Kimboman

I purchased two army surplus torches with 90 degree head ,these were supplied with one ,clear one red and one green filter. I also have an ex br signal torch which also has the same range of filters at the turn of the on off switch well cheap and work well

Wow these images are superb, only cloud here all day and night. thanks for shearing these images with us ,I have never seen the sun like this

Thanks for the information I will look into obtaining the same type of rdf cheers and clear skys

HI I find the red dot finders that are sold with certain brands of telescopes to be useless, this is due to the fact that they cannot be locked once aligned' I have carefully aligned in daylight, but it is always off on the evening viewings. I like the concept of the ref but I feel they should manufactured from aluminium with locking mechanism. I know that they would cost more but they would serve their purpose better, so I will continue to use my 9x50 finder in unison

HI I purchased a ManfrottoMPMXproa3 monopod with the 234rc head as a Christmas present for my grandson This is a superb piece of kit this will take binoculars and telephoto camera lenses . the build quality is great and the height adjustment has a good range

Hi I think this may be the problem but I use my Meade ETX 90 the most

Absolutely amazing great images

Hi great to hear other members are hooked on Bino viewers I use mine all the time with my Meade ETX90 its really good. I also have a Celestron 6se but the bino viewers make the telescope judder due to the weight.

Hi nebula takes me back to my observing days in Kwinana many years ago. These were the best Skys ever.Scorpio,Southern Cross with the coal sack and jewel box Had many a good visit to Perth Observatory with goannas all over the road . thanks for the memories and good seeing

Great reports ,I I too was out tonight with my grandson for company and the Moon was really great viewing. My grandson is in to astro photography and took some good views of the moon and Orion we really enjoyed the night, what a change in the weather for once

Great topic Necessity brings ingenuity

Hi Ian I agree nice pair of 7x50 gives great views I used a pair for 30+ years, these came to a sticky end and I now have a pair of 8x42 they are fairly compact. I also use a 7x50 monocular, not as good owing to only using the one eye but good cheers

Well described Ken you have just taken me on a journey,I can tell now that you are truly hooked' There is to much high cloud here but I can see Orion and Sirius but the seeing is not good ,cheers

Hi I really am a fan of using binoculars for astronomy ,and have several pairs ie 15x70,12x60.10x50,8x42 and a 7x50 monocular. With our fantastic weather I find that to set up binoculars takes minutes and if the weather turns bad seconds to pack away.really great views are available with binoculars and they are far cheaper than most telescopes. I have a Celestron 6se, a Meade ETX90 and a couple of small refractors but I use the binoculars the most. but this is my opinion

Very interesting topic, I have a 6 inch newtonium and with this scope I have had my best views, I also have a Celestron 6se and the views of the moon are very good. The most used scope is my Meade ETX 90 with a binoculars viewer this is really good so portable. I really like to use binoculars mounted on a tripod these are a go anywhere option, all I use my kit for is for visual viewing with the moon being my favourite. I look forward to seeing the various meteor showers and use the cheapest and best instruments my eyes

Absolutely amazing

Hi I I agree with sub giant stiffening ribs are a must . Mild steel box section is prone to vibration it would be beat filled with concrete. The beat material for a metal pier is cast iron this absorbs vibrations better than mild steel. Cast iron is hard to come by scrapyards may have suitable pieces and it is difficult to weld but it can be done

Hi I have SkyAtlas 2000 and my two old favourites Nortons 1950 and 1973 and lots of pocket ones Celestron 6se Meade ETX90 11x70 Celestron pro binoculars 70 mm refractor and loads of eyepieces and other stuff

Hi all it would be great if we could have a night time free period from street lights, but where I live the problem I security lights. It dose not matter which door I exit security lights come on in neighbouring properties as soon as a vehicle goes past on they come again. All my neighbours know that I am out most clear nights and are keen to have a look through the telescopes but the lights are always on. We have Christmas type lights solar powered on every night through out the year so I agree that we are on a losing battle but we perseveer

Hi I have a pair of Celestron 15x 70 binoculars which come with a clip on bracket that carries the red dot finder. , this is a well made bracket and works very well I believe that this can be purchased from Celestron dealers

Great presents ,my daughter bought me a 20 mm eyepiece and a copy of the night sky almanac 2021 edition. I did ask Santa for an automatic cloud disperser but he had sold out

Great response I agree we should attempt to view these events as they are few and far between' I spent a great deal of time getting ready for Halley,s Comet way back but all I saw was a large fuzzy snowball but I did see it I won't see it again

Great photo

I went out at 4 30pm soon after dark and Saturn and Jupiter were visible, i took my Meade ETX complete with bino viewer with two 25mm eyepieces and had decent viewing. A neighbour came by and asked if she could have a look and she was well impressed. Earlier I had set up my Celestron 6se on the Moon and had great views I invited my neighbour to view the moon and she could not believe the detail that was available to be seen. At this rate I should have half of my neighbours hooked on astronomy.

It's good for astronomy that the present climate is giving the science a boost and that other manufacturers may appear. Things will improve given time