bosun21

Welcome back to SGL Neils.

I've done this twice in the few short months of buying my new 10" Flextube dobsonian. Having the shroud on it seems to escape my mind that the main mirror cover is still in place 🙄.

Definitely go for a designed planetary camera. I would also go for a OSC camera simply for the reason that it's both easier and quicker to complete the capture process. I used a 585MC which can be used for both planetary and astrophotography/EAA. I have now just acquired a 462MC for planetary due to its better sensitivity in IR. Buying secondhand on a forum such as this is much safer than other sites. The 462MC I bought on this forum was in excellent condition and working perfectly. The image you posted was it put through any software such as Registax for final sharpening and denoising?

I got some of my sharpest views of the planets with my Starfield. With my 4.5mm Morpheus eyepiece it gave me 158x which is about optimal for Jupiter from UK skies. For Saturn I used a 2x barlow or extender with my 6.5mm giving 220x. The focal length of the Starfield is only slightly less than a 6" reflector.

What slow mo on the AZ4? The ones I've owned just had a pan handle. The Starfield 102 is a fantastic scope at a good price. I would also buy new from FLO and have total peace of mind with your purchase.

I have yet to see a telescope that can show a star as a large churning disc of gas from any amateur. It's a total fraud.

Totally clickbait and the amount of gullible individuals who sit and watch said videos inevitably depart disappointed. Meanwhile you have just earned the poster more revenue from YouTube.

My advice is similar to those already given above. I would discard the supplied 10mm that came with the telescope (yes they are that poor) and buy yourself a 3-8mm Svbony zoom eyepiece and perhaps a 12mm or 15mm Starguider eyepiece. If you wear glasses while observing them buy a 5mm Starguider rather than the Svbony 3-8mm zoom. If you don't suffer from astigmatism then take your glasses off and simply use the focuser to reach the sharpest focus. The planets can change from being nice and sharp with a lot of details to a disc that resembles a bowl of soup in a matter of minutes. It's the atmospheric conditions that determine how good or bad the planetary views will be for a given hour/night. All we can do is prepare as best we can at our end with the correct equipment etc. The rest is in the hands of the astro gods 🙏.

Wishing you a speedy recovery Geoff. Take it easy for the first week's and allow yourself to heal.

Great book at a great price. I actually found the book "Stargazing Under Suburban Skies" to be better than TLO in all regards. I still occasionally refer to it if I find myself forgetting a particular star hop to a given target.

Could you please clarify what you mean by a smaller image? Are you talking about the physical size of the telescope or the image taken with the telescope of the night sky with a camera?

It wasn't a massive difference between them but I found that when observing M42 the lines defining the nebulosity were sharper with the Astronomik UHC. Subtle sums the difference nicely however it was noticeable.

I can definitely give another thumbs up for the Astronomik UHC visual filter. I initially bought a Svbony UHC beforehand but on comparing the two I decided to sell the Svbony. It's a must for me when viewing M42 and other emission nebulae. This along with the Astronomik OIII enhances my viewing opportunities. Perhaps I should also add the H beta from the range as well.

Congratulations to all three of you and indeed to everyone who entered. Hopefully I'll get to the skill level and confidence to perhaps take part in the apparitions to come.

The f4 reflector telescopes are definitely a bit more finicky to collimate the mirrors. It depends on how much experience you have collimating. For someone who is wary of collimating it will be more difficult for sure but doable.

I find that my observing sessions just don't compare to my planetary imaging ones. The totally visual observing is what grounds me. Looking into the vastness of space and realising how tiny and insignificant I am in the grand scheme of things. I also seem to spend more time at the eyepiece on each target to draw out the most details. I have found that when going quickly with a multitude of targets a lot of the subtle details are missed. Each to their own i suppose.

A 12v charger say 5 amps will only output what is required for the scope. So a 5 amp charger will output say 2 amps if the scope is designed to run at that rating. If I remember correctly it's the resistance of the load that determines the current drawn

Welcome to SGL Dave. The telescope you were gifted is a go to computerised telescope which has a good optical scope apparently. The weak link optically is the cheap amici diagonal which can apparently cause spikes on stars with higher magnification. You may consider replacing it down the road. Check the mount is working okay and that slewing (moving) the telescope with the handset works okay. This can all be discussed later.A very warm welcome to the forum.

Check the mirror by shining a torch on the rear of the tube and look into the open end and if you see the torchlight shining through then the aluminium coating has deteriorated. This will provide poor views if this is the case. Always good to check the mirror when buying old reflectors unless you plan on realuminising the mirror.

If I remove a finder from any of my scopes and then reattach I need to tweak the finder alignment every time.

That's the great thing about humanity, we're all different. Please stop tempting me with Ethos eyepieces as my resolve is weak 😂.

The ASI585MC is also a very good planetary camera which is also good for astrophotography should you decide to go this route. The sensor is larger than the 224 allowing some DSO's to fit in the frame. It also has zero amp glow.

My 17.5mm Morpheus is my most used eyepiece. I always start my observing sessions with it and then decide whether to increase or decrease the magnification for a given target. I just wish that they made a 24mm in the range.

We have just had a post here of what you regret buying. My question is what do you regret selling? I'm quite sure that there are many who have experienced sellers regret. I certainly have over the years.

You must have had a hard time reaching the eyepiece with the tripod legs extended like that Nicola.