Tiny Clanger

Most photo tripods (all the good quality , reasonably strong ones ) have a 3/8-16 screw ( bigger than the one that goes from the tripod head to the actual camera , which is 1/4-20 (see, this is why I can't remember what my own mobile 'phone number is, my brain is too cluttered with irrelevant oddments ) . By some miracle of 'not doing things differently just for the sake of it and to make you buy the one brand stuff' many 'scope mounts use the same 3/8-16 to connect head the tripod, certainly all the alt az ones I looked at for the little mak did, but I bet the more exotic stuff for far heavier kit probably has a different, stronger connection. The circular plate at the top of my tripod which the screw protrudes from, and the 'scope mount sits on, is smaller in diameter than the very wide base of the az5, but it is secure and does not wobble . Back 3 or 4 decades when I was very involved in photography, the most commonly used , highly respected makes of portable but quite heavy duty pro tripod were both Italian, Manfrotto and Gitzo - it was a division of loyalties a bit like android vs apple , but with no internet back then, more polite . Not sure if Gitzo is still around , but Manfrotto is still cranking out an updated model of my 55 at a price not much more than the steel skywatcher one. Other old but decent brands worth checking for include Cullmann, Slik and Benro , altho'I think the Benro name got bought out so more recent Benro models I'd not be confident of without checking. The great thing about Manfrotto is that you can buy spares off them should you drop/lose/break any bits , even for some quite old models, so if you found a Manfrotto tripod (without a head) going cheap second hand with, say, a missing screw in one leg clamp , as long as you know the precise model you can price the part online and see if the thing is worth buying and restoring to use. Heather

That's the app version is it? Ive always use the desktop version which actually tells you what you are looking at! I think stellarium uses the middle one degrees, minutes and seconds, then decimals of seconds, that your conversion here only has one tenth of a second while stellarium has two digits after the decimal point shouldn't matter ... stick a '5' on the end of both N and E if inputting it to stellarium requires an extra digit, the difference is tiny . By the way, I'd suggest deleting your image showing the co-ords (and I'll do the same when you have got your problem sorted) , if you click on the show location on map button on the converter you will see how accurately it could lead someone to your door ! Heather

You may already have a good idea of what you hope to see, but even if so, this is a nice set of targets to consider in a couple of printable PDFs http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/tv/skyatnight/moore-winter-marathon-guide-1-25.pdf http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/tv/skyatnight/moore-winter-marathon-guide-26-50.pdf the Moore Winter Marathon is an old document, but everything apart from the planet info (Jupiter is not in that part of the sky now) holds true still.

Confucius would no doubt have said something sage along the lines of "Amateur astronomer with actual telescope at hand is closer to the stars than amateur astronomer with ambitious plans for expensive purchase at some time in the future." The weather will clear, and you will be ready ! Heather

Make it some snowshoes maybe ?

Oh, and your screenshot doesn't show ?

OK, I know this ! In my daytime guise as a geocacher I often need to convert all manner of co-ordinate types to solve puzzles, and this is the page I generally use: https://www.gpscoordinates.eu/convert-gps-coordinates.php not least because it usually can automatically work out what system your input co-ords are , which saves brain cells for a fool like me. Heather

Cloudy weather is expensive isn't it ? The mind turns to buying stuff to use when eventually those clouds clear ... As you know from past posts, I've done the RDF annoyance thing and spent some cash on a RACI and a Rigel Q.F. The Rigel is great for lining up actual visible things, and it has rings (half degree and 2 degrees) similar to the telrad (by the way, you can change to those sizes of ring in stellarium's telrad overlay ) which is handy for star hopping but the RACI was my first buy, and it is a great help for feint stuff as well as so much easier to look through on a reflector. Depends what you want to find, having both is good, but if I had to choose just one to supplement an existing RDF it would be a RACI, I'm reluctant to suggest anything much about eyepieces because I really don't know what works well in refractors (except of course that the best eyepiece is always somewhere above all but the richest individual's budget) but I wonder if you might go for a low magnification one than the stock 25mm , try the FLO eyepiece view simulator thing (another great way to while away some work time) and check out what would be reasonably cheap and give a wider view . I was lucky enough to score a second hand star diagonal for the mak, like you I thought the stock one a flimsy insecure horror, and had added a skywatcher or stella mira £69 one ( they seem identical) to my wishlist to buy eventually ... then a second hand one came up .... Much nicer made, and far more solid and secure . I've not compared the original & replacement visually as just the physical improvement is enough to convince me it's a good 'un. A heavier, stronger, tripod is always a good idea . I was lucky to already own an old but good photo one (Manfrotto 55) with an 11 kg rating , so had enough money to get an az5 mount to put on it, possibly expensive overkill for a 127 mak , but if I'd the cash I would have gone even bigger & stronger for a sky tee ... Back before electronically stabilized lenses were invented it was a photographer's rule that a cheap camera on an expensive tripod would beat an expensive camera on a cheap tripod , and it seems I've rolled that belief over to astro kit ! This fantasy shopping lark is fun, as long as you keep the credit card locked safely away ... 🙂 Heather

