BS269

How have you found the dual Astro/daylight mod? I would like the option of being able to use it for daytime, but it’s not the end of the world if not. It looked far too expensive for me initially, but if I just got the IR mod then in order to use it I’m thinking the addition of filter comes to roughly a similar price? I don’t know if I’d need to use a white balance filter for planetary? do you have to use any filters for any photography purposes you do? Have you found any problems with this mod? Feel free to add more pictures as well I’d love to see them! The capability for good planetary imaging as well is another thing that sold this scope for me. It’s something I’m very interested in. Also my photographer friend has convinced me to only use prime lenses, as they are generally faster aperture and much better quality. So atm my plan is to get the canon 50mm f1.8 and the Rokinon 14mm f2.8. Prime lenses at 200mm seem to be stupid money so instead I’m just going to buy some small Apo refractors instead. They seem to be cheaper, far better for AP and can use them as a telescope too! And I’m going to get either the star adventurer or the ioptron skyguider.

I ended up buy a 12” skywatcher GoTo Dobsonian only a couple days after ordering the camera. I think this will probably end up being my only visual Scope as by the sounds of it, they are by far the best visual scopes (except for bigger dobs ofc) so hopefully I’ll learn my way around the sky as I use that. The camera arrived on Monday, got it checked by a friend who’s a professional photographer for sensor scratches who doesn’t think there are any. It’s currently in a shop for a sensor clean and if that turns out okay with no revealed scratches then I’ve gotten very lucky! I got the camera, 18-55mm kit lens (autofocus doesn’t work but no problem for AP), camera bag, 3 batteries, 2 chargers and a lightweight tripod for £110. Touch wood everything goes well!

I’ve looked on there before but never for pics from a 550D, I was set on getting the 600D for a while. Hadn’t thought about looking in there for the 550! cheers

Yeah it does seem to be a hell of a lot to learn, I’m trying to juggle starting out in visual, AP whilst saving up and preparing for what gear I’m going to get. I’m seriously obsessed with this website currently though so I’m constantly learning things, even if they aren’t relevant to what I need yet. that Milky Way shot is actually very useful for me, as I’m bortle 5, edging on 4, and was wondering what one of these images would look like. Is this one single image or a stacked one and post-processed? I Don’t really know what you mean by washed out but I think the moon pic looks great! cheers!

Looks like I’m going to be a new member as I’ve got a canon 550D after finding a nice bargain! Hopefully be here next week... I expect it will be solely used for astrophotography; deep space, planetary, and wide field Milky Way shots. I have the kit lens and I am going to buy a 75-300mm zoom lens to start me out with deep space photography, and I want to get it modded. By the looks of what I’ve found, full spectrum mod is the best one, but then there is problems with using lenses with it. Is there any way to get around this? If not will just the IR removal work with lenses? If anyone has any other advice with this camera please let me know! if anyone has any images with this camera they are willing to share, then please put it in here! Cheers!

Ahh okay nice! When I come round to retouching and doing the finderscope I’ll keep that in mind to do. Thanks for letting me know! when I say a snug fit, I mean I have to give it a bit of force to shove it all the way in, so it is a very good fit, I think I even tested it upside down and it didn’t move. And that’s a big bulky baader Hyperion zoom mk iii. i may give the motor a shot, I guess it is worth trying. But if it doesn’t I’m not really interested in fixing it. At least for now anyway; maybe one day when I’m more Experienced and fancy a challenge. cheers!

I was given the cables for the motor the other day but they don’t look particularly safe. I haven’t tried it but I don’t think I’m going too tbh. Maybe one day when I’m mentally prepared to face mains electricity (not for the first time) 😂 I have pushed the mirror forward by about 30mm, I just forgot to say! I haven’t changed the focuser though, just stuck some PVC tape in it so it fits my baader Hyperion zoom quite snug now. I will soon be buying an EQ6-R so I will fit the scope on there also whilst learning the mount and saving up for a bigger scope. i probably won’t end up giving this set up enough time before upgrading, but I’ve spent that much time doing it up I won’t just be leaving it to rot again. Heard many people say the optics are good on this scope so once I get the collimation right I’m sure I’ll be blown away with the views! I did spray paint the OTA Inside a Matt black colour but the picture doesn’t really show it. I did the best I could with it but I couldn’t reach my hand inside to do the middle so it is probably quite uneven and not fully covered. Never heard of flocking before what is it? Will the reflectivity of the inside affect the performance much?

