BS269

APM website wanted €45 for delivery... nah. do you know if astrograph.net is a trustworthy site? very nice! What scopes did you get? That sounds like a fancy collimator!!

I was looking for a wide field EP and was about to go for ES 20mm 100°. Then all of a sudden I heard about the APM being cheaper and better 🤔 gave it a research and seems to be the common opinion!

Thanks John, different web link for sure but takes me to exactly the same page. Least I know it’s safe though. Cheers!

Going to buy the APM 20mm 100° EP, seen it’s being sold on an APM named website but looks a bit weird to me. could anyone confirm this is their official website, and is safe to purchase from? http://apm-telescopes-englisch.shopgate.com/item/3133363731 I can get the eyepiece from teleskop express, but it’s more expensive for delivery. cheers!

Wow thank you everyone for the advice! Not had much success since but I will continue to look out for opportunities.. sadly the weather has been so bad for me the last few weeks I’ve not even been able to get my scope out and enjoy the hobby either. Autumn weather is terrible where I live

I have read that astronomy journalism is a bit of a dying breed with reducing success. Not sure why that is the case. I thought it to be quite a dream job if the money was there but doesn’t seem to be the case. I will take a look at public engagement astronomers to see if anything is available. I do live quite close to Jodrell Bank so something there might be possible. I’ve also thought about outreach but I thought that was more voluntary work?

Don’t worry you haven’t disappointed, as it was what I was expecting! From the searching I’ve done there really are very few opportunities for someone with just a BSc in this field. I figured I would give this website a shot as you never know... I will have a think about what kind of jobs could offer what you suggested. Thanks very much!

The only American telescope store I know of is highpoint scientific, who prices a skywatcher 8” dob at $445. Based on this price I would say you could find a used one for around $300 on the cloudy nights classifieds forum, link here - https://www.cloudynights.com/classifieds you may have to be patient and look regularly, but buying second hand from the stargazing community is generally a safe bet, as they take good care of their equipment. If this is your first time buying something to view the night sky through, then a good pair of binoculars are highly recommended for starting out. traversing the sea of stars is difficult for the inexperienced, using binoculars gives you the widest field of view to learn where everything is. Not to mention the breathtaking view of an innumerable amount of stars that you’ll see through the view. if you are insistent on a telescope, then an 8” dob is a great choice that will serve you for life. Save up as much as you can, get one 2nd hand and spend the rest on some better eyepieces and accessories! Ben

I was wondering what kind of jobs there were in the astronomy world, that didn’t require a PhD.. I’m a newly graduated student in physics with space science, who got their first telescope a few months back and since started to actively involve myself in the stargazing hobby and community, and I’ve loved every minute of it! However I’m now at the daunting position of being thrown out into the world of work, and I’m hoping I can find something that involves this amazing subject. My problem is most jobs that utilise my degree require a higher level of qualification; masters, PhD etc.. something that I am not yet prepared to do. So I’m turning to you good people who have been in this community far longer than I, for any possible ideas. The one that springs to my mind first is a telescope store, though I fear I don’t have enough knowledge or experience of telescope equipment to be a sales advisor in such a shop (though I am a fast learner!). The second idea, which I’d love to do, would be astronomy journalism, but again I imagine a journalism qualification is required. Are there any other astronomy related jobs out there that people can think of, that might be possible for me to apply for? Many thanks! Ben

This is from my home, CO says it’s 20.47 so I’m on the border of bortle 4. The darker skies close by isn’t enough to justify travelling too as I live in the Peak District which is surrounded by cities! Would light pollution filters be worth it with this sky quality? What does the ratio indicate as well?

I want to go down both routes really... it will give me a good range of magnitudes with a minimum of 75x for the stock EPs if I shorten the tubes. If I use my 2.25x Barlow and don’t shorten them I’m guessing it will give a 3.5-4x effect, which then Takes me to 260-300x mag. Or I could do a mix of both shortening and use the 1.6x Barlow, which (assuming it gives a 2.5x effect) takes me to 180x mag. And that’s just with one eyepiece pair! Obviously it isn’t going to be that easy sadly, as I don’t know how badly collimation will be affected. i also own a baader Hyperion zoom mk III which could tempt me into buying another, though 2 of these plus a binoviewer could really strain my focuser. The mk IV was better designed for binoviewers but it is what it is. i really wish I could just go straight for something like the binotron I’m that confident I’ll love them, but as I’m meant to be saving for travelling next year and not doing a very good job at it (because of this bloody hobby), I can’t really afford spending triple the price 😞

I’m more worried about not using a Barlow actually, as I would expect to not need one if I collapse the dob by 4 inches or so, hence keeping it at f4.9 i will use Barlows too; I already own a 2.25x so having a 1.6x would be a nice add on which should give me a few different magnifications!

Thank you very much! I think I may end up going for the smaller TS or WO now, as it’s just to get me started into binoviewing to see if I enjoy it. If I do I will end up upgrading to a much better one at some point I’m sure. I’m quite worried about the eyepieces though now. The WO bundle is a great price but I’m worried I’d buy it and the EPs that come with it won’t handle the fast focal ratio of my scope. If they wouldn’t, I would probably go for the TS one and buy EPs separately.

Is there a way of calculating how much vignetting there will be?

I read this article yesterday, was a very interesting read but I’m not sure it has the info I need sadly. Did give me a lot of other knowledge though! This TS binoviewer I’m looking at says it has a T2 connection also!

