MrFreeze

The glow-in-the-dark stickers are from "01 Store" on AliExpress : https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32860049274.html and stick well to most surfaces. The green ones glow brighter than the blue. They charge fine from artificial light (quicker and brighter from UV), and glow for 2-3 hours. The decimal points are a cheat - they are the centre bits on the "8" digits that hadn't fallen out David

Rather than a head torch, have you considered luminous stickers? Much easier, and you don't need batteries David

Yes I see that now - but that wasn't the page I downloaded it from - it didn't mention windows 10 at all. I can't even find the page in browser history. ??? Never mind - now uninstalled. No way I would ever install spyware like Windows 10. David

Released this week was a Windows version of AstroDMx. Has anyone actually managed to get it to work, or is it just me? I tried this on a Windows 7 laptop - It tried to install itself in a bizarre location (overridden), and ran up to the main screen OK. When selecting the camera (SV105) it claimed something missing (can't remember exactly what), and then promptly bombed out hard with an access violation. It didn't create a shortcut on the desktop that it had asked if I wanted, but did put a DATA directory there instead. Seems like the installation parameters are corrupt? David

Yes, they are very nice eyepieces. Here's my collection of these. I had to use a circle V for the 7mm - I didn't know there was a 5mm - another one to keep a lookout for. For day to day use I tend to use a different set of orthos, originally available from Opticstar as Ascension orthos, long since sold out. They are still available from China under the Kson brand, at about £40 a pop. I even managed to get a pair of the 24mm and 10.5mm for binoviewing, for which they are outstanding. David

Nah - not a chance. It means they've run out of stickers ! I see clouds and snow forecast for the weekend.🤣 David

More Aliexpress sale bits - a 2" to 1.25" adapter, and my first 2" eyepiece. It's the SVbony SV136 34mm 72 degree eyepiece. It looks suspiciously like the GSO Superview eyepieces, although SVbony claim a different lens arrangement - I may try and measure the FOV to check the specs. I can only use this straight through at the moment, as I'm still waiting on a 2" diagonal. Just been looking at the moon through the gaps in the cloud with it, and it seems to be a very nice clear eyepiece with a huge FOV. David

They are identical to the "gold line" series of eyepieces which are well known and (re)sold by very many different sellers (normally quoted as 66 degree FOV). The only thing different is the colour of the line and the barrel chromed rather than black. They are pretty good eyepieces, but suffer from 'kidney beaning' quite badly. I have the entire set (gold line) but very rarely use them - I prefer something less fussy about eye positioning. David

They don't do a RACI one at all - if they had at that price I would definitely have bought it. 😁 A quick search on Ali didn't reveal any RACI finders - they probably call them something else. I'm just happy to get a right angle one whether it's reversed or not. David

The yoga stuff is why I got it! With mars in the position it is, I have to do a meridian flip after about 9:30pm as the RA motor catches on the saddle of my maksutov, and I end up hanging upside down trying to look through the finder. Been after a cheap one for a while, and got this from LanWan Optical Instruments - came with a free blue (82A) filter as well. It's gone up a bit now the sale is over, but still a pretty good price £23.58 https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000578781663.html Yes, absolutely correct John. David

More bits from the AliExpress sale. A right angle finder and a small dew heater - my Hyperflex zoom keeps dewing up lately on the few clear nights we get. The finder is optically very good, but the mount is hopeless - there isn't enough adjustment on the alignment screws to line it up, without it all going floppy. Thankfully I've been through this before with a replacement finder for the Celestron Travelscope - the castings for the mount need a small amount shaving off the underside at the front. I think it's the same casting again, with the same problem. So it's out with the coarse [removed word] file again! David

I have bought a couple of dew heaters from AliExpress : https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001376957126.html - about £14.50 for a 40cm one (includes a nice little storage bag) from Laida Optics https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32844583695.html - about £11.75 for a 25cm one from SVbony Both run from 5V USB and include removeable controllers. Delivery is about 1.5 - 2 weeks, and I would recommend both of these sellers. It seems that you are after a longer 12V one though, and they tend to be much more expensive. If you like the Dew-not, they are available in stock here : https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32805021678.html - at £41.50 (ouch) To be honest, if you do want a long one, I would just get the Lynx Astro one from FLO. They don't sell the sort of tat you often get on Amazon and have excellent customer service. If there is a problem with it I'm sure they would refund you. Why not just email them and ask the question? David

If it isn't cloud it's fog - we have been engulfed in thick fog since last wednesday, and it doesn't even clear during the day. The best app I found was Nightshift on Android. It's not perfect, but the forecasts are a lot more accurate than any other weather app I can find. The interface can be a bit cryptic though. It also does rise and set times of moon and planets. I just tend to stick my head out of the door at about 8:30 to see what it's really like. Keep being frustrated when it changes though, having decided it isn't worth staying up, watch some TV, go to bed then see stars out of the window.😠 Then you wonder if it's worth getting dressed again and going out. David

Like many on here, I don't have any pictures of me with a telescope, and not even many pictures of me without a telescope. I guess because in nearly all my pictures, I was behind the lens. I did manage to find this picture of my first telescope without me. It's a Tasco reflector (I think 100mm) bought in (I think) 1975 as a birthday present, although the picture was taken in 2006. It had two 0.965" eyepieces, a barlow, and sun and moon filters. It gave very clear images as I recall, but the finder was pretty useless and the mount was oh so wobbly.