The nearly full Moon light (and the moonlight reflecting back off the snow) was a major factor for me the last few nights, to the point where I didn't bother looking at much yesterday apart from the Moon itself. If you browse around the posts on here when there's a clear night coinciding with a full - ish Moon in the sky you will read much complaining about it ! My response is go with the flow, study the Moon ! Irritating for your first session with the 'scope though. Be assured, there will be clear moonless nights, you will see more. A Moon filter ( for as little as £10 ) screws to the bottom of an eyepiece and will do the job intended, the sort with two polarizing filters which you rotate to get variable darkening is more flexible but about twice the price. As a temporary stopgap measure , sunglasses work ... or a single lens pulled form an old pair and laid on top of the eyepiece eyecup. Beware of spending money on many extras too soon though, the best accessories are research, patience, perseverance and time spent observing. Heather

Sorry ! 😏 I wondered if it was to do with the Rigel's important part being somewhat elevated from the 'scope tube ? I chose it over the telrad because of the shape ( better for the short solid part of the heritage dob, ideal for the little 127 mak ) and because it was cheaper ! Don't think I ever saw anyone compare the dew - magnet properties of the two rivals though . Heather

I expected my Rigel quickfinder to dew up when I was outside in the snow for 2 hours with my 127 mak, and was thinking about how best to make it a dew shield , but it didn't mist up even slightly. Which was nice ...

Beat me to it by a whisker ! 🙂 Heather

Well that eliminates one possibility ! One thing to be very careful of is (being not far from the meridian) it is easy to mix up W and E when inputting the longitude ... Next simple checks ( beyond which I will have exhausted my knowledge, as EQ mounts and polar alignment are a foreign language to me 🙂 ) do you have your altitude set correctly ... not that you are up a mountain in Kent, but likely a few tens on m above sea level . Finally is stellarium picking up the correct time from your computer , with the right time zone set ? Heather

Thanks for checking . I did wonder if it was someone 'on the internet' somewhere taking a review or an official statement like 'it is so strong you could lift the telescope by it' and reading it as 'you can lift the telescope by it' ... or even worse, you should ! It's a dangerous place, the internet 🙂 Except here, obv.s 🙂 Heather

Just a guess, but have you given Stellarium your position accurately, or just gone with the nearest town ? Heather

