Tiny Clanger

Wise course of action. My 16mm Nirvana came with over 30 days of nocturnal cloud in the box, so it wasn't until I was outside the FLO return window that I was able to give it a proper go against my BSTs, but I really needn't have worried, it's an obvious step up. When funds (and stocks) allow I suspect I'll be looking for a 7mm Nirvana too 🙂

I only have the Nirvana 16mm , but if the 7mm is anything like as good it would be well worth considering . For roughly the same money you could get a BST 3.2mm and a BST 8mm though ...

Rule 2 of telescope owning: There is always something slightly better for more money (rule 1 is 'Clouds accompany each and every purchase' , obviously) .

Shh, really ! 🙂 3 figures would be a bit of a stretch though ... OP was interested in eye relief, so here's a PDF with the stats for the Baader classic orthos https://agenaastro.com/media/documents/Baader-Specs-Orthoscopic-Eyepieces.pdf I can't with a quick search track down a similar datasheet for the BSTs, but the FLO pages for each focal length gives the eye relief, eg the 8mm has 16mm of eye relief https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bst-starguider/bst-starguider-60-8mm-ed-eyepiece.html

Shh, don't tell them, they might put the price up !

I use an 8mm BST starguider when the conditions allow it (which is fairly often) in my 127 mak (on a manuall AZ5 mount) , it gives 187.5x mag, which is useful, and the 60 degree field keeps those fast moving targets in view for a reasonable time. The image is sharp, and I find the eye relief good, but I'm not a spectacle wearer . The twist up solid eye guards are nice, and offer a degree of protection against accidentally touching the glass. I'm very happy with the 8mm. When the seeing is a bit iffy for the 8mm , I use a 12mm BST, which is also very nice, and gives 125x . For the odd times when the seeing permits me to rack the mag. up to 250x , I've a 6mm Baader ortho I didn't go for the 5mm BST because I reckoned the exit pupil on a 5mm would be small enough to allow the floaters in my eye to become intrusive. and they do show even with the 6mm when looking at the Moon. The ortho is tiny, doesn't have brilliant eye relief and combines high mag with a tiny field of view , which isn't always helpful. I have a TMB clone 6mm (there are many versions, mine came from Alan at Sky's the Limit) which is easier on eye relief . Heather

Ah that's a shamel, better luck next time ., hope you get a chance tonight. H

Stu, any luck for you ? I had to wait (again) until late (or early to be precise) when Neptune had stopped playing hide and seek behind that accursed tree ... no naked eye stars whatsoever showing through human & lunar sky glow in that part of my sky , and Saturn was too low to be in my view, so no chance of using @Nik271 's helpful nav. hints ! I'd had the mak out to look at Jupiter/the Moon , but also my 102s Bresser 'frac , was left out all afternoon & evening under a cover after some lunchtime solar viewing , and I reckoned I stood more chance with the widefield of the 'frac. Armed with the 16mm Nirvana eyepiece (which is just lovely by the way, 82 degrees is a big window, and that thing is sharp ) , stellarium ocular view of what the field should look like, and stellariums verdict of what the alt was, I used my little electronic level to set the alt, and scanned looking through the ep until I got that field ... and there it was, a star with a faint grey 'star' close to it. Hurrah ! Spent half an hour peering at the grey point of light at various magnifications , no sign of Triton for me though, hardly a surprise as my highest mag. ep only gives 100x in the Bresser. If it's clear tonight I'll try again. with the mak which will mean I can push the mag. more if conditions allow. That's one nemesis vanquished ... wonder if I'll manage all three components of the Leo Trio from the garden this winter ? I'm sure plenty of new targets will be eluding me to replace them in the nemesis category if I do ... Heather

You are not alone Stu ! Neptune (or 'My Current Nemesis ' as I think of it) eludes me too ... I think I've looked straight at it a few times, I know I've been in the right area, but can I say for sure I've identified the perisher ? No . Doesn't help that it's behind the annoying tree when at its highest, in the sky over a couple of street lamps earlier on before current moonrise, and a bad skyglow area for me as it gets further west later ... If a settled weather pattern suggested to me that a drive out to slightly darker skies with a clearer horizon would be worthwhile I'd do it, but not for half an hour of cloud dodging while swamped by moonlight ! Heather

Ex colleague of mine , (whose spouse's job allowed them to work from anywhere) sold up their home in a rural Leic.s village the moment daughter #2 followed the first into a job & rented shared house. The parents put the house sale money into a harbour side, one bedroom flat on the south coast, overlooking mooring for the boat they bought , and rent barn space to store the microlight aircraft ...

