GrumpiusMaximus

You've had three pages of help, son.  I personally think that's quite enough and my suggestion is to read around the forum a bit more first.

15 hours ago, AstroMuni said:

Have you set  & saved your coords under the Geographic... option? Once thats done it should grab the right time from your wifi.

I ended up putting an RTC in the Pi.  I can't always guarantee a WiFi connection to an Internet-connected network so tit was by far the easier solution.

16 minutes ago, Second Time Around said:

Yep, we had reduced water pressure and had bottled water delivered.  We didn't have to use it though.  Others a few miles away weren't so lucky and had no water at all.

Thankfully the situation isn't as bad as 2000 when levels were even higher, and many properties a few villages away were flooded by groundwater rather than rivers.

We got away with it here and our pressure was fine - but we're only a couple of miles from the affected treatment plant and about 200 Yards from one of the big reservoirs.  Water tankers hanging around for several days.  It was quite impressive.

3 hours ago, SwiMatt said:

Oh man I thought it was only here. It was an abysmal February. Happy to hear you got a break on Wednesday, and I hope our current good weather will reach you eventually. Hang on!

There's a flood warning across much of my area.  Not because of the threat of rivers bursting their banks but because of the incredibly high groundwater after several months of rain.  A couple of weeks ago, one of the local water treatment plants had to shut down for a couple of days because of muddy groundwater contamination with the mud getting into the filters, etc.

It's absolutely ridiculous.  Even by the standards of the UK.

My last half-decent session was on the 4th of February.  The weather here in East Kent has been absolutely shocking and there have only been a couple of nights when it would have been possible to observe and then for no more than a couple of hours.

On Wednesday though, I managed to get half an hour whilst the seeing was reasonable.  No particular targets in mind, I just ended up scanning the Mliky Way around Cassiopeia.  Just doing that and seeing the star field density suddenly rise is somewhat rewarding and it certainly helped slow my brain down - which has been in overdrive for several weeks.

Just be aware that with an SE mount, you may be slightly hampered at higher altitudes due to the OTA potentially interefering with the mount, especially if you're trying to keep it in balance.  This is more of an issue with the smaller SE mount (for the 4SE and the 5SE), so just take a few measurements of the mount and keep the length of the OTA in mind.

If it is an issue I'd recommend something like an AZ-GTI.  I've got an Altair 70mm F5 scope on one and it's an excellent lightweight setup.

1 hour ago, Carbon Brush said:

Then again. Why not just put more of the old programmes on iplayer.

Probably because many of them don't exist any more.  The BBC had a policy of re-using or recyling their recording medium as it was very expensive.  This is why the BBC are always putting out appeals for home-recorded copies of old programmes, be it on 8mm tape or even audio recordings.

The most egregious example of lost broadcast is the Apollo 11 Moon landing.  The version we see now is actually an recording of a screen from an Australian reception, so it's much lower quality than that which would have originally been broadcast.  Some better footage of parts of the Apollo 11 mission have subsequently been found - but not the critical first step on the Moon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11_missing_tapes

Welcome!  From about 20 minutes away!  It's not been the greatest few weeks for observing but the Moon did look good.

Fortuitously, last night was the first American Lunar landing in over 50 years so you chose an interesting moment.

2 hours ago, Herbig said:

No I don’t think that is normal. As someone else has said, most clubs let to come along a couple of times to see if you like them and you then decide to join or not. This is how it works at our club. NLO in Sidmouth Devon. 

And it's an excellent society.  I've been a member for a couple of years but living in Kent I only visit occasionally.  My Dad's a regular though!

Sounds reasonable if they're a combined outfit with the local Lodge...

In all seriousness, I'm a member of an astronomical society in Devon.  I live in Kent but my Dad is a member too, so I have hung around a few times.  No questions asked about my membership.

Ultimately the society's membership policy is entirely up to them provided it doesn't fall foul of discrimination laws - but they may find it hard to maintain a membership if they have onerous requirements.

