Stardaze

Thanks for that. The hurricane case looks a decent option for now. Hopefully can’t go wrong at those prices. Just whether I go for the ‘cut your own’ option 🤔

What's the dimensions of yours please? I've been trying to work what size needed. Currently have 5 EP's, Barlow, Concentre and probably need to allow for a couple of filters and two more EP's. Was looking at the Peli 1450 but wondering whether I can get away with something a touch smaller (HRPC 2250)?? Edit: Just found this which looks decent value https://casesuperstore.co.uk/product/nanuk-910-case/

I followed John's advice with the Nirvana 16 and can say that, for the money, it's superb. I'm a believer in buying something that you'll keep for a good time and so have personally opted for a mix of 82 degree EP's (Nirvana and Explore Scientific). I did have a couple of the Starguiders, but love the wider FOV, saves you nudging the dob every two seconds and it is more immersive IMO. For mine, the core EP's are 24 (bought secondhand on here), 16, 11 & 8.8 - covers the spectrum pretty much, but I will add a few other intermediary FL's when I can.

Thanks for that - ordered!

The Pocket Sky Atlas is a nightmare to find. Amazon want £59 for the first edition and the second addition is still unavailable. How is the Cambridge Atlas as a reference? I'm also going to buy one this month.

I didn’t measure the centre bolt but must be 50mm. The central spider piece is 20mm and I’m 7-8mm at the moment. There’s a couple a mm there still which I think is needed. Still... I won’t be doing it today 😄

I was wide awake at 6, so thought “an hour tops before the girls get up.” Even took a book down to read when I was done. I’m not normally this useless...honest 😂 My back is in tatters, I’ve a sore finger and a blurred eye.. all through trying to align a mirror 🙄

So does the collimation shop open this week.. I’m really quite embarrassed about it. Had another play and can get it ever so close. It is almost like the holder sits too far out on the screw. Ah well, I’m in the bad books tonight as haven’t done much else today so I’ve packed it all away and might look at it again next weekend 😂

Just can’t seem to move the holder upwards (as above) and tilt it to be concentric. So annoying, spent all day at it. Don’t think I’ve found anything so tedious that has stumped me before. My back is I bits leaning back and forth so going to have to call it a day. Does yours protrude so much John?

And here.. I feel such a pleb today, it’s taken all day! Feels like the holder needs to be quite far out?

Got it all washed and is absolutely fine. Still struggling getting the holder far enough in to line up. Still doesn’t seem far enough in but look how much gap there is. Can this be correct? Is the focuser not aligned properly?

Well, I can’t leave it.. so stood in a good que in search of deionised water..

I bought a concentre and the mirror wasn’t quite right. The fine tune at the end with the 3 knobs is relatively straightforward. Struggling getting the holder aligned whilst getting the tilt absolutely perfect. Trying to press back on the sprung base whilst tilting the mirror. Keep getting it ever so slightly off-centre. Anyway, my back is in a mess after being bent double for 4hrs - didn’t want to admit to that length of time 😂

I’ve lost the will to live right now. Still can’t quite get the primary lined up.... so close... Fresh head later then and I’ll think about the cleaning. Thanks for all of your advice.

A little bit on a cloth and be very careful 😆

Thanks John. I’m having a right mare realigning the secondary. I wasn’t happy with it, but I’m a couple of hours into it and still can’t quite get it right....grrrrrr! It does state for not cleaning Newtonian mirrors. I’ll try it, what’s the worst that can happen...

Just found this... I’ll kick myself again and leave it for now.

I’ve accidentally touched the surface of my secondary mirror with the palm of my thumb whilst collimating. I can see that there’s a mark on it. What’s best to wipe it off? Trying to remain calm whilst extremely annoyed with myself! The paper blocking off the primary fell flat and as I delved in to sort that out 🤬

Perfect, thanks for that. I need a decent atlas! Thanks John. It’s next on the list, probably next month now.

Proves how bad pollution has become and is a little disheartening. This year is going to my first proper, consistent, year of observing. It didn't really seem to improve until nearer 1am last night, but was excellent for a brief period. Not sure I have the stamina for that again tonight 😂

Must admit, I was sat out last night till 1.30 in shorts thinking the same. I struggle with late nights, so the winter months are more convenient in that respect. Looking forward to Sagittarius later on in the summer. I can’t see any of that region at the moment due to a large tree.

Had a great night last night hopping around some old favourites of these last couple of months, as well as finding a few new ones. Armed with new 11mm & 6.8mm EP's I was surprised to find the 6.8 so bright with M13 and M5 which filled the eyepiece perfectly - the level of detail was something I've not seen previously (the 16mm Barlowed was poor in comparison) and blew me away. Anyway, whilst viewing M57 I resolved the star close next to it for the first time at x186. I've tried to find it listed, but nothing on Stellarium or my apps? I note further away a multitude of stars around 10 mag but this one is clearly less than those. Can anyone shed light on what it is and it's brightness value? It will be the largest in the attached, SE corner. I tried to find the owl nebula and M61 last night, but failed miserably. Though I did find a few more in Virgo and really need to explore here earlier in the evening first. M51 resolved well at x115 and Epsilon Lyrae filled the frame at x186. Had me thinking that the next EP will be the 8.8mm, giving me x144, and will fit in the gap there.

Always difficult to get an absolute square on image with the phone, but that looks pretty good to me. Maybe you don't need to be relieved of £65 for a piece of plastic that you'll use once a year 😆 My other two EP's have just turned up, so looking forward to trying them later tonight. Might need a power nap inbetween 😂

Concentre finally arrived yesterday and made simple work of getting the secondary properly aligned, was done in 5 minutes. Had to slacken the central bolt and twist it a bit. Had a good couple of hours last night with some doubles and all rendering nicely. It is however, a lot of money for what it is, but...... if you want to be sure... Still waiting on the handle from WDS and hopefully two new EP's should be delivered late this afternoon. Just in time for another late night, looking at the cloudless forecast for later 😀

Thanks for that Doug. No rush, loving the dob but would like a grab and go setup, could be a xmas present 😀 Last night was typical, where the clear outside app forecast too much cloud so I didn't bother getting the dob out. Typically the first two hours into dark were completely clear, I sat out for an hour with the binoculars! The Bresser frats look to have the edge with the decent focuser out of the box, same as the dob.