PeterW

:-)) Gain control is rather special for who have it. Another reason to get lost is that it’s harder to tell the relative brightness and red stars will appear brighter than by eye.. messing up asterisms. Peter

.... hope you have the filters on order and maybe a 3x multiplier lens as well?! You can enjoy the view already by going outside and holding a filter over the front lens (best if you are shaded from direct straylights/moon). With a transparent sky you will be treated to a view of some of the stars that have been “stolen” and maybe some nebulae too. Given you live closer to the square mile I’m not going to engage in a “my light pollution is worse than yours” competition! Welcome to the club! PEter

I’d go formapparent field of view and not she sharpness over raw exit pupil. Many 7x50 have a narrow field of view, which can feel restrictive compared to a wide field of tiny stellar points. PEter

Quite a handle to look out for as it whirls about! The eyepiece height was also perfect for you and almost constant is it moved around the sky. Very convenient, Peter

Sorry this visit wasn’t too good, though great to hear you still managed some day/night observing. Peter

My 9x50 is straight thru and designed for using as a CCD guider, So no focus apart from a bit of fine thread adjust at the objective... will be fun to get it set up at f3. Once set I may need to make a spacer for the back so setting up will be faster in future. PEter

Be interesting to see what a video/stacking short exposure ccd camera would do with a narrow hydrogen alpha filter on the front. My gut feeling is that it would take some time (ie much longer than “instant”) to get comparable views. Welcome to the club @Highburymark have to meet up some time. Hope you’re getting the TNVC adapter and a 3x lens (need to hunt for one) and both a suitable hydrogen alpha filter and 685nm (or similar) long pass filter... under your skies you need all the help you can. A copy of Brackens Astrophotography Sky Atlas wouldn’t be a bad idea either. I had some epic wide angle views of the Scutum Starcloud and the lumpy bits of nebulosity up the Aquila rift at the weekend, better than just seeing the eridanus loop. PeterW

I observe from a reclined lightweight camp chair and can hold 8x pretty still. A trick to get good at is being able to look at a star and the bring binoculars to your face pointing at it... saves time sweeping about randomly. Peter

Seeing if we get lucky and get some bonus clear skies tonight after yesterday’s late cold and very gusty session. Fingers crossed. peter

On the IoW for the annual cloud watching event. Thursday was not too bad but sopping wet with dew. Friday was a nonstarter with cloud. Saturday promised good things from the wee small hours, so time for a good relaxed pub visit. Some people decided to get some sleep beforehand. It started to clear around 1, but it was really gusty, so a good test of the extra layers and new boots I brought. As Orion started to gain height Barnards Loop was reasonably clear along with the Meissa/angelfish nicely on his shoulders using the NV at 1x. Stacking a 7nm and 12nm hydrogen alpha filters seemed to smooth the view a bit. The rosette with the 80mm was the best I’ve seen it as was the whole North America and gamma Cygnus region with nearby sh119 probably larger than the North America. I then decided to try afocal using my handheld 80mm… with tube extensions, 55mm eyepiece, pushfit NV adapter… darn thing must have been almost a meter long “straw” when I’d finished and to add another insult the view was now inverted and backwards! The view was probably at least as good as normally, so I tried to search around below the hyades for the eridanus loop which has evaded me on many an occasion. With the long tube, inverted view and not having brought my laser finder out I was sweeping about quite a bit. However I am pretty certain I detected a wide faint streak in the right direction, only the vertical bit. Always nice to tick off another hard object. Another highlight was seeing the Pleiades nebulosity with a friends refractor, amazing amounts, if it had been Thursday I’d have put it down to dew on the lens! If tonight is clear that will be a bonus, so a successful trip for once. PEter

Beard warmer... see my sig pic.. the infamous “beard head”, (still) available on the inter web! Makes you suspicious of other “top 10 best” lists... maybe I am not old and/or cynical enough? Peter

Off on my annual dark trip later this week, forecast actually not too bad, though windy. Sure we can up with some material for Owen. Peter

Just in time for my next dark trip! Rather fed up with frozen feet interrupting good observing sessions. These should put an end to that problem’ PEterW

Annoying, maybe you can make some spacers to wedge the barrels apart to your IPD... not ideal, but avoids risking damage. Peter

Thanks for finding out, looks like the pot luck secondhand maybe the only way to get lower price. PEterW