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Patrick1948

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Blog Entries posted by Patrick1948

  1. Patrick1948
    :icon_eek: Last night/this morning was one of the best observing sessions I've had for a long time. It was my first serious stargazing session since I traded my 10" Dob for a more manageable Celestron 127 Mak and goto mount....and I miss my Dob so much !!! I was set up and waiting by 10pm and it still looked like mid afternoon!!! anyway, as soon as I could see three bright stars I launched into the sky align...(after meticulously leveling the tripod)...failure after failure.....four times I tried, very frustrating...is this common or is it just my ineptitude ? Anyway after realising the eyepieces I had (scope standard) were not very good I settled down after a successful alignment and tried the tour on the handset. Well...the scope pointed every where but where I wanted it to. More understanding needed, I suppose it would help if I read the manual !!!! I pointed the scope in the general direction of Cassiopeia and settled down with the 25mm eyepiece in and just bumbled around observing the open clusters there. This was about 12 midnight....next time I looked at my watch it was 2.45am!!!! Nearly three hours of totally unstructured star gazing in one constellation....what an enjoyable evening I had!!! I am really missing the big aperture of the 10" Dob but the 127 Mak is more manageable, and like they say, a good scope is one that is used.....by for now and clear skies to you all.
  2. Patrick1948
    Hi Stargazers...It's been months since I had the Dob out in the back garden, what with coughs and colds and the ever present clouds...but tonight I got a good hour and a half in before the visibility went haywire again. I was really disappointed to miss most of the Winter skies so tonight I braved the bad light pollution of Sheffield and looked skyward.. The new Dual focuser worked a treat, though I still can't get on with the Telrad...I think I need to build a box to stand the Dob on to give me more hight to overcome the bending difficulties !!!...Anyway the first target was Saturn and once I found it in the scope it took my breath away...pin sharp with a 10mm ep and x2 barlow...not a deal of colour but managed to count four moons. I am dead chuffed, made the night a sucess. As I had a pause with a cup of tea, I looked up and the ISS powered across the sky and shortly afterwards another sattelite whizzed over. One more look at Saturn and the gang of four, then the visibility got worse so I packed up and came in....GREAT night, in spite of the light pollution and poor seeing. Night all....
  3. Patrick1948
    :mad:Actually, it should be titled 'The Blind Eyeball in the Sky'....Yesterday I upgraded the standard focuser on my SW 10" Dob with a Revelation Two speed Crayford focuser. It was quite a scary thing for me because I'm not a mechanically minded guy, and because of that, I quite often can't see logical solutions to mechanical problems. That's what comes with spending half a life time as a 'people' worker..a detached youth worker actually. Anyway, after much dithering and thoughts of not doing it 'cos I didn't want to b***er it up, I removed the standard focuser and had a cup of tea to calm down...
    As I followed the advice received from the good people of this forum, my fingers were trembling as I slowly screwed the new super duper focuser into place and gently packed the gaps round the baseplate with dark foam, presumably to stop spiders crawling in and dying on the mirror !!!. Well...Job done at last AND there was a clear night forecast for later.
    Carried the Dob outside and as I waited for the cool down, I sat on a garden chair and marveled at the first clear sky in two months. Binos pressed to my eyes I observed the Orion Nebula in all it's glory and Pleides as well. Both VERY visible to the naked eye....I stole a quick look through the eyepiece (25mm Wide angle lens).....and OH!!! WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT !!! :mad: The focuser would not focus!!! It wouldn't wind out enough and everything was a blur......anyway I calmed down after a while, the neighbourhood dogs stopped barking and the residents closed their curtains again. With a heavy heart I packed my equipment away and came and scoured the lounge for a solution...if there was one to be found. I'd got visions of screwing the old, clunky standard focuser back on and re selling the Crayford. It turns out, thanks to the knowledge of stargazers in the Lounge, that all I need is an extension tube to allow a bigger wind out in order to achieve focus,which I ordered from FLO not 10 mins ago...and guess what?....you'll never guess in a hundred years!!!...I looked at the long range weather forecast and they are saying ..:clouds2:"CLOUD FOR THE NEXT THREE WEEKS":clouds2:..AAAaaarrrggghhh!!!...I hope YOU have clear skies Mes amis...say a prayer for mine!!!
  4. Patrick1948
    I accidently spotted my first Messier object last night...M45...The Seven Sisters or Pleiades, and was truly amazed. If I hadn't been hooked before, I was the instant I saw M45. I had never seen the Seven Sisters before last night, I didn't even know it was a Messier object!!! and I was overwhelmed at the beauty of it......I have been a little frustrated of late (wanting to run before I can walK!!) and I have been having a 'spot of bother' translating what I see in books into what I see through the scope...Yes, I know it's upside down and back to front..but I can cope with that (I think!). The problem is when I look through the scope, or even the Binos, There are an extra few hundred or more stars and I can't pick out the one I need to orientate myself on before I 'Hop' somwhere else. I have purchased a Telrad Finder, but cant really use it unless the object is VERY bright I.e Jupiter!! So I'm thinking of getting a right angled finder scope and trying that. I suppose it will come with practice and time....Well, back to M45...finding that, first with the naked eye as a large 'smudge' with a star at it's centre, then with the 10x50 binos and finally viewing it with the 10" Dob with a 25mm wide angle eyepiece, made all the frustration well worth the effort. Plus JUPITER and the four moons (couldn't see the other 59 !!! lol) was still sexy.....clear skies to you all.
  5. Patrick1948

