wibblefish

Finally found the diagram I was looking for, describing what the terms are for double star resolution

Got the new scope all setup for first light on a surprise clear night (only one since last week and into next week according to the apps) and then when I looked up full cloud cover. British weather for astronomy at its finest. Still I got a picture of the rig at night so that counts right?

Double stars are either two stars in close proximity (binary) or just two that appear to be close together on the same plane (optical double). When viewed at lower magnification they appear to be a single star but if you can increase your magnification enough you can “split” them so you can see them as two stars. Some doubles are very pretty (different colours) and it can be a fun challenge to find and split them. They are also good to hunt when the moon is up as they are unaffected by its brightness unlike most deep sky objects. https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/double-binary-stars-guide/ There is an excellent book by Sissy Haas if you want a really good guide to them (its mostly just tables of locations and notes on what powers to use / what they look like) but its hard to get hold of: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/271431.Double_Stars_for_Small_Telescopes

Ive been looking for an alternative to perching on my garden chairs at various angles as they sink into the grass I was debating one of those ironing chairs but this seems significantly cheaper and easy to store so have taken a punt. 4 weeks lead time, it might even be here before I get a night out with the new telescope 😛

Hope so, I am fully expecting it to be another couple of weeks for first light lol I do still like the idea of a Mak127 but I am done with astro kit for … well st least this month

Aye I did some WD40 removal in the end so most of it is gone! Going to chuck it out to my facebook and see if anyone fancies it for a little bit less than new (not quite 45% less!) with the filter first then will maybe try on here.

I was only meant to spend about 400-500 on a Dobsonian or something, I can safely say we are double that, cursed refractor-lust! I am hoping to sell my old refactor that this is replacing so that will help though I need to try and work out a price, its only a year old but its got a few dew marks, marring on the dovetail (those seem to damned soft) and some tube marks from where the rigel was glue'd! Still have the original boxes though and might even chuck in the semi-apo filter I have since I shouldn't need it any more

Is this one of these "we don't talk about Starwave club" type situations?

Yes, it has been feeling the strain recently :S

Thanks, no not yet I am going to see how it goes without them first but I imagine they might end up being necessary, presumably the SW compatible ones would do if needed. Also debating if I go for the extension tube for the tripod but again I think I've spent enough for a little while so it'd only be if it was super annoying to use

I haven't had a cause to test out my similar setup (though a shorter tube frac) yet but I am thinking similar things so watching this with interest

Thanks for all the assistance, just waiting on clear skys now .... in a few weeks no doubt.

The postman has been very, very busy this week bringing things to replace my SW 90/660. Special thanks to Chris @ FLO who sorted out some issues I had with the Skytee, amazing customer service

Good report, will have to steal some of the targets! I had a mildly fruitless night with a quick search for NGC 6939, open cluster in Cephus which was pretty high in the zenith and then the clouds closed over on what was supposed to be a completely crystal clear night according to the apps! It was definitely on the cold side I even had to break out the glovsies

@johninderby that is definitely grab and go, with one hand most impressive!

@Franklin @MalcolmM yeah I currently have a sheet draped over my smaller one but I do have a full length flight case for the new one so that could work I am just worried I'll drop the OTA or something ridiculous mounting / un-mounting in the semi-dark! (though no worse than bashing it on a doorway I guess which may have happened before *cough*) @Tiny Clanger I was looking at the tripod again and the metal bracing plate it has in the center could be removed and that would allow the legs to fold in, it also looks like they don't actually fold out beyond a certain angle regardless so maybe that might be an option, I shall investigate when I get everything sorted!

Currently I can just about pickup and squeeze my AZ Pronto and short tube through the two doorways between my garage and the outside. This means it is kept under a sheet fully ready to go. My new telescope will be mounted on a stainless steel tripod and the OTA will weigh probably double. After checking earlier I can't get the tripod through the doorways any more when it is in its full height / spread state. It might be possible to fit through the side gate by coming out the other end of the garage but again unlikely. and if I did I'd have to juggle it whilst I collapsed / opened the leg extensions. (or buy a an extension pier?) This has led me to probably a stupid question about what is the best option / what do other people do in this case? I presume people remount their OTA's all the time, I always worried it would be less secure / less balanced or some such doing that every time you want to move it indoors / outdoors? On another note if you do demount / remount do you keep your telescope in a storage case or remount it when it comes back inside? I am a little leery of leaving it in the storage box since I had camera's get fungus problems and don't want that to happen to my telescope! Sorry for the ramble

Good to hear some more positive comments on this scope as I have one ready at Altair to collect (hopefully) tomorrow! I am certain the weather will conspire to keep me from testing it for a few weeks (like the last time I got a new scope) but I'll try and do a review / comparison with my current 90mm achro when I get a chance!

Just an update I got a little more budget so I have gone with the Skytee in the end as decided I didn’t want to have to effectively shell out twice for mounts! Guessing the mount head, steel tripod and adm saddle will arrive from FLO this week and I am going to be popping over to Altair for the scope if they have one in stock Then of course I presume it’ll be a few weeks of cloudy nights before I can use any of the new kit…. Thanks for the all the advice all!

Yeah I am eyeing that up but going to try and see if Altair have one as I can literally drive down the road and pick it up if so (though would have to wait on FLO for the mount to test it if I got one from there to but 1st world problems I guess!)

I have been having this dilemma recently mounting a 100ED and ended up deciding to go with the Skytee (despite the cost and extra cost to replace a saddle with ADM) even though its more expensive it should be an investment for the future I hope…at least thats what I am going to claim Does really feel like there is a missing mount between the Az5 and the Skytee that takes a little more weight than one but costs a little less than the other! Just need to find somewhere selling the scope I am after now (fingers crossed)!

Thanks all! I shall have to consult the budget in regards the Skytee @jock1958 as it basically works out £500 scope £500 mount (Tripod + AdM vixen saddle replacement) but it might be worth pushing it a bit if I can though if not it looks like the AZ4 is the next best option! I will also check the classifieds when I am ready to purchase maybe I’ll uncover a diamond in the rough At least noones come along and thrown a spanner in regards the scope choice so thats one down!

I hope not Ive gone back and forth on scopes for a while now! I guess its not much bigger than my current one so views might be the same but hoping the ED and focuser etc will make up the difference if I get it!

Well if @ScouseSpaceCadet suggests the Az5 steel tripod combo is enough for his ascent I guess it is winning at the moment. I might look around the 2nd hand ads when I actually have some pennies for it Congratulations @Tiny Clanger Of course I am waiting for someone to throw a spanner in the works and suggest something else!

Icksny on the wishing for more wishes.