Tiny Clanger

To be honest, when I saw them in Asda and understood that the projectors would have to be positioned away from people's houses so that they threw their images on the front wall , presumably from near to the path/road, I thought they would be easy targets for thieves . Lone Ninja Light Rectification Crusader , there's a Marvel superhero who deserves their own comic ...

They actually had these things in an asda superstore near to me a few years ago , on the shelves with the other cheap xmas lights. I didn't see any actually in action though, I suspect they were too shoddily made to last long in the rain !

Drinc Hael ! Heather

Yes, the RDF is fine for things that are bright, but it is a pain when you are trying to get a 'scope lined up with a feint object, I recounted my frustration here : Heather

Good grief, I never even thought of using my rocket blower for that 🙂 thanks ! I'll add it to my low budget mak warming strategy of reuseable gel handwarmer and elastic strap borrowed off a foam mat ... Heather

OK, deleted the blah I was mid-typing about 'scope cooling factors ! You have zero set up time, so check a weather site to see if rhere are clouds heading towards (or away from ) you, then have a look before heading out of the door at your favourite app or site which gives a local sky map , and see what will be there to see. If you are hoping to see faint objects, delay until the Moon is set .. I expect the baby will oblige with a wake up call 🙂

If it turns out to be beyond (cheap and easy) help, I'd ask nicely on here if anyone has a spare: RDFs tend to be included with most 'scopes, and a lot of folk will have upgraded a 'scope (or several) to more expensive finders, so may have a small stock tucked away somewhere . Just check that your 'scope has the standard shoe something like this https://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/finder-mounting-shoe.html the old Celestron 114 I inherited does not have that, but (without looking, as I recall ...) some bolts that go through holes in the RDF base, which is not the same as the modern standard shoe. Heather

PDFs open fine for me, have not tried the other file types. Heather

Hello and welcome ! You've obviously started properly ,there's not a telescope owner in the UK who doesn't have a wry smile at the 'May contain clouds' sticker a certain company adds to the boxes of telescopes it ships ... Is there a better alternative to a red dot finder ? 'Course there is 🙂 However, these things are never cheap .Search for 'RDF' on here and some recent discussions on the subject have plenty of information about the options. here's a recent one to get you started: RDF I'm sure you guessed is shorthand for red dot finder, RACI is right angled corrected image ( essentially a little telescope which flips the image to the correct way up and has a right angled viewing tube to cut out on the need to perform astro-yoga to see through the thing) and Telrads (or Rigel quick finders ,two similar devices in different shapes) are rather better battery operated sights that give you a circle around your target rather than obscuring it . Heather

Click the 3 dots, top right which gives the edit option. I make so many typing mistakes I had to find that asap 🙂 Heather

No, mine were switched off and brought in as tradition suggests on the 6th. I'm too mean to spend money on my power bill adding to light pollution beyond the confines of the festive season. No neighbour has theirs still on either, I've had no valid reason to go checking the wider area during lockdown, so it is only a vary small sample. Heather

You have run into some of the things the shiny telescope adverts fail to mention! It's not just the telescope , the mount and tripod have a vital job to do keeping steady yet moving smoothly, not an easy thing to engineer at a low price point, More magnification doesn't just mean things look bigger: it also means those wobbles will be magnified, and the less precise small movements of the mount will be annoying .Not only that, but the magnification that is possible is often further limited by the atmospheric conditions To build a telescope package at a competitive low price point, you often get accessories which are only just adequate. (bit the manufacturer will be very happy to sell you some upgrades ) And last of all ... just seeing things through a telescope (let alone finding things !) can take some practice ... hovering your eye in the right spot to not get the black outs you had for instance. Persist, it's really worth it, honest. There are all sorts of add ons you can buy (lord knows I've splashed the cash on a few ...) but time spent, patience and persistence are free and never wasted . Yes, try weighting the tripod down, it should help. The stock RDF is a pain for faint objects, cheap optical finders can also be awkward to look through, which is why the more expensive ones which have right angled view are popular . Absolutely worthwhile noting your observing triumphs frustrations and disasters , I've done so since starting off last summer, and whilst I still feel like an incompetent dabbler, reading back I've at least got a tiny bit less incompetent ! You will make progress, the learning curve is steep at the start but it gets easier. Heather