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=helios+apollo+20x110hd+binoculars+reviews&t=ffcm&atb=v96-1&ia=web

Careful Jeremy, some denizens of Coventry might be after you, Godiva is theirs, Banbury is a lady on a white horse with rings on her fingers & bells on her toes perhaps an early morris dance enthusiast ? But she kept her kit on ( according to the life size statue next to a traffic roundabout anyway ... ) Heather

No luck here , I'd left the 102 mm 'frac outside under a cover ready for rapid deployment ever since some solar viewing around lunchtime, the Sun set, heavy clouds arrived soon after , then the clouds got light and patchy, so I put the mak out to cool. The Moon rose, the widefield 'frac was bought back indoors. Unfortunately the light cloud stayed,, and at 1am I gave up and bought the mak in, unused. The only thing that is predictable about the English weather is that it is unpredictable !

Just checked his online shop, looks like he has 19 in stock ...

For the full modern UK education experience, forget colouring in or dried pasta collages, you'll need a properly written plan in detail with specific curriculum outcomes in mind, and will factor in spending time after the main part of the 'lesson' to rigorously test and assess them on what they learned , record their progress, and devise a plan to bring any low scorers up to the expected level ...

I just realised , I'm reverting to primary school teacher type logic, crowd control, equipment constraint coping, alternative activity provision, and lesson planning ! 🙂 At least your 'pupils' are volunteers and can go home whenever they choose !

I'd have liked to show them for e.g. the Ring Nebula, but conditions just didn't allow ... They were suitably impressed with what they did see though, and I was interested to find that rather than the 'quick look, seen it, what next' I'd sort of expected, they wanted to spend long minutes at the eyepiece taking the view in . Actually I should have set up a second (or possibly third) 'scope for myself 🙂 . Maybe you could ask them to bring along any binoculars they might have, and have copies of the binocular sky newsletter printed out and a red torch for them to read it by. The nice thing is that my friends have been back and done a little white light solar , and want more ... I'm thinking dark winter night/hot chocolate and or gluhwein/Orion might be good ! There's so much to see and grasp the idea of , I think as long as you are well prepared with a set of possible targets and give some sort of structure (eg, start close to home , work out , so go Moon, Jupiter , Saturn, double stars of our galaxy, DSOs) The best thing to do is be sensitive to their reactions and interest level, don't let one individual dominate and hog the eyepiece, stop if they show signs of being bored. Difficult when interest level is going to vary, but If it's a success with some, you can always invite them again . Oh, and if one of them finds they need to adjust the focus very differently from the rest, have that individual at the end of the queue for each object so the other folk need a minimum of faffing , and you who can do it more quickly and easily will be the one to refocus. Get them to look down ...does hair fall in the eyes? Wear a hat or be forever pushing strands back ! Warn any likely eye make up wearers to leave it off please to protect your eyepieces too !

Yep, I had a similar experience , thin high cloud obvious around the Moon, so my expectations were not high, but parked my mak 127 out to cool anyway, just in case . Unfortunately there's a neighbour's whopping great tree due south of my garden, just too tall to view the planets at their highest at the moment, so I have to wait until they emerge to the west of it. What I got was the best view of Saturn I've ever had, as you said, the Cassini Division was incredibly clear, I've never had good enough seeing to take 250x magnification on a gas giant before but it worked beautifully around 11pm . I had a break for about half an hour when Saturn headed behind yet another tree, then back out around midnight when Jupiter slid into view, not quite as good seeing by then , 187x was the most magnification I found useable, but still moments when fabulous detail showed . Heather

