LondonNeil

Thanks, I'll look them up.

True, and actually having an astro camera to play with and try some imaging would be something I'd like to do . Not right now, but in a year or three. Maybe I should watch for a cheap used astro camera sooner then I thought... ugggh!

Thinking about ways to show young kids what is visible through the scope, both my own kids and possibly the Beaver colony one goes to. I had been thinking put my smart phone in a mount on the eyepiece but I just came across this WiFi camera https://a.aliexpress.com/_EQUgP6r I hadn't thought about an astro camera before and could imagine a specific camera and WiFi to a phone or tablet could be much more secure and maybe better views. Am I on the brink of an EEVA rabbit hole?

The Hyperion is a lot less then £200, about £110-120 new. The Morpheus is about £220, were you thinking of that?

🤔🫤🫤??

You've got a little newtonian reflector on an equatorial mount. Nice. Your first upgrade should be 2 or 3 better eye pieces and probably a Barlow (this doubles your scopes focal length so doubles your magnification...2 eps and a Barlow gives you 4 different magnification options). Now wait for the cloud to clear... and wait.... and wait

Hadn't seen that, thank you.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about clear outside. I'm not really complaining about any forecast. Just a bit of a moan about the weather and saying clear outside is confusing me. I have now worked out the bottom bar is the moon though.

Pah! Bbc forecast for tonight looked good. Grabbed the tripod and scope and headed outside and.... cloudy. Right, what was that site for Astronomers forecasts... where... oh yes, resources.. ahhh if course! Right what is this? Eh? OK, can somebody explain what it's telling me? Big red box = no, green= woowho! ? I think I get the time chunks and the daylight, twilight, dark band. I'm not sure what the band under that is... cloud? I've a green chunk, 3 hours after sunset tomorrow.... that's the only one in the forecast... should I clear my schedule?

That's interesting Louis, thank you. Hmm. I've also got an st120 though which I think does wide field views better (it is fitted with a bresser 2" diagonal). I've also got the two sides of my gtiX fairly well aligned so in effect the st120 can become a high power finder scope for the mak127 if there are tricky targets I really want to mak-view.

Yes zermelo, skymax 127. From a bit I've read there seems no real gain going to a 2" visual back ... unless you feel the need to fit a crayford focuser. No I intend to stick at 1.25" I think. Dan, It's a slow scope, f11 ish, so tolerant to CA. Seems like it's not a big upgrade and I definitely shouldn't rush.... 'I'll keep a close eye on tnt classifieds etc and see what comes along.

Good, this is reinforcing the, ' pick up whatever decent one comes along in the classifieds' view. Were I able to fit a 2" I'd be spoilt for choice, but I've searched and 1.25" are currently thin on the ground. I can wait though.

Thanks. Doing some Google research it gets very confusing... some say the higher reflectivity on mirrors makes a big difference in light polluted skies (I'm bortle 7-9) , others say its not noticeable. I guess it comes down to other factors, scope, eps, viewing experience, personal foibles, target type etc etc. OK..... I'm in no rush..... I'll keep options open and pick up something from the classifieds.

I've read good comments on the baader diagonal before, but wouldn't a mirror be better than a prism diagonal?

Just like the Hyperion in my box, yes, yes you can.

Wide field and mak don't really go, but still a useful observation!

I'm thinking of upgrading the basic diagonal on my mak127. Does anyone have any experience with: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/diagonals/stellamira-1-25-90-di-electric-diagonal.html?_gl=1*qpwke4*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTU0MDQyNjA1NC4xNzEyNzkwMDgx*_ga_F6VGWQ0MW9*MTcxMjc5MDA4MS4xLjEuMTcxMjc5MDA5My4wLjAuMA Or with: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/diagonals/stellalyra_diag_90_d_125.html?_gl=1*t0q9dj*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTU0MDQyNjA1NC4xNzEyNzkwMDgx*_ga_F6VGWQ0MW9*MTcxMjc5MDA4MS4xLjEuMTcxMjc5MDA5My4wLjAuMA Both 99% reflectivity and £69.... is one better than the other? Or for that matter I'll take recommendations on any other options.

I've had the same on my 120, doesn't seem to want to pull off, twisting I started to unscrew the whole front, lens and all, so.... it's staying put.

Thanks, that location map looks particularly interesting

Are there any fellow members that are in, or close to, South London, Se19? Upper Norwood, crystal palace, Streatham. It would be great to get hints and tips from anyone with local experience. What local spots to use for views in different directions and what targets to realistically try for/ enjoy given local conditions? That kind of thing. Maybe meeting up for a session if the clouds clear too.

I found these, which at £3.90 for a 50mm sample are pretty cheap as spacers https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/192990852151?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=yE536z4CRyu&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=ouq3u5EnS2m&var=493194958991&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

In fact, it was still there and bumped 2 weeks ago https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/420289-sky-watcher-2-di-electric-star-diagonal/#comment-4470937

2" diagonals appear in the classifieds. I know, I bought one new in January then see one I'd have been happy with cheaper in the classifieds. D'oh!

Cool, very useful to know in not completely misunderstanding how this works then! Does the PIP s/w also rotate the image then to stack frames, or were the videos short enough that the rotation could be ignored? Ah cool so I guess using the PA s/w speeds up alignment? I would guess that it can pick up the drift more quickly and instead of sitting there for whole subs to check for movement before adjusting the s/w can detect the movement quite quickly. I have read up and can see how, with practice drift aligning manually wouldn't be to tricky. Although if you can get close with a polar scope first that must speed things up no end. I'd love to get a few dso like orion in time..... I've got to get better at visual first but, yes I can imagine a cheap imaging camera on my Christmas list in time 😁

For the avoidance of doubt, this is the wedge I picked up. https://www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/acatalog/star-adventurer-wedge.html?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwwr6wBhBcEiwAfMEQs_n3aihmolvtJv_zlosEWsuV64BS4Of3LEtVpPKQFB-VnoCApB7RsxoC5qAQAvD_BwE