M40

What you are describing is the "field of view" which is basically the amount of sky you can see in your eyepiece. The eyepiece itself has its own "apparent field of view" then by sticking it in a telescope the value changes, this is then called the "field of view". The greater the magnification, then the narrower the field of view and vise versa. There are lots of different eyepieces out there that offer different apparent field of views but then life is never that simple as then the telescope itself limits the field of view that the combination of eyepiece and telescope will allow you to see. There you go, clear as mud There are lots of calculations and formula out there for calculating field of view, magnification, focal ratio etc, may be worth seeing what you can find at the same time the book "Turn left at Orion" which you have probably seen mentioned on here does provide a few sample calculations. Enjoy and HTH

Interesting challenge 🤔 I must admit to being a fan of Baader eyepieces due to the flexibility of adapters enabling eyepiece projection. So how about a Baader Zoom and Barlow with an adapter allowing connection of your Canon? Alternatively, binoviewers? or an ASI178? Good luck with your choices

wow 👌

Just a thought, I gather that you have a folder called SharpCap Captures on your desktop, right click on the folder, click properties and make sure that spelling, capitals and spaces are the same as the Sharpcap save folder. If not, change the SharpCap save to the same as your desktop folder address. HTH

Just a thought, does the JMI work through the hub and extender on its own?

Well done 👌 I did read that Jupiter should get to around 26' through next month, but you will need to set the alarm early. If they clear 20', I just stand a chance so finger crossed.

Can I suggest, don't try to solder the connector to the board, solder four pieces of wire to the board and then solder the wires to the connector.

Hello Klukdog and welcome to the site. Don't discount the tracking mount immediately, have a look at the thread "Imaginging with the Samyang" as to what has been achieved especially as she is a photographer. A good tracking mount and a couple of books may be all she needs to start her off on the AP path. At the same time on the telescope side of things, a +1 for the 6-8" dob, for your budget it will be difficult to beat. Just be aware that they are not small so storage and portability must be considered. If storage or portability is a challenge, have a look at "The Mingus 90mm" thread. HTH

Hello and welcome to the site 👍. This is my understanding of the required distance. If you get the matched SW 80ED reducer and with the Canon adapter bolted to the reducer you will get the required 55mm. Nothing else should be required. If you get an alternative reducer, the alternative reducer then has its own working distance, for example, the TS optics 0.79x reducer on the SW80ED would need 58mm. The Canon 750D without an adapter has a flange focal distance of 44mm. This is the distance between camera sensor and front of camera. When you bolt the canon adapter onto the camera, the adapter being 11mm creates the required 55mm. Phew.... HTH Three answers all within one minute, all saying the same thing 🤣 excellent

Have a look at the reviews on FLO for this telescope. There is one review from 2016 but have a read as towards the end he lists a number of extra's he has bought/got for this telescope, one of which is a bluetooth converter to control the mount from your phone, we all love bluetooth so I am sure your son would rip your arm off for that. Enjoy

I have the startech powered hub and active usb cable, both powered at the remote end. So far I can't fault the startech stuff. I was just wondering how you are currently powering your active usb cables? If you are not using a power supply for them, that may be your challenge with reliability. I currently have the hub and active usb in an enclosure powered from a long Lewden plug and socket arrangement. You could get a local sparky to make you something similar. HTH

I have been working towards the permanent setup but as the plan is to move in the near future, I have created a temporary permanent setup. I bought the TG 365 cover and a small, cost effective, pop up gazebo with sides from wayfair (£77). It has stood the test of the recent weather (this weather is probably down to me, as since I have had it set up it's not stopped raining). I realise it's not what you are looking for but it may help short term. It's certainly light enough to just pick up and move out of the way. I will be really interested in what you eventually find so post away when you source something. Enjoy

All the very best for a long and happy retirement. Les

Thought I would add to this topic as I found this today... https://astronomynow.com/almanac/ Its an online planetary almanac giving hopefully the info needed for the nearer planets and the moon.

