Tiny Clanger

Is there not sufficient actual news ? Really ? I suppose they have to put something in between the adverts, but I thought the silly season was in August when (in the northern hemisphere anyway) things goes quiet while movers, shakers and disaster makers are mostly away on their holidays.

Really, I am an inexpert, badly equipped, ham fisted , very approximate , unable to saw straight kind of bungler, If I can make it, anyone can. Just do it ! The truly important cuts needed are short, so sawing ineptitude doesn't matter. Inaccurate drilling (I'm good at that) doesn't matter if you drill the rungs on their own, then lay them in place on the side pieces, check they are at right angles and properly spaced (by simply lying the dowel across them) , then mark through the holes into the long side support with a bradawl to show where the pilot hole for the screws needs to be made. .Once the front ladder part was finished, the back section just needs to be strong enough to take the stress, I fixed a couple of bars across to get the width right, then screwed a chunk of cut off pine shelf board low down where Jerry says you need it to be strong. When I thought I might not have sufficiently long bits of reclaimed wood to hand, I mused on the possibility of buying and butchering a cheap wooden ladder-ended shelf unit like the Ikea Ivar ... insanely I suspect that would actually work out cheaper than just buying the wood from B&Q

🙂 Postage might be expensive (and slow ), besides,I only had the one sofa ...

Thanks,, all Hail Jerry Oltion, it is a smart idea, and well explained on his site. The similar style chair plans which start by drilling a row of 25cm holes in a straight line * on a piece of plywood, then cutting out two matching side pieces* accurately* with a neat half a hole in each* to make sides with semicircular holes to engage with the seat dowel are tidier looking, but Jerry's design works with much less faff . If Ikea ever see the observing chairs of the Geoptik or Berlebach type design, I reckon they could easily knock them out by the million at a point roughly 10% of the asking price .... * I couldn't do that

Having managed to make a small but very rigid triangular table for my Heritage dob to stand on back in lockdown #1 , I have been using it standing up ... but somewhat leaning over, which , especially in the really cold weather , occasionally caused my lower back to suggest to me that this was not a wise pose to hold. I'd read folk saying it is easier to keep your eye where it needs to be when you sit to observe,and tried it out , using an old plastic stool which lives in the shed and has been stood on while decorating, used as an impromptu saw horse etc. Yes, sitting was better, but the single height of the stool was often wrong ... I needed an adjustable height seat. I checked out the purpose made observing chairs, which were often lovely looking, but insanely overpriced . I studied seats intended for ironing (something I don't do) drummer's stools , etc etc. Didn't much like of any of them. The internet coughed up several sets of plans, most of which required a panoply of table saws, jig saws, and for all I know , see saws ,huge sheets of expensive plywood , a workshop, and carpentry skills. I have none of those. What I do have is a panel saw , an electric drill, some screwdrivers and a small collection of bits of wood, mostly from a wooden frame Ikea sofa which survived for about 18 years before gravity killed it . Parts of the sofa went into the dob table, but most of it was still there, cluttering up the corner of the shed . When I came across this excellent , and relatively simple design by Jerry Oltion http://www.jerryoltion.com/observing_chair.htm I realised this could actually be within my extremely limited carpentry capabilities, and there might even be appropriate bits of ex-sofa wood to make it ... and by luck I happened to have had salvaged a length of 25mm diameter dowel which was heading to a bin at work several years ago, I had half a box of screws left from flooring the loft and some bolts from refurb.ing a garden seat ... So, I set about making something roughly along the lines of Jerry's seat, with the front upright height dictated entirely by the long pieces which formed the sofa frame, the rungs are the slats which filled in the sofa back, the sides of the moveable seat are one of the sofa arms ... the flat top of the seat is part of a venerable bit of plywood which came from my grandad's workshop, where it was a paint can shelf. A couple of old plastic doorstops make the back strut feet The whole construction was put together in a 'make it up as you go along' kind of way, the only critical measurement I took from Jerry's online seat (with a bit of trigonometry after converting his measurements to post 19th century sensible metric ones) was that the front uprights should be at a 60 degree angle, the rest of the dimensions were based on whatever happened with the material at hand. I had to buy just one piece of wood, for the rear uprights (Wickes 22x47mm 1.8m , £3.55) More by luck than good judgement or skill, the thing actually works, supports my weight, adjusts easily, is sturdy, stable and safe, folds for storage, and is not so embarrassingly ugly or wonky that I am reluctant to share a few photos . I still need to sand down some of the rougher reclaimed timber, give the whole a couple of coats of whatever varnish I can find in my big box of paint cans, and get hold of some suitable material to cover the closed cell foam I have to make a seat pad, I have not included the £6 I had to spend on a 25mm wood drill bit, a size I did not already own, but if I did, it still cost under a tenner 🙂 It may not be pretty (who cares, it will be used in the dark after all) , but it has given a purpose to many 'it will come in useful one day' oddments, cost hardly anything, developed some skills , and given me an interesting project and a glow of thrifty pride. First photo (feline despot for scale) shows the frame with some rungs in place, as I looked to see if I should add more rungs below or above. The next picture shows the completed seat with lower rungs added and the seat part, which took me a day to make ... the placing of the dowels is critical and fiddly to decide . the final photo showing the seat at a low setting to observe with the heritage dob at an unlikely low alt. , but you never know ... and that lower rung braces the legs Heather

