josefk

57 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Mewlons (and Cassegrainians in general) hold out against due much longer than refractors

i don't even like dew on the metal parts of the OTA never mind the objectives and mirrors  😂 - just feels so wrong when water is running off the tubes. i'll take a gentle breeze any day. Point take though - my Cassegrain is the weapon of choice when i notice the RH% is predicted to be in the high nineties. 

9 hours ago, Nicola Fletcher said:

I suppose I will go back to using one scope soon enough - it’s a bit of hassle to set up more than one!

Enjoy it while you have the motivation and opportunity. It’s managing dew in two scopes that puts the damper on it for me otherwise I would do it more often. I can imagine the TSA views very well and know how super you’ll find them. You have the best of two worlds with a fine fine refractor and a high contrast lovely larger aperture option with the Mewlon. Super. 

Looks and sounds great @Nicola Fletcher 👍

I don't compare views in two scopes on the same night as often as i thought i might but I very very often start a session with a quick reprise of key objects from the previous session (if i'm using a different scope) and though of course there are other variables at play (different sky, different moon) i nearly always find the comparison illuminating.

doesn't look to our of practise to me @SwiMatt 👍

How big is that page out of interest? A5? A4?

Cheers

6 hours ago, josefk said:

Just to chip in my twopenneth worth on the Y-axis plate. I held off on this part feeling it was a bit of a luxury item (i was quite happily balanced most of the time without it) and anyway i could get some weight below the horizontal centre line of the scope using the battery i have for dew bands etc mounted on the offside of the mount (and below the pivot) and this felt like it was enough to counteract any rearwards rollover imbalance.

Anyway somehow i have ended up fitting one after all and I set things up at home to achieve X and Y balance. Last night at first use it was kind of revelatory - i had the scope in such perfect balance i could leave it pointing where i liked with the altitude clutch fully off, i just added a bit of tension back on to the clutch to use the altitude slomo.

I have to redo the y-axis balancing exercise at some point in the next few days because i'm making other changes to my set-up (finder) and it seems getting the maximum benefit out of the Y-axis plate needs attention to very small adjustments (it is very sensitive to small changes) but if i can achieve the same sweet spot again i'll be very happy.

An unlooked for extra benefit is that i am using the eyepiece counter balance shaft on the rear (projecting towards me) and it made for a nice extra handle - it should help me curtail my bad habit of steering the scope using the diagonal.

Bravo Rowan! 

 

i feel like Baldrick from Blackadder. Doh!

When i first set this Y-axis plate up for balance in the Y-axis i kept demounting my scope to move the saddle a few mm then tested balance again, the trial and error method took maybe 30 or 40 minutes.  I've just reset the Y-balance to account for a slightly repositioned finder and done it more perfectly than before and in less than 5-min, maybe less than 2-mins and I now i understand why it is an easy field adjustment if you would swap scopes in a session.

My epiphany came because i was feeling lazy and  i didn't demount the scope from the mount while preparing to adjust it - i just eased the Y-plate-to-saddle machine screws off a bit and with the scope pointing vertically simply pushed the saddle "across" (i.e. down) a bit till it sat perfectly still pointing vertically. Instant perfect balance XY.

I now understand why the extra screws on the stop bolts are screws you can tighten by hand - you can basically use them to push the saddle into balance - virtually on the fly.

To be fair all the necessary information for this 'hack" is in Rowan's instructions - i just didn't read them very carefully 🙂 

Now the thing is worth every penny and more. Impressed.

i learnt a pile in that first video about the TS-80 @JeremyS - thanks.

The stage was well set last night to also get after a few doubles in Cygnus - i was unbelievably well organised and "ready to go". Unfortunately cloud rolled in more than 2-hours earlier than forecast and that was the end of that. 15-mins to load the car, 15-mins drive to site, and 15-mins to set-up followed by just 45-mins of observing. i can guarantee if i took a little scope out it would have been clear till 3am.

Just to chip in my twopenneth worth on the Y-axis plate. I held off on this part feeling it was a bit of a luxury item (i was quite happily balanced most of the time without it) and anyway i could get some weight below the horizontal centre line of the scope using the battery i have for dew bands etc mounted on the offside of the mount (and below the pivot) and this felt like it was enough to counteract any rearwards rollover imbalance.

