Neil H

If you want a cheap solution wookie1965 uses a camping toilet tent over his set up I am a bit OCD so I don't like to keep my set up outside due to it starting to rust even chips in the paint makes me cringe lol , all the mount and parts are in the side corridor only telescopes in the main house , but it does not take me that long to set up , I wonder if a pier on wheels would be an idea your still have to polar align unless you can make marks to line the trolley on ?

I have he HEQ5pro it's a nice mount , but is a heavy set up to carry as one part so it's taken apart after every use , I don't think your be able to move it with a 8 inch scope on it as it's size is very big I can just about move it with a refractor mounted but not far and not into a door way It does not take that long to set up I normally set up day time using polar alignment pro and just do fine adjustment when Polaris is out

That's were I am a lucky I have a static caravan on a farm next to a fishing lake so my telescope lives up there all summer the farmer has about 11 fields I can use but it's not bad just outside my van

Nice set up love the trolley set up

Thanks I will try it may be the sun is not best target lol , but can't see much at a distance there is a power pylon top I can just see over the roofs at the back of the garden will try that

Hi yes I tried with the wedge I put in a 20mm eyepiece got focus then popped in the camera and no matter what I do with camera settings In Sharpcap the screen is a wash out it's like the image is so big it filled the laptop screen with light this is why I asked if you can do solar with this camera When I tried Orion nebula with the visual diagonal in the stars are not a point of light they are out of focus and very large

Graymouser You have the perfect dog in your avitar can't beat a German shepherd That's why they have the nick name of land shark

Hi this not a top imaging set up , but I need some help I have the ASL224MC and using it with my bresser AR127L now for the questions Can this set up be used for solar I have the lacerta wedge ? The guy I got the telescope from did image with it but used all extensions but I don't know what camera he used do I need all extensions to get camera to focus ? Due to the weather I have not got it out much to try at night but last time I could not get focus with the refractor but can focus with the VX8L which makes me think I need extension on the refractor ? I do have more questions but I will wait and ask once these questions answered Kind regards neil

Turn left at Orion is a must , Spile you forgot about the light side ( solar) When I had my 150/750 I didn't use a Barlow that much I think seeing was never that good , I don't use it that much now , I do use my zoom a lot even tho it's the cheaper celestron 8 to 24

We have a nice terminator line to night

Hi I hope your wait is not long if I come across one I will let you know , out of my range at the moment good luck with your search

There is a Lunt in a case on Astro buy and sale https://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=172162

Amazing guys love the images , it makes me want a HA scope

Hi Carole, I hope she is well pass on my love her guides helped me so much when I started it would be a shame to loose her

There is also a brand new app called deep sky camera it's still under development but may be a good one to try

Hi it's never a waste of time i some times do the same just look at stars , I have goto so I do a tour there is so much to see , I use my zoom eyepiece so don't have to change eyepiece and can zoom in if I want

Also if your brave enough to take your telescope apart you can flock it inside this will stop stray light and give better contrast

I would not recommended holding the filter up to the sun to check for pin holes , you only have one set of eyes, when I use my Kendrick filter on the Orion optics VX8L the view is amazing and really sharp like STU said , I even got same nice photos on my phone , the only difference is I don't use IR/UV filter on the VX8L But use them on the refractor with the wedge , Now the strange thing is visual is great with the wedge but photos not as good ???

Hi I was out today and 2 Sun spots between 6 and 7 o'clock on the surface Download space weather live app this will tell how many Sun spots and were to look , I did find focus was very sensitive today

There's is NO OCD in white light , it means your aware of the dangers and keep checking so you know it's right , when I set up the VX8L I polar align the mount the fit scope in the home position, then check finder scope has its covers on , the solar filter I check for pin holes I give it a good look over on both sides I then fit it and test it can't come off , I then goto the sun I use the shadow to get it as close as possible then move to the solar finder to line up 100% that's it really Take special take of the solar filter always store in its case Enjoy the bright side of this hobby last week we had 26 Sun spots and they changed about 4 times in 2 hours

Hi I have been solar viewing with my VX8L with a Kendrick filter fitted I made a solar finder from an old eyepiece case works well I also use my 127 refractor with a Lacerta wedge they both give a nice image the advice from the guys is spot on , I always double check everything can't be to careful doing white light a good app to have is space weather live this will give you heads up on Sun spots etc

Happy birthday mate great cake , mine was in Jan my lovely lady made one with all the planets on cake don't last long enough for a photo lol

Hi welcome to a big friendly family

Been there Dan you can start learning the night sky now get stellariaum on your phone look at the bright stars in the sky stellariaum will tell you what they are and 99% of the time these are the stars used to align a goto scope so your be a bit more ready for when you do get your scope

Hi Dan I had a manual scope for less than a month before I went to a sky watcher goto , I know enough to get set up right with polar alignment and 3 star alignment , I check what stars are about for alignment with stellariaum on my mobile , your learning all the time in this hobby so it's been a year I find it second nature as I have only used sky watcher I have not really found it a problem, if it misses targets I now know how to do PAE clear and PAE training which gets it back on target , also wookie 1965 best mate gives me help if I get stuck It's a learning curve that can be very steep but there is loads of help out here , so to hit the nail on the head, goto has really helped me get to know more about the night sky targets I also went second-hand so my sky watcher HEQ5 pro and Orion optics VX8L only cost me £600 not £1500 so may be that away to go , it's nice to have new but you could get lots for your money second-hand