Been some time since I posted on here about my TAL-1 that I was going to strip down and refurb. Well here it is - got some before and after pictures for comparison... had many people say it looks like a old rocket launcher so thought I’d stick with the idea and go for military green colour! Definitely gave myself a hard task giving my first ever telescope, made in 1993 (I think) new life. Haven’t done the finder scope and there are some scratch marks due to lack of proper storage and I was missing a leg, which I got made, so some retouching is in order. But overall I’m very happy it’s finally in full working order! Gave it first light a couple nights ago. Turns out it has pinched optics. So need to get that sorted and make sure collimation is spot on, but I got some nice views of the moon, which was good enough for me! I gave Jupiter a shot and I think more accurate collimation is in order, but I’ll get there.

I’m really interested in running everything via WiFi through my phone/PC, and from what I know (which isn’t much..) about skyfi and starsense this sounds like you’ve achieved it? I’ve just bought SkySafari 6 plus and it looks great, and connecting it to the skyfi III looks like a really straightforward way of using it for visual, which is what I’m interested in to begin with. I will eventually go into AP tho, which I know requires a much more complicated set up. Do you do any AP and if so does your WiFi system work for it all? Such as autoguiding, camera control etc. If the skyfi is useless for AP then I probably won’t get it. If it can be used I will almost certainly get it, unless there are better other WiFi options of course. Ben

Thanks for the advice everyone! Managed to find a good shed 2nd hand which looks like it’ll do the job well, and for about 1/4 of the price from new!! will still make sure I will buy covers and cases for extra protection, but will take some pictures once it is assembled!

A good lock is a good point!! Generally where I live it’s a safe place but I will definitely be taking precaution on that sense. nice little set up!! Mine will definitely be more of a workshop, as I’m looking for a 6’ x 8’ shed which allows me to have a table for scopes/accessories, somewhere to sit for any work to do or imaging, and some extra room for an eventual dob purchase. It then saves me going forward and backward by a lot less! There is also a chance I can get mains power in there too, which would allow me to use an extension lead to power the mount instead of paying another couple hundred quid for a portable power pack. It would also allow me for potential heating in the shed, though I think my dad would kill me if I had a heater on 24/7 for telescopes! I’ll keep in mind the shed details you suggested, I don’t want to buy the cheapest shed possible. I want to make sure it’s a stable environment for them. I’m thinking it might be worth looking at an actual workshop. Could have better storage options and potentially better weatherproof designs as well. As I will most likely buy cases for the scopes and put accessories in containers, I guess it’s mostly the mount I’m worried about, as dismantling that entirely to fit in a case would take quite a while I suppose. Is it okay to just buy a cover for it? I’ll look to make sure the shed/workshop is well ventilated. Though I’m not sure how it can be this and water right as I don’t really want any windows (for safety purposes). I’m guessing insulation is a possibility but I want inside to be similar to outside temp, to reduce cooling times of telescopes. i don’t know if I’m overthinking all this and a decent shed and covers/cases will suffice 😂

Apologies, I know this isn’t about an observatory but I don’t know where else to put it. I want to store my equipment in a shed as where I observe is about 35m from my house. Included in this equipment will be a brand new EQ6-R pro. I know I need to get it pressurised so it’s waterproof, especially as it’s quite windy and rainy where I live. Is there anything else I need to consider to make sure the equipment will be in safe and top condition? e.g. covers, shed extras etc? Please let me know what would be needed as I don’t want to spend a lot of money on stuff for it to get ruined! cheers!

