MalcolmM

Perfect! Thanks very much @HollyHound Seeing as we share a taste in scopes, have you any experience with the Masuyama 85° eyepieces? I'm intrigued by them and love the fact they are relatively light. I'm wondering if a pair of 16's would work well in the Maxbrights. Apologies for going off topic! Malcolm

Big favour please? Could you link to the bags you use for 60Q, 100 and Mewlon please? Thanks, Malcolm

Took the FOA60Q out for a quick look at the moon this morning. The seeing was so good and steady I ran in to get 'Mummy' Tak. Here's one on the moon and the other on Castor. Malcolm

A quick 15 minutes this morning after breakfast with the FS60CB and TOE2.5 on the moon. Hadley easy, small craterlet inside Plato appearing occasionally (pretty central). But the star of the show for me was an incredibly dark shadow just above Barrow A (I think!). Some other beautifully defined craters in the area too. The FS60CB provided lovely sharp contrasty views though I did notice some blue fringing on the lunar limb which I have never noticed before. Finished with a quick view of Pollux. Thought it was a double! Got mixed up with Castor! But a lovely sight. Beautiful yellow and absolutely pin prick sharp. Malcolm

That's exactly what I was thinking! Lovely looking scope Malcolm

Glad you got a solution! Now getting Binoviewers to focus ... that's a black art, but once you get them working the view's magic They'll give the TOEs and XWs a run for their money Malcolm

Was about to say I have not been able to use more than x150 on the moon recently, but actually I have not even seen the moon recently! Nice report. I enjoy observing at that lunar phase. No idea why, but I find the area around Grimaldi fascinating. I think it's because when libration allows, you can glimpse bits of the moon that are often unobservable! Great link too, I have not seen that one before. The 2.5 TOE is a great eyepiece. I use it mostly with the FS60CB. It is surprisingly easy to use for such a short focal length. Malcolm

Hi @bosun21, if you are asking me ... I attach the GPC to the diagonal as per the manual. I'm pretty sure they are connected correctly. I need to do more experiments. It can be hard (I find) to judge relative magnification when the field of view is also changing. I was just surprised that the difference did not 'jump' out at me. Malcolm

That's a great idea of measuring on a photo @Marian M. I'm forever wondering what magnification I'm getting with various combinations of eyepiece and GPC. I was surprised by the seeming lack of difference between a 1.25 and 1.7 GPC on the MB. If they were both showing less magnification as you found, that might explain it. I've done very rough experiments counting bricks on a distant chimney, but that was for field of view. I shall be using your method now to see what the magnifications are! Thanks for posting! Malcolm

That's a beautiful setup. That deserves a posting in the 'pretty telescope' thread. I'd vote it number one 🙂

Love the last one! What is it? Malcolm

Sacrilege! I've a Tak in every room just to look at. My partner even clobbered me once for looking lasciviously at the one in the bedroom (60CB) Malcolm

We start in Abisco, not a million miles away. Maybe if we've time. Thanks again, Malcolm

Thanks Lars. I like my hiking but that's a long way Malcolm

What a fabulous place and setting. Is it anywhere near the Northern stretch of the Kungsleden? We're hiking that next summer. Malcolm

Snap! FLO managed to get me these well ahead of the quoted lead time. I've only used them a couple of times but they are so much easier to use then the WO ones. Views are stunning. So far I am very very impressed and they would seem to justify all the positive reviews and comments I have read about them. I was blown away with the view of the moon the other morning in the Mewlon before work (Tak 28mm Erfles in), got a real 3D effect for the first time. Our house is so cold at the moment, the Mewlon was pretty well cooled before I took it out. It is also so easy to carry out and attach to the tripod/mount that grab and go took on a new meaning for me 🙂 Malcolm

Meant to add, I was out each night looking for the Aurora. Only one semi-clear night in a week and no sign of the aurora. I have heard that the various Aurora excursions that are available from Reykjavík seem to know where to go to get the gaps in the clouds! A friend from work did one of these and managed to eventually get to see the Aurora after haring all over the country in the middle of the night! Malcolm

Hi Steve, Very sorry to hear about your wife's health. Iceland (in my opinion) is one of the most interesting countries in the world to visit. One of the highlights for me was Skaftafell Visitor Center where a short flat walk takes you right up to the face of a glacier. Very very impressive. As @Craney mentioned, there are some very impressive waterfalls on the South Coast (Skogafoss, Seljalandsfoss and Gullfoss). At one of them (I think it is Seljalandsfoss), a path leads off to the left which will take you to a hidden waterfall. You walk in through a gap in the rocks and are in a sort of cave with the waterfall coming down almost on top of you. Very atmospheric and when we were there, very few people seemed to know about it. Another big tourist attraction on the South coast is Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon. Here you can get to see icebergs close up! We only did the South coast so I can't help you with the rest of the island. In February it will likely be very cold. I think we went at Easter and when hiking around Gullfoss we had every item of clothing on and then some! We also had a snow storm/whiteout while driving which was exciting! Hire a decent car, potentially 4WD if you are going off the main road at all. You can be driving for miles and miles on the South coast and not see another car, let alone any habitation. It is a very wild and beautiful place. It might be worth checking how much is accessible/open in February. I think much of the interior is simply off limits in the winter. Hope this helps, Malcolm

Really jaw dropping images! I know nothing about lunar photography (I'm a visual observer) but I have been fascinated 'listening in' to two experts discussing their art. Thanks! Malcolm

Problem? What problem? I don't see a problem

I've not seen the nebulosity yet but I'm not convinced my local skies are dark enough. I'll be trying again this winter! Binoculars, now that can take me back to to the original topic of how many and why (ok not exactly scopes). I bought a bunch of cheap binoculars when I took the kids to Namibia. I also bought a pair of medium priced Nikons for myself, and a 15x70 Celestron (the cheaper ones). Also some small Steiners for my partner. The cheap ones did the job untill they tried the Nikons, then everyone wanted the Nikons. The Nikon's were a revelation to me, amazing views! The Steiner's, I couldn't get on with, I couldn't merge the images half the time. The Celestrons broke at the focuser before we got to the darkest skies I have ever seen in the Namib. I actually gave them to one of our guest house owners who reckoned his son might be able to weld the broken part. I thought the views through the Nikon's were incredible until I looked through a friend's Swarovski binoculars a year or so later! And then I bought a Tak. Perfection at last! And then the Tak started to breed! And if I'm honest, there's no rational reason for more than maybe two but they are lovely! Malcolm

Thanks @HollyHound. I've never looked through a dob but by all accounts they've give amazing views. Can you fit the whole of the Pleiades in the FOV with the Mewlon and XW40? I was a tad disappointed that I couldn't with the Mewlon and Stella Lyra 45 Kitakaru. The field of view calculator implied I should. It also implies the XW should have the same FOV as the Kitkaru. Maybe just the difference between theory and practice! Malcolm

Very impressive! I particularly like your Saturn. Mars very good too and interesting to me as it reflects (all be it in more detail) what I was seeing the other night; polar cap with small dark area just below and the large dark area with a brighter rim at the south pole. Malcolm

How does a Mewlon compare with a big dob? Love the sound of all that light gathering but my house/garden are simply not compatible with that size of system! Oh, and how can you bear to part with the little 60CB? Malcolm

You're very close. Sometimes I bring it out the front door and use the door step as a seat. That way I don't even have to extend the tripod legs! Bit cold on the cheeks though Malcolm