M40

The 8" dob is a great telescope to start with, they are a simple plonk it down (doesn’t need to be level), aim at your target, focus and off you go. In saying that, have a good read of tiny clangers post earlier as the dob reflector does have a few drawbacks in size, storage, weight but most importantly the eyepiece will be at the far end of the telescope (the highest point) which could make it difficult for children to use. If you decide on the dob route, can I suggest a couple of future upgrades in a moon filter ( the moon will be very bright in the dob) and a zoom eyepiece. Everything moves really fast through the eyepiece, the zoom will help you stay on target as you just zoom in and out rather than change eyepieces. I had my dob about 2-3 years before I moved on and I never used a barlow, never used any other filter, never used a dew shield and never colimated it (sits back and waits for the gasps of horror 😉) . You can take pictures by just putting your phone on the eyepiece, but a mobile phone holder helps a lot. If you choose the refractor route, the eyepiece is at the lowest point of the telescope so its much easier for little ones to use, but.... the moon will always be good but to see planets, the bigger the better. All the best.

It gets done when it gets done, look after yourself is the main priority. All the best.

Amazing images once again, but personally the first one which is more black and white is my favourite and would definately take prime position on the wall. 👌

The tube rings are from orion optics, not cheap, but they were the only ones I found. They are a loose fit so I used a thick leather belt cut to size between ring and ota and it works a treat. You will need to remove the dovetail to fit the rings so you will need to remove the corrector plate as the nuts within the ota are not captured. Removing the corrector plate is an easy task as it will fit right back in the same position and not affect collimation. Mark the corrector plate before removal so it goes back in the same location. Check the collimation before you start so you know what you have done has not changed anything. I flocked mine at the same time so I had to remove the mirror, which did affect collimation. Collimation on mine is "ok" but I think I can do better. The ocal3 is not a lover of the focal length of the skymax180 and due to the frustrations of patchy clouds, the next plan is to use a reducer with the ocal3 and see how it goes. The steeltrack is a great mod together with an eaf of some sort, completely removes shakey hand syndrome at high power. All the best.

Well the cloudmagnet is out with the plan to do a bit of collimation work tonight, but, look at those clouds charging my way 🤦‍♂️

As I understand it, the output power supplies from the asiair are straight through and do not affect the asiair circuitry, but as with all things and as StevieDvd said, the output can exceed the input. I've no idea if the outputs or even the input within the asiair is fused in some way but things do go wrong and as such I would rather one thing went bang rather than two. That's why I always supply things like the mount or dew strips separately from the asiair. All the best.

I have come to the conclusion that there is something seriously wrong with you lot. A simple solution presents itself. Buy a second identical case in which you put your zoom, barlow and diagonal. On future expansions you merely remove the diagonal and put it back in the telescope where it's always been. One challenge though, because you have bought two identical cases, neither of which you have marked in any way, you will always pick the wrong one first, so you learn to go by the weight of the cases, but as the new case fills up, the weight becomes very similar so you are back to getting the wrong one each time. You point blank refuse to mark either case knowing you will choose the correct one next time. Doesn't happen to me though......

The clouds let me have 10 minutes on M16, The Eagle Nebula last night. This is with the integral filter and simple screen grabs, complete with satellite trails And zoomed in on that famous area.....

Well worth a good search through this thread for sentry box type enclosures there are quite a few on here. Someone made a superb tardis which is on here somewhere. Others have the tg 365 cover over the pier and mount which works well. Just for food for thought, here is my diy jobby with quick release clips holding it down and power supply enclosure hidden behind the bush. I just remove two of the sides and just lift it out of the way. All the best.

The zoom eyepiece covers a range of eyepieces, so instead of swapping eyepieces you rotate the zoom to the magnification you want. Whichever way you go with a telescope, you will soon realise just how fast everything moves, me being not the smoothest operating individual, I can't do anything quietly or quickly so the zoom suited me as it allowed me to keep the target in the eyepiece. I went for the baader zoom 8-24 and it is still my most used eyepiece.

It looks to me that the altair tube is just an extension tube and you have replaced that with the other spacers to get to focus. This is where the massive pile of spacers and adapters start as you never have the right one. Then in a couple of years time you will look at a "thing" and ask yourself why you bought it......and then you buy another one. My camera's are similar to yours, but as I swap between mm and mc camera's, I tend to use the nose piece and a clicklock as both are parfocal. There will be a clicklock or similar that fits your telescope. I also use a flip mirror with the camera in the through port and an eyepiece in the flipped port but I'm not sure how much focus space you have there so if you choose that route check all the dimensions first. All the best.

