Stephenstargazer

The Seestar 50 does very well (having seen one in action with a beginner who was blown away) and may tempt more into EEVA. But as others point ouf the single fov is limitting. Scale it up to a Seestar 100 and it all gets rather expensive? The price is achieved on a small device with no change of fl.

If you are tempted  by the Seestar ease of use but already have a scope on a goto mount, then I famcy you might want a smart camera - something like a point and shoot. The idea has already been prototyped and produced in the Astrowl

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/401112-highly-portable-eea-device/

However neither of these will satisfy an 'imager' which is a different goal to enhanced viewing. It seems whatever an astronomer chooses to do the gear is always going to be 'horses for courses'

Check with Rowan, the AZ75 can be fitted OR  retro fitted with encoders. This potentially makes a great push to mount which is my prefered set up with an FC 100 DF (see below on UNI 28).  In particular the horizontal stop, AZ clamp and finely adjustable clutches make it a joy to use especilly when changing eyepiece or swapping in a bino viewer.

For portable use the direct connection of clamshell is good and you should not need to carry a  counterweight or tripod extension. There are  some well made optional parts (if you want) and  build quality is as good as the service and support. So the value is in long term ownership and flexiility IMHO.

He probably picked himself up and laughed to the camera. We sent humans then because we did not have capable computers. Perhaps we still dont, though they have done amazing things elsewhere such as Mars and  Voyager. 

 Nil by mouth during observing. A brandy as I write up my (brief) logbook. 

I keep a running book of purchases and sales with a balance. When the balance is too low, I justify a buy as being a necessity and therefore does not count. 🙂 I am quite good at the big bits, but the small accessories are tempting and accumulate. I like fiddling with assemblies when there is not much viewing to do. Sometimes it even works! A hobby within a hobby ? 

On 13/02/2024 at 08:24, DirkSteele said:

Had a long weekend away

Nice bit of travel kit. How is the Sightron?

You really ought to try using a finder of some sort ? Gives you 2 chances of messing up 😂

Sorry to hear about David. He was very good to deal with and made nice scopes. My semi compact DL14 was a pleasure to use and featured on his website for a long time. I sketched the concept so that it would fit in the boot of my car and he did the rest. 

If that mount only gets close to targets (my brief experience was not good) then a 9x50 finder will help getting them in view*  but does not have to be RACI unless you find that format easier. As others have said red dots mainly help with initial alignment.  Spending money on one change at a time is a good plan ?

*as will a low power eyepiece!

For star hopping with a manual mount I personally prefer a 6x30 RACI over 9x50, and have both. The wider view shows brighter stars only - which matches well with a pocket sky atlas. However if you have some form of goto or pushto then the 9x50 is more likely to show a deepsky target.

If you only need a finder to align an accurate go to mount then most red dots are sufficient, but the Rigel is more user friendly.

Hello Kev @RimuRidgeRakiura

There are qite a few SGL topics on travel kit. Mine this time is based on Alt Az mount with slow motions and encoders, with a Nexus DSC so I can find objects quickly. Previously I have managed with binoculsrs, red torch and a Pocket Sky Atlas - total reliability and nil luggage impact! I see you are posting elsewhere too, well done 🙂

On 29/11/2023 at 20:32, RimuRidgeRakiura said:

I am worried enough about that to be going across to the mainland and babysitting it back home. I'll be armed with a mountain of blankets and polystyrene. Woe be to anyone who tries to dump a hiking bag in that ferry tub😂.

Thanks for the warm welcome folks, you seem like a top notch community.

I see you did  get the scope across OK, looks great 🙂

I am in Tai Tapu, Canterbury, briefly, for a family wedding but managed a good re-aquainrance with Southern skies late night on 7th. Bit of a struggle but got a 60mm and push to mount in luggage from UK and through Australa to here without mishap. Having just once seen a Stewart I sky, you will have anazing time with 12" dob. Trying to get most of the Southern  Caldwell catalogue in view before we return to 'land of the low grey cloud' and it is so nice to do it without freezing too.

I have had a TG cover on goto mounts all year in UK for over 10 yrs. It is starting to look a bit scruffy but still works. I never heat, but keep a dessicant inside. It is able to breathe through the pier. No rust no electronic issues, but keep batteries at higher temp. The worst time for humidity is when it is warm! 

Not so sure about optics, due to fungus?

If your scope comes on the ferry I wish it a smooth crossing of Foveaux Strait. 🌊

22 hours ago, Stephenstargazer said:

If you look down  the top of a Herschel wedge you see your own eye

Dohhhhh! That is the reflection from the continuum filter, nothing to do with the prism 😬

Provided you buy extension with an M10 thread insert, yes it should fit that tripod head directly. Some people find the Berlebach hand screw is a bit short. Make sure it comes well above the top face of the tripod (if not you can cut a way a bit of the hand screw !).

