MiladyB

Tons of useful info! Thanks everyone ☺️ 

I'm quite lucky that even though I'm relatively urban, our garden backs onto a large area of other gardens, and I get a decent view south and west. Even a quick snap with a smartphone can pick out plenty of stars on a clear night. I think the Starsense might be the way to go!

MiladyB x

Thank you @Astro_Dad! That's hugely helpful.

I'm technically in a Bortle 6, but in a patch of relative darkness, so most nights Orion, the Pleiades etc., are really easily visible, and I've seen Andromeda (faintly) with binos, so I think this might be going on my list!

MiladyB x

I've been unable to venture out recently and the last time I did, I ended up rather frustrated with my light-polluted suburban sky. I got some lovely planet views, but struggled trying to locate much else, even with the help of Stellarium and lots of research with Interstellarum beforehand.

I've tried using SkEye on an arm attached to my flextube, but I'm wondering if one of these might be a good option for me. I've been hanging my nose over the Skywatcher 8" dob for a bit...

MiladyB

On 12/12/2021 at 18:25, Ande said:

I’ve just received an absolutely beautiful book as an early Xmas present.  It’s The Backyard Astronomer’s Guide.  It looks to be a real labour of love, including everything from eyes only observing, through to binoculars, then telescopes. It then moves on to cover astrophotography too.  The book is not cheap, at £35, but it’s worth every penny.  It weighs a ton, and is littered with lavish photos on premium paper.  I’ll get lots of pleasure from this one:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Backyard-Astronomers-Guide-Terence-Dickinson/dp/0228103274/ref=sr_1_1?crid=ONJT27PQPTN8&keywords=backyard+astronomers+guide&qid=1639332671&sprefix=Backyard+%2Caps%2C174&sr=8-1

Definitely a great option - I got a copy for Christmas and I have a feeling it'll keep me going for a long time.

Virtualastro's book The Secret World of Stargazing is a nice option for a smaller book to use in addition to a planisphere or app, or with the naked eye. It has info about the constellations themselves and some simple illustrations. 

MiladyB x

I'm finding the BST Starguider 8mm is a lovely eyepiece in the Heritage150p. Even my husband is impressed with the views we've had through it, and he is not at all into astro.

MiladyB x

The Stella Lyra 8" is definitely a contender on my 'What am I going to buy to make it permanently cloudy over my house' list!

MiladyB x

As someone who came into the hobby as an enthusiastic newbie this year, I found I was a bit overwhelmed by technical info and comparisons. EQ vs AZ mounts, fracs, maks, newts or dobs, fast scopes, slow scopes, good for DSO or planets.. . It blew my mind.

I looked at so many reviews and watched so many videos, and even though I had a pretty decent budget, I opted for the Heritage 150p.

I'm not sure it's possible to overestimate the value of a combination of simplicity, good optics and aperture for someone getting their first real experience of the hobby. I had a cheap department store refractor that sat in its box unused for 20 years because I couldn't get decent views with it.

For that reason, if someone asked me a similar question, I'd recommend the Heritage 130p if that's budget-friendly, or the Heritage 150p if there's a bit of wiggle room. The stock eyepieces are OK, and the mirrors are good. Mine was collimated fine right out of the box.

Obviously that's just my opinion, and based on what suited me, but hopefully a newbie perspective is useful.

MiladyB x

Thanks for all the responses! Lots of great advice and info. 

After much deliberation, and a spreadsheet to work out exit pupils and magnification for a few eyepiece options in my current scope as well as the 200p I've got my eye on as an addition to my collection, I've ordered an 8mm BST Starguider as my next eyepiece - as an upgrade to the stock 10mm - which should hopefully be OK for me in my Heritage 150p without glasses. 

MiladyB x 

Brilliant, thanks for all the advice and info guys.👍 

MiladyB x 

Thanks for the graph and the advice,@Zermelo. I spotted it  on the Televue website, but I got a bit lost with exit pupils.

I only have the stock eyepieces at present so not much to compare against.

Thanks for the info @HiveIndustries - it's good to know that it may not make too much of a difference. 

I keep seeing differing opinions on the eye relief on the Hyperion zoom, but I'm favouring that over the Svbony... Just don't want to make an expensive mistake! 