    Clouds!!!

    By Patrick1948,

    Is it true??? I have heard there will (might) be a small gap in the clouds over Yorkshire sometime in the next three weeks!!!...whichever back garden the small gap is over when it appears, can the owner organise a star party and let me know please???...........talk about having withdrawal symptoms....
  6. Patrick1948
    :hello2: Hi fellow Dobbers!!...seems ages since I had a session with my Dob, so, being as the forecast tonight was for clear skies from 10pm till 1am, I thought why not ****** a couple of hours in the back garden and try for a few DSO's. I set up at 9pm, got delayed and made it outside for 10.30pm...twenty minutes with the bins whilst my eyes got accustomed to the light pollution/darkness and lined up the Telrad. Didn't get to see ANY DSO's, 'cos I couldn't find any. I'm getting a little dispirited with not being able to see/find any DSO's. Maybe I'm trying to run before I can walk...Anyway good old Jupiter popped up from behind the neighbours house...(did you know Jupiter has 63 moons????..I didn't till tonight. I didn't see any more than the four larger ones...but 63...wow!). I found the seeing conditions not too good as it was rather hazy and viewing over houses didn't help, but it was Hobson's choice..... Did I see Uranus ???? I don't know but there was what appeared to be another moon (dimmer) a little way off to the left (or right in real life!!) of Jupiter...I'll check on stellarium later. Anyway it was getting cloudy and more hazy and seeing conditions were getting worse by 11.30pm so I called it a day, but not before my better half brought me out a hot cup of tea and a couple of munchies so I had those, cursed the clouds and the fact that I'm STILL a DSO virgin!!! and went in.... Clear skies to you all. ..............PS..I did check stellarium and it WAS Uranus I saw!!!
  7. Patrick1948
    Oh! Joy of joys!!! finally got a clear night and got the virgin 10" Dob out of its box..it is now NOT a virgin. It was a night of mixed emotions, from the high of seeing few stars in the sky then looking through the scope and seeing millions, to the frustration of knocking the finder scope and not being able to line the scope up all night...and the realisation that I have a very limited field of view from my back yard....and then !!!:headbang::hello2::hello2::icon_eek:...a burst of real excitement as the moon rose over the rooftops and came into my line of sight...being pulled through the heavens by Jupiter and Uranus (though I couldn't see Uranus), Me and my daughter, who had joined me for the night, picked up the Dob and carried it to the top of the garden to bring Jupiter into the scope's field of view, and there she was ... racing across the night sky swinging four bright moons around itself like a warrior charging into battle!! It was magnificent...I was gobsmacked. I was so excited I even forgot what eyepieces I had in!! I think it was a X2 Barlow with a 12mm plossel. It was a little fuzzy, though I could clearly discern the darker NEB and very faintly, the impression of other bands. It seemed so majestic, Jupiter with its four moons brightly hanging there.
    Well, that was the excitement...the disappointment was that I couldn't find any of the Messier objects, cos I couldn't use the finder scope very well. Plus I got severe neck trauma trying to sight the finder on the Messiers in Cassiopeia !!....I really must get either a Right angled finder or a Telrad...or SOMETHING!! . I found the Dob mount a little difficult to use smoothly, Particularly the AZ movement, being a little jerky...maybe a dab of silicon grease will help..(please tell me if I'm wrong!!) I spent another hour just scanning the sky getting colder and decided to call it a day(or night!). As I packed away the scope, I thought that Collimation may be a problem...even though I've had it explained in written form, I think I need someone to show me step by step. The bit I find difficult and scary is moving the secondary mirror...there are so many screws around that end of the scope, I don't really know which ones are which. Anyway First light was Jupiter and it's moons....BRILLIANT...I think I'm in love with Jupiter!!! ... Clear skies to you all.
  8. Patrick1948
    Oh! Joy of joys!!! finally got a clear night and got the virgin 10" Dob out of its box..it is now NOT a virgin. It was a night of mixed emotions, from the high of seeing few stars in the sky then looking through the scope and seeing millions, to the frustration of knocking the finder scope and not being able to line the scope up all night...and the realisation that I have a very limited field of view from my back yard....and then !!!:headbang::hello2::hello2::icon_eek:...a burst of real excitement as the moon rose over the rooftops and came into my line of sight...being pulled through the heavens by Jupiter and Uranus (though I couldn't see Uranus), Me and my daughter, who had joined me for the night, picked up the Dob and carried it to the top of the garden to bring Jupiter into the scope's field of view, and there she was ... racing across the night sky swinging four bright moons around itself like a warrior charging into battle!! It was magnificent...I was gobsmacked. I was so excited I even forgot what eyepieces I had in!! I think it was a X2 Barlow with a 12mm plossel. It was a little fuzzy, though I could clearly discern the darker NEB and very faintly, the impression of other bands. It seemed so majestic, Jupiter with its four moons brightly hanging there.