Remember that the wrist sundial never caught on though 🙂 . You could probably sell thousands of wrist sundials with the right advertising, 'influencer' endorsements and paid bot 'reviews' "It;s the timepiece for our times ! 100% solar powered , completely made of natural, ethically grown softwood, hand crafted to reflect your individuality as a unique and fascinating human being. Water resistant, wild swim friendly, adventure ready , the Wrist Sundial (TM) is available in any colour you want to match your outfit, and a variety of sizes to suit your lifestyle , even a special fitness edition, a pair of matched dials , precision weighted with ethically sourced, naturally rounded by the incredible power of nature, quartz milli-precious stones , so they provide healthy resistance exercise while using your smartphone to tell everyone how great the Wrist Sundial (TM) can be . " I tell you, my 'talents' are wasted outside the most cynical parts of the advertising profession

I've had some smart, science & tech. savvy friends enjoy using my 'scope during lockdown. First time I employed a bit of theatre : using my mak I started out with a middling kind of magnification on the Moon, which got some impressed wows. Then I ramped it up with a bit more mag, and when we got to the highest I own (6mm giving 250x) they were speechless ! I've found a very handy free downloadable win. prog, , Virtual Moon Atlas, which gives a zoomable photo map of the Moon, can be flipped to match the 'scope view (or not) , and the labels link to information, there's also a list of some interesting features on the terminator at that time . As with stellarium you set your location, it picks up the time from your device , but you can run the time forward via the 'ephemeris' tab. It's not the most intuitive software I've ever used, but worth a look. The easy target of the Moon gave them the chance to get the hang of twiddling the slo mo cables for themselves too, as well as mastery of the focus adjustments they needed to make for their eyesight. The seeing wasn't terribly good that night, but they spent quite a while with Jupiter & Saturn, Galilean Moons all conveniently lined up, and they saw the rings and colour banding , but no more detail and to be honest if I'd been observing on my own I'd not have bothered once I'd seen how fizzy the view was. Clouds were coming over by then, plus my friends showed signs of having had enough, and were getting a bit cold, so rather than faff around seeing if any faint fuzzies were able to be seen I showed them Mizar/Alcor in the Plough handle. Heather

I think the ad.s have a photo which shows the new virtuoso heritage 150 has a much longer (shiny green) dovetail , which is a good thing. Heather

Cheap 50% solution (i.e., gets the alt sorted, you pan for the az) get a simple electronic level (they cost around £15 , are powered by a couple of AAA cells,) Find the alt of your target with whatever ap or program you like, put the level on the tube, elevate it to match. Works a treat with a dob., especially as the level I bought has a magnetic base and the dob tube is steel. It's done the trick perched on a non-magnetic 'frac tube too, on an alt az head. Another possibility , there's a free 'phone app ( I saw it for android, not sure if they do the fruit flavoured 'phones too ) called something like SkyEye , I've not used it (my smartish 'phone is too stupid, and lacks one of the sensors required) but it claims to work as a 'push to' system . Heather

I leave the supplied flat plastic case ajar on my one expensive filter (UHC) , it lives in the eyepiece case, so it gets treated in a similar way to the eyepieces My small collection of cheap coloured filters and NDs are standing in slots in a tiny case all of their own, again I leave the lid ajar. Maybe overkill, but it fits with my routine of packing everything away next day, and it can't hurt.

It's the base which is most prone to damage by damp, (at least in the affordable price range) they are made of some variety of faced particle board, like cheap white furniture, it's what makes a dob base cheap for the steadiness and weight capacity it provides. The same sort of newtonian optics on a suitably sturdy tripod and mount would be far more expensive . If the garage would be dry enough for that sort of board to not wick up damp, you ought to be OK . I don't think I'd store a 'scope in a garage it actually shared with a car though ... well, an electric one would be OK , but not an internal combustion one ... At this point I'm more or less obliged to ask .. had you considered a heritage 150 dob ? Closes down so easy to store ...