Yet another 8SE first light report

[Demonperformer]

Scope arrived on Monday, made sure it was all working mechanically, but did not have the opportunity of an optical test until this morning. I was upgrading from a 6SE, so am used to the setup, but one thing that was apparent from the start is that the power connector is much firmer - so much so that I managed to run this morning's session without using electricians tape to stick the power lead to the turntable. One thing that rapidly became apparent - slight breezes have a dramatically greater effect on this scope compared to the 6SE. That could be solely down to the increased magnification I am working with, or the increased size of the dewshield acting as a sail, or ... well, I don't know really, but I will no doubt get a better idea with time and experience.

I had a specific agenda for this morning. I wanted to get some specific details on using my barlows (change in focus and position). With this in mind, I headed off to the moon - large, bright object with bits that can be easily identified accurately. The point I chose was crater Madler.

Moving from webcam alone to 2x barlow, the focussing was almost identical, and the crater moved from the centre of the field to the upper right quadrant of the field. All well and good. When I moved to the 3x barlow Madler (which I had recentred in the frame) had disappeared off the frame (although still centred left-right) and the focus knob needed to be rotated clockwise one 'go'. (This is a measure I use - it is the angle that I can comfortably rotate the knob without changing my grip - not a universally useful measure, but accurate enough when being repeated by the same person). Curiously, this brought the focus point almost exactly back to where it was for me visually without my glasses using my 32mm eyepiece!

So, my conclusion was that, when moving from x2 to x3 I needed to move my object to the top of the frame, turn the focus knob one 'go' clockwise and whack up the brightness a hefty amount. Now to test if it worked on a smaller object.

So I headed off to Saturn (where else??) and took an image with just the webcam (~400x), moved it to the lower left quadrant and changed to 2x barlow (800x) - slap bang in the middle of the field. A couple of avi's later, now came the real challenge. I had always found this change difficult with the 6SE. Moved Saturn to the centre top of the frame. changed the focus and pushed the brightness to max. Now, when I swapped the 2x for the 3x, a huge bright Saturn was in the middle of the field. Yay! I then proceeded to take a few avi's, before the clouds rolled in, at 1200x.

I have attached a comparison collage of Saturn taken with my old 6SE and the shots I got this morning, using just webcam, and using 2x and 3x barlow lenses. I know they are all pretty rubbish compared with shots that some people manage to get (e.g. http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-planetary/170334-saturn-january-08-2012-rgb-full-set.html) but I think the improvement from the 6SE to the 8SE is pretty obvious.

All in all, I think this morning was a useful and successful exercise. Now, if it will only stay as clear tonight as I have been promised, I can give Jupy a whirl. Watch this space [pun totally intended - I'll get my coat].

[klytus]

Thanks DP very interesting read, look forward to your Jupiter report and others

[Nexus 6]

I suppose if there is any drawback with the 8se the mount is THE one, as its the same used for the 6se which, when I had one, did suffer from the strongish winds far more than my 925. Nice to have the option to use it on a new mount though.

[LukeSkywatcher]

The tripod is a bit wobbly which makes perfect focusing a 2..3..4.. step job to get it bang on as you have to leave the tripod/mount settle down for a few seconds. Not a major issue though.

I find that if you put one hand on the top of the mount fork arm while focusing then let go, it makes it a bit easier. You still have to let it settle but its a bit quicker.

400X on Saturn with the 8SE is sweet. Something to look forward to.

[faulksy]

nice report. you can quite easily see the difference metween the 6" and the 8". 8" is quite a lot clearer and brighter