MiladyB x

I've been looking at eyepieces - specifically zoom ones such as the Svbony and Baader Hyperion mk IV - but am quite unsure what to do as far as my own eyesight goes with regard to the amount of eye relief.

I wear glasses for short-sightedness, and have slight astigmatism of 0.25 in both eyes. I bought binos with long eye relief, and have been wearing my specs to observe with them and my 6 inch dob (using the stock 25mm and 10mm Skywatcher eyepieces it came with), but I'm wondering if I really need to worry all that much about eye relief, and if I can 'get away' without wearing my specs, and be less limited in my potential eyepiece choices.

I've been reading up about how a dioptryx can help, but I must admit I've got myself a bit confused with exit pupils and so on and I'm not sure if I'd need one or not. Can anyone help shed some light on it for me please? 

Thanks 😊 

MiladyB x

If you have a bit of woodworking ability (or know someone who does and likes a project!) this is a relatively simple solution:

Table for Heritage 150p tabletop dob https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/384925-table-for-heritage-150p-tabletop-dob/

MiladyB x

This weekend my Dad and I got round to making a portable, adjustable table for my Heritage 150p. I thought I'd share how it's made in case anyone might find it useful. I can't take any credit for the planning, but I did get to use a bunch of power tools, and I'm really happy with how it's turned out! 

I had some old pine bed slats kicking about in the garage, and we used these to make the top, adding 3 indentations for the scope feet. There are pronged T-nuts set into the top, which the legs screw into from underneath.

The legs are made from one length of 180cm 2x2, cut into 4 (the finished height is perfect for me at 5'5 to stand and observe). They have a thread to wood thread dowel screw in the top end, and a pronged T-nut in the foot end, into which adjustable height self-levelling feet are screwed, so uneven ground isn't a problem.

The whole thing packs down flat for transport, and will fit under the boot floor in my car.

As soon as I get a dry day I'll sand and varnish it, to protect it from dew etc.

MiladyB x

20 hours ago, spaceslug said:

Sorry, late to this thread but I just had to share this given the topic.

We have occasional star meets in our village and one of our number is within walking distance of our preferred observing location. 

This is his transport solution for his 8" Dob........

 

😃😃

I absolutely love this! Can't beat a simple, low-tech solution to a problem.

MiladyB  x

34 minutes ago, Tiny Clanger said:

In that case, as long as it doesn't offend his woodworker sensibilities too much, you might think about pre-made metal legs for your table, I used these , the 25mm ones , quite short, but I wasn't sure how strong they would be or how tall the table should be. On reflection, I probably could have used the 30cm ones just as well. The set of four 25mm ones is under £10, but the left over leg does look lonely in the corner of the shed 🙂 ) The legs have a fixed plate at the top which you just use 4 screws to attach to the table top.

The legs have a threaded hole in the plastic feet so you can add levelling feet if you want, but it's no problem for me even on my tussocky 'lawn' , because I went with just 3 legs on the table , if you use 4 legs you'd certainly need the ability to adjust them though. I glue gunned some closed cell foam discs over the holes to stop damp creeping in and rusting the legs from the inside.

Heather

Definitely worth looking at, thanks!

MiladyB x

2 minutes ago, Tiny Clanger said:

Yep, that's the one I was thinking of ... if your joinery whizz dad can turn out something like that, please add me to his waiting list! 🙂

Heather

😄 He probably could/would have back in the days before his arthritis got too bad, bless him. He's designed something 'simple' (so he tells me!) in his head - so I can do the bits he can't, under his direction. 😊

MiladyB x

Found the case/table - VERY impressive! 

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/372707-telescope-boxes/

28 minutes ago, Tiny Clanger said:

If I was making my triangular, 3 legged heritage dob table all over again (and I'm not !) , I'd make it a little bigger than I did, so it could be turned upside down and the 'scope could stand within the upturned legs,  which would make for neat packing , give some protection to the 'scope and reduce the chances of losing a leg !

Alternatively, do a search in the diy section on here for something like 'heritage case'  I recall a while ago seeing a really nice bespoke wooden case someone had made which stored the heritage then became a neat stand for it

Heather

That's a very clever idea - the upturned table and the case/stand combo.

