Supernova74

Ps solar power Astronomy is night time lol 😆

17The skywatcher power tanks are ok as I’m aware tho the battery chemistry is not the best and if drain them below a certain point can damage the cells you kind of get what you pay for in most cases anyway the skywatcher 7 amp hr battery bank retails for around £55-70 at rother valley optics and flo so don,t exspect long run time as it’s designed for the smaller goto scopes and to my knowledge including my set up all are 12v 5amp or there abouts.so personally if that’s what your useing it for should be fine and the more exspensive model skywatcher do is the 17 amp hr would be an alternative as has more run time and is designed for the slightly larger intermediate scopes and will be able to run a heated dew strap,s as well as a smart device also.And lastly to put a spanner in the works tracer do lithium polymer power banks thease are at the higher end of the scale much better battery chemistry (lipo) thease have a longer recycle life in how many times you can charge them however yet again don,t drain them to low and I wouldn’t go down less then 25% this maintains that the individual cells are not drained to much and will give you full capacity once fully charged and are very compact not to heavy basically can carry one around with you in your pocket thease start from £140-250 respectively

Well don,t miss those days taking two baths looked like I’ve been up a chimney all day went high as medical implants in end different ball game

Funny you should say that as done some work for Saudi royal family private jets that was gold plated

Lol maybe I’m missing a trick after working for some of the best metal polishers finishers in the country

For me personally the best scope for me is the sct cassagrain as optically very good with the Celestron HD series and Meade ACF series thay do most things well to a good standard and are the work horse of the Astronomy world however no such thing as a perfect scope that’s why some own many.howerver cannot stress enough in something of a good quality as standard no good putting cheap eyepieces in as you wouldn’t exspect a Ferrari to run very well with mini tyres on as the eyepieces is just as important as the scope itself

I’m not sure about the Exsplore scientific 24mm 68 degree being a clone of the panoptic however the Exsplore scientific 82 degree range apparently was a clone on the televue nagler series.the Exsplore scientific range of eyepieces are great value for money Argon,nitrogen purged what ever.and I’ve owned them there is something special about Televue eyepieces tho thinking it’s the intense design process strict quality control and anyone who owns them will most probably feel the same Televue concentrate on just eyepieces apart from a few APO scopes.if you got an Ferrari you don,t expect it to perform on mini tyres do you as the scope is just as important as the eyepiece you peak through the field of view is tack sharp to the very edge contrast admittedly more noticeable on higher end scopes that’s why thay are considered the best Astronomical eyepieces in the world.so if you got the money why have satin when you can have silk as once owned will never need to upgrade your eyepiece collection again.

Well you do listen to different opinions and certain advice can be confusing at times and I think 🤔 old fashioned common sense doesn’t go a miss regarding what’s the best to use I’ve looked at the baader film and on a personal note surly it would be more prone to damage especially when you consider the area the film has to cover for an 12” scope more margin there for error and personally don,t think will feel comfortable useing it anyway .don,t get me wrong I’m a very hands on kind of guy however you play with matches get your hands burn,t or in this case the suns rays burning out your eye sockets lol had arc eye once not a pleasant experience and don,t fancy my mother cutting up my Sunday roast as cannot see lol 😂.ive seen some specific sun filters at rother valley optics that look like glass just retro fit over the correcter plate with small thumb screws or even flo may have some thing similar?

Hi guys I apologise in advance regarding my topic of discussion this evening or the next as my intentions are not to annoy my fellow amateur Astronomers on the Astro lounge and understanding will be mixed opinions also.and if anyone who actually owns one feel free to join the conversation.Anyway on the outside I think moonraker telescopes can be a little bit like marmite either you love them or you hate them however perhaps the word hate maybe a little bit to harsh.ive gathered thease scopes seem to be mainly aimed at the higher end of the spectrum towards the more wealthy clientele as I hear some of rich and famous actually own them.is this scope designed for real Astronomy or just to sit in a rather exspensive penthouse looking pretty in the corner!?and from a design perspective perhaps just a tad over the top maybe a good scope for a well known rapper as the way I look at it Astronomy is mainly in the dark and you will not be looking at all those non functional knobs bars etc and try to have a shave in the process as the telescope tube is so bright and reflective.thay almost have that punk look about them if you know where I’m comming from and cannot help feeling that thay look more like a modern version of the classic broadhurst Clarkson and fuller refractor brass telescopes. On the different note tho how do the optics pan out compared to similar brands are thay good are thay bad I’m not sure 🤔 thay could brilliant scopes optically and mechanically but just have doubts thay are concentrating more on the looks then an actual high class optical refractor!?

