Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'review'.
Found 18 results
-
Askar FRA400 f/5.6 Quintuplet APO Astrograph review
Lee_P posted a topic in Member Equipment Reviews
I recently bought an Askar FRA400 f/5.6 Quintuplet APO Astrograph. I couldn’t find much info about it in advance – the best was a thread on Cloudy Nights – so thought it might be useful to other folks to jot down some of my feedback. I’m happy to answer any specific questions or clarify any points written in this review. One-line review This is a great telescope that’s fun and easy to use, but with a few issues potential buyers should be aware of. Background I got into astroimaging a few years ago, using a Sky-Watcher Evostar 80ED DS-Pro and ASI1600 mono camera plus -
Hi All After much research, primarily on this site and The Binocular Sky, I got hold of the above binoculars. I spent ages writing a review specifically for this site of what I found, as a thanks for all the advice I had received. By the power of idiocy I then managed to post it on Cloudy Nights instead (I had both open in my browser). Too much Christmas port I guess Anyway, too late to take it down as some have already replied and I guess I shouldn't post the same thing on two sites so here is a link to my review on completely the wrong site No offence at all to Cloudy Nights- 5 replies
-
- 6
-
-
-
-
- binoculars
- review
- (and 2 more)
-
It seems that I got less active lately in this hobby, mostly due to the pandemic, directly or indirectly. However, I'm planning to move from where I'm living now in the close future so I started replacing my gear with lighter and better items. One of the items was the mount. I still have a tuned SkyWatcher AZ-EQ5 and a stock SkyWatcher EQ6-R. I used both quite a lot, I passed with them long time ago 1000h of exposure. And recently I bought an iOptron GEM45. The AZ-EQ5 is in the lightweight mount class, but performs quite poor for astrophotography. The original RA worm was a crap
-
Many of you will recall when I purchased my APM LZOS 180mm triplet a couple of years ago I wanted to mount the scope on an Alt-Az but at 23kg for the barebones OTA and more than 1 metre in length, there was very little choice available that was up to the job. Fortunately APM themselves actually manufacture a seriously heavy duty Alt-Az mount called the AzMaxLoad. At the time a number of SGL members expressed some interest and more recently I have received a couple of PMs asking about it so I have finally got round to committing my thoughts into a review (work seems to have taken over my life
- 15 replies
-
- 4
-
-
- alt-az
- heavy duty
- (and 2 more)
-
Hi all, Been a while since I have been on the site – work has been really busy these last 18 months, and although it’s still manic, things are slowing down a bit!! Viewing my previous posts, you will see that I was in the market for a new scope to adorn my EQ3-2 mount that I had purchased ages ago now!! Well, things didn’t turn out as expected, and while I am still hoping to get a scope, hopefully at Christmas if Santa is kind to me (I have been a good boy lol!!) I decided to get a pair of Binoculars to fill the gap! Budget was tight, and I did want a pair of larger aperture bin -
I bought this second hand, but it was almost untouched, and a relative bargain to boot. New it costs 1199 EUR from TS (approx. £1035 as of 08/03/2019 but who has any idea how this might fluctuate). Highlights: Apo air-spaced triplet with FPL53 Multiple focus positions thanks to removable tube segments 2.5” rack and pinion focuser, rotatable, dual speed controls, 6kg payload, with printed scale CNC tube rings and dovetail supplied Retractable dew shield First impressions: It’s a really nice box. Whilst it’s described as a ‘transpor
- 15 replies
-
- 10
-
-
Daystar Quark Chromosphere Review – A New Era in Amateur Solar Astronomy? Until recently, it’s been very expensive if you want to view or image the Sun in the hydrogen-alpha wavelength using a relatively large aperture such as 100mm. For example, a Lunt 100 dedicated h-alpha scope with B1800 blocking filter and Feathertouch focuser is likely to cost in excess of £7,000. In 2014, things suddenly changed. Daystar Instruments, who have over 40 years of experience in solar filters, released a new product, the Quark. Costing less than £1,000, this new type of device can be used with many- 34 replies
-
- 23
-
-
- chromosphere
- hdyrogen-alpha
- (and 6 more)
-
I visited the International Astronomy Show in Warwick the other week. Just inside the door there was a young chap selling dew control products. The gear was lightweight and relatively inexpensive, so I thought I'd give it a try. I picked up one heater band (for my Esprit 120) and one 4 channel controller. The controllers he had at the show all had a 2m power cable. I said I would have preferred another metre. Tim (the young chap) said it was not a problem. He would make one with a 3m cable and send it out to me. He obviously posted it first thing Monday morning because it arrived on th
-
I am looking for user reviews about the Starlight Xpress Trius 825 Monochrome camera. Tried Google, but nothing so far. I'd also appreciate a general review of the Trius series of cameras. May help me in making an informed decision. Is the cooling as good as they claim? -50C below ambient?