Despair not ! Last night (and with a little luck with clouds, tonight as well ...) it was easy to locate: having had a good study of it last night I tried with the 10x50binoculars,and found it easily , so came indoors and contacted friends who are interested in astronomy in a casual way, I'd shared my scope with them on the clear night before the conjunction and enjoyed their delighted reaction to seeing Jupiter. rings, Saturn, / + moons, then Mars, the Pleiades and some double stars ,all for the first time in a telescope. I know they have some good binoculars, and wondered if they would be able to see Uranus with them from their home in the centre of Leicester . So, told them to locate the Moon, then look to the right by roughly the width of a closed fist and down a little ... that's Mars. Centre Mars in your binoculars ( probably about 6 degree FOV) and look for the grey-blue dot at about 7 o'clock , roughly half way to the edge of your view. Uranus ! An hour later I got an excited message back, not only had they found it in their binoculars despite the city light pollution, they had also uneartherd a 'toy' Tasco refractor, stuck it out of a bedroom window and, against all conventional wisdom and odds, viewed a wobbly Mars & Uranus with it . How chuffed were they ?! Don;t give up, ,you can locate it ! Heather

Their front page says "AstroBoot UK is currently closed. AstroBoot orders ship from the EU. The procedures set out in the trade agreement between the UK and the EU for supplying goods to the UK are, in their initial form, excessively burdensome and complex for small businesses such as AstroBoot. As such, we are disinclined to comply with these procedures until things settle down and become less punitive (on the European side) and less driven by restrictive convenience for HMRC (on the UK side). We are confident that with time, the practical implementation of the agreement will become more favourable to both customers and exporters. Until then, we are unable to supply customers in the UK. You are welcome to browse AstroBoot UK, but the site is not accepting orders. We apologise for any inconvenience. Stay safe." So UK business, EU warehouse. Can't be the only such small company sufering 'inconveience' ! Heather

Funnily enough I was looking at a book on my shelves which does exactly this : similar copies to my (old) version available second hand via amaz. here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Walk-through-Heavens-Constellations-Legends/dp/0521625130 It looks as if there is a prettier updated version too, the old one is illustrated only in black & blue, I imagine the new one may be colour (not checked tho) I'd offer you my copy, but posting it would cost more than the second hand sellers are charging in total ! Heather

But ... you are a penguin ! 🐧 The weather should be ideal for you 🙂 I think that EP comparison tool is on every eyepiece page on FLO's site (not that I've looked at the Tele Vue Ethos 21mm for a mere £810 of course ... curses, gave myself away ! Look, it's been so cloudy , I had to do something ) It is very handy. I had read that the standard diagonal was not great, and when the 'scope arrived it did seem a bit flimsy, but it's my first ;scope which uses such a thing, so had nothing to compare it with. I decided a slightly better dielectric star diagonal would be a good eventual upgrade, and noted there are two identical models on FLO at identical prices , currently £69 https://www.firstlightoptics.com/diagonals.html which look like better made items without being silly money . I'd added them to my wishlist when a chance at a second hand one came up on the buy/sell here so I went for it. It has a much nicer engineered feel to it, is sturdier, and has one screw and a collar arrangement to hold the eyepieces rather than the original's screws which might scratch the eyepiece barrel. Exactly as with the 25mm eyepieces I've not taken the time to actually compare the views between the two diagonals, the better one was simply obviously better ! If I'd bought it new from a dealer, I would have compared them as I'd be able to return it if I didn't think it worth the expense. Which, by the way, is somethng you can do with eyepieces , distance selling reg.s in the UK give you that option. For the BST 25mm it might be worth checking if Alan at Sky's the Limit has any in stock, he is a good chap and responds to emails . https://skys-the-limit-108154.square.site/shop/1-25-bst-starguider-ed/8 After coming in last night and typing my reply aboutthe eyepieces, I stayed up and went out again with my 150 heritage dob after the Moon set at 2am ... the 25mm BST is really not as nice in it , star shapes were distorted around the edges of the view, I found the 15mm BST better to use. The mak 127 is f11.8, the little dob f5, so the dob is showing up shortcomings which do not bother the longer focal ratio mak . Oh dear, I may have to look around for a better ( for better ,read expensive) low mag EP specifically for the dob now ! Heather

