doublevodka

12 hours ago, DivingRhino said:

"EQ5" is good info... will allow me to search on that.

Budget... I'm thinking AROUND $1000 for mount. I'll have trouble getting much more than that past the boss.

Scope - Hope to 1) mount the DSLRs, 2) mount a scope that would give good detail lunar and planets with an attached dedicated camera OR the DSLRs.

We do intend to go out on our next clear day and use our Nikon D90 and D7200 with Nikkor 18-200, a NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8, and old Spiratone(?!) lens that fits (because Nikon) that's giving me 300+mm. Going to try stacking some lunar shots, as well as some earth landscape/Milky Way sky  type exposures.

Since your price is in dollars I'm going to assume you are in the US?

EQ5 will be slightly helpful, although different countries have different manufacturers who give the mounts different names just to make things confusing, although they are all pretty much made by the same chinese company. The Celestron CG-5 for example was the same as an EQ5

I'm sure someone will chime in with the right mount names for the US

In regards to your aims for the scope, I'd suggest starting to look at ways to mount your old C8 tube via tube rings or similar, it's ideal for lunar and planetary, saves spending extra money and you could always add another scope later if you get the bug and want to do some wider field stuff

So I fixed this on mine a while ago, but figured a thread would be handy for someone in future.

A few months back my mount suddenly wouldn't power on, after much prodding and poking with a multimeter I found it was the power switch itself (apparently a common fault reading further later on).

The good news is this can easily be repaired at home for free if you have a soldering iron and some solder.

Simply bridge the two connections as marked below and it will make the mount effectively permanently on, hopefully this helps someone in future 👍

Lovely looking bit of kit you've put together there! I keep thinking about it but time and skill are lacking 🤣

Love the old school black and decker workmate, many a nice thing was built on my grandad's, I will have to get my hands on one eventually...

As you said mount heads only are limited, the only one I know of is https://www.firstlightoptics.com/equatorial-astronomy-mounts/sky-watcher-eq8-r-astronomy-mount.html although I'd be confident your tripod could handle it, probably better off getting a full setup and just popping the existing tripod in the attic. Or you could make your own...

No mention of budget so a little guesswork, but since you already are used to a reflector https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/sky-watcher-heritage-150p-flextube-dobsonian-telescope.html

Packs up small, so portable and many many people love it and it's little brother the 130

Or if you want to go a little more electronic, there is also this version - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/heritage/sky-watcher-heritage-150p-flextube-virtuoso-gti.html

6 hours ago, DivingRhino said:

I keep wavering between buying a tracker/staying cheap, and getting a good mount as that's what will quickly begin to hold him back if say he wanted to go from lunar photography to deep space or something (well, lacking all the other equipment would hold him back too... but we'd be purchasing another mount.)

You say AVX is "ok," what other options might you recommend?

The out of the box AVX apparently has less accurate tracing than other similar priced mounts, but they can be improved with a bit of tuning, for example this one that is currently on Astro Buy and Sell - https://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=180263

Honestly it's hard to make an accurate recommendation without a firm budget and scope in mind, but for longevity you want to be looking at EQ5 class mounts and above (EQ3-2 and smaller don't have proper bearings, unfortunately that's what I have), just sadly everything has increased in price a lot recently. Used market is worth a look, especially if you can get something that's already been belt modded or tuned, there are still some decent deals to be had.

In the very short term, if he wants to start with lunar, you already have a dslr and some lenses, it's a bright target so if you already have a tripod too some shots will be possible that way, if the DSLR does video then even better as stacked images from the videos will give much better results.

23 hours ago, Zermelo said:

TMB eyepieces are a complicated topic. There's much discussion out there, for example:

 

Lots of things are a hot topics "over there" with strong reactions, hence why I spend all my time on SGL instead 😉 There's some useful info kicking around on there but lots of strong opinions to put it politely, SGL is much nicer 👍

Collimation is almost certainly the main contributor here, along with seeing conditions no doubt.

