Basementboy

This is super helpful, Peter! I think you understand my issue. You've inspired me to try out EEVA. Is it necessary to keep dark-adapted vision when doing EEVA? One persistent problem I have with my phone is that when using Stellarium in red-light mode, the phone itself constantly throws out white light – eg a keyboard or a notification – and ruins my dark vision. So I imagine a laptop would have the same issue. Unless that's no longer part of the equation when doing EEVA because you're not viewing the objects directly ... ?

As it happens, my father in Canada has one of these (or a very similar model) from the 1980s! So that's what I intend to use when I go back to visit him. I wouldn't want to replicate his kit though, no point doubling up really

Yeah not random at all really – a few other people here have suggested EEVA ... it hadn't occured to me before tbh

These are pretty good suggestions. I'll check them out. (I hate the silver colour of the Celestrons but hey.) And will investigate EEVA

Hey Stu, I'm using a 9x50 RACI, and I have a Rigel, but tbh I don't use it much – generally if my RACI is properly aligned I don't find the Rigel adds a whole lot to the equation. I haven't tried using an OIII filter but maybe will give it a whirl. As for GOTO – yes, I'm starting to think that might help. One thing that puts me off a lot is all the prep that needs to go into finding objects yourself ... researching in advance, writing down notes (to avoid having to flip through the book in the middle of a field – the last thing I want to start doing is bringing a bloody table along too) ... and then not finding 80% of targets anyway. At least GOTO would help me speed that up. As for weight, I'm totally aware that there's always a tradeoff. Weight isn't really the most important thing for me here. It's a nice to have, not a must have. Are the truss dobs easy to collapse and reassamble? Or is it a total faff? Budget wise I'm thinking about £1k but could stretch to £2k by selling off a few older pieces of kit.

Hey Vlaiv. This is the closest spot I can get to for camping without driving for more than 1 hour: Coordinates 51.33408, 0.38007 SQM 20.09 mag./arc sec2 Brightness 0.991 mcd/m2 Artif. bright. 820 μcd/m2 Ratio 4.80 Bortle class 5 Elevation 185 meters I know that there are darker places (the South Downs for eg) within 2 hours of South London, but there is a certain degree of compromise needed here between darkness v ease. It's already difficult enough to pack up the car and drive out of the city without making it a 4 hour return journey. I guess that's why I'm trying to find some help here. Yes, if I'm in a perfect situation (deepest countryside, no moon, peak nighttime darkness, clear seeing) I can see good stuff. But, in practice, it's often not a perfect situation. Hence why I'm hoping for a more powerful device. Does that make sense?

Hi everyone, It has been a while since I posted, because I haven't been doing much stargazing – the reason for which is why I come to you, now, humbly seeking wisdom. My situation is that, because I live in London, I have to drive out of the city to get any decent dark skies. Even when I do, however, I think I've reached the limit of what I can see with my current setup (a lovely 115mm ED triplet and a 6" Newt mounted on an Ercole Giro above a heavy steel tripod). Unless it's a perfect night, most of my faint fuzzy targets elude me, and I'm not having much fun showing my friends anything except the planets. (They also really struggle to use the Ercole themselves, so there's a lot of standing around waiting for me to show them things ... and it's always less fun when you can't use a machine yourself.) But, leaving aside the mount, the main issue is – cliche alert – I think I need more aperture. (Ideally I'd also want to be a bit lighter and nimbler, too... the steel tripod+Ercole is a beast to lug around. But life is full of hard choices.) One more obstacle: my car is a Fiat 500, so space is something of an issue. Esteemed ones, what do you recommend? Is a collapsible truss Dob the easiest way to get more aperture with portability? And, if so, is it unrealistic to imagine I could get 12" or 14" or even 16" that still fits in the boot of the Fiat? Or is it wiser to aim at an 8"/10" cassegrain of some variety? Or am I missing another more obvious option? Assuming for now that money is no object (though of course it is – did I mention the Fiat 500?), where would you go next? Chris

Hi @Marki – wondering if you've had the chance to use this 150ED yet and if so whether you've posted any reviews. I'd be very interested to hear

I don't believe I have the hand pad, no. I think the motor drive is just for tracking. But I can check again when I go back at Christmas.

