wulfrun

Which app version & Android version are you on? Mine's Pro 1.19.15 on Android 12 (A11 until a few days back) and it "just works" without any issues. HTH

27 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

I’m puzzled as the FLO website states that to have go to you need to use a synscan handset and cable. Is this wrong?

It's wrong if it's the Virtuoso (I didn't look to see if it does say that). The WiFi "dongle" plugs into a Virtuoso in place of a handset and works with the synscan app, this is how I use mine (it's a lot cheaper than a handset, which the Virtuoso does not come with).

Binoculars (noun) must be plural, by definition, I'd think. Singular would be monocular. "Binocular" would be an adjective, e.g. binocular vision, having two forward-facing eyes.

EDIT: as per above post, "a pair of trousers", yet one can buy a trouser press. Implying a press for a trouser? (Yes, it's the press that's singular).

EDIT2: a visit to the Wikipedia page for "plurale tantum":

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluralia_tantum

I've just tried mine, v1.19.15 Pro. If I do a "North level" alignment, I get all Q5 on both lists. If I do a "3-star alignment", page 1 is all Q5 but pages 2 & 3 are assorted values. Polaris as a 3rd star, for instance is Q2 or Q3 (didn't note it down).

Can't shed any light on how the Q relates, sorry. The manual notes the "rules" for stars to use but I feel some you could pick would fall foul.

9 minutes ago, Kev M said:

So if m=0 then E=0

Therefore photons have no energy.....that cant be right.... or can it ?

No, as pointed out "rest mass". If it were possible stop a photon (without thus destroying it) and weigh it, you'd find it weighed nothing whatsoever, nada, zero. Because energy and mass are "the same thing" though, the photon has an equivalent mass due to its energy.

@Kev M I suggest reading the derivation for E = mc², it will lead you to the proof. Any particle with no mass* is forced to travel at the speed of light and does not experience time. I can suggest a good book, "Why Does E = mc²?"by Geoff Forshaw (Foreshaw?)/Brian Cox. It's reasonably non-mathematical but fairly intensive.

*technically, rest-mass not just "mass".

As for point-particles, I think the word "particles" is a bit misleading. It conjures up the idea of (say) tiny billiard-balls or some such, which is wrong because they couldn't be zero size. Just consider them as "things", with measurable properties.

Most of England & Wales have been sitting under a near-still "cloud" of pollution/haze for a week or so, so I'd say it's likely to be atypical. I've certainly noticed poor transparency even in light-polluted Midlands. Scotland seems to have fared better though (no consolidation).

22 hours ago, johninderby said:

Many in the UK are baffled by the good old Robertson screw. 😁

And yes I do own a couple of Robertson screwdrivers. 

You live & learn, I'd never heard of them! Certainly never seen one in the wild.

I suppose London's light pollution is so bad it'll not make it much worse - not that that should be an excuse. Pity the poor souls living in sight of it. I see they'll be offered black-out blinds "as a last resort" though, how thoughtful 😛 Wonder what it'll be known as, locally...the bunion? The carbuncle? Or probably something less polite!

Whatever happened to the polluter being responsible for fixing things? Imagine if a chemical company proposed to pollute the water-table and offered filters "as a last resort" as a solution. I wonder if that would be acceptable!

Can't comment on other aspects but question 4, FLO sell one which is decently made:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/t-rings.html

You'll need a nose piece to go with it as well:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/astro-essentials-1-25-inch-t-mount-camera-nosepiece-adapter.html

Make sure the camera can "shoot without lens". It probably can but double-check. Some cameras will refuse to fire unless they can detect a lens or it's been set to allow it (i.e. the setting must exist!). I have a G2 where it's a menu setting and a G9 that simply allows it by default, no setting required. If you can't afford other gear, I'd say give it a go for £27!

You may need a Barlow to achieve focus, depending on the scope and the focuser range, again I can't advise on your examples. My Newts won't reach focus without one.

Recycling at its best 👍

Try slackening the three allen-headed screws a fraction, that should take the pressure off the centre screw.

35 minutes ago, The Admiral said:

And that's not manual focus which actually works by fly-by-wire! Are there any 4/3 or MFT lenses that have mechanical focusing?

