wibblefish

@KP82 I did like the 25mm and didnt notice that but my scope is a bit “soft” towards the edges I think mostly due to being a short tube so it doesn’t bother me to much. I am kinda hoping the RACI will help me when (like last night in certain directions) I had periods where I was just placing the dot roughly where I thought the object was as the sky as it was just purple with no stars I could see to start hopping off from. When viewed through the binos I had no issues finding stars to guide, I did a lot of sweeping to with the 25mm and then switching to the 18mm when on target which was good fun and will likely do that until I sort a finderscope. @Carbon Brush thanks for the advice, whilst I do definately think the RDF is to bright (it basicall ly covers an area over the target and you cant really see mich through the tint (I assumed you arent meant to - more like focus one eue on the target dot and the other eye to overlay it?) I think maybe moving it forward or possibly changing to a circlular ringed RDF might help me more I will have a play with it! @Pixies it arrived today but I feat no clear skies for a while now to test it! I am impressed with the 25 and 18 (in particular as it was also good with the BST barlow) especially the eye relief so I am hoping the 12 will be good also. Looking forward to trying it on the moon in particular as I imagine it will be a massive improvement on my old 10mm! My telescope is an Evostar 90/660 (f7.3) short tube refractor. I dont have any knowledge for comparison but I am quite happy with it so far, a little soft at the edges but not enough to worry me. It works well as a grab and go out rather than having to faff to much. I should probably write a review eventually as I have not seen anyone mention this scope anywhere online but I guess thays fairly standard for a random beginner level telescope 🧙‍♂️

Thanks all I actually managed to get a good play with my new BST EP last night (including barlow briefly) and I don't seem to be seeing any issues with balance that I can tell (other than if you fully loosen the ALT and tilt the scope up but that is fairly normal I presume as it was doing this with the old EP). I will definitely be looking into an RACI 6x30 and Rigel setup sooner rather than later as I had similar issues last night with the RDF just not being able to see anything. I ended up using some bino's are a guider till they fogged up and then reduced to guessing vaguely where in the sky to place the RDF due to the light pollution and being dazzled repeatedly in various directions Sidebar: the BST 25 and 18 are really an amazing improvement on my stock 25mm, ridiculously so, the 18mm seems the better of the two but there is something nice about being able to have the whole of Pleiades in the view at once. I also got some amazing detail on views in M42 in Orion (one of my favorite targets atm) with the 18MM and barlow which I was surprised at. I am awaiting my BST 12 today though I fear I won't get a chance to test it for a while looking at my weather apps for the next week!

I spent alot of my last session with a deep parker hood over me and looking down, three bright streetlights at odd angles are trying to shred my night vision most evenings!

Appreciate all the measurements Heather! Yes I managed to find somewhere that BST EP is about 170g each, my stock ones are light as anything so I would reckon probably similar to yours. I have (at the moment but it seems to change every hour) clearish skies tonight so I might get a chance to chuck the BST on and see how it affects the scope balance etc (also add the barlow for more weight!), I can always re-center on the dovetail as I think I copied how it was set in the demo pictures as I figured that would be a good start lol

@zermelo yeah I am going to see how the BST EPs affect the weight on mine at the back end and then think about finder scopes (which are rear end mounted), tripod its a light weight aluminium thing (though the AZ pronto head is very good) to go with the short tube being light so don't want to risk an overbalance - I think my weight limit on the tripod is only about 3kg max(?) but there are so scant details about the telescope / tripod weights so that its all guess work. At the risk of sounding a bit silly I assume if I purchased a more substantial tripod such as (https://www.firstlightoptics.com/tripods/sky-watcher-38-stainless-steel-tripod.html) it would improve the load carrying significantly or is it more to do with the mount head? The Rigel is only 80g I think so not worried about that (plus itd be further forward). Appreciate the links I am not overly worried about availability in all honesty as everything is out of stock everywhere I was just looking for a retailer recommendation as I haven't used anyone bar FLO

Great stuff, really like that image and the sentiment! I only got into this all in Nov but I am using every clear night (not many sadly) to get off this planet 😛 Visual only at the moment though but its definitely good for the mental health to stop worrying about what is going on and gaze at things very, very, very far away!

I swear its a slippery slope, I went from trying to find any information on the weight of finder scopes to looking at upgrading the tripod from the aluminum az3 basic one to something more sturdy with an extension pillar @Tiny Clanger I noticed FLO only has the RA version of the 6x30 skywatcher finderscope, what one do you have / where did you get it if you don't mind me asking? Also I have BST starguider EPs arriving today and my weather app is fluctuating between clear and cloudy ... I suspect it will be the latter just to thwart me!