Hello Stu_53N_002W and Titus, welcome to the site. Ask away with any questions, those that have the answers will be more than happy to help.

Hello nige745 and welcome to the site. If you have seen them in the flesh and the size doesn't scare you then the 8" dob is a great way to start. The 200p dob was my first proper telescope and I was able to keep it in the outside shed so no real cool down required and a short carry distance. I wouldn't worry about a barlow but I would recommend a moon filter, they are very cost effective and it will stay with you. The next upgrade I took was a zoom eyepiece; not everybody's choice but it worked for me as you just change the zoom magnification rather than changing eyepieces. I wouldn't get one straight away, have a go with any eyepieces that come with the telescope first. Another thing that works well Is a mobile phone eyepiece adapter. I got my first picture of Venus with the 200p and the mobile at the eyepiece. All the best and let us know how you get on.

I think he is spot on there. Even if you put some sort of base support on the ashfelt you will eventually get leaks. Your plan of knocking on a few doors to let them know what you are doing is a great idea. If all are unconcerned, rubber roofing is good, then get additional pads put down for any walkway but a roofing specialist is the person to ask. All the best.

I don't think an informal chat with the planning dept would hurt. A chap I know installed a balustrade to a flat roof without planning permission and was told to remove it, this as neighbours complained about privacy. He just put a couple of sun loungers up there but if you were looking to put a camera up there, well....

If you can have a solar powered device, couldn't one of you clever lot come up with a cloud powered device and blow the clouds into space? We could then look for a space gas cloud, there must be a better term than that for a space gas cloud, any thoughts?

Not sure that would work, someone like me would trip over the power lead and unplug it.

Ask the council planning department if you can install a balustrade for safety as you would like to put a telescope up there. If they say no, that's it sorted, if they say yes then I see an excellent diy conservartory thread in the future. Hope your move goes well, all the best.

A pleasure looking at your images and what you achieve with the seestar 👌

I believe that the God of "the astronomers new bought stuff clouds" is very similar to the God of "the red traffic lights". Both of them do their thing just when you don't want them too. You have no control. You think your two week period is up, but oh no it's not. I'm convinced that I've heard them both sniggering at me.

Always one to offer an outside of the box alternative..... have you considered trying eeva with your telescope on a goto mount? Using something like a zwo 290mm with a flip mirror you could switch between eeva and visual. You don't need an asiair but with its plate solving ability, it does speed up things especially in our cloud limited skies. The heq5 can just about handle a 200p, so your 150p should work well. Food for thought. All the best.

Hello Paul and welcome to the site. Great comments above and a +1 for the seestar from me. The seestar is able to take pictures of deep space stuff and the interface is an app on your phone or tablet. The pictures are sent to the app and are seen almost immediately from a few minutes to as long as you like. There are limitations to the seestar in that all it will show you is a bright white dot for planets but it is excellent on the moon and sun. The seestar is a smart telescope so not one you look through. If you would also like a traditional telescope, then you will need a mount, telescope, camera, eyepieces and power supply as a minimum. Other than solar system stuff, most targets will require some form of software and a tracking mount. So couple of questions that will help us to point you in the right direction, would you like to see solar system stuff or deep sky stuff or both? Can you set up at home or do you need to transport it? Are you interested in processing any images or would you prefer seeing your target without processing? Have you looked at eeva? Worth having a look on the eeva part of the site to see what has been achieved and what people are using. All the best.

Hello Pondoro and welcome to the site. I use this and it works extremely well, its designed for cameras but I just turned the mount part upside down. Not sure if this mount is available in America but you must be able to find something similar. All the best.

Well we dont have the school or the health facility and no mains gas supply but we do have the rest. You did miss a couple of important ones off your list though, in the remote areas you don't get, or we don't anyway, pavements, buses or cycle paths. Strange what you miss.

Just as a comparison, I started with a used canon 100D. I went for this model simply because it is very light. It remains unmodified and has given me some great pictures over the years. For the 100D you will need to add an intervalometer to your shopping list, they are not expensive. Mine is a canon rs60e3 about £15. It's a remote button that simply plugs into your camera and allows you to remotely take the picture so no vibration on the tripod. I do not know so it's worth checking if the 450D has an internal intervalometer. Likewise you will need a T ring adapter to fit your camera to your telescope, again not expensive, about £20-30, but when you get a camera ask FLO or on here as there are many different types. All the best.