Stu

Amazing! Just shows the benefit of keeping long term records.

Perhaps you could use the NASA Lunar Simulator to check out exactly what will be on view to decide the best targets? https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5187/

Gentlemen, you are supposed to be friends, can you please behave like it! Thank you. Stu

What level of budget do you have Patrick? That will help others advise better.

I wonder what the date is today? 🤣

Sounds like a nice problem to have Just a few thoughts… The Orion Optics dobs are made from aluminium and so are a decent amount lighter than the others available. The Skywatcher and GSO based optics seem to be of decent quality these days, so if going for OO I would likely try for 1/10th wave spec just for peace of mind and whatever edge there is over standard. I believe the Celestron StarSense units are well recieved, and the StarSense itself is excellent for locating objects. The Stella Lyra scopes from our sponsor are also worth a look. I assume your aims are for deep sky observing? Aperture obviously matters for this, so it is worth considering a larger model. Truss dobs are actually quite manageable if you assemble them at your observing location, or perhaps you could look into something like an Astro Tuff Truck which would make moving the scope around a lot easier and avoid any lifting. This would take a 16” or 18” truss dob I think. https://www.astrotufftruk.com https://www.astrotufftruk.com/productsandprices/dobtruklarge There are various manufacturers of truss dobs which are worth thoroughly researching if going down that route. Hope that’s of some use for starters.

I guess my point is that there is a lot to learn! Don’t imagine you are going to walk into top notch planetary images straight away as it takes time and practise in all elements. I was just trying to indicate that if you start with a refractor, you KNOW that your collimation is good so you can just concentrate on capture and processing until you have perfected that, then move up to the larger scope with the additional complexity of collimation and greater seeing and cooling sensitivity. If you are trying to get all that right straight off the bat then it can be hard to know which bits are going wrong. You will potentially spend a lot of time getting the scope right and much less time actually imaging and getting data to process. Others may disagree with me, and I’m a complete armchair imager ie I’ve never done proper imaging, only smartphone snaps but I’m on the forum a lot, and I read posts across the imaging areas too and so am familiar with many of the struggles! I’ll shut up now

Wow, beautiful images Francis. Photos of the rig please!! 👍👍

@Flame Nebula another observation….. the standard advice for starting out in deep sky imaging is an ED80 on an HEQ5 mount. Reasons? It’s a great mount with more than enough capacity to hold and track the scope. The scope is optically decent and has a relatively short focal length and is physically small. All these things help it to track well; it doesn’t act like a sail in wind and guiding a short focal length is easier than guiding a long one. Starting with a large and complex scope which is harder to guide and needs collimation and also acts like a sail is hard! Why do I mention this? Well, planetary imaging is a skill in itself, and there are many variables to control. Seeing conditions are important as is the collimation and cooling of the scope, not to mention the processing. Now, to go from a standing start, to imaging with a 12” newt is a big ask in my book. You have many things to get right, so whilst you will likely get there eventually, I suspect it would be better from a learning perspective to start the process with a bomb proof scope so you learn the basics of imaging and processing, then step up to the larger scope so you already know the basics and can focus on the cooling, collimation and simple handling of the larger scope. Perhaps a 5” apo might not be a bad place to start, the SM125 is a great option, and is lightweight and not too long but will still chuck up some decent images. Then move on up the scale to the 12” either directly or via an intermediate scope. There’s a theme in my party pooping posts as I’m sure you can tell; just getting the best/top end kit to start with is not always the right path. I’ve seen more than one newbie throw thousands at really top end imaging kit with no idea how to use it, and we never saw an image out of them. Start realistic, learn the ropes and move on up would be my advice.