Wow, that's an essay and a half ! As a fairly recent beginner myself I'd say that is all good advice. for anyone . Personally I was not confident that I would see much improvement from more expensive eyepieces, so bought a few skywatcher super plossls , first the 17mm, which I chose as it was between the 10mmm and 25mm provided ones, so would not duplicate either of them. It convinced me it was worth £20 for the step up in clarity and sharpness . Then I bought a 32mm skywatcher super plossl ( costs about £30) . I still use both, despite having added some of the highly recommended BST skyguiders for the high magnification range (8mm, 12mm ) . Plossls are harder to use at these high magnifications. I dislike camera zoom lenses , prefer primes ( when I can afford them !) , which prejudiced me against zoom eyepieces, but I can see that they can be very useful , all in one packages. If you decide to go down that path, I'd say invest in a more expensive one , a very cheap one which may end up being disappointing in the long term. You asked about 'panoramic' views though really good single eyepieces which give wide views are very expensive (well over £100 each, I know as I've been looking at a few possibilities myself !) and zoom eyepieces are perhaps not going to give you what you want, as they concentrate on the middle of the magnification range. Have a look at the specifications of any zoom eyepiece you consider buying, and check the FOV ( field of view) at the lowest magnification. If it is less than 50 degrees at 25mm , you could get a wider view with a simple , relatively cheap 32mm plossl Wait and see if the stock RDF finder starts to annoy you before buying an upgrade, the way it inconveniences you in use will help you decide what upgrade you need ... or maybe you won't need an upgrade at all . 🙂 I own a few head torches which I use when camping or night walking (one lives in the top pocket of each rucsac with a whistle, a first aid kit and a space blanket ) , but I don't like them for use at the telescope, prefer my home adapted lights, a very old aaa maglite with a circle of red acetate stuck on the lens with PVA glue, and a very cheap LED headtorch (it cost £1 !) again with red acetate over the lens, also the strap taken off and velcro glued to the flat back . It sticks to the velcro panel on the padded waist bag I use for holding my eyepieces and keeping them safe and warm between uses, so is always where it should be and easily used where it is hands free, or taken off to hold i a hand to check something close - up. Turn Left at Orion is a really good, practical guide book ,there are also many online and app sky maps, I like the downloadable desktop 'Stellarium' which is free, open source and not difficult to use. Heather

I've used cheap batteries for a go pro, a panasonic lumix bridge camera, and several Nikon DSLRs , all have been as good as OEM . charging well, lasting in use as long as (or in the case of the Panasonic, longer than) the originals. I have mostly bought Neewer brand ones (when they had the size I needed available) via Amazon, as the first Neewer one I tried was excellent, it seemed sensible to stick with them. Not the very cheapest (because the very cheapest of anything is seldom a good idea ) , a brand which has been around for several years, and through Amazon because I was confident in their returns/refund setup if there was a problem. Heather

That's what I did ! 🙂

I knew a photographer (back in the days of film ,and skillful hand printing) who, annoyed by a wasp in his darkroom one day and unable to easily leave his printing session, zapped it with the only spray to hand : spray mount 🙂 Stopped the buzzing, entombed the wasp, but did make the floor sticky ... Heather

Or, Gran's favourite, fly papers ! I wondered if such a thing still existed ( having seen various Agatha Christie style mysteries where the poisoner boiled up some fly papers ...) but just put the words into amazon * it came up with 200 suggestions. Not much use at the moment, when the little horrors are snoozing through the cold, but might be worth while trying to stop next winter's unwanted squatters ! Heather

We are British . Weather and queuing are in our genes 🙂

I'd wondered about that too ... seems daft to have the 'stop' at the back when a telescope is going to be angled up ... in the end I decided it might be there because if they did have it at the front, folk might just use the stop and not tighten the screw(s) , which would leave the finder not only loose and less accurate, but also likely to fall off when the assembly was packed away. Heather

Here it has been sunny all day, but not got above freezing for long, so still plenty of lying snow. Clouds have appeared as twilight approaches, but the BBC weather promises they will be gone by 7pm and the rest of the night will be clear ... think I'll be having an unusually early evening meal soon in hopes of enjoying my third frosty observing night in a row, 🙂

Is that statement from an actual official skywatcher document ? Heather

I wanted to try out where would be best for my RACI finder on my little heritage dob. , so before drilling holes I thought I'd try mounting the shoe in a likely spot in a temporary way with some sticky pads (which I'd read various folk say were not up to the task, so I expected the RACI to peel off at some point ) to see if it was the best location. That was early November, and the shoe is still stuck fast , even with me swapping the RACI back and forth from dob to mak. I used "Unibond No More Nails Permanent Strips, Adhesive Strips for Fast & Easy Mounting, Double Sided Sticky Tape for Interior & Exterior Use, Waterproof Tape, Pack of 10 " , bought (in lockdown) from Amazon, cost around £4 . I cleaned the spot on the 'scope with isopropyl alcohol and left the shoe unused for 24 hours before sliding the RACI in. I saw suggestions that the sticky pads for car number plates were a good solution too. Heather