Ian

Yes, although most (all?) are 3rd-party makers and not Olympus/Panasonic.

This might be what you're looking for then:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-accessories/zwo-t2-to-micro-four-thirds-adaptor.html

Note the requirement for the lens to have a manual-focus capability.

Yes, FLO sell a m4/3 adapter that takes standard 42mm threaded (T2), 1+1/4" nose pieces (which they also sell).

EDIT: actually, I think I may have mis-read the question, you want to connect a m4/3 LENS to a nose piece??

30 minutes ago, Geoff Barnes said:

A warm still evening, 22 degrees at 9pm and great seeing...

Not even vaguely jealous over here are we? 😉

First time out in a while due to the weather. I popped out for a couple of hours with the Virtuoso 114P. Didn't put anything larger out as the chilly wind made me unsure how long I'd cope!

I spent most of the time spotting clusters, some old and some new-to-me - all taken from "tonight's best" in Synscan app. Pleiades, Hyades, starfish, wild duck, double cluster, spiral cluster and 37-cluster (I really can't "get" the 37 in it!) were all attempted and a couple were failed on with the small aperture/LP.

Needless to say, I had a good look at the ever-irresistible M42 Orion nebula, had a stare at what little I can see in my local LP of the Andromeda galaxy and then tried Bode's (M81) and Cigar (M82) galaxies - I just detected the former (unexpectedly) but no hint of the latter. Having the newly-added go-to I tried my luck on the Leo triplet but I've failed to see them in the 150 so wasn't surprised to fail again. Probably too early in the night/year anyway but nothing ventured etc.

Came in pretty cold but happy that the go-to functionality allows me to find faint stuff that I can't find without a scope, so a worthwhile addition.

3 hours ago, F15Rules said:

I cut it off!!

Dave

I considered that but didn't want to realise later it was for some purpose I'd not realised!

13 minutes ago, callisto said:

I've got the same... love it (even though my daughter thought it was some sort of ironing board) 🤣

A friend reckons it's shaped like a fish...OK, squint a lot and I follow that idea. What did you do with (seeming like) 10m of surplus belting?

I forgot to post this one, it arrived a couple days ago. Thought it was about time to invest in some comfort...

Nice scope to inherit! Don't rush to be cleaning the mirror until you're sure, there are various threads on here and tutorials if you need them though. Post a photo of the mirror and folk will give you an idea how badly it needs cleaning.

Looks like the focuser rubbers have gone AWOL but nothing to be concerned about, a couple of big o-rings or similar can replace them.

Postie brought me this, courtesy of the classifieds and an impeccable service from @Clavius D

Needless to say, last night was clear with howling wind but today is just grim!

Firstly, identify the problem else you may only fix it by accident. It may help to put a plastic bag/shower cap or similar over the primary end (if it's open) but the chances are a closed-tube will dew the secondary long before the primary. You can get heaters for secondaries too. Heating the tube doesn't sound helpful, it's likely to cause air currents that will blur your view.

Assuming you're sure it's not the seeing etc, less likely to be the primary but quite possible to be the secondary or eyepieces dewing. I've had the secondary dew up in my smaller scopes, partly because it's less recessed in them. The 150PL, on the other hand, rarely suffers from it.

At the risk of ruining your night-vision, shine a small torch across the face of the secondary, look down the focuser tube - if it looks milky it'll be dew. If your dob is the truss-tube, do you have light shroud? A truss dob with no shroud has a pretty exposed secondary. You could also add a foam-matt tube "extension" on the front as well or invest in a portable low-power "hairdryer" type blower if nothing else works.

A word of caution, apologies if this is patronising you (if you use RC Li-Po packs you'll probably know already): be careful not to over-discharge the pack accidentally. If you do, you'll ruin it. RC electronics will know and cut the power but a mount designed for D-cells won't care how low they go. I use a 3S pack for my SW Virtuoso but I plug a low-voltage alarm into the balance lead. It shows green for good and red for low, one per cell and shrieks if any cell goes too low. The alarm is readily available from RC gear stockists etc.