Another couple of Omnis from Aliexpress 11/11 sale - for a tenner apiece it would be rude not to. Almost have the whole set now. They're not at all bad, but the eye relief on the low focal lengths is a bit tight.

I think the Celestron starsense scopes you are suggesting are an excellent idea. Several people on here are already buying the cheaper models just to get the phone app ! As a goto they would be a lot easier to use than the Skywatcher synscan system (I have this on my EQ3, and easy to use it isn't). The DX starsense models are the better ones - obviously you are paying for the app, but those two are good starter scopes. The cheaper starsense models are a little too cheap if you know what I mean. If I was starting again I would be very tempted with the DX102 (I'm tempted anyway - don't tell my wife😜) David

Hi George (and daughter), Welcome to the forum, I hope it proves useful to you and you enjoy your time here. If I may put in a few suggestions: Firstly I wouldn't bother with a goto setup - they can be useful if your scope is permanently mounted or at least has a location with permanent marks to align the tripod to every time. But if you are going to be taking the scope out into the garden every time you want to observe, then going through all the alignment palaver first rapidly becomes a chore (been there, done that). It is much, much easier to just plonk the telescope on the patio or whatever, roughly pointing north (if you have an equatorial mount) and start observing. Secondly, I wouldn't go for a maksutov as a first telescope - the field of view is too narrow, and it can make finding objects really frustrating. They also take quite a while to cool down and give their best. Don't get me wrong - they are great telescopes (I have a 102 and a 127), and really good for planets. I just worry you (or your daughter) may get really frustrated trying to find things. Might I suggest this https://www.firstlightoptics.com/evostar/skywatcher-evostar-90-eq2.html or the same scope on an AZ3 or EQ3/2 mount. It is a good size to see most objects, it won't need regular collimation, it is light and easily moved, and it is well within your budget, so you can get a couple of decent eyepieces as well. They also look rather good if left set up in the lounge (impress the neighbors)! David

Nice new visual back for my Mak to go with the SCT-Mak adapter FLO sent last week. Now all it needs is is a 2" eyepiece and diagonal. David

I'm not sure whether you spotted this one on eBay, but it seems quite a bargain if you can get down to Brighton to collect it https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Skywatcher-telescope-200/114514912320?_trksid=p2485497.m4902.l9144 - a Skywatcher 8" dob for £200 ! David

Not sure I'm a kind soul ,but here's the link - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bresser-telescopes/bresser-messier-6-inch-planetary-dobsonian.html David

Err, I hate to point this out, but did you check the date on the original post? The OP hasn't even been seen on here since 2014! David

I think £69 is quite a reasonable price for these. The ones at RVO do not appear to be in stock (they say low stock and to email them - which always seems to mean they have none left). I had been looking at getting a 2" eyepiece in the Aliexpress 11/11 sale, and the GSO Superviews are available at £59 + £7.50 postage (+ VAT + post office extortion fee no doubt). Being a long time customer of theirs I ended up purchasing a Svbony SV136 34mm 72 degree eyepiece which was cheaper and looks like one of these - does anyone know if it actually is the same eyepiece? I guess I could ask Rita or Ida, but I'm not convinced they would know the answer. David

Drilling is only a no-no for multi layer boards (3 or more track layers) due to the risk of shorting the internal layers. For a simple double sided board it's perfectly OK to drill it as long as you solder BOTH sides of the board (you may have to remove some of the solder resist to do this). David

Some eyepatches to use at the scope. Now I don't have to squint! 😜 One of the cheapest buys in a long time - 60p each. David

Having got rid of my old Tasco reflector, this lot is my oldest and dates back to the late 1970s. The binocular case had an accident fairly recently, but the binoculars themselves are still used occasionally, and still perform brilliantly.The eyepieces suffered from being in a genuine Meade eyepiece case for several years - the blue foam turned into some nasty treacle like corrosive substance that ate the anodising off the eyepieces in places. After an awful lot of cleaning they aren't sticky anymore, but they don't look as pristine as they did when put into the case for 'protection'. As they were not cheap when purchased, I've not been that fond of Meade since then! David