    Well, that was the excitement...the disappointment was that I couldn't find any of the Messier objects, cos I couldn't use the finder scope very well. Plus I got severe neck trauma trying to sight the finder on the Messiers in Cassiopeia !!....I really must get either a Right angled finder or a Telrad...or SOMETHING!! . I found the Dob mount a little difficult to use smoothly, Particularly the AZ movement, being a little jerky...maybe a dab of silicon grease will help..(please tell me if I'm wrong!!) I spent another hour just scanning the sky getting colder and decided to call it a day(or night!). As I packed away the scope, I thought that Collimation may be a problem...even though I've had it explained in written form, I think I need someone to show me step by step. The bit I find difficult and scary is moving the secondary mirror...there are so many screws around that end of the scope, I don't really know which ones are which. Anyway First light was Jupiter and it's moons....BRILLIANT...I think I'm in love with Jupiter!!! ... Clear skies to you all.
  9. Patrick1948
    :headbang: I got the Dob!! I got the Dob!!... Sorry about that but I'm so Exited:D Picked up the 10" Dob late yesterday afternoon and ONLY JUST got the monster in the car!! Assembled the base last night and I'll have a look at fitting the OTA sometime today. Unfortunatly...it's forcast lots and lots of cloud, Rain and frustration for the next few days:( .... I can't wait till Sunday when it forecasts a partially cloudy night...I'll keep you informed...Clear skies to you all.
  10. Patrick1948
    What a bummer...The 10" Dob I was due to pick up yesterday didn't arrive from the warehouse...I can't get it out of my mind...every waking moment I'm star hopping in my head or seeing Nebulas' in my corn flakes...If it doesn't arrive today I'll have appoplexy...I can't write any more just yet, I'm beside myself with expectation .... Great expectations in fact. .... be back later.
  11. Patrick1948
    Actually, it should be titled 'The Blind Eyeball in the Sky'....Yesterday I upgraded the standard focuser on my SW 10" Dob with a Revelation Two speed Crayford focuser. It was quite a scary thing for me because I'm not a mechanically minded guy, and because of that, I quite often can't see logical solutions to mechanical problems. That's what comes with spending half a life time as a 'people' worker..a detached youth worker actually. Anyway, after much dithering and thoughts of not doing it 'cos I didn't want to b***er it up, I removed the standard focuser and had a cup of tea to calm down...
    As I followed the advice received from the good people of this forum, my fingers were trembling as I slowly screwed the new super duper focuser into place and gently packed the gaps round the baseplate with dark foam, presumably to stop spiders crawling in and dying on the mirror !!!. Well...Job done at last AND there was a clear night forecast for later.
    Carried the Dob outside and as I waited for the cool down, I sat on a garden chair and marveled at the first clear sky in two months. Binos pressed to my eyes I observed the Orion Nebula in all it's glory and Pleides as well. Both VERY visible to the naked eye....I stole a quick look through the eyepiece (25mm Wide angle lens).....and OH!!! WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT !!! The focuser would not focus!!! It wouldn't wind out enough and everything was a blur......anyway I calmed down after a while, the neighbourhood dogs stopped barking and the residents closed their curtains again. With a heavy heart I packed my equipment away and came and scoured the lounge for a solution...if there was one to be found. I'd got visions of screwing the old, clunky standard focuser back on and re selling the Crayford. It turns out, thanks to the knowledge of stargazers in the Lounge, that all I need is an extension tube to allow a bigger wind out in order to achieve focus,which I ordered from FLO not 10 mins ago...and guess what?....you'll never guess in a hundred years!!!...I looked at the long range weather forecast and they are saying .."CLOUD FOR THE NEXT THREE WEEKS"..AAAaaarrrggghhh!!!...I hope YOU have clear skies Mes amis...say a prayer for mine!!!
  12. Patrick1948
    Stargazers Lounge - View Profile: Patrick1948.... I don't know if the eyeball is pictured in the blog so I guess I'll post this and see. I thought it would be a decent title for a blog, tying in with the profile picture.
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