I'd suggest having a read of this lovely thread by @Alan64  which has info on collimation but also a full overhaul on this much maligned scope, hopefully some of it helps, if not it's a great read anyway

8 minutes ago, Pompey Monkey said:

I'm getting increasingly peeved at constantly having to swap between metric and imperial components, nuts, bolts, and tools on my rigs. It can really interrupt my train of thought while assembling stuff.

And, as for planning how to make stuff that includes both measurement systems, it's nigh-on impossible.

Just venting!

It's a minefield out there! This page can be quite helpful though https://agenaastro.com/articles/guides/miscellaneous/astronomy-threads-explained.html

The only "standard" in astronomy is that it will be cloudy when you buy new kit! 🤣

25 minutes ago, wookie1965 said:

I was thinking that but with step down convertors thought the may be a chance 

Unfortunately every listing has none of the 12v to 5v in only 9v to 5v but this is exactly what I would need if the 12v were available thanks. 

I need one for my 5" refractor which had a diameter of 50cm and cannot find them I have sent for one that fits a 4" ones thanks.

I will check these out thanks but I need a 50cm one now

Unless I misunderstood which is totally possible, you need to step up from 5v to 12v so there are option there that would work for you and with a 2.1 amp output on the powerbank you should be good, it's just finding one with the right connector.

Although may be just as easy, and less cabling mess, to sell on the 12v ones and grab something like https://www.svbony.com/dew-heater-strip-for-lens/#W9132C I believe the 480mm one would work with your 5 inch, worth checking the measurements first though

Depending on the power draw and output of the power bank of course - https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=usb+to+12v&_sacat=0

I use one like this to run a couple of Nexstar mounts successfully - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/373768829235?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item57065bb933:g:3JwAAOSwxalhd1fS&amdata=enc%3AAQAGAAACkPYe5NmHp%2B2JMhMi7yxGiTJkPrKr5t53CooMSQt2orsSafTQYbq3L7RBVAMi0K9cwzS6pIULyJzrftutdIDbQJDF5BBRMulwgw2TDYyrmryfEGyYRe8JAD%2Fn8MTn85rvCM9OWYU4L7F3LaBw5Pq3C877yoGvVJaqAw0HRunWRHR4Bx%2BWnV2X0X%2FDh9OaEovC6Dyi1IL04fZ8%2FBJR%2Bdm0Jw9qtNIFJcmgrL%2B%2FcR0Nnx9xi6X3wZEHE2U85rucR%2Bpsrzgiz%2F4%2FOy%2BV1%2FTlypPMvCyT1Koet6hAJz8wneKcjwBCmGnu2I5WsNJYodKT94uppns52U3XCJs7Me06C%2B2m7N0B96ftcgnwuycTMGlutxufjoXdC61F70Tz7rnv%2FTb8Lg%2F0oikYBeQUjDcwsLQ9ISUb5jMgj2YlxISd5gl5F2uMFWyKu%2BuAKhOyzshnGpmSG%2F8PyeVsDZhwyKgwDsG1oBSSqyzr1AU8yDBupVlSThuhZDfSQm1bb1e4q0oAS2KbgB2Tkq5p7oBWjTuuCmxyATofRwHBiPXvTs77wzuy0T8kMoCdqNTnlXwsJ5uIlff2u%2FHsX%2Bq9PUXwaUplvv%2BKbKyrDtmIczxnqZuxMkFiTApS4v0tDixCtBJL2%2F5IAebvumI6D4a7czThaNoUMKuo%2Fj%2Fi1%2Fa6DQyLt9ENjiZ6Bie0reVShTDekUfPgdww27gwI%2Fhhmrn%2FS4j%2FzBIAD4oFAV%2BK7zQcn79yn8kbIVGzeCHdYqWdqZDyXYtX1HFdVmeVulWazsow6mYV3PXdLXhA0WS9Uf744DJyYzlBYp8tFF9LSxMieLhbUPBku%2FrhvM2EI2DRK%2FKt5Z09oVcOKGLzDEYD91zeLLeSagEamZecITuI|clp%3A2334524|tkp%3ABFBMmK-F15xf

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01LQX0P8Q/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_FTXC7PEQMFRMTKYMYTND the Amazon one seems to be at a decent price currently

1 minute ago, HiveIndustries said:

I've seen that in the shop and I thought to myself that at 8" the collapsible part is almost a gimmick. The 10"+ though, kind of amazing. For me personally, at that point I'd rather the simplicity of the tube and you're paying a few hundred dollar premium for that collapsibleness

This is why this is so hard, everything is so damn personal. The collapsible part could be the deal breaker for whether or not it fits in the boot for some people and the premium is a small price to pay.