Anyway somehow i have ended up fitting one after all and I set things up at home to achieve X and Y balance. Last night at first use it was kind of revelatory - i had the scope in such perfect balance i could leave it pointing where i liked with the altitude clutch fully off, i just added a bit of tension back on to the clutch to use the altitude slomo.

I have to redo the y-axis balancing exercise at some point in the next few days because i'm making other changes to my set-up (finder) and it seems getting the maximum benefit out of the Y-axis plate needs attention to very small adjustments (it is very sensitive to small changes) but if i can achieve the same sweet spot again i'll be very happy.

An unlooked for extra benefit is that i am using the eyepiece counter balance shaft on the rear (projecting towards me) and it made for a nice extra handle - it should help me curtail my bad habit of steering the scope using the diagonal.

Bravo Rowan! 

It's very interesting to see the characteristics of these EP exposed in the daylight as it were. That was a really helpful and even handed presentation of your analysis @Mr Spock - thanks 👍

There is a lot I like and admire regarding that organisation of things @omo  Very nicely done. 

Thanks for posting that Chris & Grant - it was great to get a look at and get actual hands on the kit you had brought to the show Saturday - very educational, very enjoyable. Thanks. 

new eps to accommodate today:

This re-jig of the shadow foam is neater than it looks and would have counted as a 9/10 resounding success except i got caught using "the best" kitchen knives at the last minute and "lost a few marks" 🤣.

1 minute ago, wesdon1 said:

Tonight in large parts of UK the night skies are going to be crystal clear all night, perfect for visual and imaging!

Not so perfect for my ability stay accurate in spreadsheets at work tomorrow but you know - priorities are priorities 🤣

Don't set me off on the 10mm @John - 10mm is a really useful FL for me and i have a bit of an on/off relationship with a 10mm Pentax XW in that slot. The Pentax is optically superb - really nice tidy stars even at the field stop, lovely subtle star colours and i think it's really transparent to boot, unfortunately some nights i just cannot find and hold the exit pupil reliably, other nights i get on with it fine - i need to jury rig a few mm of extension to the eye guard i think to hold me off the eye piece top a little bit. Thankfully for my bank balance I think my current and future astigmatism kind of rules out all the ethos above 8mm (with their corresponding larger exit pupils).

I'll keep you posted on the 4.7mm (i read you had it before and rated it) 😉 - it's a lovely x96 and >1-degree FOV in my little scope and x213 and half a degree in my TOA. In this latter case it gives me double the drift time i have with a 5mm ortho currently so will be nice for Saturn and Mars in particular and hopefully Jupiter too on steady nights. The 6mm is with Jupiter in mind at a slightly lower magnification. (I have an undriven mount otherwise i wouldn't be bothering).

The power mate was my unsuccessful attempt to avoid all these shorter focal length EPs - it's optically excellent but BIG, fine in combo with small EPs but huge in combo with tall EPs.

The 6mm courtesy of the Widescreen Centre & DPD today - a purchase finally set in train by the 4.7mm new at IAS on Saturday.

I've "suffered" more than 18-months of analysis paralysis re. the 6mm focal length, I *think* i prefer Delos to Ethos though i'm not sure and didn't know which way to go at this FL where i can anyway make a virtual 6mm Delos from a 12mm with a power mate but often don't like the unwieldiness of the resulting stack. It's also a FL where i could end up needing glasses at the EP a few years down the line.

"Unfortunately" I found the 4.7mm at the weekend to be a very friendly view and i really enjoyed the dark sky/wide FOV combination it's characteristics delivered so i decided to act on the 6mm and enjoy it before i talked myself down from 100-degrees and 15mm of eye relief at 6mm again! 

The little bit of IAS show discount feels expensive right about now so hopefully we have some clear nights in the short term to temper any buyers remorse that may creep in if it sits unused for too long...🫣

I can't help on your troublesome X Sge (i'm still in the shallow end wearing arm ends w.r.t. doubles) but i do understand BUP to be a Burnham extension from this useful summary at https://www.handprint.com/ASTRO/bineye2.html

It sounds like you've had a productive few nights. 