Hello Maideneer looks a pretty good starter setup to me, very portable and can't think of a thing to add. Rather than a red flash light, see if you can get a red head torch, it will leave hands free. I am going to plug the planisphere as I find it easy to use and gets you locating the brighter objects in the sky. Maybe an eyepiece phone holder to get in that lucky picture? It's an interesting hobby this, probably a thousand different hobbies covered under the word astronomy, so as you get into the hobby you will find the route that your particular journey will take, so maybe hold off buying stuff until you get an idea of where your interests lie.

True in that there are lots of differences between camera's i.e. the canon ef mount is 44mm and the Nikon F mount is 46.5mm but with the T2 adapter it tends to add up to 55mm. It makes sense that you didn't use a spacer so with your T2 adapter to reducer its 55mm. Great picture by the way, if I could get anywhere near that I would be well happy.

Hello UCzerw and welcome to the site 👍. Thanks for updating this topic. Looking at your setup, you have between camera sensor and front of camera adapter 55mm then add the 3.5mm card spacer giving a distance of 58.5mm ish between camera sensor and the reducer. I could find no manufacturer dimensions to confirm that distance using the dedicated SW reducer. So thanks to your piece of card, looks like you have got the working distance somewhere between 55-58.5mm. Anybody know what the actual distance is?

On the FLO website, have a look at the ADM vixen type universal dovetail reviews, someone has recommended the 11" dovetail for the 72ED. HTH

Hello neilpatrickhairless and welcome to the site 👍 I started with an 8" dob, a Canon 100D and 5 grandchildren so know where you are coming from. I just couldn't get on with the phone mount so changed tack. I spent a few pennies on a Baader Hyperion Zoom which has a thread adjacent to the eyepiece, this thread, plus a Baader adapter, enables you to fit a Canon T2 adapter. This assembly allows you to fit your T3i directly to the eyepiece. Then I spent a few more pennies on an intervalometer, which will enable you to take pictures without touching either your camera or the telescope. Having the dob, you will know just how fast stuff moves particularly on higher power, this is where the zoom wins, start on low power, zoom in and focus etc. If your camera has live view, you can do the same through the camera and take a picture when you are ready. This is eyepiece projection, you can use the same Canon T2 adapter with a nose piece and a Barlow and do prime focus. Can I also mention, look at BackyardEOS. If it's compatible with your camera, you can then connect your camera to a laptop and take pictures or share your observing through the laptop. I moved on from the dob when I became concerned about dropping the thing, but the plus side of the above is that everything you buy can go on the upgrade journey with you. Enjoy and HTH.

Some great advice above, my advice would be to get an app for your phone and get out into the area that you are going to observe from and understand how the app works. Find Polaris, then make sure that the app aligns with both North and Polaris (ish) and then just look around and start to identify some of the brighter stars out there. I have to mention a planisphere as I use one, I find it easy to use to identify the brighter stars quickly. HTH

I must admit to using my Phillips planisphere a lot. I find it easy to use to find/confirm the bright stars for initial star alignment. I basically set the time and date, put my thumb on the North point, point it North, line the rivet hole up with Polaris and bend it around the horizon. Probably completely the wrong way to use it but it works for me 😜

Hello Stu and welcome to the site 👍

What you could do is get hold of a long masonry drill bit and if you have a decent hammer drill, just drill through the brickwork. You might find that after years of damp stuff on it, the bricks may be quite soft so the drill will go through them easily. It would make a really good hardcore base and save that aching back of yours. Bit of chemical fixing later and job done, bonus 😜

I have used a plastic chocbox to enclose the mid point chipset, if you goto screwfix and search chocbox you will get the idea. HTH

OK so I am drooling over that eyepiece bag...... 🤤 Edit: SWMBO said it looks good so I instantly caved. Bargain 👌