The 8 would be great, if the price was right and smaller car etc.

And you've hit the nail on the head, it is all very personal, that's why most astronomers end up with multiple scopes 😉 (I currently have 3 and looking at them all the time 🤣)

So, so many options out there, like if you have deep pockets and want collapsable  https://www.obsessiontelescopes.com/

4 minutes ago, HiveIndustries said:

I came in here thinking I'd get easy confirmation that I was making the right choice and all you guys have done is scramble that confidence equally among all the avenues you're bringing me down with valid points. Including the without borders scope. I can't even confidently eliminate a grab and go refractor at this point.

I will say this - she will at a minimum drag this scope out to Bortle 2/3 skies 2-3 times per year.

She is a smaller person in NYC so one thing I was kind of surprised at is she only goes with her son or my father so even with the 4" on a dob that's obviously the extreme in portable she texts me, "nah he's got too much homework" when I ask her if she caught Venus that night. I had predicted she'd take it out solo every night but in hindsight it makes sense. What woman seeks out the dark wooded places in a city to sit quietly at 1:00AM?

I think the above reality talks me out of a grab and go refractor setup for opportunistic stargazing because if she's traveling for stars multiple hours, I think the 8" dob is the best bet.

So maybe the leading two options are the largest dob that's reasonable (currently 8" in my head) or a nice pair of binoculars.

There's another non-astronomy factor, do I want to bring in my entire family and monopolize her Christmas? Something like the aforementioned without borders scope, maybe I can bring it down to me and my other sister or something splitting.

Welcome to any astronomy forum 🤣 Always more options 😉

If you really, really want to go for an 8 inch there is another option although slightly less portable - https://www.amazon.com/Sky-Watcher-8-Collapsible-Dobsonian-Telescope/dp/B004Q78OII?th=1

One thing I would say, check out the used market locally, there are still bargains to be had and you have some time

Very well regarded scope that one, i've been tempted by it and it's goto version

Also worth some minor mods, handy video below

Since you're in the US, what about - https://shop.astronomerswithoutborders.org/collections/frontpage/products/awb-onesky-reflector-telescope ?

Small, and portable enough to be carried, but a very well thought of scope. Being a science teacher I'm going to go out on a limb and say she's not going to have an issue learning collimation and already seems to like the 4 inch newt 👍

Paired with a set of 10x50 binos it will give her a solid start to the hobby

5 minutes ago, Astro_Nic said:

So in the end, after much deliberation, I ordered the 14" Orion Optics Dobsonian.  As you may know, this comes with a light aluminium tube.  I have read some reports regarding tube flexing with heavy eyepiece loads, but I was wondering if anyone had any first hand experience of this?  I'm sure it will be fine with just a paracorr and an eyepiece etc, but what about binocular use or if I wanted to get into astrophotography - would this potentially cause any issues?

They offer an upgrade to strengthen the tube - a stainless steel part with a radius block inside the tube.  What's a radius block?  However, they want an extra £450 for this.  This seems steep and is as much as a new scope of decent quality!  Do I need it?

Thanks!

Nic

Congratulations on the purchase 👍 From what I've read the Orion stuff is always well rated so it should be a cracker!

A radius block is just a curved piece to fit the shape of the tube, have to admin £450 does sound steep

If the flex concerns are just around the focuser area, maybe think about some additional tube rings and a couple of dovetails / bars to site either side, should add some rigidity?

Hell if the budget allows, there's always the carbon fibre tube option... 