I don't think I've ever seen one of these things on a campsite with a sewn in base, so you probably wouldn't need to cut anything off ! However, they do wobble mightily if not securely guyed out (as well as pegged down in the corners) , which might mean some chance of tripping over the guys/pegs. Beware of standing it over damp grass on a day that gets hot too, the inside will get warm and very humid, which I'd imagine is not ideal. Insects just love the insides of tents too, especially yellow or orange coloured ones ... Heather

Thanks to Fraunhoffer , the last BST to complete my set 🙂 , beautifully packaged,, and handed to me by the postie. Who is, by the way, a post woman .

Perhaps the company asked them not to, or the process is in hand and there is no definite outcome to report ? You have no more idea than I do what the outcome has been, or what action may be in progress.

You are privy to OPs email exchange with FLO ?

I saw various suggestions when I was deciding on what to use for my heritage 150, including card , card with a layer of sticky plastic film ( fablon is one trade name), foam, and sheets of proplex ( a corrugated plastic builders use to protect floors , similar craft material used to be available as 'corriflute' or 'corriflex' , but the builders stuff is cheaper) . I didn't like the idea of card, or plastic covered card, in damp winter conditions, and the corrugated plastic does not fall into a smooth curve I had some left over bits of a cheap , pale blue 5mm closed cell foam camping mat handy. so for my first rough light shroud, I used that, but held on outside by elastic, and removed when the tube was slid shut. It is a lot more convenient to have a shroud which fits inside the tube, so stays on permanently. So I bought some 3mm thick closed cell foam , I don't know if they would sell outside the UK, (and I've not checked) , and I'm sure you will be able to find a local supplier, but it might be useful for you to see the details of what I bought : https://www.efoam.co.uk/closed-cell-polyethylene-foam.php The 3mm foam is stiff enough to keep to the correct shape, even if the conditions are windy, is reasonably opaque , will not absorb moisture , and slides neatly inside the tube . Below I link to a helpful video, if you use the search on here you will find plenty more specific heritage 150 information :

A quick photo of my heritage with RACI in place, taken after I drilled the tube (I've cut the grass since then, honest) . The bright white thing forward of the raci is just light shining off the locking mechanism, and the wobbly looking thing on the central bolt of the base is the magnet I used to use to balance the tube when using a mixture of BSTs and other smaller EPs. You can just see the original RDF hiding behind the focus tube.

