PeterW

Just get the fastest you can, “67mm plossl” afocal being the easiest method. Faster means brighter and you can then filter harder which helps under light pollution. Play with extra reducers, see what works for the kit you have. I think some people are offended by NV and so we were banished to mix with the EEA community. @Stu frequency shift aka band shift is when the band pass of the filter varies cross the image due to putting in a light cone that is too fast. Filters ideally like parallel light due to the multilayer etalon design they use. Manufacturers devise how fast their filters can operate so you just need to be aware… if the nebulae begin to fade around the edges on the field then you know what’s happening. Peter

2”-1.25” adapter rings so I can use 1.25” filters in the filter slide i recently picked up. Peter

your assumption is right, I’ve unfolded the Z bracket (screwed the camera screw into the binocular tripod hole) and then made the orange block to “fill the gap to my head”, getting the shape exactly right isn’t too critical as you can rock the binoculars up and down a bit and still look through them. When standing up you press the binoculars into your head, makes the view more stable and easier to hold as well. I quite often observe by on the ground with a pillow and the rest taken the weight better. I have meant to make a bracket to hold 2x54 onto a cheap go pro headband. I do have a 3D scan of my head (and it’s short hair(!), will have a play… I’ve printed some mini heads for “custom lego men” 😉 cheers peter

Cos I am using it with NV, so longpass, narrow hydrogen and spare… good thought for if I feel the need for another filter drawer. One issue with 3DP is fine threads, tend to be a “only thread on once” affair. I could also use stronger magnets too! I wouldn’t trust a fully printed housing due to the thread issue. It could be a bit thinner, but I can reach focus with what I need to. I also printed a thin spacer so the t-thread adapter on one side doesn’t screw in so far it fouls the filter tray. PEter

Picked up an Altair filter drawer system to enable me to hot swap filters when observing. Now what to do with the ones I am not using…?? So I made me a box to hold 2 back to back. Added a few metal screws to give the included magnets something to hold them (not hugely strongly) in place. Worked on the first print too! Peter

Seems like I didn’t post about the use of a commercial widget to make monopod use more stable…. The move-shoot-move Z-V adjustable bracket on a monopod adds a little extra height and also provides extra tilt for observing at high elevations without the load on the ball head become too off centre. https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/754824-widget-for-helping-high-angle-monopod-use/ https://www.moveshootmove.com/products/z-v-platform-designed-with-alyn-wallace-preorder Back to the current post…. A new Swarovski binocular has a an adjustable headrest to help stabilise their higher power models. Got me wondering about adding one to my astro bins, but laziness over how to design it set in… until now, when I was playing with the Z-V widget and it got me thinking. On its own it won’t fit properly, but adding a custom block to the bottom places the flat surface in the right location. (I 3D printed the block.. but if wood would work) You could vary the size and thickness if you wanted. I’ll probably round the edges and add a thin bit of neoprene to make it a bit softer on the forehead. Should fit most centre mount binoculars. I am going to tweak the shape of the rest so it is a bit closer to the eyepieces and is more vertical, probably need a different one for each of my binoculars, for instance there is an adjustable locking lever that can get in the way for centre focus, just need to raise the metal up a bit… extend the block down to compensate… Now I can get more stable views, as the more stable you can get your binoculars the more you can see. Peter

Nifty counterbalance on the AZ3, I used a similar mass to help with an st120 I had many years back Peter

The nebulae standout as @GavStar is using a very narrow hydrogen alpha filter that nukes the stars (and light pollution) and only shows the nebulosity. If you add a longpass filter you end up with a sky full of stars and no nebulae. bright star will “bloom” slightly and the resolution is limited by the microchannel plate, but like camera pixels… so depends on what camera you are using as to how the stars look. Gavs mount is actually quite quiet, not like the old Meade “coffee grinders” of old. Getting good footage that gives a faithful view of what you can see with your eye is a challenge. The view is real-time with no integration, just that phone camera need a little longer to give a representative view. Peter

https://elsteadvillage.co.uk/elstead-military-land/ Peter

I wonder if Frensham carpark is left open? Puttenham feels a bit close to Guildford. Peter

Seems like 1:0 to the Terminagler. Honey I shrunk my Panoptic??! Peter

For low power views there are always binocular telescopes, no GPC needed, Peter

Card spacer will be replaced as the e c-adapter screws on a tiny bit too far at the moment. Peter

Rapid filter swap capability, now need to make a holder to hold the cartridges not in use.

… a lot is down to the atmospheric seeing and it’s spatial length scale which means that scopes much bigger than 6” (or so) are not necessarily any better than smaller ones. Of course if you are using lucky imaging then you can grab those very occasional moments of stable viewing and stack them together and get more from your bigger scopes. Peter

Depends how you want to spend your time… imagers take ages on each object to collect photons and then spend time to process the result. Observers spend their time finding and looking at objects with their eyes out in the cold…. Personal choice, everyone has their own motivations. Peter @Deadlakeyou can have fun without even a scope… just a small camera lens sometime…. hand carry.

For NV you want speed of optics, using the Televue 67mm reduction to speed up the scope you choose for the focal length and hence field of view. Big scopes simply give you a smaller field of view. Refractor, reflector, anything will do. For the best views you want to give each eye an NV view…. Double the fun, but double the cost. Depends what objects you want to look at… different objects, different tools. collimation is nothing to worry about, though did watch a friend nearly unscrew his SCT secondary by twiddling the screws the wrong way…. Peter

L version is the one to get, has a narrower field of view so you can point it in different gross directions. Peter

All works fine, maybe make accessing the moon info Easier…. Was clicking like a mad thing until I found it… only after seeing your post. Maybe you could add the dust forecast or the copernicus aerosol depth? Your app continues to get more useful and a one-stop-shop. Peter

We’ve all got SQM-L, although there is a phone app that claims to do the same I am not sure how accurate it is, my old phone didn’t give good results, but then it’s camera is almost blind at night. Peter

Thursley area looks good, also maybe arbor chiddongford, woolbeding common, S of Blackdown may also be worth looking for places with the right logistics and views that can then be measured at night. Peter

I randomly tried to split Castor a few nights back with my 70mm binoculars, I was seeing if I could use my 5mm eyepiece in them (80x), nice black gap between the components… pleasantly surprised, maybe should do More of this?? Peter

SE, wadhurst AS have done a survey round them with some good sites, otherwise head out towards dungeness. Peter

Dark and close, easier to get one or the other. I’d suggest SQM data unless the app has been checked to ensure the numbers returned are correct. I’m hopeful we’ll find some sheltered location that is surprisingly good and easy to get to… the holy grail. Peter

Would be good to collate sites between sw London and the South Downs park (which has been fully SQM surveyed), so we can identify closer dark places. SQM data is best to allow for comparisons. Peter