Just as an observation @Flame Nebula you are putting a huge emphasis on getting it right first time based on ‘paper research’ and feedback from members here and elsewhere. The trouble with that is that everyone is different, with different circumstances, eyesight, likes and dislikes, and you may find that your preferences in reality don’t match those of the people who are giving very good and well meaning advice. You are asking a huge number of questions about multiple topics, all of which are great and are stimulating some really good threads, but I can see that it is potentially becoming overwhelming. I think there are some basics which make total sense for your aims such as the AZ-EQ6 mount, but personally if I were you I would be looking at buying used kit wherever possible and to be prepared to make some mistakes and shift kit on if it doesn’t suit your purposes. I guess I’m trying to gently say there is no substitute for putting in the hard yards of gaining experience in all aspects, including learning how to setup and use the kit, how to observe and image and process the results and plain and simple what you prefer. These things take time. I’ve been observing nearly 25 years and despite using some top end kit still haven’t knowingly seen The Pup for example. I’ve seen some newbies on here claim to have seen it first time but, cynic that I am, I doubt that; it takes time and experience to know what is an artefact/reflection/poor seeing and what is real. In terms of kit, I’ve bought and sold over fifty scopes and believe that I know what I like and enjoy now, but for instance still have ‘unfinished business’ with large dobs where I have by no means got the best out of the 16” I have. So, personally I would switch my focus from trying to reach an end point in one fell swoop, to treating this more like a journey of discovery and see where it leads you. Buying good used kit is key to this as you can shift it on without losing anything much apart from a bit of shipping; treat it like renting if you like. I hope that doesn’t all sound harsh, it is meant in the most positive way I assure you. Stu

Looks great, they are excellent focusers. I have one on my incomplete 12” truss dob project which I will sort out one of these days!

The SkySafari integration works very well so you get the best of both worlds 👍

In short, yes! It works really well, I bought a new LT80AZ on offer, mainly just to get the StarSense. I have used it to good effect on my other refractors, it is very accurate. You just need a method to mount it on your scope, which is not too tricky to sort in these days of 3D printing. Actually, I must try it on the 16”!

Ah well young Jeremy, if you read the story correctly that’s exactly what happens! Starting point: GP-DX GP2 Middle bit: GP-DX GP2 GP SP Now: GP2 GP SP End goal: GP I’ll get there! 🤪🤪

I do my own head in sometimes, changing things around and selling things I then regret selling. I have lost count of how many Vixen EQ mounts I’ve had. I think two GPs, a GP2, two GP-DXs, two Sphinx’, an SP and an Atlux! Craziness! I think the one I enjoyed most was a GP which was beautifully fettled, with simple dual axis drives and I had it setup permanently in the garden. I used it alot for lunar and solar observing. I do really enjoy the Skysensor 2000PC controllers; I re bought a DX with SS2k quite a while back but really haven’t used it much. Now that I have the AZ100 with motor kit, if I want Goto, I use that, so I’m now playing musical mounts again! Current EQ mounts: GP2 with single axis drive GP-DX with SS2K I guess I’m trying to get back to a simple dual axis driven Vixen GP, so this is the crazy process I’m going through….. I have just bought and received a lovely GP in excellent condition. I’ve sold and delivered my GP-DX with SS2k. I have bought a black SP with green Vixen MT1 motors and DD-1 controller. I have now put the motors from the SP on my GP and also fitted the ADM saddle upgrade, with a 1.25” saddle to avoid marring my dovetails, and so I get back to a dual axis driven, lightweight EQ for the FC100/FL102S. I will then sell the SP without motors and the GP2 and be back to one EQ mount which will hopefully get a decent amount of use. Someone please make the madness stop now!! 🤪🤪

Very mysterious John, when is the grand reveal?

Hopefully not having a screen will keep costs down. I use SkySafari anyway so not too much of an issue. I have it (yet to be used in anger) on a Boox e ink tablet which can be completely unlit, or very dim so works well for dark adaptation.

I’ve tried it in my wedge with good results, worth a try I would say.

Is yours the Mark II CoolWedge Michael? If so, there is a very expensive adaptor you can buy which reduces the path length. It effectively gives you a T2 thread so you can attach binoviewers or your Baader 1.25” fitting directly to it, that should work. EDIT Page 13 of the manual…

Cloudy here currently unfortunately ☹️

I managed a slightly longer look today, but the seeing was, again, fairly rough though a little better than last time. It’s an amazing AR, very complex 👍

May aswell post these here, although there was actually some clear sky tonight. Moon looked great behind the thin clouds, it actually made the craters easier to see with the naked eye.

I managed about 2 minutes on it today, in very poor seeing but still it’s a great one to observe. Hoping for some clearer skies tomorrow, thanks for the heads up Paul.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess 😊 Let’s not start a thread on ‘Best looking eyepieces’ now, please 🤪🤣 When will these clouds go away? 🤬

Fab reports Bob. I missed these at the time but thanks for posting the link in the dark sky thread, a very good read 👍