Dude is with the tube now!

[Dude_with_the_tube]

as the topic says,I got my scope this morning .But as you all know,the skies..... my morning porridge looks better in the bowl.

Anyway,got the scope assembled in maybe 15-20 mins.Looks awesome. i am really exited.Now waiting for some clear patch so i can align the scope with the finder.Also got telrad on the order,should be here tomorrow hopefully (FLO) and on top of that i also ordered Baader Hyperion Clickstop complete with barlow.So all in all,the skies do favour me a tiny bit.

i spent last 3 days drilling through the topics about the lens options and decided to go for the cheapest option:Baader Hyperion Clickstop as i liked the option of zoom (handy for new starter) and it also worked out a bit cheaper to my uncle Visa.later on when i get the hang of the observing, i will definitively try a single piece options.Photography is on my :"to do" list for future .

Will keep you posted here folks about either my first success or disaster lol.

First target: Moon.

[Mzungu]

which one?

[toilandtrouble123]

what kinda scope have you got??

[KevG]

If the Met Office is to be believed you should have clear sky tomorrow night, good chance to put your new kit to the test. Let us know how you get on (and what scope you have)

[Dude_with_the_tube]

which one?

the easiest one:the one you can see with naked eyes. will give me the possibility to align my scope and play around and get the feel of the scope. and as this i will be my totally first session,i will aslo be able to play around with the eye pieces,barlows without having to worry that the planet will be long gone before i am ready hahaha.

Dont be too hard on me lol.

[Dude_with_the_tube]

i got dobsodian 250px

[Dude_with_the_tube]

If the Met Office is to be believed you should have clear sky tomorrow night, good chance to put your new kit to the test. Let us know how you get on (and what scope you have)

cheers KevG for great news. i will get my worm socks ready.Didnt had the time to check on the forecast yet.

[swamp thing]

1357589560[/url'>' post='1769556']

i got dobsodian 250px

What a great starter scope

Enjoy

[Dude_with_the_tube]

thanks a lot Steve

[ian_d]

Great scope choice! You won't be disappointed

[Chris]

Thats an awesome first scope I'm sure when you combine it with the Baader EP you'll be in for some visual treats:) Make sure you pay attention to collimation though at f/4.7 it will need to be reasonably accurate, collimation isn't a difficult thing to learn though so enjoy your new scope:)

[knobby]

Cracking scope... Wishing you some clear skies!

don't forget it takes that big old mirror about an hour to cool properly before views are at their best, have a look at low magnification stuff like the Moon or Pleiades while its cooling

[VigdisVZ]

Sounds awesome! Enjoy the darkness!

[Dude_with_the_tube]

well a quick update.Suddenly skies decided to clear up! So my tube is sitting outside!!!!

Already had a look at Jupiter and Orion nebula.even with not cooled down tube Jupiter is clear to be seen,so is the nebula.Spotting scope is properly out of alignment so it is a challenge to even find the star on the tube after found on the spotter.using the standard pieces (25mm and 10mm) without and with and 2x barlow. 25mm on its own and on barlow is great,10mm no go,even on its own the images are quite poor-ish.i might also blame the cheapo barlow i have.i was amazed how quick Jupiter manages to escape from me.takes about 20 secs to change out lens and he is already gone! Wow.

Definitively looking forward to cliczoom eyepiece and hyperion barlow.and yes i can confirm earlier posts:Telrad is a MUST! so I am really hoping that Royal mail will be on the ball tomorrow and get my pieces delivered in time.

Now waiting for the moon to raise up so i can try and align the spotter and get a good glimpse at the big boy.

Very exited at the moment and happy with the purchase made so far.

[knobby]

Something wrong there, new scope and clear sky... Never been heard of

[Optical Dob]

You've Been very lucky getting clears skies on the day you got your scope . Probably best to set you finder scope up in the day light but thats up to you. Enjoy the views.

[Dude_with_the_tube]

scope aligned used Orion nebula to align it.

straight away did another target shoot to Jupiter and bang in the middle.and i will have to take my comments about the 10mm eye piece back.After cooling down,it worked great.Jupiter was like on the plate.had a quick look at Betelgeuse and now I want a walk on the surface of the moon.so off for a cup of coffee.

[Duns]

Great to hear you got clear skies - your having fun - I can almost picture the size of your grin.

There's tons of stuff up there to keep you amazed for a lifetime - however I still think our moon takes a lot of beating - it still takes my breath away (is that a cue for a song )

[Dude_with_the_tube]

well, it was a blast.had to cut my observation short as phone message said that i am working tomorrow,so early start .moon will have to wait for another day.still,got a great view on Jupiter and a few other stars what i thought for a first time will be difficult.Also getting used to the mirrored views of spotting and viewing through the scope so tracking will take some time to get used to.Anyhow,happy as a pig in a poo and really looking forward to the new eye piece tomorrow.fingers crossed the skies will stay clear.

And thanks every one for the great advises.

will keep you all posted on the progress..

[knobby]

If you're up early Saturn is nice at about 5.30 south east ish at about 20 degrees up

[todd8137]

That's like getting blood from a stone to much hard work

[Dude_with_the_tube]

fog and rain from 4:00AM so no saturn. also had to leave for work at 5:45 could manage it anyway.SE-S-SW is perfect location as I am facing that direction.Anything north is abstracted.

However,now I am really hoping for clear skies for tonight as Baader turned up with the post man. Yehaa!

I would like to give a big thanks to Rother Valley Optics guys.Top service!!!! Cheers guys.I will be back in near future for some more pieces.(once uncle Visa gets his rest ).

[Dude_with_the_tube]

and here we go a first question to experienced fellow stargazers.

I am looking for around 30mm + - 2-3mm eye piece with as a min 60deg but on 1.25" barrel.Most i have seen are 2" and i dont particularly want only 1 eyepiece on 2" as the others i use are on 1.25.(not that i have many of them yet lol)I have gone through a few suppliers web sites and could not locate one.Am i looking for non existing eye piece? or maybe someone has one for sale?

[knobby]

Hi

If you intend on using the Baader zoom a lot then you could put the 2" nose on it then you could use 2" EPs exclusively, opens up the wide end with no chopping and changing of adapters.

[Dude_with_the_tube]

Hi

If you intend on using the Baader zoom a lot then you could put the 2" nose on it then you could use 2" EPs exclusively, opens up the wide end with no chopping and changing of adapters.

that was the latest thing i was thinking off.Also i forgot that 1.25 has a limitation of view anyway so even if I put an lets say 32mm eyepiece with 1.25 barrel on the scope i will not gain any advantage on the wide field view anyway due to limitations of the barrel itself.So thanks for the input and that really sorted me.the only time i will have to put the 1.25 back is if i want to barlow the zoom lens.but thats not an issue .