With my limited knowledge I'd say you already have enough optical kit to get you going the old C* would be a great scope for planets later down the line and the camera and lenses will get you going for now, see below for a video from @Chris giving an example of what's possible with a star tracker

Budget it what will drive the next answers really, if you are happy imaging with a camera and lenses / small scopes then a tracker will be fine, but I suspect you'll be wanting some beefier kit soon enough and this is where the budget is key, get the biggest mount you can afford and move effectively, the sturdier and more accurate the mount, the better the end result will be, AVX is ok, but there are quite a few other options

Hopefully someone who lives nearby will be able to give you some local knowledge, in the meantime may be worth looking at something like this https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/#zoom=7.79&lat=52.0501&lon=-0.3992&layers=B0FFFFFFTFFFFFFFFFF, hopefully it helps a little

5 hours ago, R1k said:

This is an image from a recent night in the Lake District (Bortle 3) and comprises 18 minutes integration in 9 x 2 minute tracked sub-exposures.

Unfortunately, I just could not blend in the untracked foreground trees no matter how hard I tried despite various attempts at layer masks and various stacking settings in Sequator.

Nevertheless, I’m pleased with the main focus of the image, there are several well known DSOs visible and lots of faint, dark nebulae and dust seen above Orion and particularly between the California nebula and the Pleiades.

Must have another go at this field of view with a simpler foreground and longer exposure when the opportunity next arises!

 

Equipment:

- Canon 800d (astromodded)

- SW SA pro 2i

- Optolong CLS-CCD clip in filter

- Samyang 14mm f2.8

 

Acquisition:

- Lights - 9 x 2 minutes, ISO1600, f4

- Darks - 4

Picked up some nice detail there 👍

It reminded me of a video I've watched which may help with the trees situation? 

https://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=178931 - there are sometimes some cheaper ones kicking about and it's well regarded as a portable planetary scope

Certainly worth keeping your eyes open there are still some bargains about although they are a bit more few and far between

A couple of questions might help with a recommendation, firstly what's the top end of your budget?

Also do you go there to setup before guests? Thinking any collimation etc could be dealt with beforehand

Would you be there on guest arrival to show them the ropes?

Do you have somewhere to store it? Would it be easy to get it outside?

Have a look at http://www.stark-labs.com/craig/llcc/llcc.html for info on how to collimate the laser, it's hit and miss with the cheaper ones, sometimes they are spot on, other times, not so much...

Sometime the collimation screws are "hidden", so you may need to dig out the plastic to get at the screws

All the points raised above are valid though, letting the scope cool is very important, especially with larger newts, my 8 inch lives in a shed and still needs around half an hour cooling down before the views improve

Star testing after collimation is also a good idea, more info here https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/how-to-star-test-a-telescope/, Polaris is probably best to use for a dob as it's easier to keep it centered

It may also be worth considering https://www.firstlightoptics.com/stellalyra-telescopes/stellalyra-8-f6-dobsonian.html as an alternative to the 200p

It's standard equipment such as finder etc. is a step up from the basic 200p

As for collimation, I'm no expert but I got a cheap laser one from amazon, checked it was collimated itself and that's been fine for me, haven't tried other methods though

Not something I've had to do, but what about something like this for the step? https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9192407?istCompanyId=a74d8886-5df9-4baa-b776-166b3bf9111c&istFeedId=30f62ea9-9626-4cac-97c8-9ff3921f8558&istItemId=ixilqwmax&istBid=t

Can be used just when you need it and then stored away afterwards

The other nice solution for large dob I've seen if a small "toolshed" in the garden to store the dob and the guy had small railway tracks to roll it out into the garden on

The 9-27mm hyperflex looks very similar to the svbony 10-30mm zoom I recently picked up, it performs ok for the price although the narrow FOV at the 30mm is a little off putting it's a useful tool on nights where the seeing is unpredictable

However, can I make a different suggestion..

Put the HR and HF eyepieces in a drawer or something, in my experience they are frustrating to use (like looking down a drinking straw) and use the two plossls and Barlow until you are used to the setup

The 26mm barlow and scope will give similar magnification to around a 13mm eyepiece (not exactly how it works I know, but close enough for this)

If you find after a while using some more magnification is needed, then take a look at options

Zooms are ok, but you may find a dedicated eyepiece better, join your local astro club if you can, maybe they'll have a star party soon where you can try out some other eyepieces

Also, grip that wallet tightly, this hobby has a habit of making money magically disappear 🤣