Just now, Nigella Bryant said:

I had a couple of short sessions between clouds this afternoon and think I caught a CME

My Dad sent me some pictures taken by another club member this afternoon of a large CME.  Much suspect that the club member snapped the same one.

10 minutes ago, PeterC65 said:

And some more practice, this time at quickly bringing the kit indoors when it starts raining!

It's not so much the grabbing it and shoving it indoors that I take issue with.  It's the inevitable ten minutes the next morning when you try and work out where you put the lens caps, eyepieces, Barlow lens, case for the above and start work on time with all of the aformentioned piled on top of my keyboard...

It was beautifully clear earlier but I had to pack some bags as I'm travelling for a couple of days.  By the time I went out the seeing had deteriorated but I persevered for around 30 minutes with my 70ED.  I purchased an inexpensive 28mm 2-inch eyepiece (the Skywatcher modified Kellner type) and despite the opinions of some, it was decent.  I particularly like the twist-up eyecup which helps enormously align my eye given its long eye relief.

Had a nice widefield look at M81/M82, then got out my 20mm and continued.  Contrast was poor given the seeing but I can't help but enjoy the view, whatever the conditions.  There's something about galaxies that hits me right in the brain.  Had twenty minutes on them with the 20mm and 28mm, then had a bit of a scan looking at some nearby asterisms.  Nothing structured, just a bit of a scan.

Lovely to get the scope out, it's been over a week and given that it takes 30 seconds to get out, I really must take advantage whenever I can!

Also had positive experience with Astro Buy-Sell.  The website is very 2002 but it has a lot of adverts on there.  It is just a bulletin board rather than a 'marketplace', so just a much more populated form of the SGL Classifieds.  All sales are private sales between individuals and the site takes on no liability.

The last transaction I had was purchasing a 2" Altair diagonal.  The seller was very trusting, expecting payment on it being delivered by post to my address!  I was rather taken aback by that level of trust but he had hundreds of transactions listed.  I'm very happy with the diagonal...

That looks a lot nicer than my effort!  Exactly the same configuration in mine.  It's good fun, isn't it?

A C6 and a C8 are very nice scopes indeed.  Enjoy!

2 hours ago, SwiMatt said:

Why do I still bother setting up when I see a clear patch of sky? I know it will get cloudy by the time I get out 

It's been truly shocking over here the last few days.  As thick a cloud as I can remember!

It's incredible to think that just over 30 years ago, it took equipment that cost orders of magnitude more and a team of professionals to discover the object.  Discovery is obviously much more intensive than re-acquisition but it astonishes me how much more advanced our equipment is now compared to what seems like the recent past. 

A real feather in your cap, that picture.

10 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

I don't know what people are looking at with film. I used to use a variety of slides back in the day, including the very slow, very sharp Kodachrome 25. Looking at those images, my D500 is sharper with better resolution, has better colour, less noisy, more dynamic range, the ability to pull out several stops of shadow and highlights, and, all at... ISO 3200... That's eight stops better. Back then any kind of 'fast' film was very gritty to look at.

Plus a whole host of processing adjustments not available to slide film, or any other sort of film.

The journey is its own result with things like this, in my experience.  In a previous life I was an audio engineer.  CD-quality Digital audio is objectively far superior to vinyl and tape formats in all practical applications.  It has a higher dynamic range, greater frequency range, is repeatable, never wears out, etc.  However I still have a collection of vinyl records?  Why?  Because there's a ritual and process to it that just isn't the same with digital formats.  I also have film cameras for the same reason.

The observatory I'm a member of has a 20-inch reflector in one of the domes.  Sadly it's never been clear enough when I make a rare visit.  I suspect that.

Or a 5" APM/LZOS (purely from what I've read).  But I'd need a lottery win for that one...

It wasn't looking too promising earlier but I had a quick ten minutes with my 70ED.  Didn't see much but was trying out a new eyepiece - which I will find a use for, probably for Solar projections or limilar later in the year.  It's a 40mm Plossl.  Need to learn how to use it properly as it's got incredibly long eye relief.  Switched back to my usual 20mm WO Swan for the rest of my viewing.