I’m thinking of buying a binoviewer to go with my 12” skywatcher flex tube dob (fl 1500mm). I know This combination would go great for planetary and lunar with the use of a Barlow to bring it to focus, but I would really like to try and utilise it for some DSO. Because of this I would preferably want one with a clear aperture of 27-30mm, allowing me to use the widest field 1.25” eyepieces. i found this large prism binoviewer for a good price, which is important because I can’t afford the top end right now - https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p11593_TS-Optics-1-25--Wide-field-Binoviewer-with-30-mm-Prisms-for-Telescopes.html Due to the design of the skywatcher flex tube I can shorten the OTA which should allow me to reach focus, which for this binoviewer would be 4-5”. But obviously with shortening the tube I lose some of the aperture, I just don’t know how much. Is there anyway to calculate how much I would lose? If it’s only 1-2” I would be happy going ahead with it, but any more and I feel like I’m losing too much light gathering capacity, given views through a bino are dimmer due to the light splitting also. could anyone help with my aperture theoretical question? As it would be my first binoviewer purchase, if this wide field idea isn’t feasible I would rather pay low end like the WO and just use it for lunar/planetary purposes. cheers!

I agree, but they are quite big and one is fairly central so could affect nebula views. It’s more just annoying that it’s there when I’ve barely used it and I store it away properly. I bought it second hand but there wasn’t these specs at the time of purchase.

I’ll give it a search, cheers!

I’ll keep trying knocking them out of place, but I’m worried about doing it too much. The reason I knew they were there was by looking through the eyepiece in daylight, and they’re visible through quite a lot of the range, with it being sharpest about 18mm. I’ve seen multiple people saying to not dismantle it myself and I’d be worried about causing more bad then good, which is why I wanted to send it off to someone preferably. Do you know any companies that might do this sort of thing?

My baader Hyperion zoom mk iii has 3 large specs of dust on the inside of the lens, which is quite frustrating given I pack it away properly after every use.. I don’t want to take the thing apart and previous posts on this are either pretty old or inconclusive. surely there must be a proper service for something like this? As I bought second hand a while ago I can’t just return it. Giving it a light bang on the table hasn’t been successful so far and I’m worried about doing it too much. Hoping large telescope stores like RVO provide a service? cheers!

Ahh okay, I have looked down the pedestal tube before when cleaning and I don’t recall seeing anything like that sadly. Maybe they existed on the very first scopes being made? I’ve been trying the dobsonian out the last couple nights, having some new kit problems but I’m getting there.. got the tracking working properly for the first time last night which was very exciting! But my Cheshire collimator doesn’t give me a full view of the secondary, so I’m pretty sure my collimation is a bit off as my view of Jupiter and a couple DSO’s had no detail. so I need to order a collimation cap! Think my problem is that I don’t know how much detail I should be able to see.

Ahh okay, thank you for the help! Can’t wait to get into it!

I thought the dual Astro/daylight mod meant you didn’t have to use a custom white balance for daytime photography? I read the description on cheapastrophotography and that is what I gathered from it? if not, then is there any difference between that and the IR filter removal mod? As you can do daytime photography with a custom white balance I believe. regardless, I think your pictures are amazing!! Given me much hope and excitement with this camera!!

No I don’t have a tracker yet.. I think I will go with the star adventurer one, and what you suggest is what I had in mind really. I’m going to give the kit lens a shot but I’ve heard they can give soft images. If I find that is the case then the plan was to get a Rokinon 14mm and canon 50mm for Milky Way and constellation-like shots. I may not need a tracker for this but I know it would help a lot. When I’m ready to upgrade, instead of getting a longer fl camera lens I was instead going to get something like the WO space cat or 60mm apo, so it’s small enough to still fit on the star adventurer. I really like the look of the space cat, seen some incredible images with it. And I’m pretty sure that would keep me occupied for some time!

Wow been away for a bit I wasn’t expecting this many replies! Thanks to all the kind words, it’s collimated and ready to use, but I also ended up seeing a great deal for a skywatcher 12” collapsible GoTo dob + extras on the weekend that wasn’t too far away from me. It’s exactly what I wanted so ended up buying it. As my Astro-shed isn’t up yet the dob has taken priority and the TAL is stored away for the time being. Hopefully in a couple weeks I can give some proper viewing experience with it. dave - I’m not going to do any more modding for now, as you said it will now be a case of using and modding if I see fit along the way. I don’t really want to take too much of it’s vintage look away tho. The flocking looks great however! What is your eyepiece rack btw? It looks like a polar scope In a focuser 😂 mark - the mirror was in quite a grim state.. I’m surprised it cleaned as well as it did to be honest. There is some obvious wear though that can’t be seen in the picture. Alfian - I’m really excited to use it now it’s fully collimated. I believe my pinched optics were down to the locking ring in the primary mirror, which I really tightened down. It’s much looser now but still doesn’t allow the mirror to move, and whilst it was disassembled I added a centre spot, which made the collimation process far easier. My spider veins are quite awkward though. They are slightly bent and the screw caps were very stiff, which made it quite difficult to reassemble them and to centre the secondary mirror. I am quite reluctant to take them out again now really. I also couldn’t tell you about the tank gun barrels, as I don’t know what the pedistal tube is or what rifling looks like 😂 if you could describe where to look I’ll be happy to check though.