Uplooker

I generally find that it’s the EP and finder that dew up. The secondary only dews is there is a lot of moisture in the air.

Yoy can buy secondary heaters from Kendrick, Google search.

You can make a dew  shield for the front of the scope from a foam camping mat, if you go to a haberdashery you can purchase sticky backed Velcro to line the mating edges of the said homemade dew shield.

I also fitted a fan to the base of my dob to keep the primary mirror dew free. A computer fan is perfect and depending what Dob you have, there may well be holes in the mirror supports that match perfectly with the hole spacing On the computer fan.

If you have the primary fan, EP dew band and finder dew band you could get away with a 17Ah battery, which should give you two nights viewing.

Yep, heading over to see my Mum for a week. It’s been a year since we last saw her. Is Kenny still on site?

39 minutes ago, jamie56 said:

Hi Derek,

At lesleys just now, all booked up thought we had when we were down last time sounds as if it's filling quick again, see you all Oct 

P's Ian saw you at the Newton Stewart roundabout today, I guess your heading across the water,safetrip.

Was that you Coming from Newtonstewart, that I pulled out in front of😂. Had to stop off at the gin distillery “Hills & Harbour” to get more anaesthetic for Liz😂😂

Phew, booked 😬

Looks like I need to get my booking for this SP done soon 😮

Glad all is well, Adrian. It seems a world away ATM, but I am looking forward to Oct. Meeting everyone again, or for the first time. Although that may be under unusual circumstances, it will be good.

Well done!

As lenscap says👍

5 hours ago, pob175 said:

A quick and simple question, does it matter when you use a spirit level that has a magnetic base or does it make no difference?

 

Thank you for your time.

Is this for levelling a mount? If it is an EQ mount there is no need to have it level 

Hi Jamie & Dawn, 

Hope you both have a great time at Leslie’s. Look forward to seeing both soon, hopefully no plasters present 😮

That has come out really well. When I watched it previously, I hadn’t realised you had used the powermate, well done.

saving Leslie some lecky then 😂

2 hours ago, Physopto said:

Just a thought Ian!

How many Corbett's does it take to make a Monro? 🧐

Or on the other hand, how many Corbett's (as in Rony), does it take to make a Munro?

🤣

A very nice picture Damian, looks like you had a very nice day out, is the view to the East? It's just the horizon is higher on the left of the picture, so I would guess it is going up towards the Scottish border !🧗

Derek

Two!

1 hour ago, mapstar said:

It is looking back to the lake district 

So south/south east?

1 hour ago, Physopto said:

😱   I  am putting a note in the book about this   🧐. 

If something happens Ian , we will blame you for that  "tempting providence"  comment !!

Derek

Not inviting the Ides Of March, just stating that a SP was not occurring at the moment in time that Damian ascended a Corbett i.e. Merrick, while enjoying fine bout of Gaelic weather. I am sure Derek, that you are aware that it is a Corbett and not a Monro, as it is only 843m or 2775ft and as such does not reach the threshold of 914m or 3000ft, to allow it to be classed as a Monro😇

46 minutes ago, mapstar said:

Finally made it to the summit of Merrick. Started out a bit rainy and the top was obscured but the weather steadily opened up and got better.

stunning views back to the lake district. 

Looks to be unusually kind Scottish weather👍, must be because the SP is not on ATM 😮

6 hours ago, mapstar said:

Managed to book a place near Kilmarnock so will be nice to explore the top end of galloway and ayrshire area. Must've tried booking half a dozen places before we got something. 

I have a good mate that lives in Kilmarnock😁 Hope you both have a good time👍

I don’t think that there is any doubt that your camera is working properly. There is a big difference between having the scope aligned to an object, visually, and with a camera! What mount are you using?

It helps to have your finder very accurately aligned to the scope.

i would suggest that after having aligned your finder and inserted the camera that you increase the exposure considerably. Next, using the hand controller very carefully try and move the scope in very small circles, all the while keeping an eye on the laptop screen. Keep checking the finder to make sure that you are still in the right region. It is very easy to pass by the object, it can literally shoot on and off the screen in an instant. Once you get a bright spot on the screen, set the mount tracking and use the lowest  mount alignment speeds that you can. Sometimes even one nudge on the mount controller can send the object off the screen again.

You will get there, just takes a bit of practice.

Quare job, big man. Hope you and the Mrs have a grand time👍

24 minutes ago, jamie56 said:

hi Derek, camp site is open now,we were meant to be there this week  but due to unforeseen  circumstances I fell and broke my ankle on the way down and ended up in stranrear a&e, went down to let Lesley know we would have to cancel holiday and the site looks nice. hopefully all will be well for astro camp. hope you guys are all well.

Hi Jamie, that’s a bad job! Hope you are holding up alright. Was there drink taken or were you just an eejit? 

Another short response, Derek?

35 minutes ago, Physopto said:

I keep on looking at the pristine field that Lesley keeps for us due to all her hard work and how it changes as soon as you lot get there........

I thought the same, field looks crackin ATM. Wait for 4 months time🙄

Will do!

If you only want to mount a camera with a short f/l lens you could try a Sky  Adventurer, if you want to use a scope, then HEQ5 is the minimum.

Others will be along shortly to offer other alternatives to the SW Star Adventurer

2 hours ago, Peter_D said:

Glad to hear the RDF issue is resolved and you were able to align it ok. What I can't get over is the cost of a new 150mm reflector - sub 200 pounds is amazing value, especially when you think how much 6 inch reflectors cost in the past.

I paid £190 in 2009 for a brand new150p on an EQ3 from a dealer. I look at prices now and wince