Yep, the practicalities of putting extra/different finders on the hritage 150 might not be obvious unless you've used one ... The RDF is mounted on a little block on the very front sliding part which has the spider/secondary/focus tube on it. You could not simply swap the stock RDF for any other finder, and I'd be very wary of adding extra weight of. say, a 9x50 RACI there anyway, it could conceivably pull the alignment of the front section out of line. I added a RACI (right angled corrected image optical finder) to the solid tube on the lower half , trying out positions for the shoe by fixing it with 'no more nails' permanent fixing pads, which were pretty strong, supported a 6x30 RACI well, but posed np problems peeling them off again with no paintwork damage. A coupoe of months ago I finally summoned up the courage to drill holes in my lovely little dob, and fix the shoe on properly, and to celebrate actually getting the right sized holes in the right places (not my forte ...) I bought a 9x50 for the dob so the 6x30 can stay on my mak. The raci is half way down the 'scope, when the tube is extended, which means a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, eyepiece to RACI and back, but if I didn't find it worthwhile by experimenting with the sticky pads , I'd not have gone through the drilling trauma. I had a similar plan to swap my rigel quickfinder from mak to dob, it came with two bases , so why not use them ... but while looking through the raci from the side is OK, mounting the rigel on the lower tube half (there is no surface suitable on the front ) and getting behind it to look would be a total pain. So I just use the original RDF in combination with the RACI. A telrad would suffer the same problem,

As we are no longer a part of the E.U. , E.U consumer rights, and E.U. company warranties and return policies for goods they sell within the E.U. no longer apply to the UK , it is that simple . Trading standards will not be interested either, it is outside their territory. If you'd used a credit card rather than paypal, you would probably be able to invoke the magic words "Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974" to get your money back, as it extends to purchases abroad (assuming the item cost over£100) , but personally I wouldn't touch paypal with the proverbial bargepole, so don't know if you have any chance of recourse there.

Welcome, I use the BST starguiders too, but find I actually go first to my 32mm skywatcher plossl in preference to the 26mm BST which (with its 60 degree FOV) gives a similar view. Then , once I'm looking in the correct area, my most used BST for faint fuzzy stuff is the 15mm , which in my suburban, light polluted skies seems to give the best contrast of fuzzy DSO vs. washed out sky. Heather

I agree with the comments above, the thing is, £200 is a very small amount to spend on a precision instrument like a telescope, the vast majority of 'scopes priced below that are really little more than toys and doom the viewer to frustration and disappointment . The tripod and mount the actual telescope are on are as important as the telescope itself, any wobbles or difficulty keeping the thing pointed where you want it will ruin your viewing. Here's a an alternative review of the 'scope you mentioned :https://telescopestobuy.com/celestron-starsense-explorer-lt-114az-review-dont-fall-into-the-trap/ which is, let's say, not very complimentary ... It's not all doom % gloom though, there are a few decent starter ;scopes around The heritage 130 is right at your price ceiling, but has a pretty good reputation, it achieves its low price point by being a table top telescope, which avoids the wobbly cheap tripod problem so many beginner 'scopes have, use it on a table, a stool (ikea do one which apparently fits it perfectly) a box or upturned bucket. It has a very basic focus arrangement, but it is simple to use . https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/skywatcher-heritage-130p-flextube.html This would just be within your budget too, and it looks more like most people's idea of a telescope , https://www.firstlightoptics.com/startravel/skywatcher-startravel-80-az3.html I use one on a second hand photo tripod which is perfectly adequate, if you have or can get a decently heavy/strong tripod, you could just buy the telescope on its own, without the wobbly mount. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/startravel/skywatcher-startravel-80-ota.html For the money you are thinking of spending, you could get a decent pair of 10x50 binoculars, a monopod to hold them steady, a bracket and a cheap photo ball & socket head to join the parts up, Binoculars are less niche products than telescopes, so quality comes a bit cheaper . However, as others have said, binoculars are good for wide field viewing, but you won't get high magnification views of, for example, the Moon & planets with them. I'm afraid there really are no easy answers, and very few cheap answers either 🙂 , but read around this forum a bit , see what other folk have bought and reported back on. Don't give up, keep looking up when the sky's clear with any (or no) optical device, there are plenty of free apps you can use, SkEye is one which is supposed to do something similar to the starrsense app, I have no experience of it myself though Heather

All of the above?!