Oops, double post, sorry. Mods please feel free to delete one, Heather

Manfrotto 055 pro, it has served me well as a photo tripod with a pan/tilt head on it for over 30 years. I thought I might get away with using the tripod and pan/tilt with the 127 mak on top with no further expense, but tried it and was just not happy with hanging such a hefty lump of glass and metal on a single tripod screw. The Manfrotto photographic pan/tilt ( similar vintage, cost me about £130 new) simply unscrews, leaving a small flat platform with a larger standard screw. The alt/az 5 sits well in its place. The equivalent 55 series Manfrotto , legs only, no head. is around £150 new .I've thought about releasing my best photo tripod so it can get back to its proper use, and can't decide if I'd buy another 55 series or the skywatcher steel 'scope tripod . The 55 has are the leg clips are very positive in action, and always have been ,I trust them entirely. The tripod closes down neatly so I can have the mak on it ready to go stood in the corner (under 70cm from the ground to the top of the tripod plate - obviously the head & scope are above this) and I can lift the setup in one hand and release each top leg clip to let the next section slide out pulled by gravity . Because I used the exact same model of tripod for a decade when I worked as a professional photographer, and have done this thousands of times, I could do it in my sleep ! I bought ( again, years ago, they cost around £30 back then ) a set of feet for the tripod which have rubber bases so they don't mark floors indoors and screw out metal spikes for stability on soft ground. On the other hand, with the Manfrotto you are paying for photo features you will not use with a scope: adjustable leg angle, a removable, invertible and horizontally usable centre column, a couple of smaller leg sections you will never use ... the 55 pro extends so high that at its max. I need to stand on a box to see through the camera .... The skywatcher steel tripod is about £40 cheaper, has a larger platform for the az5 to sit on , has a tray bracing the legs and is simpler . I'm not sure if it uses screw collars for the leglocks, if it does that would cross it off my list straight away. It's a religious division in photographers, some love locking levers on tripods, others would always want collars. I think I'd be inclined to buy another Manfrotto , the new 55s look just as good . If I won the lottery (highly unlikely as I don't do it) I'd get a carbon fibre one and see which worked best for the 'scope, that or aluminium. Heather

Manfrotto 055 pro, it has served me well as a photo tripod with a pan/tilt head on it for over 30 years. I thought I might get away with using the tripod and pan/tilt with the 127 mak on top with no further expense, but tried it and was just not happy with hanging such a hefty lump of glass and metal on a single tripod screw. The Manfrotto photographic pan/tilt ( similar vintage, cost me about £130 new) simply unscrews, leaving a small flat platform with a larger standard screw. The alt/az 5 sits well in its place. The equivalent 55 series Manfrotto , legs only, no head. is around £150 new .I've thought about releasing my best photo tripod so it can get back to its proper use, and can't decide if I'd buy another 55 series or the skywatcher steel 'scope tripod . The 55 has are the leg clips are very positive in action, and always have been ,I trust them entirely. The tripod closes down neatly so I can have the mak on it ready to go stood in the corner (under 70cm from the ground to the top of the tripod plate - obviously the head & scope are above this) and I can lift the setup in one hand and release each top leg clip to let the next section slide out pulled by gravity . Because I used the exact same model of tripod for a decade when I worked as a professional photographer, and have done this thousands of times, I could do it in my sleep ! I bought ( again, years ago, they cost around £30 back then ) a set of feet for the tripod which have rubber bases so they don't mark floors indoors and screw out metal spikes for stability on soft ground. On the other hand, with the Manfrotto you are paying for photo features you will not use with a scope: adjustable leg angle, a removable, invertible and horizontally usable centre column, a couple of smaller leg sections you will never use ... the 55 pro extends so high that at its max. I need to stand on a box to see through the camera .... The skywatcher steel tripod is about £40 cheaper, has a larger platform for the az5 to sit on , has a tray bracing the legs and is simpler . I'm not sure if it uses screw collars for the leglocks, if it does that would cross it off my list straight away. It's a religious division in photographers, some love locking levers on tripods, others would always want collars. I think I'd be inclined to buy another Manfrotto , the new 55s look just as good . If I won the lottery (highly unlikely as I don't do it) I'd get a carbon fibre one and see which worked best for the 'scope, that or aluminium. Heather

