Pixies

Ah - but the initial check of the secondary would be tricky!

Yes - deffo agree with the dark adaption tip. The last time I was observing Mars, it was hard not too, since the moon was so bright. I actually had the kitchen lights on. @10-7 it's worth persevering with Mars just now. It's approaching opposition in a few weeks and won't be this large in the sky for 15 years! I have just been learning good planetary viewing practise, and it takes some effort, but totally worth it. Here are some general tips: Here's my recent observation report: Lots of tips in the Observing - Planetary section

I suppose they are competing with the stable-mate Explore Scientific scopes. ES imports Bresser into the US, don't they? Both are owned by the same company - JOC.

Hi Ken and welcome. I second "Turn Left at Orion" as an excellent starter book. Also, you have a right-angled finder, which makes it harder to know exactly where you are pointing to start with. I can recommend a non-magnifying finder, like a Telrad, to compliment you current finder. It means you can line everything up to the point you want to start at, then use the right-angled finder to star-hop to your destination. Can I also suggest another good starter target - M57, the Ring Nebula. It's relatively easy to star-hop to:

I have a week or so to return them if I find any issues. they do look remarkably clear. Perhaps a coupel of tiny spots on the inside of one of the objectives. Not sure what you mean about JB/JL - is it this:

A second-hand bargain, I hope. The optics look clear and it appears to be collimated OK. Compared to my cheapo Praktica bins, the view has much better contrast - darker darks and lighter lights, and the old ones now look foggy compared to this. It has a wider AFOV and but lower real FOV (higher mag) too. It needs a new strap and I'd prefer a soft case. But I'm dead chuffed. Not bad for £20

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[posted in haste]

Hi. If you have a Cheshire, you can use that as a sight-tube to try and centre the secondary under the focuser. Otherwise, here's teh abobve image with a reticle imposed over it to help show you how it's lined up: The reticle is made by an app called Mire de Collimation. You can get it here: (towards the bottom of the page) http://sweiller.free.fr/collimation.html#chapter5

Just bear in mind these finders are fast - f3.8, so there is a lot of distortion around the edge of the FOV

This is similar to my Altair 10x60: I made an adapter for the finder shoe using a camera 'cheeseboard':

It's ironic. Until this had been pointed out to me and that my 18mm BST didn't have great definition at the edges, I had never noticed it! My cheap 10x50 bins I thought were fantastic, until I saw the view through a much better pair! If you aren't interested in what's at the edge, it shouldn't bother you. But once you've seen it.....

So often, advice is given but the original poster is never seen again. It's great that you came back to let us know how it's going. It also shows that you are going to be sticking around - lots to learn here and a lot to give too. Clear skies!

Stick a photo up here once you've had a shot. We can run an app called Mire de Collimation to check the concentricity of the secondary.

You can back them off slightly, or just back off the middle screw. Either way will release the pressure on the secondary holder. The former obviously pulls the adjusters away form the holder. The latter releases the holder and it moves a little down the tube. Effectively, the 3 adjusters push against the centre screw. You can use either, since you will be doing the reverse to tighten things back up again, anyway.

Make sure the secondary mirror is rotated around so that the 'circle' it presents to your eye is an actual circle. Use 2 sheets of paper as per AB. It looks like it needs to be rotated from your pics above

Have a look at Astro-baby's guide: http://www.astro-baby.com/astrobaby/help/collimation-guide-newtonian-reflector/ If you want to get it well collimated to start with, I would suggest you get the secondary mirror aligned under the focuser, first. Have a look under section " Collimation Step 2 – The Secondary Mirror / Focus Tube Alignment" in the guide above (the bit with the coloured paper). Once that's done, you won't have to do that again unless you have to remove the mirror. In the Seronik guide: https://garyseronik.com/a-beginners-guide-to-collimation/ he states that as long as you can see the whole of the primary (and clips) and the eye-hole is centered within the doughnut, your collimation is close enough to be very useable. Your is nearly - you just have to fine-tune the primary to get the eye-hole centered, as @Astrid says. My advice as a relatively newbie. Don't be afraid to get stuck in - you're not going to break anything (as long as you don't tighten anything up too tight). The more you learn about how it all works, the better at collimation you will become. Obv avoid touching the mirror. A cheshire is a great time saver - it works as a sight tube (to align the secondary), you use the cross-hairs to collimate the secondary, and the cap to align the primary.

They are not highly thought of, here. A better option is to build up a collection of your own eyepieces, over time. Choosing the most suitable and cost-effective ones you see fit, as your needs grow. Your scope is fast, and you would do better than a set of basic plossls. There is a reason you see lots of these sets being sold second-hand. Best to start here:

A few other questions to thinks about: 1) Budget. 2) Goto or tracking required? (Note, these are different things). 3) Do you have easy access to garden, or would you need something portable to take it to your observing site ( or several flights of stairs, say).

Yes - it appears to rotate a little in reverse, when viewed on consecutive nights at the same time.

Or even..

Cool. What time were you observing. I was looking around 1-2am and I don't think Syrtis Minor / Mare Tyrrhennium were visible by then. Certainly I had Mare Sirenum and Mare Cimmerium. I could make out Mare Chronium too. Mars observations are new to me. So I'm observing, then learning about what I've seen. 8" reflector nearby in Edinburgh. The seeing was variable for me, looking over rooftops. I need to stay up later when Mars will be clear of them, and the conditions a little more stable. Had some clouds trying to spoil the party, too. My sketching attempt (as per the sketching forum)

I'm calling it a night at 2am. It gives me a little time to complete the sketch before bed. It's a school night and I'll be nodding off this afternoon! Unfortunately, Mars is above the house at that time, and I'm sure the seeing would improve towards dawn as the location improves and the local atmosphere cools.

And dob-nudge! I'd been making lots of quick sketches and notes during observing. As I said, different EPs were showing different features better than others. The image above was done when I got back inside, while my memory was still fresh. The following was what I came inside with (colour added later)

Well, I doubt I'll have the time and patience (and weather) to be able to do one a day. But as inspired by @mikeDnight, I thought I'd keep trying to hone my skills over the coming opposition. Tonight's seeing was poor at times, but variable and sometimes OK. It was windy with clouds. I tried with several ortho EPs, each magnification seemed to bring out different features. Anyway - I need to work out how best to try and implement each sketch. Today, I'm mucking about with a bit of IT to help the final display. Hope you like it, I'm quite pleased with it.