Life intervened but i was hoping to be in Cygnus or Cassiopeia searching STF doubles myself last night (i've prepared Struve based  lists for these two areas for brighter nights over the next few weeks).

@Trentend - we may be going through a similar thought process.

I also have a Planet/AZ100 on one hand and use a Gitzo 4-series with fluid head for GnG up to a 6kg or so short refractor on the other.

I am also considering something in the middle - like a Berlebach Uni-18 or 28 or a Gitzo 5-series. 

The trouble is the Uni tripods only shave 2 or 3kg off the planet and the 5-series may not be a material upgrade over the 4-series.

I find my 4-series Gitzo very stable - the "only" shortcoming is also it's best quality i.e.  it's lightness - i sometimes nudge it when i don't mean to and mid star-hop that can be annoying.

What characteristic of your 5-series do you want to improve? Do you have a very short one or one of the 4 or 5 leg section versions?

It’s a funny old hobby isn’t it. It sounds  like you were well rewarded with Jupiter though. 
There are some more clear nights in the outlook this week (according to the BBC at least, it’s not so optimistic on Clear Outside). Fingers crossed. 

15 hours ago, CraigT82 said:

Ah thanks yes. For some reason I thought full price was £3725. Still a nice discount. 

That 12” CC really floats my boat @CraigT82 and I had a good look at it yesterday. It’s beautifully made. Sadly it’s too big for me (something I kind of sadly but thankfully worked out on paper this spring), in the flesh that conclusion was confirmed. It’s really huge for it’s aperture. If I could mount it and leave it set up though…ooof. Lovely. 

https://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/daler-rowney-black-mixed-media-paper-a2/6199961000.html 👍

I had a lovely evening on the 14th September slowly rambling about with a friendly little scope, looking for new open clusters up in Cygnus. A lovely evening till i found out this morning that Jupiter was the main show (but much later in the evening after i had gone to bed) and would have rewarded more patience to see out the cloud i had around midnight. Hey oh!

Here is NGC 6811 with a Struve system (STTA 187) nearby. I knew STTA was a "double" at the time but my sketch has also brought me the C component that i didn't know about in the moment of the observation. If i had been more careful with my plotting i may have won a D component too, trailing behind these three a little way.

NGC 6811 was nice but the Open Cluster below, NGC 6819, was nicer. Very rewarding to averted vision and patience (at this aperture). 

Last night was first light for a new 4.7mm Ethos EP bought at IAS yesterday. I've bought it for the extended AFOV and more drift time with undriven mounts but my plotting of the field for NGC 6819 has highlighted an issue i will have to get my head round. Typically i look for and  plot one or two bright stars near the field stop to kind of "fix" the field and that i can keep resetting my scope view too as i sketch, the sky drifts, I sketch, the sky drifts etc...

This morning comparing and checking against SSP i can see the 110-degree AFOV (and in particular moving my head around the field stop to see it) has caused me to badly capture the spatial relationships of the brighter stars. Basically i have focussed on a much smaller area of the field than the EP was showing in reality. I'll have to have a think about how to calibrate for this.

Has anyone else found the higher powered Ethos and the expansive star fields they can show to also be a bit disorienting when it comes to sketching or star-hopping?

Cheers

1 minute ago, PeterStudz said:

Jupiter - as it got higher I could occasionally push Jupiter to  x375. The GRS in view with details, ovals and trailing swirls visible. Some interesting festoons and hotspots too. The EZ has a few disturbances, one large one to the west of the GRS was obviously. The EZ seems more active than last yr which I’ve noticed before when looking at the planet.

GRRRRR. that does not soften my sense of missing out! 🤣

This a bit of sky i possibly know the best (which is not saying too much) because it's at a very friendly altitude (this time of year) for a 45-degree angled bird spotting scope and its a bit of sky that lends itself to low power power comfy sweeping with that type of kit (and i've done it a lot). All very pretty.

That is superb - i didn't see it like that last night (i was at very low power so the cluster was way too small and sky was too light) but your sketch absolutely "nails" how this little cluster has appeared to me "at it's best". Very evocative.

Very nice @MZack - i was sweeping this direction with low power binoculars before getting behind my scope last night. It was a lovely evening to be out wasn't it.