Went out at about 9PM and it was absolutely clear with decent seeing.  Took out the 70ED and had a scan through the Milky Way.  Then got my C5 out (just because) but it was 'grainy' and disappointing.  On reflection, this is probably a function of it not cooling enough as the collimation is fine but I haven't been getting good views from it lately - but I have just been 'grabbing' it out and whacking it on the mount so I'll leave it outside for an hour next time.

Thought I'd get the 'other' scope out, which is a Heritage 100p, just for a comparison.  Really quite decent, with a nice 'snap' focus.  Better than I expected.

Finally decided to actually settle down and stop messing about and put the 70ED with my 20mm back on the mount.  Found M81/M82 and had one of the best low-power views I've ever had of the famous duo.  Absolutely breathtaking and they were really clear and obvious.  The duo is probably my favourite view and gets me every time but it's the first time I've seen it through my refractor and the contrast and clarity was beautiful.  Something inexplicably magical.

Unfortunately for my future bank balance, I think I'm slowly turning into a 'refractor guy'.  Oh dear.

To get a little bit personal here, I've struggled with depression and anxiety since I was ten (that's 25 years now) and my brain is a constant churn of thoughts - most of which are unhelpful.  I done a lot of things to try and 'calm' my brain, like reading articles, watching videos, etc. and seeking professional assistance.  The only thing that truly 'clears' my brain is observing.  It's the only time my inner monologue stops and even ten minutes can make a terrible day into a better day.  I crave it.  But there you are.

8 minutes ago, Monzilla said:

Oh no... just my luck ☹️ I bought it from flo...what's there returning experience like? 

They're excellent by all accounts and actually sponsor this forum.  Good luck!

15 minutes ago, essentialblend said:

It's even cheaper if available open box, absolute steal. Completely alleviates my tension on the spot. Just dealing with ap-fever on this one and unable to fully convince myself against the 150p because I feel I'm kind of spending a lot of money either way. I'm waiting, lets see if I stumble upon good deals.

The main question is whether or not you're going to be able to use it.  I have a 5" SCT, a Heritage 100p (cheap impulse purchase) and a 70mm ED refractor.  Even though I have a garden and reasonable skies, I find myself using the 70mm refractor more than the others at the moment despite it having the smallest aperture because I get the most joy out of it.

Aperture is lovely to have but you'll see plenty with a 5" reflector, especially if you can take it out in a bag and find a dark sky.  There will be a club near you where you can get your hands on some bigger telescopes should you get the hankering.

Nothing against the 150p, it is another excellent telescope and just a scaled-up 130p but I would think about it carefully and weigh up the portability as the primary concern.  The telescope you can use more is probably the right one to have - especially if you're starting out.

EDIT: I've just had a quick look for you and the 130p is 6Kg in total and the 150p is 7.5Kg.  Neither are exactly 'heavyweight' but may make a difference if you're taking it on a bus.  I think the physical size is the bigger concern.

The 130p is by all accounts that I've read, an excellent scope.  The focuser is very basic (just a helical model) but functional and can apparently be improved with some PTFE tape to provide a little more resistance.  There are threads on this forum about modifying them for improved performance (flocking, adding a light shield, etc.) but they are popular.

In your situation I would be seriously considering one as they are highly portable and give a decent amount of aperture for the money, with a simple mounting system.  A 5" reflector would give you plenty to look at an it's the kind of scope that many keep around even after they've upgraded.

I've found these reviews to be generally well-written and well balanced:

https://telescopicwatch.uk/sky-watcher-heritage-130p-review/

12 minutes ago, mikeofthenorth said:

@GrumpiusMaximus If you don't mind me asking, how long is your vixen bar in that photo?

300mm.  Annoyingly, the point of balance of that telescope is actually behind the foot that it came with when you add on a camera.  It's marginal even with a basic 1.25" diagonal and eyepiece...