PeterW

Present for the 80mm for lunar and solar viewing, thanks to @Highburymark Peter

Great thanks, have to look for commercial poster printers. I’ve been fiddling with LTVT scripting lately, constant low angle illumination,’ arbitrary libration and animations.... Peter

Could you post a link? I’m fiddling with making other custom maps to help, with dorsa and libration areas. Peter

For those looking for a computer based lunar maps the Virtual Moon Atlas version 7 has just been released, it has more detail, textures than you can shake a very big stick at.... really great resource updated to be even better.... http://ap-i.net/avl/en/start Peter

Note I’ve convinced a chap to stitch all the Apollo era LAC/LM together into ONE huge image you can scroll around, great fun and stops one having to jump about. There are some detail:Colorado on differences, but who cares.... https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/711469-whole-moon-lac-chart/#entry10292959 peter

For those who have come across or use the Apollo era LAC or LM charts you’ll know they’re the best hand drawn charts available (though missing round the limb). I wondered why no one had stitched them all together as having a whole moon map you can across round it much easier than one where you have to jump between pages. I pondered this on Cloudynights and a chap responded and knocked up both orthographic and Mercator versions... not small (10b), but really useful. https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/711469-whole-moon-lac-chart/#entry10292959 enjoy Peter

Own design. It’s just an offset cylinder differences from a larger cylinder. Wall thickness around 2-3mm, make it around 0.6mm oversize. Handful of lines in OpenSCAD. You do need good measurements, a vernier is helpful. You can pad out if it’s too big, sanding it out if it’s too small is much less easy! Peter

In3d printed some, made slightly oversize and then a bit of duct tape to get a snug fit. Peter

I know, I was solar imaging fine then connection dropped, had to realign and guiding was worse... clouds approaching added to the rush. At least it’s quick to do a full realign... I used EQmod once and it took ages... you can imaging how pleased I was when I realised I’d added a wrong star that poisoned the alignment model! peter

Change the wifi channel to a less busy one, I found I could connect indoors but not outdoors. Sky safari are working on a new version that should connect directly, seen some activity but I am not on the beta programme for it. peter

!!! I need a bigger scope. That image is amazing, loads of subtle stuff, alpine valley rille....!! I am sure the 14bit camera helped? What processing software did you use? Peter

Reduced the exposure and add a stern filter and you might spot some activity near the edges, but really we need some spots. You might want to fashion some sort of finder to save time next time! peter

Mine was fully gunked, took it out and then Quite aggressively cleaned it so the scope was sort of useable, some umshiftable stuff round the edges. Contacted Lunt, then Lunt EU and got a spare filter and “pressure tuner o-ring and grease kit” in the post. (At 9yrs old I might as well, think the grease has worn away!). Very quick swap over, just not seen the sun since.. next week is looking promising. Great service. PEter

I’d go for binoculars and ignore @Stu, if you’re in country wi thy scenery (and hills) you’d curse yourself if your only close up views were upside down and back to front 😉 ! I had some great sea views last year with some40x tripod mounted binoculars. (Useful on the night sky too). Peter

Wonder if is a half brother of https://www.firstlightoptics.com/alt-azimuth/astro-essentials-3-8-photo-adapter-for-eq6-tripod.html Good to know these things exist... now to work out what I can want to mount on top of it! Peter

They’re an a commercial updated version of the homebrew Nikon 2x54. They are Galilean so don’t worry about what exit pupil you expect it to deliver. Clear and sharp vs the homebrew one I made with the addition of focussing, ergonomics to my face not quite as comfortable as the homebrew. Field of view looks a little larger, though not sure it’s quite the 36degree spec... waiting for some stars to test them out on. The front filter thread is not a common one which is a slight annoyance, though I might just tape on a slightly smaller adapter ring I have. I will draft a review soon, others will hopefully compare them to the other commercial options eg vixen, Kasai etc Details of the EQ6-3/8 adapter please.. then I could use “any old” camera tripod head. thabks peter

Don’t scratch your worktop! What’s the top thread that EQ6!has, I’ve wondered about a more convenient head for it! Peter

After Turtle mail from the US (posted 20may), it has arrived. Initial impressions good, rubber winged eyecups added, waiting for stars to appear. Peter

Thought you’d nicked me Lunt... very familiar box (of course) , though I don’t have the heliofind and use a Baader zoom. Reminds me I should do the fuzzy blocking filterreplacement after lunch... thanks to Bresser EU for posting a spare. I’d be interested in how the heliofind works, sometimes my sun tracking is not so good when imaging. Having said that the tracking was good recently, so good that the usual drifting didn’t average out the dust doughnuts on the sensor... humph. Peter

Make sure you balance it well or it will fail to track or take ages moving in certain directions. Set the balance with the eyepiece or other kit at the focal position... so you aren’t asking it to do too much hard work. Peter

.... if it’s “only” a chunk of Silicon looking then should be OK. Always be sure of what you’re using and make sure it’s not damaged. With a small aperture you might be able to glue an ND (or two) Filters to the front, with a camera doesn’t matter if you’ve got 50th/sec or 1000th/sec. for imaging I want the shortest exposure (brightest image) to freeze the seeing. for visual use you want to take all the usual precautions. peter

But I did also get a present from Bresser... you Lunt users will understand... ready for prime time again! Peter

Customs payment request.... only been nearly a month since posting I’m from the west coast of US..... Getting closer. Peter

Apologies for missing your post… we don’t many NV posts on SGL. Welcome to the dark side, sounds like you’ve got all the right bits and have got some good views… the best areas are starting to come back again in the late evening. You might like to get a copy of Bracken- astrophotographers star atlas, it’ll show you what’s about nebulae wise. You’ll find that red stars make star hopping a pain, around the milkyway you’ll probably end up Nebula hopping once you’ve seen got your bearings. I use a 685nm filter for non-nebulae and use it for starfields, clusters and galaxies (I can see plenty in the 8”, though they’re rather tiny)…. More than I could expect normally given my light pollution. You’ll spot lots of satellites (more now Mr Musk is in the game) and meteors. For phone imaging and C11 usage @Gavster is the local expert. He’s just got Televues new “ lens” to make stuff even faster… expect a post quite soon. I’ve always wondered what a helmet mount might might be like.. details please? For zenith observing I’ve always found lying on the ground with a pillow under my head to be the most comfortable, not good if wet or if there is a risk of others tripping over you. As the summer progresses, there’ll be a lot more to see along the milkyway from Cepheus to Sagittarius. Do post more of your experiences, be good to see how many more people we can show the benefits to! Peter

If you want zoom and two eyed views then bathe best option would be a binocular telescope (eg APM or Oberwerk), with a zoom eyepiece like the Baader 8-24mm. Good views, definitely not cheap and angles views. Lunar detail needs more magnification that fixed power binoculars. Above about 10x you’ll need to mount them, which can get more costly as the weight goes up. Birders use an 8-10x binocular and a separate spotter so they cover near and far options. Peter