@Tiny Clanger thanks, I need to read a few more reviews about the Rigel, I could probably mount it on the objective end of the scope so I dont have to squat down so much and then use the finder shoe for either a 6x30 or 9x50 RACI ... I guess I need to work out how much difference in weight their is (not easy as nowhere seems to have that info on the sale sites nor skywatcher main!) between them (and price!). Either way I'll wait till I get the BST and see how it looks. Edit: looks like according to amazon the 6x30 is 204g and according to skyatnight the 9x50 is 450g so maybe the 6x30 + Rigel (80g) is the way to go to keep things light and easier to balance on a very small scope - especially as the BST eye peices will add more weight also to the same end

@Ricochet there is a 6x30 raci which I guess would be lighter. Aye I did wonder about balance and weight, there seems to also be a school of thought that the short tube is wide enough you dont need a finderscope. Maybe ill just trying moving the RDF further forward first and see if that makes a difference. I have 25, 18, 12 BST with a barlow coming so hoping those will help as they are 60 degrees. @NGC 1502 thats a good idea, I dont mind tinkering with electronics but maybe the nail polish would be less invasive 😎

I have a short refractor with a standard skywatcher rdf mounted towards the rear. My skies are supposedly bortle 4 but I am in an urban area with a few streetlights and near neighbours who have windows illuminated late into the evening plus some security lights. The RDF works fairly well (though obscures the target as its bright dot) but I struggle with it when there isn’t a very bright target on some nights and also when angling upwards (my garden has some tall trees around it so I often have to have a steep angle) I get issues aiming correctly (parallax?). I have a couple of thoughts but not sure what may help or if it’s something to put up with: - Get an RACI finderscope and combo it with the RDF on a multishoe - would this be overkill and / or cause weight / balance issues on a short tube? - Replace RDF with telrad (maybe to big?) or a rigel mounted further up the tube? - move the RDF up the tube (somehow its fairly light so guessing a sticky pad) Any suggestions / opinions would be appreciated I imagine I am just being annoyed by something small that needs to be put up with! On the plus side my BST EP will be here soon so I am hoping the wider field of view will help when the RDF yoga is happening 🤔

Scope wise it is in the garage (under a cover for dust) which is fairly cold normally anyway so going out not to bad. Coming in, cap the EP and objective lens walk it through the house back into the garage. If there is misting then usually loosen the EP cover and uncap the objective (point scope at a slight down in case it beads and runs out) the. In the morning tighten the EP cover, cap objective and recover with dust sheet 😎

@paulastro I am not sure it does on the live view, will have a tinker with it. I am going to probably try some wide field piggyback first as I don’t have the t adapters for the camera (not even really sure what youd need total newbie!). I am always a bit confused if you put the camera in the diagonal or into the scope directly and how it might affect it weight wise, so plenty to research before I try that! Plus I only have a 90mm achro short tube on an az pronto mount so I would imagine moon shots would be doable and might be fun to explore what is possible at some point if I decide to play with some astro 🔭

Very nice shot! I have an Olympus E-M5 Mk1 and am hoping to toy with the idea of connecting it up to the telescope eventually good to know its capable enough!

Glad you got out! Seems to be wall to wall cloud cover here since my last session in Dec (other than 2 few minute "haze gazes" through to the full moon) guess its a big "welcome to astronomy" ritual I am eagerly awaiting my new EP but I think 2 of them are on 20-25 day wait at FLO so I imagine it'll be a while before any of them come, maybe it won't be so cloudy be then?!

Great report, love Pleiades and I keep training my scope on M42 and seem to find a little more detail every time I re-view it, its one of my faves at present! Sadly I didn't get to much moongazing in on the last full moon due to cloud but from what little of I got through the haze of clouds I am looking forward to my new eyepieces when they eventually arrive to try and get more detail. I had similar with Mars but I have had the odd night where I have been able to ascertain a red tinge to it (not sure if it was just my brain making it up admittedly) and some darker patches which I am assuming are surface / cloud patterning It is very small in the 90mm refractor though. Keep giving it a try and you might see more that's what I am loving about this hobby so far. I haven't been able to get Saturn or Jupiter to my dismay as they are to low and behind many, many houses at this time ... maybe later in the year? What are you thinking next? Last couple of times out I was hunting for M31 (found it eventually!) and some of the other messiers M36,M37,M38 suggested by the lovely SGL members

I think the cheaper model will definitely do for the odd dabble with the phone but good to see some options, many thanks Thats a great shot, I shall hope to get something nearer that the next time

Ah thats a cool idea, I hadn't realised you could get holders like that, many thanks for the recommendation!

Just noticed this sub forum! I had a play the other night with the moon (albeit) through some cloud haze with my 90mm refractor and a 25mm EP. Struggled with positioning the camera (original iphone SE) on the eyepiece for a coherent shot and I think I need to find some program to control the cameras ISO settings rather than relying on autofocus as even with some Lightroom play on the phone its awfully noisey (tho it looks good on my phones screen at small resolutions) Any tips / comments welcome.