Yes look very similar to those old school filters screw on end of 1.25” eyepiece for solar projection no would not buy any Astro gear or solar infact on flea bay I will go through Well known dealer typical on different note out observing tonight as use high capacity batteries on my scope must remember to turn off after Thay are flat

Interesting topic yes no such thing as perfection as if there was be no room for improvements in first place we don,t all go beyond our means yet strive to reach our goals.thats just human nature unfortunately we always want more not for self gain or ego all depends where you want to go in life we strive tho on knowledge that’s the true gain and if mankind stopped at the moon no further space exploration will ever take place it’s not about optics,money etc it’s about reaching our goals admittedly that’s what makes each one of us unique as we all look at thing in a different perspectives and views and opinions are mixed that’s the passion of the hobby of Astronomy

Sky safari is a good app maybe another string to your bow

So apart from the film maybe a proper glass sun filter would be a better bet obviously safety is more important than price and common sense.can I use conventional eyepieces or do thease need to be changed to filtered ones also

Yes that makes sense as used to be a welder so don,t fancy arc eye or even worse

Ok thankyou do you still have to use the projection method!?

Hi guys I remember those days when I used to have a small 60mm refractor with those L shaped type bracket that fitted on focuser draw tube with a piece of paper however I’m entering a topic I know absolutely nothing about am i right thinking that I can only really observe sunspots with specific filters and would it be worth while as obviously my scope is not designed for anything serious and obviously safety is a must also

Yes it’s a new scope at rother valley optics for hobbits

Um as someone got to much time on there hands in lockdown lol 😆

I do like DR Brian cox he kind of made Astronomy not quite a weird hobby made Astronomy cool so to speak however what is it with this permanent grin on his boat race could be all the money he is making

Hi all another cracker of a day sunshine wise lol if get this much nice weather have to purchase a solar scope get the best of both worlds .Anyway I better not bring another topic regarding controversy over highest usefull magnification as everyone has there opinions and views however sometimes folk can be set in there ways I’ve only been on stargazers lounge for around a month or so now and enjoy sharing topics and points of veiw everything related around our kit we use and Astronomy and it’s impossible to know it all.ive often wounded for a long time now and I’m not sure this topic of interest has been discussed on stargazers lounge in the ideal world we all like to live in the darkest sky conditions and so far the best I’ve seen is when I was around 18 years old a place absolutely the middle of no where a village called nordelph (sounds very lord of the rings ) this was in Norfolk and clearly see why it’s called sky country as you could often see constellations sooner than my current location as the climate was so flat so was easier observable the nearest town was downam market and was only small so light pollution in that neck of the woods was very low and March was the next major town even further away it was that dark could not even see my hand in front of my face and remember still clearly to this day a meteorite falling and approximately 300 yards away was an old galvanised barn which the brightness was so intense it lit up the barn so can imagine according to the bortale scale rating must of been a very good 3 and was so many stars it was often hard to disinguse star pattens.so getting to the point at the time I had a celestron SPC 8 Schmidt cassagrain so at my current location which is a bortale rating 6 in theory would the 8” out perform better in a class 3 rating good sky conditions then let’s say an 12” in class 6 rating class conditions when seeing is at best obviously

iPad mini over eyepiece few years back

No unfortunately I don,t however if I come across one and if I remember I give you a shout

You could always try Astrobuyandsell also however kind agree of last post very limited on weight capacity time you put small refractor on that’s your lot most probably alternative an preowned skywatcher EQ5 is a cracking mount will hold around 13kg. That should do the job thay go for around £300-350 on the preowned market and do come up for sale quite often

Well if it’s a solvent based perhaps it’s just the paint inside the OTA tube basically as thay blacken with some kind of spray I believe as keeps unwanted light going astray and what thay use to improve contrast also

I’ve been woundering for a while now what’s the fuss all about premium star diagonals has anyone on stargazers lounge actually used one at all and any feed back would be appreciated obviously this is for visual purposes only and I already own a good quality diagonal which I’m happy with which is a Astro-Revelation 2” and it serves my needs and retails for £145.am I missing trick here or something as apart from the cheap prism alternatives and the current more common diectric diagonals which most of us seem to use how can such a price tag of £350+ introduce any further benifits from the one I already own I’ve also noticed that the more high end brands have a better lambada wave length ( please correct me if I’m wrong) however this baader diagonal has real silver coatings I believe as Im sceptical if this is just a another gimmick or does it actually work as all due respect I’m sure most dealers would say it’s the best thing since sliced bread and it will improve performance anyway if truthful or not.