Carbon Brush

Thank you everyone for putting some sense into the journalistic sensationalism (is that a proper word?). You got there before me. The 'Science News Reporter is now in the 'must read when insomnia strikes' folder on my tablet. That is along with the fake Apollo stories, Mars the size of the moon next year and Elvis in a spaceship! Must go now. Getting ready for a lfat earth society meet later. David.

Are you considering used mounts in your budget? An £8K new price mount may well be in your budget. You potentially get something tried and tested. Rather than the 2019 model with 2019 bugs/issues. At some point buying used risks an old rusty and wobbly package. But people spending this amount of money on a mount tend to look after them. My D6 mount was an excellent example of a used bargain. 10 years later I am still happy with it.

Skywatcher show an upgrade kit on their web site - but without details. I enquired of FLO. They had not seen the product and didn't think it had ever been offered in Europe. I think your best option is going to be to look out for a goto model on sale 2nd hand and recover some of the cost by selling on your push model. Sorry I can't offer anything better. David.

An excellent thrwad raising many good and interesting points. Thank you to all the contributors. Ref John... My personal preference in the maksutov type scopes is the maksutov-newtonian. They have longer tunbs than the folded cassegrain type designs of course but can have very small secondary obstructions resulting in truly "refractor like" images. My Intes Micro MN78 (7" dia & F8 in round figures and small obstruction) gives tremendous views. It almost never gets taken off the observatory mount. Then again at around 20Kg for the OTA, a quick scope swap to compares views is not a snap decision. It isn't grab n go! David.

Hi. i think the clue is that M31 was low. The light has to travel through a lot more atmosphere. Therefore a lot more dirt, smoke, moisture, etc.

Not forgetting the aircraft that write Morse code over wide field time exposures.

Thank you for sharing this with us. Even taking individual items you mention, it is an excellent lesson in how we can overcome failings or weakenesses in our scopes. The lesson that there is no need to run out to buy this years 'shiny new one' is not lost on me. If the 'bits of glass' are good then most other problems can be overcome. Thanks, David.

Another vote for the LS60. Late last year I started looking at the Ha options. I asked a lot of questions in the solar section and got a lot of very helpful and well informed responses. Do take a look in the solar section. After (I thought) due consideration I bought a used LS60. There were a lot of early problems with the Quarks and, at the time, scarcity of trusted reviews on their newer offerings. This put them well down the list for me. At the Kettering show earlier this year, I saw the Daystar Quark & Solar Scout offerings. I wondered if I had chosen wisely with the Lunt so looked and asked questions. To be perfectly honest I walked away happy that I chosen well. Without letting on that my bank balance was already depleted, I asked retailers (who would have liked me to reach for my wallet) about the choices of Quark vs Daystar complete scope, and the options on the solar scout. The answers were not well informed. One retailer did though admit his lack of first hand experience & knowledge and made no attempt to sell to me on the day. He said it is big money and I should think about it. I am now giving serious thought to a Skywatcher Solarquest mount to speed setting up and ease the requirements for level/align when leaving to track for a few hours. The absence of these on sale 2nd hand may be because the owners are happy, or maybe not many have sold. I'm not sure which. Hope this helps, David.

Hi and another welcome to SGL. Good advice from Philip. I would add to this by saying take your time. Have a look on SGL at reports and reviews on scopes from other members. You might want to think about buying used kit. Typically it is 2/3 of new price and less. SGL members usually have kit for sale in excellent condition and if not, are open and honest right down to mentioning a paint chip of mark on a dovetail. Avoid ebay for kit. It is very risky unless you know what you are looking at. Enjoy the journey, David.

This does sound interesting. Not something I have seen. With the eyes, we all avoid looking close to the sun. With a solar equipped scope we look at the sun. With any other scope in daylight, we generally stay well away from the sun. The only time I have used an astro scope pointing anything like close to the sun it has been for viewing an evening Mercury, Venus, etc. Excellent you tube find by Phil. Thanks, David.

Thank you for posting this. I was competely unaware of any of these problems. Historical rights over land are a complex issue that many countries encounter. At least in Hawaii, protesters will not be removed at gunpoint to vanish forever and have the opportunity to state their case. There are some countries in the wold where protests are not tolerated at all well. I will stop there to avoid getting into non SGL allowed territory.

