Barry-W-Fenner

Morning all, Would this finder shoe be a direct replacement for my Bresser AR102s? - Short term I would like to fit my right angle finder. I dont want to drill or modify the scope if possible. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/finder-mounting-shoe.html Thank you Baz

Thanks John. I'm really hoping to get some use out of this setup for those brief sessions between clouds. I am quite surprised at the weight of this grab and go set up. I would say its as heavy if not heavier than my 200p! I am real keen to get my 1st defractionless views and experience the dark contrast I keep reading about 😀 Baz

The AZ4 mount arrived today so I have finally set up the Bresser. My new grab and go Refractor! Cant wait to see what the views are like through this. Baz

I own a number of the Baader Morpheus range. The 9mm & 17.5 are my absolute favorites. 🙂

A gent as always Jeremy 😀

Afternoon all. By Bresser AR102S arrived in great condition today courtesy of @Commanderfish - I now wait patiently for my mount & tripod to arrive. And even more patiently for the weather to improve!!! Im now going to knock on the door of the *frac owners club thread* and see if they finally let me in 🙂 Regards Baz

A Bresser AR102S on route now from a forum member 😀

Hi Goldenmole. My 8" dob is now for sale on here. If thats big enough of course? 🙂 Baz

Thanks for the Link Gerry, I will definitely check the link out shortly. I would say you are in a bortle 1 or "high" 2 location. I can only imagine what the views are like from there!

Great read that Gerry. How on earth do you observe in those temperatures! 🙂 What bortle class is your sky and where about's in the world are you. Cheers Baz

A stunning target and one of my favourites. A perfectly small blue sphere. To me it is one of the bluest objects up there. Cons and pros I guess. I have a refractor on its way and really look forward to looking at its contrasty defreactonless views! Hopefully the best of both words, a nice frac and decent size reflector! 👍

I often see this nebula as grey & subtle green. Though my 12" dob. Also quite a large amount of detail. Never seen blue though. For me the blue snowball nebula is exactly as it says on the tin. A tiny blue coloured ball. That's about the only target I have seen blue. Apart for Neptune of course. 👍

Very interesting read John. Puts it into perspective nicely!

That is a fantastic shot Stu. You have managed to capture all these "tiny" suns with a simple smartphone camera!

That Bresser should arrive with me shortly! Now I need to decide on a mount. 😁

Cheers Pixies. I've just been looking at that. I don't know mu h about them but Bresser seem to be very well regarded. I will have another look now!

So I did OK then just seeing the 4 stars! It's likely that I won't see anymore when I have a longer session with this system?

😂😂😂 That does sound a bit wrong doesn't it. I didn't get to see the binary in the same FOV. To be honest I spent more time reading about it and lost the opportunity to observe as the cloud snuck up on me. I will most certainly have a longer study next time 👍

Afternoon all. I have recently been mulling over purchasing a lite grab and go set up for occasions such as this winter where opportunity's have been few and far between. I am considering selling my 200p dob and acquiring something like a Sky Watcher Startravel 102 with AZ3 mount. Or maybe one of the smaller ED range. Maybe the ED80. Would these scopes work well with my Morpheus EP'S. I would like the refractor for grab and go sessions and the 12" for moonless night longer session. I never intended to sell my 200p - But I have two dobs and would really like to try out refractor and experience these contrasty defraction-less views! Any advise appreciated. Regards Barry

Hi All, Hope you are keeping well. I managed a brief half hour last night for the first time since December due to the poor weather & a busy schedule! The sky was as dark the darkest I have seen in a long time, A great contrast with the white snow covering the ground. A look at the Seven Sisters with the 17.5mm Morph is always a joy to view. I decided to have a look around Orion with my 9mm at x167 - The Nebula was simply stunning , lots of detail showing in a greyish Green colour. After this I decided to head up to the belt area and started just below on Sigma Orionis,To my surprise I could see a system of 4 stars. This made me literally say "wow" out loud to myself. How could I have never seen this spectacular set of stars?! I guess last winter I spent to much time on the usual suspects around Orion to even notice! I came away from the eye piece to lookup Sigma Orionis on Sky Safari, After a read up I learnt that it actually has 5 stars in this system. I went to hunt down the 5th and observe the different colours but to my horror the sky had been consumed in cloud while I was having a read up! This is going to be one of my 1st targets new time out, I would like to spend a bit more time studying this stunning system! Regards Baz

It sure is cold out tonight, viewing conditions seem pretty decent though. Mars at x230 showing its current phase and a very subtle level of grey detail. A fairly small adjustment and I'm now looking at Uranus, Ive spent quite a bit of time just watching that little green disc cross the FOV. A stunning planet. Seven sisters and the moon just rising above my house roof now. The 17.5mm Morpheus will give some lovely low power views of these two. I would like to spend some time on orion but it's a long way off being visible yet, I might have frozen before i see it tonight. Clear skies all 👍

A lovely clear night here for a change. No observing for me though unfortunately 😢😢 decorating my youngests bedroom at the moment.. Not managed a session sinse mid December. Glad you all having a great time observing! Baz

Ian! I was wondering where Merlin100 had been hiding! Why the account change? Good to know your still around 👍

You look well covered there @Ian McCallum great EP collection! I must stress that it was a combination of factors that made me sell the BST range and purchase a few of the Morpheus range. It is true that to my eye the longer focal length BST eye pieces seemed to create a large amount of elongated star shapes in the 300p (Coma?) However after a decent collimation of the 300p the 5-8 & 12 seemed to perform very well in this scope. The other factor was after purchasing the 14mm Morpheus and using it in the 300p I was extremely impressed with the optical performance, wide field of view and excellent eye relief. Back on topic 🙂 BST Eye pieces are extremely great value for money. I found them to have a much sharper image than the supplied stock eye pieces, They also offer a decent 60 degree fov and comfortable eye relief. I was particular fan of the 8mm for x150 & 15mm x 80 viewing. they both gave very nice medium and low power views. @Ray Mondo The 200p was also my 1st scope, I do still have it now. It is a very impressive scope. Looking at Jupiter through it for the 1st time genuinely made me step back from the eye piece in shock at what I was actually seeing. It has given me great views of Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus along with a number of deep sky objects all with the BST EP range. A truly wonderful combination. Regards Barry

I had a naked eye look at Sirius this morning 2-3am i think? 😁 Between patches of cloud. I would like to try and split this double for the 1st time with the 300p this winter. It's still in quite a difficult position to observe for me, at this time of morning it is still coming round the front of my house. Orion only starts to pass around to the back of my house around 10-11pm at the moment also, I haven't had an opportunity to take in all the double stars yet 😢