Ian McCallum

I use two different Bahtinov masks on my set up. A small one for the finderscope/guidescope and the larger one on my two 120mm achromatic refractors. 

I do a bit of planetary and DSO imaging. Your mileage may vary. 😉

Nothing too fancy, but these came at the start of the week...   The Baader optical cloth and extension tube came from Auntie @FLO. The RDF came from Skies Unlimited on eBay. 

13 hours ago, bosun21 said:

They draw virtually the same power as the 12v dew bands.

I'll be using mine at home, with a 13.8V DC mains power supply. It's capable of providing upto 30A at a push, so power shouldn't be an issue. 

I've ordered a couple of 12V versions from Auntie @FLO.

Talking about the Wratten #8, you may want to check out this thread...

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/386412-wratten-filters-for-ca-correction-in-achromats/

I looked at the 12V dew heaters from FLO, but see that many of the UK made controllers are now unavailable.  I was thinking that it maybe possible to build a controller from scratch, using a suitably rated potentiometer...🤔

Has anyone ever tried one of these dew heaters? 🤔

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285052210212?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=MsnxS3WGSCy&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=FlQ80JPwRca&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

I contacted  Auntie@FLO and @Chris emailed back.  He kindly went through what he thought it was, based on years of AP, it boils down to dried in dew spots. so no mould, thankfully.  I'm not sure if removing the whole lens cell from the front of the OTA. to clean the flint glass surface would invalidate the warranty?  I'll not do anything till I know for sure...

I'm not against KStars, as it's a very comprehensive programme. It's just I don't like the planetarium GUI. 

2 hours ago, Moonlit Knight said:

Personally I take the lens cap off and leave the tube open over night. I leave my eyepiece case open along with my mount case to until the morning. On very occasions objectives collect few and even ice at the zenith. Not sure how many of use would leave that capped and locked away inside a bag or case.

 I do understand the rationale, just not sure how one gets the temperature down slowly and steadily enough to prevent condensation forming with the cap on without turning the objective into a really expensive petri dish

I do exactly the same, leaving both the lens cap and eyepiece cap off, so that any moisture or condensation can evaporate naturally. I leave the scope like this for a few hours (or longer in colder weather). It's always left horizontal whilst this happens or perhaps with the objective lens raised above the level of the focus tube. 

I've got a second hand SW Evostar 120 achromat that I've been using for over a year now and haven't seen anything like that on it. 

9 hours ago, Ratlet said:

Might it be ice?

I guess it could be but from the lenses I've seen with mold, it tends to be round-ish.  Those look perfectly circular.  I'd leave it till the morning and check again once it has had a good warm up.

My understanding is that the mold on glass takes a long time to grow or really really bad storage.  I can see that the way you've used it could amke it bloom.

I think these are drip of condensation that have dried out. I've been told that leaving the telescope lens covers off to 'breath' when it comes back into the warm house, isn't necessarily the best way. 🙄

Last night, after bringing my Sky-Watcher Startravel 120 achromatic refractor back inside, I noticed some marks on the inside of the objective lens.  I keep my telescopes inside the house, at room temperature. 

The telescope had been outside for a few hours in just below zero temperatures, so I always allow the telescope to 'breath' before putting on the lens caps. This usually takes a few hours.

Is this mould starting to grow on the inside of the telescope? Have I done anything wrong? 🤔. Is it enough of a problem that it could impede any visual observering or imaging? 🤔

The scope is only a few months ago and was bought brand new from Auntie @FLO. 

I'm looking into CCDceil and Cartes du Ceil as alternatives.

I've never been a great fan of KStars Planetarium software on the RPi, that comes with Astroberry OS. It's just not as nice or intuitive to use as Stellarium, etc. 

My question is can others like Hnsky and SkyChart be a complete package like KStars and fully integrate with Ekos, etc? 🤔

Just checking out M42, the Orion Nebula there. Still quite low down. I also showed a neighbour the Moon, Mars and Jupiter. She could make out the equatorial bands.

3 hours ago, Coco said:

You want to live in Preston Lancashire on the Irish Sea Coast, clear nights are extremely rare.

Try the west coast of Scotland, it's just as bad.

The telescope is now down in Morecambe, with my friend. It'll be mostly used to terrestrial views across Morecambe Bay now. 

The telescope is now down in Morecambe, with my friend. It'll be mostly used to terrestrial views across Morecambe Bay now. 

I got this from eBay today, but not from the usual sellers. It was for my Sky-Watcher Evostar 120 achromatic refractor. 

It's going back as it's faulty. There was no clear plastic film between the battery and the cover, suggesting it's not new. The on/off dimmer switch was flaky and it was difficult to adjust and wouldn't stay tuned.  It wasn't the cheapest either. ☹️

This is my 4th RDF, so I think I should know if I have a good one or not... 🙄

1 hour ago, Alan White said:

Well spotted! 🤣

Perhaps it's blue or green? 🤔🤣

A red dot finder from eBay, for the Prinz Astral 500 refractor. 

1 minute ago, Jbwz said:

Thank you

This may help clarify a little more...

http://www.swindonstargazers.com/beginners/eyepieces.htm

They're not Plossls, but modified achromats.

4 hours ago, Anglo said:

Hi All,

I've just bought a new EQ5 Pro from FLO.

I wanted to check I had the latest firmware installed, however I'm a little confused over hardware & firmware versions.

I see references to V4/V5 handsets on the Sky-Watcher site, but my handset seems to be reporting itself as a 6.00 for both Hardware & Firmware?

 

Alan.

I believe the latest firmware version is 4.39.21.

A second hand Prinz Astral 500 refractor (60mm), that I got a few weeks ago. 

I managed to get a view of the moon with some cheap and nasty H20mm and H6mm ebay eyepieces. I also clapped eyes on Jupiter and could just about make out the two equatorial belts with the 6mm H eyepiece! 😮

Using a 0.965" to 1.25" eyepiece adapter and a 25mm MA plus a 9mm MA, certainly improved things. The views were less restrictive... 

I'll be giving this to my friend down in Morecambe, for terrestrial viewing. He overlooks the sea with views out to Morecambe Bay. 😉