W0nderste

Glad I didn't go then if the vendor exhibition was so poor . I was interested in the talks but not at £50. Unfortunately PAS doesn't have any talks this year.

Hi does anyone know how to create a planetarium show using stellarium, to show other people?

Welcome, it was my kids that got me into this game...lol

I'd get a 2nd hand skywatcher Azgti and wedge. You can start AP with your existing cameras/lens and then when you are ready you can get a small refractor and/or 5" Mak for DSO's or planetary. The AzGti is a great little mount. Can be run in Azimuth or equatorial (with wedge) mode. Is also portable if you need to travel for dark skies. lots of great AP images with that mount

I have a sirui 284 that I got off a member on here. Great little tripod that folds up small but still sturdy enough for my AzGTi and either my Altair 70EDT or Lunt 60, or even just my DSLR for milkyway. I would highly recommend

My first telescope was a similar 114 bird-jones reflector, it didn't give great views but you should be able to see Saturn's rings, the disk of Jupiter and Jupiter's four main moons. firstly can you get good views of the moon 'in focus'??? If that is ok your basic optics are fine! Are you using a red dot finder or an optical finder? either way, ensure it is aligned to the main scope. Best to do this in the day time, by pointing your scope at a distant church steeple, pylon or apex of a roof line. Then look through the finder scope or RDF. Then if necessary tweak the 2 adjustment screws, so the finder is co-aligned with the main scope. then best to start with Jupiter or Saturn, as they are the easiest to find. Using a planetarium app identify Jupiter, point your scope in the general direction. Look through the finder or the RDF, and put the cross hairs or dot on Jupiter! Then hopefully when you look through the eyepiece the planet should be in the centre. Start with the largest eyepiece, usually 25mm. When centred you can put higher mag eyepieces instead for more detail. good luck

Welcome to SGL. They are a very friendly and helpful group on here 👍

My first ever solar image. i borrowed a Lunt 60 from my local astro club. Mounted on an AzGti with a ZWO 120mm. captured around 2mins of video and stacked using AS7 and Registax

I paid a visit to Altair Astro today, wow what a great store. So much eye-candy I barely escaped alive!! anyhoo, the reason for posting was i took my Altair 70EDT which had a problem with the fine focus knob. I wasn't sure if it just needed an adjustment or a repair. Ian took into the workshop for a quick look. It came back 10 minutes later with an entire new focuser fitted. Amazing service and very friendly owner. Many thanks to Ian at Altair. I love the scope and I also love the service

What about the Maggie Aderin-Pocock book. My niece had it and liked it https://www.wob.com/en-gb/books/maggie-aderin-pocock/starfinder-for-beginners/9780241286838?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3oiM5ILM-QIVdYBQBh0jVwYrEAQYBSABEgJRr_D_BwE#GOR009275923

Depends what you want to achieve and what your expectations are. I wouldn't pay new prices, but they are great little scopes. As for connecting a DSLR they are better for planetary viewing so would be better with a planetary camera. personally I'd probably err towards an AzGti with small Mak or SCT. The advantage being you can run it in Az mode and EQ mode and the synscan app is easy to use

Not going to win any prizes but this was my first galaxy pic last week, so I was very excited none-the-less Leo Triplet includes spiral galaxies M65, M66, and NGC 3628. Can also see NGC3593 on the right. SW72ED Az GTi mount (standard az mode) nikon 5600 50x13sec exposures ISO 2000 edited in DSS and Gimp

Captured my first galaxy pic the other day. SW72ED Az GTi mount (standard az mode) nikon 5600 50x13sec exposures ISO 2000

Twice as long as middle to one end 😉

Great info thanks. what eyepieces are you using with the dioptrx if you don't mind me asking?

Awesome thanks 👍

Would you recommend specific campsites at these locations?

Nice pic Stu 👍

Thanks @Don Pensack and @Louis D for your detailed response my right eye is 3.25 and left eye 4.75 but I've never bothered using them for viewing. I always wear my glasses for driving but got out of habit of wearing most of the time so just continued that into astronomy, so I will give them a go. i recently got some new varifocals as I also now suffer from presbyopia, but I will look in getting some extra single vision glasses just for astronomy

Hi Louis, i really appreciate the reply, although I'm not really sure I understand it. so my right eye cylinder is 3.25 (that's my good eye...lol) so according to the chart I will see astigmatism in pretty much all EP's. but how does that manifest itself viewing as haven't really noticed anything specific

Are these all the versions of APM?

Thanks Louis, i do have an astigmatism prescription but I don't wear my glasses for observing and have no idea how astigmatism effects viewing and/or how much 'eye relief' is best. Out of interest, how do you take the pic of rulers. I assume that is an indication of the apparent field of view or something?

Hi, For planetary and lunar viewing I've got an F10 SCT and a number of 1.25 EP's but I'm after a new 25mm EP. I also have a SW72ED (F6) as a travel scope but also to potentially dabble in AP. I have 2" Panaview 70* 32mm eyepiece with it, but I'd also like a slightly higher power for lunar viewing on my travels. so my thinking is to get a 1.25" 24/25mm EP with a nice wide field of view that can be used as my 25mm on the SCT but also for good views with the SW72ED so far I've identified the Explore Scientific 62* 24mm EP, but they are currently out of stock. can anyone think of any other EPs that would meet my criteria?? thanks in advance

A couple of better eyepieces - The BST range are good value. a smart phone bracket to take videos and pics - I've found the Celestron NeXYZ to be the best The book - Turn left at Orion

Can you use on SCT corrector plate and ED refractor lens, or is this just for EPs??