When I was about 13/14 years old and wanted to buy a telescope, but I was recommended to buy a pair of binoculars instead, much cheaper and good to start out on he said. So I got a pair of 10x50’s and I loved them. The only annoying thing about them was that I couldn’t get a stable enough view with my hands. If binoviewers are a love or hate thing then I’m pretty sure I’d love them. I will definitely look for a way to mount my binos on the EQ6-R, if it’s possible. Talk about wide field!

I agree I’m not fond of getting a newt for it. I think the CC and the C9.25” have similar focal length so they should provide similar field of view. If I could use a reducer on the CC that would be great, but without by the sounds of it I’ll get better planetary views. the CC is my top choice right now, with the mak in 2nd place. Which one I choose between the 2 will depend on How much money I want to spend! thank you very much everyone for the advice, really appreciate it!

Good point.. even a planet at low altitude with a mak would still beat my best viewing experience on Jupiter I’m sure... so I don’t think I’ll be too disappointed with it 😂

I never considered a Bino viewer, do they really enhance the viewing experience that much? I’ll take a look into it!

I’m not sure I’ll go down the Newtonian route until I get a dob. I was certainly leaning toward the mak, until someone has suggested the TS optics 8” classical cassegrain. Had a look at that and I’m very impressed by the look of it. Is about £300 more than a new 180 mak though but I’d be happy with either, as I think I’m getting a little greedy for my 1st “big” scope, especially given I’m not made of money and saving up for travelling next year 😂. If I see a second hand mak I will most likely snap it up, but if I decide to go that bit further with my money then I will go for the CC. I’m pretty sure either way I’m going to be blown away with the view. My 2nd scope bought will be a small apo triplet for AP but hoping to also get some nice wide field views with that too. Can’t wait to finally get viewing!

Sounds like it’s definitely still possible then! To be honest the most detail I’ve ever seen on Jupiter is Barely being able to make out the Red equatorial bands (is this the right name?) and even then I was blown away 😂 so there isn’t exactly much competition to beat.. I’m just being greedy for the best view possible. sounds like an ADC is a worthy investment! And my views from where I observe I’d say are very good! There’s one tree that blocks a bit of my view but besides that I can see a lot of the sky in all directions. thanks very much for this advice!

I stumbled across your thread of when you first bought this scope and I have to say you’re really selling this to me! Now you’ve had more experience with it would you still say it surpasses the mak 180? I was thinking if it was possible to use a reducer I could still get some wider field DSO Use out of it, with possible AP as well in the distant future. Does a reflector scope like this need a corrector? This scope seems to be a nice mid-way between the mak and the C9.25 XLT.. take away the long cool down time and dew build up. And it’s currently £200 cheaper than usual.. if I had the money I’d buy it right now. Does the scope have anywhere to put a piggyback mount on? I’d like to make more use of my tracking mount and do some Milky Way Photography too. I’ve seen a Celestron one but not sure if they fit all scopes.

Well I don’t know how much them being low down obscures the view. I don’t really want to get a mak and then the planets not even be worth looking at due to their position. I’ve just heard about an ADC though so maybe it’s still possible to get good views?

Looks like a great scope! Do you know which UK sites you can buy one from? Also can you still use a reducer in this type of scope? What kind of accessories would you say are necessary for either visual or imaging? sorry for all the questions, this seems like a great option and just want to know more about it before making my decision. cheers!

Sounds good! I’ll definitely look more into it!

I’ll have a look for some reviews then, Sounds like a good scope though!

This looks good! But I don’t fully understand the difference between that and an SCT, besides slightly longer focal length it’s fully reflective. Will it give better views than the SCT?

How long ago was the years of poor quality control? Just incase I do go for it so I know what years to avoid 😂 I do like the versatility of the SCT, I was just very concerned about getting a bad one. I haven’t considered a classic Cassegrain, and I know nothing about it. What are the advantages of one of these? I am very interested in the mak but worried it’s the wrong time to buy one, given the position of the planets being low. Is there something to help improve viewing with this problem? a big newt on a EQ mount I don’t really like the sound of if I’m honest. I always thought one day I’d get a nice sized dob and if I have one of them I don’t see the need for another big newt. I like the idea of a more compact telescope on the mount. this is too hard of a decision to make. Could really do with winning the lottery right now..