No ponies were harmed in the making of this episode ... I'm relieved the urban light pollution annoyances were really just that, and you got to see what the little 'scope could deliver. Leo Triplet you say .... 🙂 Lovely report . Heather

I have friends who live in the middle of Leicester, and say their sky view has been far darker since the city council went over to LED lights. "Domestic Stupidity Lighting" is an excellent descriptive phrase, which I shall tuck away for future use, thank you ! It covers not only insecurity lighting, but also the hideous, multicoloured, land that taste forgot trend to turn a garden into a solar powered mini Las Vegas/Blackpool , to shine all blasted night even when the curtains are shut and the householders are watching reality TV or sleeping. Heather

I only know about the heritage, 150, I'd not be able to offer a sensible, informed opinion on a telescope I'd not actually used myself for a while, so as the Zhumell is a US brand, I'd suggest the US based Cloudy Nights forum might be a good place to ask your question. You probably already know of it, but this thread on there is huge, and is about a differently badged telescope which is exactly the same as the Heritage 130. https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/463109-onesky-newtonian-astronomers-without-borders/ There are quite a few folk on here who own a Heritage 130 as a 'grab and go' 'scope, with a bit of luck one will be along to comment on the collimation issue. It is very easy to get dizzy with the huge range of choices on offer 🙂 , I'd advise setting yourself a strict budget limit, and sticking to it, its easy to be seduced into spending more , at east the current poor availability of astronomy kit means you will have plenty of time for research. Heather

There's a thread with precisely the same question here: https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/690759-zhumell-z130-i-choose-you-probably/ However, if you want to have your telescope on a tripod, why buy a dobsonian ? You would be wasting money on a base you don't intend to use If your tripod is really sturdy ( an expensive , heavy photo tripod ) and you are going to buy a suitable mount to go from it to a telescope (which is not a cheap thing to do ) , there are many choices of just the telescope part of a package , something like this for instance https://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-130p-ds-ota.html However, don't dismiss thoughts of a dobsonian used on its mount. I have the slightly larger heritage 150p, and it is excellent, compact and portable. I have suitable mounts and tripods which would enable me to take it off the simple, steady dob. base, but apart from trying it once out of interest, my 150p stays on the dob mount, where it is extremely easy to use. I have mine on a small, purpose built table about 30cm high, which raises the eyepiece to my seated eye level. That height would be similar to a small child's standing height. Remember you look through a reflector from near the front (top) end of the telescope, so raising the tube on a tripod may make it impossible for a small child to look through ! Heather

I'm in a similarly light polluted area, with a 150mm aperture, 750mm focal length reflector, and have managed to see some nebulae & galaxies , but it has taken quite a lot of persistence . Presuming your computerised set up is pointing you to the correct spot (I have no experience of them, so can't help if that part of the setup is letting you down ) there are a few things you can do to maximise your chances of seeing a faint fuzzy . First, give you eyes plenty of time to adjust to the dark : mine need at least half an hour , so I look at clusters etc while my eyes adapt. Don't go indoors, don't look at any screen that is not switched over to red display , don't use a bright torch . Turn off , or draw the curtains of, any lit house windows or bright garden lights . Second, choose your observing time with care : no Moon in the sky, and as late as you can, it's not properly dark at this time of year until around 10pm I find . You don't say where you are, but my local council save money by turning every other streetlamp off at about 1am so that's the start of hopeful fuzzy hunting for me. Third, on some nights the sky clarity is really good, the stars twinkle (poor 'seeing' ) but the sky appears more transparent , so you see more stars. Those are the best nights to look for faint fuzzies , there was a recent cold blast of Arctic air which was perfect, but it made for a chilly time in the garden. Fourth, try for targets which are quite high in the sky, at least 40 degrees, preferably higher. The lower you look , the thicker the layer of air you are looking through. I've also found that there are areas of sky below 50 degrees which , from my garden, are hopeless because of the light pollution being stronger in that direction, so I simply don't bother looking for anything faint in that part of the sky. And finally ... persist. I've looked, I don't know how many times (over 2 dozen at least) for the Leo Triplet, and failed miserably, failed again, caught a suspicion of one component, tried several more times, failed , and eventually managed 2/3 of it , it is actually come as a relief that it is now too low , and in my more polluted sky area for me to spend time on it ! But there's always next year. I've recently (on a very cold clear night) had really nice views of the almost overhead Bode's Galaxy and the Cigar Galaxy (M 81 & M82) give them a try, start with your 32mm plossl, and if you get a suspicion of a couple of smudges visible , change to your 25mm stock EP. Good luck ! Heather

