Ian McCallum

29 minutes ago, Louis D said:

Above 10", I would seriously consider going with truss Dob.  Weight and tube size take a serious jump at 12"

How about for just out the back door and keep the 200P for portable work?

Some of those StellaLyra ones look tempting...🤔

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/stellalyra-telescopes/stellalyra-12-f5-dobsonian.html

42 minutes ago, John said:

Neither will outperform the 200P dobsonian - I guess you realise that though ?

 

I'm tempted to let aperture fever take hold and get larger DOB instead!😆

I quite fancy the SW ST150, but what kind of mount and tripod would I need?  Also, what about the SW Evostar 150?

1 hour ago, russ said:

I adore my Startravel 150. A great visual tool. The chromatic abberation does not bother me at all. Detail on Jupiter has been excellent, rivalling the C6. Yes there is a smear of blue which would drive some up the wall. I can see fine detail within the belts, between the belts. I bought it as a low power sweeper but use for everything. The Veil with an OIII filter was great from the garden. 

Only downside with the 150 is it is very heavy, the 120 would probably strike a better balance between aperture and weight. 

What weight is your ST150, as I couldn't see it in the specs on the FLO website...

Are any of the SW ST series of refractors suitable for visual observing?

11 minutes ago, dweller25 said:

Does that include the mount or do you have one ?

I've got an old Meade 114-900 reflector with a EQ1B mount and tripod.  I was going to use that mount and tripod, but just manually track. I can put up with the vibration...

These created a bit of a buzz on the forum, when they appeared at Auntie @FLO's.  

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/scopetech-telescopes/scopetech-stl80a-l-80mm-f125-classical-refractor.html

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/scopetech-telescopes/scopetech-stl-80a-maxi-80mm-f15-classical-refractor.html

Can I ask what would they be suitable for visual observing, or just for astrophotography?

1 hour ago, dweller25 said:

if the 8” Dob in your avatar is yours then you will have to spend a lot of money on a refractor to beat it’s visual performance on both deep sky objects and the planets.

It's a SW 200P.

9 hours ago, johninderby said:

Budget?

Doublet APOs are excellent for visual observing but without knowing the budget hard to give advise.

Up to £1,000.

Just wondering if there much use in getting either an Acromat, Apocromat or Triplet for purely visual observering? 

Given the fact that I'm using a SW 200P, I don't think I'll be buying an Ortho any time soon.

I've became a bit of a fan of planetary observing recently and I'm wondering what advantage over the full range of BST eyepieces I have at the moment, would orthoscopic eyepieces give me?

Me and a friend visited there a few years ago. It's our 'local' observatory. I remember using one of their Sky-Watcher Dobsonians and also the big telescope, fitted with a TV eyepiece. 

I hope they catch the scum that did this! 😠

All that effort by the staff there, plus all that expensive equipment, etc! 😢

On the subject of being out on your own at night, reminded me of this news article...

http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2020/october/radio-ham-attacked-while-operating-near-cheltenham.htm#.YMC8ryTPzIU

I used to do security and we were told that carrying long and large torches (flashlights), could be considered as offensive weapons.

Many thanks for all the replies.👍

1 hour ago, Maideneer said:

I’ve sat in my new found favorite field for many hours now, and the things I hear around me can be terrifying lol. Coyotes, weird howling, shrieking, buzzing etc. Hell, even people show up sometimes and have no idea I’m sitting there…that’s worrisome to me in case they see a dark shadow moving and decide to investigate.

I guess it depends where you are but does anyone utilize some level of personal protection when out in the field? I want to make sure I’m not being paranoid and this is like a totally legitimate thing to do.

Watch out for Bigfoot!😉🤣

Last Spring, Venus was high in the evening sky.  Yet this Spring, I couldn't see it at all.  Is it higher in the sky in certain years, more than others?  And yes, I know about it being the "evening star" or "morning star" depending at what time of the year you see it.

Is this like waiting for buses, there's nothing for ages - then 3 appear at once!🤣

Corvid vs Covid...

7 hours ago, Carl Au said:

An AZ 4

I'd rather use what I have at hand, especially after seeing the price of one! 😱

I would like to get a Sky-Watcher ST80 at some point, just the OTA. 

I've got an old Meade tripod and GEM that I could use with it. 

Do you think this could work? 🤔

8 hours ago, Spile said:

 

I just cradle the OTA carefully, with both arms.

I've never had any problems with my finderscope holder shoe on the OTA, though I've read of people tightening the thumbscrew with pliers! 😯