lovely sketch and outstanding attention to detail

I feel that the majority of alt-azimuth mounts on the market are good for small, short length fracs. However, when it comes to longer length fracs we've got to be cautious. It's not only the concern of weight that needs to be taken into account (scope + accessories: diagonal, eyepiece, viewfinder, tube rings, dovetail) but also as @John says, the length of the tube and the tripod. Within reason the performance of this set up will be a subjective affair. If the goal of the mount and tripod is to have reasonable dampening times and smooth movements the level of toleration will vary from person to person. One of the worst visual experiences is having to deal with an unstable, overmounted, wobbly set up. My own toleration of dampening down times is therefore just about zero. Taking this into account, I don't think it is unreasonable to argue that for longer length 4" fracs cut the advertised load capacity by about 40% and ensure that the tripod is at least a 1.75" steel tripod. I feel that mounts like the SW AZ5, ES Twilight I, and Vixen Porta II, are for me too unstable for a 4" f7/f9 frac. I find them unsuited to high-power lunar and planetary observations. The AZ4 is a fine mount but I have found that with 4" f9 and f10 fracs if the supplied steel tripod legs are extended the set up wobbles too much at reasonably high magnifications. A step up from the AZ4 are the heavy duty AZ mounts like the SW HDAZ (I have one but no longer sure they're on the market), or WO EZ Touch (again, I'm no longer convinced they're on sale). I cannot speak for the EZ Touch but I prefer mounting my 4" f9 on the HDAZ rather than on the AZ4. The advertised blurp states that the mount's total capacity is around 14kg, and no doubt that's true but again, weight is not the issue but the scope's length. A step up from these HD mounts would no doubt be something like TS AZ5, SkyTee 2, Giro Ercole, or Ayo II, these would perform wonderfully with a 4" f9, for example, without fear of being overmounted but needless to say, costs are a significant step from the AZ 4. To sum: If you're looking for a decent mount for general use get the AZ4. If you can find one on the secondhand market get the SW HDAZ/EZ Touch. If budget stretches and/or you really need slow motion controls get the TS AZ5 (knowing that you're covered if ever you want a 5" frac) If you want a gorgeous set up for fracs, get an Ercole or Ayo and one of those fancy Berlebach wood tripods .

Congratulations, Rob It's nice to read some good news from time to time rather than all the doom and gloom we're currently experiencing on both sides of the continent. From where I'm sitting - a sunny blue sky Spain - it makes perfect sense to upgrade with a Moonlite. I feel they're worth every penny and with the Lunt 60, I am really impressed with its precision, smoothness and strength. When the focusser comes for the Vixen, I'll let you know how it goes As you already know, a focusser is a critical piece of the equation, as important as good eyepieces and mount that can make or break the viewing experience. That you're adding a decent bit of kit on such a quality loving present from your wife only deserves clear skies for eternity

That's a Maksutov scope and you'd save yourself quite a tidy sum just going through FLO. Although I don't agree with all the conclusions, you can find a nice review of the Mak 127 here. On a side note, spotting scopes are designed for terrestrial viewing and will probably not show good views of astro related objects.

I think it's a great thought, Joe. Makes a lot of sense. I've recently ordered a Moonlite from FLO but only because I have a gorgeous old-time Vixen 102s fluorite whose focuser was letting down the side. A few years back I did the same for Lunt's H-alpha 60mm. If either of them had been less than keeper status, personally I don't think I would have bothered with such an upgrade.

Those water stains are on the underside of your mirror, so in theory shouldn't affect your viewing. Other than that, my advice is to not touch your mirror. You're only going to be putting unnecessary wear and tear on the coatings and if you think about it, even after you've 'cleaned' the primary if you look at the mirror in the daylight it is still going to look dusty. Use a bulb blower to blow off any obvious debris, pollen etc after a night's session and leave it at that. In a good few years, if the primary starts to sprout its very own ecosystem, then it might be worth a tender wash, but only if it affects the contrast and quality of image

It might be helpful to run through a number of questions to help hone your pursuit: where will I be viewing from? where will I store the gear? what are the sky conditions like in terms of light pollution? if I need to carry the scope/mount etc is this easily done from the storage area? what do I expect to see or image? from my own homework what basic set up is needed for visual astronomy and what can I expect to see? from my own homework what basic kit is necessary to start astro-photography and what results can I expect? have I budgeted for all the other bits and pieces which maybe necessary (collimation tool, atlas, tracking mount, webcam, warm clothing, case, extra eyepiece, etc)? what kind of weight and size would I be comfortable with? It shouldn't take too long to get a rough gist of what is involved. Then, with these ideas in hand, the wizards of SGL will be able to help tenfold .

I typically use my little 76 plus a Herschel wedge for white light mounted together with a Lunt 60mm. I see some of you are going to be using your fluorite scopes but is there any cause for concern? Is there a risk involved or is it as straight foward as using your typical frac glass?

@Rob, why don't you drop FLO a line and see if they can offer any suggestions? Other than that, I think @DRTmay have had a similar scope with a Moonlite fitted

Lovely insight and observation, Avani