I've not commented on the stock 25mm vs a 32mm plossl vs a 25mm BST before now, because although I own them , I'd never compared all three in my SW mak 127 ... the stock EP I originally replaced with the plossl ( a skywatcher super plossl, not fabulous, but at about £30 what I could afford in the summer when I started observing) .and subsequently snaffled a second hand BST . Tonight though, I had a couple of hours of clear sky, and with the Moon wrecking my chances of seeing what I'd like to , I set the mak up and tried the trio against each other. Pointed at the Moon first, and there was a distinct increase in sharpness and contrast when going from the stock 25mm to the 32mm plossl. Going from the 32mm plossl to the 25mm BST gave another step of improvement , everything was clearer , sharper, brighter and just nicer to look at . Exactly as you'd expect from the steps up in price . As well as the better image, I find the BST easier to position my eye over. The bright moonlight was washing the sky out somewhat, but I tried all three EPs in the vicinity of the Orion nebula , and as before the plossl and BST performed better and had wider views than the stock EP. I saw no 'kidney bean' effect in stars near the edge with the BST or plossl , I recall having seen that effect with an eyepiece in my 150 dob, but I can't recall which ! I'm no expert , and have probably described what I've seen through the three EPs in imprecise terms, and it is all very subjective, but in this 'scope, to my eyes, the relative costs of the 3 ( £not much , £30, £47) accurately reflected the quality of the views they give. For me, the BST is worth the extra over the plossl, but the plossl is perhaps a bigger jump in quality from the stock 25mm. This illustration is from the FLO page on the BST, you can add or remove any listed eyepieces to see a mock up of various views with any listed 'scope

What provoked me to check was suddenly recalling that when I got my cheap Celestron Moon filter it was via Amazon , and there were very many peeved complaints in the 1 star reviews where folk had evidently attempted to screw the filter into the eyepiece cup ... Heather

Took the mak and little dob out, having pegged a tarp out for them and me to stand on and avoid being consumed by the mud formerly known as my garden. Started with the mak, the Moon was really clear, scarcely a wobble in the view right up to my kit's limit of 187x (without the barlow, which I don't much like using ) fabulous detailed views , spent some time taking it in, only my third clear night since December 20th, and it all seems quite novel again ! Mars was less co-operative, so I shifted to Uranus instead as it was a lot easier to find than last time I got the chance . Checked that I could see Uranus in my binoculars, and came indoors to email friends who I know would like to see it with their binoculars too . Checked the BBC online weather forecast, which suggested 43% chance of precipitation 11-12pm, so brought the kit in , hope to get back out when the Moon sets behind the houses to my west around 1am and give the dob a bit of an airing. Heather

Most screw in eyepiece filters simply come in 1.25" or 2" sizes to fit the standardized threads on most eyepiece barrels as far as I know ... my Celestron £10 moon filter and cheap Chinese variable ND polarizing filters are 1.25" , and they fit my BST starguiders just fine , so you should be OK with any that claim to be 1.25" . Mind you, they fit my plossls too ! Strange that your plossls & filter have a different thread to standard, did they come as a set perhaps ? While you wait for a new ND, you can try perching the filter on top of the eyepiece instead of screwing it into the bottom of the barrel in the proper way. Which makes me wonder .... you were screwing them into the bottom of the barrel in the proper way, weren't you ?! Heather

What they said ! 😀 Learning to nudge a dob is considerably easier to learn than riding a bike , and there's much less chance of falling over ....

Upside down, left and right, your brain will soon adjust to whatever your 'scope does to the view, and once what you see has no ground reference points, it will all be fine. I didn't realise just how much the brain adapts until I bought a small maksutov to supplement the dob : dob view is flipped N/S and E/W , mak view N=N , right way up but flipped E/W. After spending the last 6 weeks or so of 2020 using only the mak (for what it is particularly good at , planets & the Moon) I went back to the dob (better for many other targets) and was constantly nudging it the wrong way ! Heather