It is great! And no, I don't have the hand paddle – what's the hand paddle?!?

Haha – uh ... why would you be LIVING with him?

Hi, as another newbie it took me a while to figure out what this post was about. I live in London (also south facing) and it can be a struggle to see much, so was intrigued. Just Googled PVS-14 and it seems it's a monocular night-vision lens costing £2k+, correct? How does it work? Do you strap it to your head and then look through the EP? Plus various filters?

Any idea what the glass would be on this scope?

Shame. I find it to be much nicer in many ways – smoother action, more reassuringly solid, generally high levels of attention to detail – than some of the newer scopes I've seen!

Good tip, thanks

Wow - yep, that's nearly identical

No kidding? Wow, what are the odds. Yep, that's the system – set latitude, level with the bubble, aim the forks at Polaris and go ... I haven't tried switching on the tracking but that's the next thing. As you say, it was a bit of a pain to keep Jupiter and friends in view, particularly for my parents who are telescope illiterate (though quite nice people nevertheless). Any guesses what something like this would be worth today? Not that I have any intention of ever selling it.

On a recent visit back to Toronto to see my parents, I finally cornered my Dad about his old telescope – bought in the 1980s, shown to me once as a kid for about seven minutes, then packed away in the basement again: far too expensive and complicated and cool to ever actually, like, use! But after getting into astronomy during lockdown, suddenly I needed to see what this old scope was all about. And it's a beauty, in my opinion – a Meade 2080 8" SCT. Probably top of the line in the early 80s, though I know it wouldn't command anywhere near the same value now (any guesses?) – but it really is a lovely piece of equipment. The tracking action is smooth (with little tension adjusters and slow-mo dials), the focuser is good, the views are great. I think the coating on the front lens has worn away somewhat, but I didn't notice it when actually looking through the scope (though admittedly all I had time to observe was Jupiter and Saturn – my Mom has Parkinson's and we spent a long time trying to help her see the planets). It even comes with a little compass. The whole thing is solid as hell (and pretty heavy, obviously). It also sits on a tracking drive that I couldn't be bothered to test out on this trip: I'm only interested in visual astronomy and it seemed like too much of a pain to learn to use. But assuming that still works (and why wouldn't it, if it's been simply sitting in a box for 40 years) then I reckon Dad has himself a pretty nice setup. We just got a family cabin in the woods so I'm going to drive it up there and set it up where he might actually use it for a change. And the cherry on the sundae – it comes with instructions on ... drum roll ... cassette. Pictured here with Dad in his lair:

OK, thanks very much everyone!

Hi, I'm looking at potentially fitting an Ercole with an M10 coupling to one of Skywatcher's steel tripods, which is 3/8" Is that OK? The Ercole says it can be attached to photo tripods via the 3/8" thread, so is that basically fine? I guess I'm not quite clear on what M10 is Thanks! Chris

The successor at last!

Hi Stu, bit late to this, but as someone who has been using an AZ5 on a Skywatcher steel tripod I can attest that tube length matters a lot in terms of wobbling. Supposedly the payload with a steel tripod should be around 9kg (from the AZ5's stated capacity of 5kg), but my 6.4kg 800FL refractor wobbles a lot (and my 6" Newt unusably so). It helps a bit to toggle the mount into the more vertical of its two positions, but even so the OTA jiggles. Incidentally, the mount itself also struggles a bit to hold the weight – you have to turn the screw extremely tight to hold it in place. But it's a great mount otherwise: the slow mo controls are really precise and the action is smooth without much backlash. It would be great for a Mak or anything shorter (or lighter).

Oh that's handy – thanks! Based on the exact times I was observing, it looks like it was Ganymede's shadow ... and if I'd waited until 1:56am I would have seen Ganymede itself transit. That's somehow just a wonderful thing to know. Thank you

Yes, in fairness to the 9x50, I haven't really used it in situations where I actually need it – and in London I really will.

Good point – I haven't really had it out in London yet. And star-hopping in the city has indeed been difficult with an RDF. Glad to know it has a future...