Starwatcher2001

I had some similar "fun" updating my NexStar firmware a few weeks ago and got the dreaded "008" message, "The telescope model could not be read", and others. I spent around 4 hours trying different things, worried that I'd "bricked" my scope. I got some good notes from here: https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/608409-wish-i-didnt-do-firmware/ What worked for me was connecting the handset in different ports on the mount. (I know, I know, I'm a computer techie and didn't think this could possibly be the solution, but in desperation I tried it and it worked). Trying updating using ports 1,2,3 all consistantly failed. Port 4 worked for some reason. Weird. Good luck. Oh, welcome aboard SGL 🙂

Unless you move the position of the camera fitting, I don't think you need to re-calibrate. Just removing and replacing the camera on the fitting doesn't require a recalibration - according to the manual. As Shimrod said, if you've knocked the camera and potentially changed the alignment between the OTA and camera then a calibrate would be in order. But given how robust the fittings are, I'd be surprised if that's necessary.

Welcome aboard Sir. I couldn't find much on the internet about that scope either, other than it appears to be a 4.5" Newtonion @f/8. I agree with Geoff and think that it would be quite frustrating without anyone who is familiar with the scope to help you out. A decent mount is as important as good optics, especially with a child being involved. If the telescope wobbles or moves around at the slightest touch, you'll lose track of what you were looking at. Are there any astronomy clubs near where you are? Although they may not be meeting right now, it might be that you could borrow a scope for a week or two and see how you get on? Mark

Hi Nico. Telescopes are all about collecting light, so generally speaking the bigger the scope, the more you'll see. However, a smaller scope that's easier to get to where you want to view is much better than a big scope that's sitting around doing nothing.

Hi Slingshot. Welcome aboard SGL, and to astronomy. Wanna swap your lovely dark skies for my light polluted ones?

Hi Ed. Welcome aboard SGL, from another old-timer from the North East (where it's been cloudy almost continually for the last 3 weeks).

Thanks John. Enthusiasm from an author and his readers about a subject speaks volumes. It was the lifecycle and H/R diagram I was particularly interested in, but I've always admired the spectroscopic side. The ability to determine what elements are contained within a body millions of miles away blows my mind. I'm happy with observational astronomy at this point, but who knows, if I can liberate the time, develop the skills and afford the equipment, I may be lured to the colourful side at some point in the future. Even if I don't, understanding some of this will make astronomy much more interesting. Not a visit to SGL goes by when I don't learn something new! Thanks again.

Thanks John for your recommendation and description of the book, and for Merlin66's seconding. I managed to find some excerpts online and that looks very much what I'm looking for. He has a very engaging style. I managed to find a second-hand copy of the second edition for £39 inc post from the USA (on Abebooks!), and snapped it up. May take a few weeks to get here in this madness, but that looks like some excellent winter reading. Thanks a lot chaps, much appreciated. Mark

That looks like a good book linking the periodic table and stellar evolution together. The only downside is it's 20 years old and I think we might have moved on a little since then, but I'm sure it will get me thinking. Now on my list, thanks Stu!

Having looked at these beautiful diamonds in the sky for a long time, I'm developing a twitch to understand more about them. Is there such a thing as a good modern book on stellar evolution that is understandable by the layman? I'd appreciate any recommendations. Thanks, Mark

Welcome to the board, and welcome to astronomy Phil.

Blimey, you're right Pixies, I've never come across that bit. That will be really useful. Thanks very much, you're a star! Sorry for wittering on, Joe 🙂

I didn't know you could do that trick with the FOV Pixies on SkySafari. That's worth knowing. I went for the Pro version to allow telescope control, and that version doesn't seem to have that feature, which is a pity. I used to do that with a program called Redshift donkey's years ago and found it really useful, especially when star hopping. Get the field of view about right, superimpose the FOV circles on it, print it out and get under the stars. I'm sure a lot of people do this, but I spend a lot of time with apps like this on cloudy nights, working my way around the sky looking for potential targets. A good tip I picked up on here that I'd never thought about, was to write a few notes about the object (distance, what it is etc) and use them when observing. Knowing a bit about the target and the neighbourhood makes star-hopping a lot more interesting. These notes are from last week's wanderings: Star off at Enif, the horse's nose which is the brightest star in Pegasus, and a wide double (mags 2.5 and 8.7), separated by 144 arc seconds. You can probably split this in the finder. It's also called the "Pendulum Star" due to an optical illusion you might see if you gently shake the scope. Sweep North West, aiming for the Dolphin's nose, past the Little Horse (Equuleus). En-route, you'll find M15 a beautiful globular cluster. This lives in our galaxy and is an estimated 12 billion years old. That "messy snowball" contains over 100,000 stars and shines with a total luminosity of 360,000 times the Sun. It's probably got a black hole at it's centre. It contains variable stars, pulsars and a double neutron star. When you reach the Dolphin (Gamma Delphini), which is a nice double, 126 light years away. Mag 4.26 and 5.03, split by 10". Without looking it up, which is the brightest, and what colours are they? ....

