Gottzi

Cheers knobby, quiet because there's not many if you or are you all just shy😂

That's a good idea, I have a broken section on one of my eq1 legs and currently use a small jubilee clip to stop the bottom of the leg sliding up into the top part, but this looks like a good fix and quicker to adjust tripod height.

Sometimes the OTA gets caught on the slow motion controls, is this the cause of your problem?

Good advice everyone, thanks 👍 Just had a couple of hours outside, started with M45, beautiful as always, then spent ages looking for M31 really struggled with it being almost overhead, couldn't get the right angle to be able to see the circles in my Rival Quickfinder. Found it eventually and watched it for a good 30 minutes trying to see as much as possible. Then went to M42 which is always impressive. So as advised starting again with brighter objects and thoroughly enjoying it.

Greetings from Essex. 😊

Evening all, according to apps I have bortle 5 sky and moderate light pollution from where I view in my garden in North Colchester, Essex. Realistically what should I be able to see with my set up? What's the minimum magnitude I should expect to see. Trying to maximise my limited viewing opportunities. Thanks in advance.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://carolrpt.com/ChartsOnly.PDF&ved=2ahUKEwjN5IWMp4PmAhWOXsAKHdaaAzoQFjAEegQIAhAB&usg=AOvVaw2wjclKtONukSORtkNrVyhx&cshid=1574614241873 is a link to a PDF of star maps.

Hi Neil welcome to SGL. Skymaps.com is a good place to start and definitely Stellarium for a tablet or PC helps.

I was wondering if others do that, sometimes I prefer stumbling on things whilst wandering through the constellations. In fact 90% of my viewing is done like that.

Hi welcome to SGL, that's a difficult career path, good luck to you 🤞🏻

Welcome to SGL, lots of helpful lads and lasses on here 👍🏻

I don't doubt it Marvin, Is it global warming that is causing the extra cloud cover, after all more warmth means more water vapour.

No Marvin I 100% agree, even compared to a couple of years ago there appears to be more cloudy nights. I have never kept a record but I'm sure this is the case. Now I wish I had records to look back on. What about our more experienced colleagues, want do you think?

Totally agree, no point in worrying about light pollution if you can't see the sky in the first place.

Thanks, never used this. Currently using the Clear outside app, but not convinced it's that accurate.