MiladyB x 

Thank you for all the suggestions!

A flight case for the OTA is a great idea @Mark at Beaufort. I've got the whole thing stood in an IKEA laundry bag at the moment, to keep the dust off, but it isn't very tidy, and not so great for transport. I have a case I use for my round base mic stand, so I'll check and see if it fits.

My Dad (who is a whizz with joinery stuff) is making me a table with removable legs and 'self-levelling' feet, so it'll be just the right size, transportable, and very stable, so I don't need to worry about that side of things, but I love the additions of the eyepiece holders and compass on your dob mount,@Geoff Lister.

@Whistlin Bob - I wish they did a manual 8 inch flextube as well. I haven't had chance to check out the 10 inch in real life to see if I can manoeuvre it myself yet, but the 8 would be fine.

Thanks again everyone! 

MiladyB x

1 hour ago, Piero said:

This is how I take my 16" to my garden. It's about 20 meters each way and the telescope remains assembled.

Assembling the telescope involves attaching the trusses, the UTA on the trusses, and put on the light shroud. That's about 5 minutes.

Collimation with HG laser and 1/4” white Catseye triangle (which helps indicate which bolt to turn) takes less than 5 minutes, whereas day or night time.

Assembling those ramps takes another 5 minutes (the actual difference from solid tubes). 

Lifting the telescope via wheelbarrow handles is like lifting about 6-7kg.

 

I love the ramps!

If (when?) I get the 250px flextube I've been hanging my nose over, I think a set of these and an amp dolly will be my best option for getting it into the garden from the house.

MiladyB x

3 hours ago, Wiu-Wiu said:

The topic made me think of this  

 

 

 

I live in the center of town so my garden is not the place to be when hunting fuzzies. 

There is a better spot about 20 minutes away so I usually go there and take my stuff in the car. The car is big enough but that's good for 1 night, and no extra luggage. 

When portability is in mind, AND you need to save some space, your best bang for the buck comes from Sumerian Optics. 

 

My big scope collapses to this :

 

 

And when going on an airplane, I can take my 12" (but I leave the cover at home), which collapses to this: (not my pic)

Now THAT is a collapsible dob!

MiladyB x

2 hours ago, NGC 1502 said:

My 10” Dob regularly gets transported by car to my clubs dark site. The tube assembly fits across the back seat.  The scope has thick altitude rings and I use one of those to tie to the headrest supports with thin rope. I find that’s easier than using the rear seat belts. The mount is laid in the boot along with my observing seat, eyepiece box, and other accessories. A large plastic bag contains extra clothing, that can go anywhere. It takes no longer than 5 minutes to load up. As the back seat has standard upholstery no more protection for the tube is needed.  
 

Ed.

 

Your setup sounds like the way I pack the car for camping - everything has its place. I'm going to have to work out how to fit my scope in with all that as well 😄🤦🏻‍♀️

MiladyB x

2 hours ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

Well , having just acquired a 12”revelation dob I can tell you , it’s a faff . I had to drive around 125 miles home after collecting it and I was so nervous doing so . Sure , it was packed tightly enough but I had to lower the seats and pack it in coats and blankets to stop it rolling around . Put it this way … it’s home in my home … and the only travelling it will do for the foreseeable future is into the garden  I think your heritage is nice and compact so you can indeed belt it in . Don’t forget to check the collimation when you set it up though. 

Wow, I can imagine that was not an easy task!

I still have the foam that was under the OTA when I got the Heritage so I might pop that back on to minimise the bumps - I'll definitely check the collimation though, as you suggest. 👍

Milady B x

I'm curious as to how people transport their dobs. 

I'm taking my Heritage 150p on a little trip and have been working out how best to secure and protect it in the car.

I've seen photos of the larger ones buckled in like passengers in the back seat.

I'm used to musical instruments being lugged around in padded or hard cases, so I was really surprised as a newbie that so many OTAs don't have them as a standard accessory!

MiladyB x

I've just come across these while researching Push To options for my Heritage 150p. For now it looks like I'll be trying out SkEye and attaching my phone to the scope, but I would definitely have bought one of these had they been released while I was looking for a scope.

Milady B x