The voltage range on lead acid, from full charge to well discharged, is well within the capbility of telescope electronics. You will find a fully charged 12V battery will be around 13.5V shortly after removal from the charger. If in use it gets down to 10.8V (1.8V/cell) stop using it and get it on charge in the next few hours. Definitely don't wait days or weeks before recharge. David.

I don't know what tripod(s) you have available. My holiday compromise for size and weight is sometimes a photo tripod & head. Stabilised by dangling bottles of sand or water from the centre. Hope the viewing goes well. David.

Hi Paul. As a former PST owner, I read this thread with interest. My PSTs were bought 2nd hand and well out of warranty. After fighting the loctite I made one from two that had suffered different problems. I'm wondering why you had to approach Meade directly. Surely RVO who sold you the scope would have 'held your coat' in any warranty arguments? David.

Finders are very much a personal preference. For me raci is the way to go on newtonian (eyepiece on the side) scope. David.

A vote here for the FLO desiccant caps. I have a few. In practice the focus leakage on 'closed' scopes, MAKs, fracs and the like, is minimal. A small bag of silica gel absorbs only a small amount of moisture compared and the OTA volume can be high. This means remembering to change (or oven dry) the bag every couple of months is more important than leakage. My MN78 has a hole for a fan - I suppose a 3D printed blocking cover could replace the masking tape currently in use! David.

Yes excellent resources. Earlier this year I bought a new (to me) Ha scope and saw virtually nothing. Had I bought a lemon? Looking at these sites, or other SGL members postings, provided reassurance!

Spiders and other creepie crawlies get everywhere. Unless you weld, or make similar arrangements on every seam of a metal shed, spiders will investigate. My 11 years old wood obsy is definitely not spider proof. But the number of bug incursions and their consequences have not been an issue. Interesting thought from Mark. I have never heard of conkers being used. Burglar alarm PIR sensors in room corners tend to suffer spiders. The alarm service tech solution is spray with Mr Sheen or similar once or twice per year. No harm in keeping your OTA, mount, etc well polished. WD40 on steel tripod legs and bright mount parts will probably discourage bugs. When I get a spider in a corner of the obsy, and it is not doing harm, I leave it. Basically while the spider is there, it eats anything else that happens to be passing. If replacing my shed, I would go for wood again. lots or reasons. But that is another discussion. Hope this is useful. David.

I bought piece of this a few years ago... https://www.firstlightoptics.com/misc/starsharp-red-filter-for-laptop-screens.html Cobbled together a hook to put it over the top of the screen I use in the obsy. No software involved and a good supplement to the (sometimes limited) brightness/colour options on the computer. Easily lifted off for day use. David.

Great news the muck is shifting. I would be wary of using neat IPA. I (and others) have known it damage the coatings on spectacle lenses. Yes plastic lenses so different, but better safe than sorry. An IPA/water mix is less risky. A big thumbs up from me for Baader wonder fluid. I had a really filthy mirror. After some time in the washing bowl I finished it with Baader fluid and no streaks. Good luck with the clean. David.

Yes John. A decline in night vision generally with age is well known and documented. I should have got more into visual astronomy years ago - sigh.

Our eyes cannot see colours at low light level. On a rural road without street lighting (there are a few left) there are no colours, but turn on a car headlamp and the colours show. A simple test is to look at the plain boring colours in a dark garden, then take a photo with the camera shutter open for a few seconds. The grass is once again green. Or fix your camera, with a wide lens, to a tripod pointing to the sky. Leave the shutter open for 30 seconds and you get see some different colour stars. Hope this helps, David.

If you are worried about the hole size & shape there is possibility of shaving the sides using a spade,while standing in the hole. Overdo it and you have bell mine. But you do get a bigger lump of concrete deep down. Definitely hire a cement mixer. An all day job becomes a one hour job. It is also much easier to produce a consistent mix.

Great phrase ' he may have been chemically confused '. I think I would have been there with a kitchen knife to confront him. My crowbar and hammer are stored in the garage so would not have been to hand😅.

Around 10 years ago I remember checking for mag 6 (I think) or brighter orbiting objects in my bit of the sky for a 3 hour slot. There were more than 200 objects listed. I very much doubt the sky is any clearer now. Off topic. If you are wondering on the checking..... I had invited some friends to view the Perseids. There was an after sunset ISS pass but I wondered if there was something else moving in case the Perseids were slow to get going. David.