Quite. The kit you use , whatever it may be, is better than the kit that stays in the spare room because it s too much of a pain to lug outside. I've had far more use out of the cheap, colour aberration laden little ST80 in the couple of months since I bought it second hand , than the 127 mak with its superior optics, streets better mount etc etc. Just because I've noticed a brief unexpected window in the clouds and ducked out for the odd 20 minutes. Heather

RVO is easy to get to from the M1, I bought my heritage 150 from them in lockdown#1 when travel was allowed, and they offered a 'buy online, call us when you are outside and we will put your order in the car boot ' option. I'd get in touch with them before making a trip, not just to ensure they are open to visitors, but also to check they actually have display 'scopes to look at , I'd imagine it would be tempting to sell off the 'slightly shop soiled' stock over the past 12 months to keep some cash coming in while astro kit has been in such exceptional demand and low supply. Meanwhile, thinking about the practicalities of carrying it up & down stairs, my heritage 150 with the tube closed and upright makes a reasonably compact package, with the whole thing held 2 handed by the circular base with my hands at waist level , the top of the 'scope is roughly level with my collarbone (as I said above, I'm about 1.7m /5'7" tall) The weight is given online (not of me, of the heritage 150 ) as 7.5kg (16.5 lbs) , while the heritage 130 is 6kg (13.2 lbs) An st80 itself will weigh between 1 and 1.5kg (2 to 3.3 lbs) and the tube with diagonal etc is almost exactly the same length as the closed up heritage 150 (but obviously the st80 is a far smaller diameter) but you need to add in a sturdy tripod, the one I use weighs 2kg, with a pan tilt head that comes in at an extra 1.5kg, for a total of 5kg . Obviously it is possible to take any 'scope off the mount, and make two trips to get it outside, but personally I'm lazy and the fewer complications between me and observing the better, I don't want any faff or extra effort which might make me decide to stay on the sofa instead of getting out observing. I can carry my st80 out and be observing in moments (I roamed the local streets with it over my shoulder at 2am the other week to get a vantage point where i could see the nova ) , the heritage dob is carried out in one go, extended, left to cool for a few minutes then ready to use long before my eyes are dark adapted. Of the two 'scopes, I'd choose the dob (probably with your portability issues, the 130) because it gathers more light and has a longer focal length than the st80, so you can see fainter things, as well as getting greater magnification with the same eyepieces. Heather

Is it 12lbs or less ? I thought the 200 dobs came in at around four times the weight limit the OP set ? Heather

Purchased yesterday afternoon from Mark at Beaufort, and posted out to me very promptly, altho' the postie (new guy on the walk, so maybe he got lost along the way) was so far behind the usual schedule I'd already given up hope of it arriving today . However the doorbell rang a few minutes past 1pm,... What a neat little EP, weird eye shield wing thing and all, and in perfect condition . Couldn't resist sticking it in the st80 for a view of the bird feeder at the bottom of my garden,and had a terrifying close up view of a scabby feral pigeon. Heather