Pixies

Last night was beautifully clear. Found Uranus with Mars in the same binocular view before pizza and beer. Came time afterwards to take the scope out and I was just too tired to face it. Asleep before midnight (which is odd for me). Tonight though - forecast looking good. M67, Iota Cancri and Tegmine are my planned targets. 🦀

It'll be a LOT lighter than the SS one. I can't comment whether it's less stable though. I'm sure others here have used both.

I don't think there's much in it. You could try adjusting the Mire de Collimation circles so that you have the outer one lined-up with the inside edge of the draw-tube, then you can be exactly certain that the reticle is centered properly. But it looks pretty circular to me. A Cheshire being used as a sight-tube makes this stage so much quicker and easier. The next step, too.

I've got a Manfrotto 055CLB that my Skymax 90 is attached to. It could take a much heavier payload. It has the RC141 head on it - which is OK, but you need to lock the alt-axis to keep it from tipping back when it's looking high. I managed to get it for £30 on eBay, but realise that was a very good price. It's not the PRO version of the tripod, but that's not necessary for mounting a scope (it has an extendable arm). Earlier versions of the tripod are just as stable, but the leg extension locks are a little more fiddly. Mine has the fold-over levers, but older ones have twisting ones. A minor inconvenience. It's still an older type though, there are more modern models. I'll look to get either an AZ5 mount or a geared Manfrotto head, as slow motion control will be useful. It's incredibly stable - surprisingly so. I'd never used a top quality camera tripod before (albeit an older one).

Yep- it looks like the shadow of the secondary falling on the paper baffle that's been placed down the tube. @jonathan - whip the paper out. It's collimation time!

Looks OK to me. The red circles are pretty concentric with the outer 'circle' of the focuser draw-tube. The outer edge of the secondary (showing white paper) is circular and concentric too. I'd say that the next stage is to remove the paper and start looking at the reflections. Without a Cheshire, you can use the red reticle to align the doughnut (when you adjust the secondary tilt). Otherwise the traditional "can you see the mirror clips?" will do. Then on to the primary. @malc-c - can you indicate what you think is misaligned?

Excellent! Well done. Finding Uranus on the first night is a great success! Where are you based? Obviously not the UK, if you can see the sky!

Blimey - that's tight. It's on the list

Iota Cas is my fave multiple star system to observe. It's a bit of a challenge, you'll need reasonable seeing (and reasonable collimation if using a reflector). x100 - x150 magnification will split them. Probably best to do it earlier in the session as it will be getting closer to the Zenith the later it gets. Make a note of the colours you see.

That's not a "hobby killer". It has a decent aperture, from a well regarded manufacturer and the mount/tripod is simple to use and well up to the task of carrying that scope. Every first scope is a compromise, because you don't know how your hobby is going to progress, but a 90mm refractor is well capable of a lot of targets. you'll have a ball. And welcome to SGL! A haven of calm and friendly helpfulness in the maelstrom that is the internet!

Depending on how far you are willing to pack things up each time, a larger dob doesn't take up much more room than a small scope on a tripod:

The cone is the 'fairy' on top of the Christmas Tree cluster, isn't it? For ages I thought it was the Christmas tree itself, and wondered why I couldn't find it (the Christmas tree, that is)

John. Would you say that it's quicker to set up the 200p as a dob, or on the AltAz? I would have thought that setting up the dob base would be much easier?

Camcer (and M44) is pretty much half way between Pollux (Gemini) and Regulus (Leo). Regulus, Procyon and Pollux (with Castor) make up a pretty conspicuous triangle in the Eastern sky: I just usually plonk my binoculars half-way between Regulus and Pollux and the Beehive cluster is there or thereabouts.

We'll done, that's a very successful first light. If you can see M1, you should be good for s lot of Messier objects. Have a try and see if you can find M80 and M81. They are quite bright for galaxies. Don't leave them too late on the evening, as they get closer to the Zenith which is hard to navigate in the dob - as I'm sure you'll find out.

The Beehive cluster can be hard to find under light pollution, as Cancer is not very conspicuous. They are a good target for binoculars, as you can use them to scan the area, about half way between Castor/Pollux and Regulus. What tripod/mount do you have? There's nothing more dispiriting than a wobbly mount! And keep at it with the reports, it's great to hear others' progress.

RACI and Telrad, for me. More compact options are available! What is 'indirect' mode on SkEye?

That would give you x240 magnification. Which is usable of a night with very good seeing (for moon and double-stars), but I think you will find that it won't get used much. I find I use the 12mm and 8mm EPs a lot. The latter for planetary. I'll barlow them very (VERY) occasionally when seeing is good - the 12mm more often than the 8mm.

That's the underside of the primary mirror. There has been reports of different 'finishes' on that side. It really doesn't matter as long as the front is ok?

He he - took 9 months but I got the Leo triplet this evening. I spent so much time in May looking for them but the skies must just have been too bright. Tonight I landed on them first go and all 3 were visible in a single view. Can't believe I've only been doing this for 9 months now. Feels much longer!

Checked out the Eskimo nebula this evening and I do see it as green, but I wonder if that's my expectations playing tricks with me. M57 (Ring) sometimes appears blue/green, too. Again, I think that's the same thing.

You'll need these: https://www.opticron.co.uk/our-products/accessories/binocular-tripod-mounts/centre-focus-bar-binocular-tripod-mount-for-binoculars

can you post a quick pic of the bins?

I'm sure someone will come up with the proper technical description, but basically, the parts of your retina that are very sensitive to low light, do not detect colour. In order to be able to see colour in an object, it must be bright enough. Children / young adults can detect colour in DSOs that we oldies can't see, either!

Here's a good thread about choosing a good range of eyepieces: Fortunately, as your scope is 'slow', you don't need to invest in very expensive eyepieces to get the best performance. As I'm sure you've seen, BST Starguiders get great reviews and will be a huge step up in quality from what you have. If you want to invest less, decent basic plossls will be fine, but the lower focal-length ones will have tight eye-relief. I'd suggest reading this too: If I used too much jargon, just ask.