Welcome aboard Joe. That's a good choice for a scope and you'll certainly see plenty of DSOs through that. Like any good instrument, it needs a skilled hand to get the best out of it, so I'd be wanting to spend plenty of time outdoors getting some experience with it. With a low power eyepiece in, get used to how the scope moves and how the view through the eyepiece relates to the sky (in terms of size and orientation). I'd start on bright objects: stars, doubles, planets and get familiar with star-hopping from one object to another. Having those skills under your belt, and a basic knowledge of the constellations, will stand you in great stead to start looking for the DSO objects. Being confident that you're in the right area is a big part of tracking down galaxies etc. Like Pixies says, I wouldn't bother getting a load more kit until you've discovered what works for you and what doesn't. Many of us have splashed out on stuff that we wanted, but later found out it wasn't stuff we needed or ended up using. I've got the three volume Burnham's as well. It's an excellent (but obviously old) reference, but unfortunately spends most of its time on the shelf. A good sky atlas is better under the skies. I started with "Norton's Sky Atlas", an old fashioned paper book, but these days prefer an app for the phone or better still a tablet. If you go that route, make sure to drop the brightness as low as it will go, and if the app supports it, use "night view" that turns the screen red - which won't mess up your night vision. The nice thing with apps (I use SkySafari) is that you can limit the magnitudes of what is displayed to match your skies, and also zoom in and out to match what you'll see through the finder or eyepiece (which are upside down to each other on a dob!). Talking of seeing, a red light torch is highly recommended. Either buy one like that, or improvise with red paper or packing tape over the end of a normal torch. I'm sure your familiar with warm stuff in Ontario, so 'enuff said, but there's nothing as miserable as being cold while observing for hours outside. Other things that come in handy are a table for your stuff (eyepieces, charts, notepad, coffee mug...), and a box on its side to keep the dew off everything. If you can get a chair of a suitable height, that can make observing much more relaxing. I use a cheap dictaphone when observing to make notes, but that's no good for drawings of course. Recording what you see, how you found it, eyepieces used, sky conditions, phase of the moon etc, can be a great help in sharpening your observing skills. Hope some of that brain-dump helps you have fun with your scope. Cheers, Mark

I may be talking rubbish here, but if you could remove the broken piece from the knob, wouldn't the knob screw onto the remaining stub (maybe with a bit of epoxy)? If that's the case, then I'd have a go at drilling it out out. You may have to flatten it first with a file and mark the centre with a punch or something. Edit: Mmmm... sorry, that's pretty much what you had thought about in your original post. I'd go for it, nothing to lose but a bit of time.

Welcome aboard Jamie. Looking forward to reading your posts.

DoubleDoubleSwiftly, I'm successfully using StarSense with NexStar (Evolution 9.25), driven from SkySafari and it works perfectly. I updated the Evolution software to 7.17.0098 (April 2020), which fixes the WiFi bug in 7.17.0031. Also updated the SySense handset to 1.20.20162 (July 2020). The firmware history is here: https://www.celestron.com/pages/firmware-update-history Cheers, Mark

As Geoff said. When it asks you to select the city, hold the Celestron logo (bottom left) and press ENTER. It will then prompt you for the latitude and longitude. Welcome to SGL, Ahmed.

Use averted vision.

Hi and a warm welcome aboard SGL. Practice and experience play a good part in astronomy, so don't let a disappointing start put you off. Observing DSOs is a practiced art. They usually don't spring out in the eyepiece, especially in a small instrument, and certainly don't look anything like as grand as in the pictures. This is a great thread, that explains what you're likely to see through the eyepiece. I wish I'd read this when I first got into astronomy. All the best, Mark Edit: Sorry forgot to mention, that's a pretty good image of the moon!

Welcome to SGL, and welcome back to astronomy Matt. I've been away from astronomy for 17 years and it's surprising how much you forget. But you soon pick it up again. Your old friends are still there in the heavens awaiting your gaze... and camera. All the best with your astrophotography journey, I'm sure it will be very rewarding. Cheers, Mark

Welcome aboard Jodie. Hope you enjoy using your new telescope.

Welcome aboard. When the darker skies come, you'll have a blast.

Some eyepiece ranges are specifically designed to be "parfocal" and have the same focal point so you can swap them in and out without having to re-focus. Some do it better than others.

Telescopes are all about collecting light. Big apertures like your dob are excellent for visual use, but even a smaller scope properly tracking, collecting light on a camera sensor over a period of minutes or hours, hugely outweighs the number of photons your eye can collect. It's an accumulative effect. Astrophotography requires tracking and precision that's just not available on a manual dob. But, those fuzzy images you're seeing in your dob are star clusters, supernova remnents, stars in their death throes, entire galaxies, millions or billions of light-years away. The light from some of them has been travelling since before mankind evolved. You're not seeing the pictures in a book or on TV, or dare I even say captured by camera, you're seeing those things in real life with your own eyes. Appreciate and enjoy them for what they are. As you get more experienced, you'll be able to tease out more detail and structure. Observing from a dark site, if you're not already, can make a huge difference. In time you may get seduced by the lure of astrophotography, but that is expensive in terms of money, time and patience. Enjoy your journey my friend.