The North pin is only used with equatorial mounts. it is not needed with the AZ100.

The pier adapter fits the AZ100 with 6 off M6 screws on one common PCD (circle), the base of the extension as shown has 3 different PCDs for 4 capscrews (similar to an AZ75 base). So I think the answer is no. If you want a pier adapter I have one spare! What tripod do you want to fit the extension to? May not need adapter as you can order extension with different screw threads.

You still have to use secondary filter(s) above a Hirschel or it is too bright. Typically nd9 and continuum which also removes uv/ir.

Back to scopes...I can see a gap in my collection, but I do have 90mm f/13  catadioptric for same purpose in a short format 🙂..........but an f/15 with Herschel would make a very nice white light solar. Lots of sunspots just now.

48 minutes ago, Franklin said:

I thought it was a 45deg un-silvered flat

Wow, that explains a lot! Pretty bad to blame it on Herschel then. That would come to a nice focus back about same distance as eyepiece.

I have never found that hot point with a modern Herschel, may have to stick a finger inside? There is an unfocused image on the base of the prism, very handy as a finder🌞

This is true of the Starbook Ten controlled mounts too which are designed to be used optionally without accutate polar alignment, and therefore track on both axes. The Sphinx used just a Starbook and some later SX and AP mounts a Starbook One which is a controller without the sky map. (Vixen do not use 1 or 10, they are names not numbers).  I understood from good sources One and Ten could be interchanged, but with limited functionality.

This is purely for info, know nothing of guiding, but Vixen manuals are comprehensive and I recollect do cover it. They also cover backlash adjustment, which was not perfect and hard to set.

Are they set as a normal 45deg prism then?? And is the top/front face set at another angle? Misleading to call it a Herschel wedge which has a back face set at a  much steeper angle to the eye. Fortunately I never came across one of these. If you look down  the top of a Herschel wedge you see your own eye (when it is not pointed at the sun). You see nothing reflected looking from the front. Hence my suggestion to look through it.

My Dictionary of Astronomy did not help on this subject!!

BTW the heat sink on the back of my 'proper' Herschel wedge is safe to touch after even an hour of solar viewing. What 'dangerous laser beam' ??? I think you mean a focused image lile any magnifying glass 🙂, useless for cutting steel, great for killing ants😈.

Dont think that diagonal is solar Herschel wedge as the angle looks like 45deg. Just look through it on its own, should work like a mirror or prism (NOT at sun of course).Good luck!

AR = 9 and count =117. Will enjoy some white light  viewing Friday or Sturday if forecast holds up here.  Grateful @IB20 as I am not good at regular checking for sun activity. 

On 07/11/2023 at 21:46, Stephenstargazer said:

For owners of AZ100 motor kits and a DSC or DSC Pro there is a software release on Astro Devices for each device

I have done initial tests for compatibility between Rowan AZ100 V1.1.1  and Nexus DSC firmware v 1.4.20. Start the AZ100 before starting the DSC. Note that the wifi Rowan webpage controller will still be present. All the expected DSC functions, including slow motion control by 'arrow pad' work , but I warn prospective users not to try a One Star alignment in the DSC - it still misbehaves. The DSC will not use any alignment done in Rowan control. Equally if you switch back to Rowan control from DSC it will not be aligned. This is as expected (due to the way they work) but could confuse or disappoint some. Whilst in DSC control you can turn the mount motors on and off by the Rowan webpage, eg to use manual slow motion knobs (perhaps during alignment). You need to turn them back on for the DSC to use again (eg tracking, arrow pad, goto).  You can also access and change Config settings in the AZ 100 (dont forget to save them) whilst the DSC is in control. 

Hope this helps. By the way  you can also connect SkySafari to the DSC wifi and it will act to move the scope...but then you could do that without a DSC or Nexus 🙂. Maybe if you like to have a skychart running in sync ??

16 hours ago, swsantos said:

However they are easy to update so why not,

Correct! took your advice and updated mine, which was long overdue.

Note to others: depending on the age of your previous DSC catalogues, you may find some additional ones have been introduced. As it is a numbered list you may have to go into settings/find/enabled catalogues and re-edit your preferred list as it is likely to have been altered by any new catalog numbers introduced. (This is easier to see than explain!!)

Personally I only 'enable' ~10 favourite catalogues from the very complete list of 69, so scrolling through them is quicker. (Realise that non DSC AZ100 users will have no interest in this at all !)