@jcj380 @Martin Meredith thanks both, I'll add it to my growing list, not had any clear skies to play with since 21st December sadly bar a couple of quick full moon gazes through some heavy cloud!

I would suggest a tripod if you want to use such low shutter speeds at night, I also wouldn't use flash as it won't have any affect on lighting the sky. I would probably just experiment a bit on the night with the camera in manual mode most likely have to push the ISO a bit to get anything useful. I would imagine others can give you better astro advice for small cameras but I've done it before and it works if you are happy to play about in lightroom, my own best effort is this from a few years back which is fairly terrible though I do like the wierd colours. I'll be trying some more when the skies finally clear just for fun!

I am pretty much in the same boat so please do let us know what books / apps you find good and what experiences you have both with binos and your scope when it arrives. Always great to hear about how other people get on with getting started! Everyone on here is really friendly and knowledgeable, they have been great for my newbie queries so far! Just need some decent clear skies, keeping my fingers crossed for later this week / weekend, seems to change though every time I open my scope nights app (gives you weather data about cloud, humidity etc. - seems accurate so far!).

Welcome and sounds like you will have yourself a good scope and hope you have clear skies when you get it I would echo what others have said and definitely need to get out a few times with it first before you consider any upgrades. I have been fortunate to get a good few nights under my belt before the clouds have closed over and with some kind pennies as my christmas / birthday overlap I decided the first bits to get would be eyepiece upgrades as I wanted a wider field of view at low magnification and a better high magnification EP as the 10mm I have is pretty dire from an eye relief point of view. I was much more impatient and bought mine in Nov due to it being one of the few in stock in the price range (though I had done plenty of research so I don't regret it!). I had a few nights out with just my eyes and then a pair of binoculars prior to the telescope arriving which was fascinating how many stars there are after your eyes dark adapt a bit. In terms of books I can heartily recommend Night Watch and Backyard Astronomers Guide as good all purpose reference books (though they both have some star charts) as well as Turn Left At Orion as a what to find (and what it will look like) guide! Binoculars are always a good idea as I have found out when hunting M31, I have a pair of Olympus DPS-1 10x50 and they seem excellent for observing - you may want a tripod and adapter I guess if you are using them for longer period but they aren't to bad handheld

I use 3) on my iphone SE but I bought the full version as I found the free version to limited. Excellent app, seems to be mostly correct as you wave it around like a loon (AR only), you can also set "night mode" for red light which is good for preserving night vision etc, good for locating objects (and will tell you where they will be on a guide trail at certain times (I use this to work out when stuff comes out from behind trees in my gardens limited field of view!). You can turn off the constellation images in the settings > display > constellation art (in the full version anyway!). I think a lot of people use Stellarium but I didn't find it as intuitive and easy to use as Skyview for some reason. Stellarium works in both modes as far as I remember, you can spin it on the spot using your finger or by moving the phone around depending how you lock it. Also I would heartily recommend "Scope Nights" as it seems fairly accurate for weather / clouds etc. Though its disheartening to see it full of red "poor" viewing conditions at present

It is difficult to decide, it took me a while to do a lot of reading and forum lurking to get an idea of what to go for especially with the cost (I had a similar budget). I eventually landed on a 102 Mak at first, due to portability primarily and storage but then with a lack of a stock in that flavor I eventually took a bit of a punt on a Sky-watcher Evostar 90/660 short tube refractor which had no reviews I could locate anywhere! I think for a beginner the wider field of view is much more useful than I would've had with the Mak and I imagine a reflector type will be even better especially without any collimation worries due to the sealed units. A dobsonian would likely be the best, there is a reason they are mentioned a lot for beginners as a lot of the pennies go into the light gathering ability. For example I think my telescope on an AZ pronto mount is roughly 60/40 cost of the mount / telescope and the tripod (other than the mount head) is a fairly lightweight affair I will likely change eventually for a more sturdy one but it is fine for the telescope as it is and I can lift everything one handed if needed I think one of the things that helped me was definitely tempering my expectations prior to getting a telescope and the thread @Tiny Clanger mentioned is pretty good for setting the tone. You could also use some of the fov target tools such as this one which might help (you can plug in scope and EP details - sky-watchers usually come with a Super MA 10 and 25). I can also recommend the following books which may also help with decisions etc. The Backyard Astronomers Handbook, Night Watch for reference. Good luck whatever you choose and clear skies when you do get it and itd be excellent to hear about how you find it (and what you find)! Another later thought you could go for some binoculars whilst you await stock / decide if you want to get out there and see what fun you can have observing - I have some Olympus DPS-1 10x50 and they are excellent I probably could have waited and used them but I am marvelously impatient at times 😕