-
Hi I just posted my Nikon D810A review on my blog http://blogg.astrofotografen.se/2015/05/nikon-d810a-review.html Thought some of you might be interested in reading it. /Göran
-
Hi everyone, about a month ago i got my first telescope. Wasn't sure what to get but i wanted something portable and easy to setup and use. After some internet "research" i decided to go for a refractor on a manual alt/az mount. The telescope was on a 50% sale so i decided to go for it , the Meade infinity 90. The package: The scope came in one big box, everything was inside. Included was the optical tube, the mount, 3 eyepieces (6.3mm, 9mm and 26mm), a 2x barlow lens, 90 degree diagonal, red dot finder, an eyepiece holder for the mount and a few manuals. The optical tube:
- 5 replies
-
- 5
-
-
- firstscope
- refractor
- (and 7 more)
-
IAS 2019 Review - Friday 15 November My second show (first was last year), as before got there on Friday 15th, soon after 0900hrs. Despite the weather, seemed to be fairly busy in the main hall. Had a few good discussions with different vendors, 365 Astronomy in particular. Even the guy on the Vixen stand near the entrance, remembered me from last year! RVO had a whole hall to themselves, not really sure why? They did seem a bit 'lost' in there. All that space and not much kit... Again, there to 'window shop' only, but still managed to spend £90!
-
Last summer whilst drooling over the beautiful looking telescopes on the Sumerian website I suddenly had the urge to ask permission for a 16" Canopus and to my suprise she said yes! Well it wasnt quite that simple as we then went through the whole haggling process as to how many pairs of shoes she could get if I got the telescope. I couldnt find alot of info about the Canopus model on the net so I started talking to Michael at Sumerian via email asking for details. He came back quickly with lots of details, advice and was very helpful right from the start. After a couple nights mulling it over
-
I have had my Hyperion Zoom Mk.III for quite a while now and I was wondering, if I should review it here, because what there is to say about an eyepiece, really? You just shove it into your focuser and look down the glass end, right? Well, since the Hyperion Zoom is effectively 5 eyepieces in 1 (I don’t really think it’s that big of a deal), it is not really a “static” piece of equipment, and there is lot of “accessory” for it, I thought I’d give it a try. Optics Optically, the eyepiece is a “seven element eyepiece, with multi-coated optics for remarkable sharpness, contrast and colour correct
- 67 replies
-
- 14
-
-
I know the gold standard is, "Making Every Photon Count," http://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/making-every-photon-count-steve-richards.html but has anyone given this other starter a try? "Shooting Stars" by Nik Szymanek I haven't seen any reviews... http://www.astronomynow-store.com/special-editions/shooting-stars-the-ultimate-guide-to-photographing-the-universe Me? I've been subsisting on Allen Hall's "Getting Started" Long Exposure Astrophotography" http://www.allans-stuff.com/leap/ -
I just received the Celestron NexStar 94004 Rolling Carrying Case I'd ordered for my NexStar 8SE. As the case has only been on the market since February, I went ahead and wrote up a review of it. If you're interested, you can read my review on BestBuy.com (where I bought the case from). Enjoy! -
Background The late Thomas M Back developed his planetary series of eyepieces working with Burgess Optical. Those who want to know more about Tom and his works might like to read this 2006 report: http://www.cloudynig...hp?item_id=1549 . Tom was enthusiastic about the eyepieces and wrote about the 4mm on 21 October 2005 as follows: "I first did a bench test with my Strehl .997 TMB 100mm f/8 SD apochromat, on the autocollimator. As you may know, I was very happy with the performance of the prototype of the 4mm. The production model is as good or better. The Airy disc was textbook, the off-ax
- 22 replies
-
- 14
-
-
Evening SGL, i recently purchased an Astrotrac TT320X-AG and thought i would give you my thoughts and share my results so far. Any critism and tips or tricks that may help me improve are very welcome. My Astrotrac arrived probably about a month ago now so i have had roughly 2 weeks of Moonless sky to image. This is also my first tracking platform after doing fixed tripod for about a year so its been a great fortnight, as i feel i have squeezed just about all i can out of 30 second exposures! Dont get me wrong, fixed tripod AP is great but i've had an itch to go deeper for quite a while now. Th
