BGO 7mm & 9mm available

[alan potts]

Well I really hope you all got some time in on the scopes. see the weather is getting better the nearer it gets to my arrival. That statement will no doubt give me a near hurricane conditions to fly in on Tuesday.

Clear skies,

Alan, the one eyed astronomer.

[Dunkster]

The thing with TV that I like aot is they are tested at F4 and I'll always have fast scopes. My upgrade will be F4.5 for instance.

i really will reduce my purchases to one a month at that point... god forbid i run out of things to buy

You owe it to your EPs to test them in whatever new scope you get, nobody else round here seems to be brave enough and we all want to know how they hold up at the faster end of the tube I don't count of course because my scopes are f/10 besides the little 'frac of course

[Dunkster]

Well I really hope you all got some time in on the scopes. see the weather is getting better the nearer it gets to my arrival. That statement will no doubt give me a near hurricane conditions to fly in on Tuesday.

Clear skies,

Alan, the one eyed astronomer.

I would say "break a leg" Alan, but that sounds strangely inappropriate rest the eye, just in case we have some freak weather

[John]

I have sort of clear skies here but the seeing seems very unsteady. Not really good conditions for testing orthos. I'll wait for Saturn to rise and see what that looks like.

On when to upgrade eyepieces, I think Michael Wilkinson's rule of thumb makes a lot of sense - the time to upgrade is when you can see a difference that matters to you.

With all the stuff thats put out on the web it's easy to get twitchy about perfectly good equipment, especially if the weather has prevented you from using them for a while. More than once I've switched something then, after the initial rush has worn off, wondered why I bothered !

[Stargazer_00]

got out tonight for a bit. reminded myself how good the es eyepieces are. got a couple of targets in but it never gets properly dark now and before you know it up pops the moon. air isn't at Ali stable tonight but watched Saturn for a bit. better than a kick up them bum I guess but a reminder that its a long wait now to darkest skies.

[Qualia]

On when to upgrade eyepieces, I think Michael Wilkinson's rule of thumb makes a lot of sense - the time to upgrade is when you can see a difference that matters to you.

Without knowing the author or quote, that makes complete sense to me, John. I was quite happy with the EPs I had in the 4" frac until the Moonshane arrived and apart from searching for the given DSOO and open clusters, I just kept reaching for the BGOs time and time again. I didn't care about the AFOV or eye-relief, I just needed to use the BGOs. In the end I wrote to Shane for a little hand and with his input and advice, realised that what was being reached for was top quality image, sharpness and contrast. As soon as this was realised, I knew it was time to upgrade. With this consideration in mind, I'd agree with you and Michael; don't upgrade until you know you are missing something that is essential to your observing and can be improved upon and bettered.

[Naemeth]

I have sort of clear skies here but the seeing seems very unsteady. Not really good conditions for testing orthos. I'll wait for Saturn to rise and see what that looks like.

On when to upgrade eyepieces, I think Michael Wilkinson's rule of thumb makes a lot of sense - the time to upgrade is when you can see a difference that matters to you.

With all the stuff thats put out on the web it's easy to get twitchy about perfectly good equipment, especially if the weather has prevented you from using them for a while. More than once I've switched something then, after the initial rush has worn off, wondered why I bothered !

That is great advice. But to be honest, the more you objectively look at and through eyepieces are premium, the more you can see they aren't so. I know there are faults in most of my eyepiece collection (everything not Vixen LV as I haven't tested them enough!) has at least one thing that would make me want to upgrade it. It's really a balance of how much you want to invest in the hobby, but many of the investments are quite safe as a lot of equipment has demand for it for a long time and doesn't depreciate all that much, if you compare that with a car, you can see why it's not risky.

[russ.will]

Bleed on my eyepieces , I would sooner die.

That's because you keep buying the cheap Meades. Buy the ES alternatives and you can wash blood, grass, mud, etc off under a tap. They're the tactical alternative EP for all seasons, y'know!

Bad luck on the wood chopping front. Of course, under British health and safety, would have been properly equipped with suitable eye protection as a minimum requirement. Further more, having submitted a correctly filled out Risk Analysis, your safety would have been further assured by employing a suitably qualified and ticketed employee, probably from eastern Europe. I advise that.. Oh! Hang on. Have we exported an unqualified, underskilled wood chopper to Bulgaria? That's an ironic one in the eye (pun intended) for UKIP voters, worried about the upcoming "influx" of cheap labour from EU excession state Bulgaria, hammering the British door down....

Seriously. Rest up. It'll all come around again next year. You only get one chance with your eyes.

Russell

[alan potts]

Russell ,

where do you get the idea I have a load of cheap Meades, I have 3 now 14mm UWA and 24mm UWA and a 40mm SWA, I did once have a good few but now I have only these left. No one wants them since the Ex Sc come from USA at much less cost.

I know you have always contested the likeness of the ExSC and the Meade, I am good mind to buy a Exsc and put the two beside each other in a number of scopes, you never know the Meades may be better.

BTW I look like I have been in the ring with a boxer. I am happy now as I have just finished 90m2 of concrete . This is a now flatish observing area and sand pit ( for Daniel ), and path to the observatory. When I come back I will put the floor in the obsey and start the brickwork..

I never worked this hard at work.

Alan

[Stargazer_00]

Awesome, are you running a DIY obsy thread?

[russ.will]

Russell ,

where do you get the idea I have a load of cheap Meades, I have 3 now 14mm UWA and 24mm UWA and a 40mm SWA, I did once have a good few but now I have only these left. No one wants them since the Ex Sc come from USA at much less cost.

I know you have always contested the likeness of the ExSC and the Meade, I am good mind to buy a Exsc and put the two beside each other in a number of scopes, you never know the Meades may be better.

BTW I look like I have been in the ring with a boxer. I am happy now as I have just finished 90m2 of concrete . This is a now flatish observing area and sand pit ( for Daniel ), and path to the observatory. When I come back I will put the floor in the obsey and start the brickwork..

I never worked this hard at work.

Alan

Alan, my jibes at your Meades are all tongue firmly in cheek. I think it would be a brave man that could claim to see a significant difference if they were side by side. I suspect the differing form factors would be more of a consideration for most people, depending on the shapes of their face. My significant probosis doesn't readily accomodate EPs with very wide tops for instance.

Coincidentally, my mini-me is called Daniel too, althought the poor wee thing is asleep on the sofa with a sore throat at the moment.

Russell

[alan potts]

Graham,

I didn't bother I only have the foundation and rasied area for damp done so far, this has been down for over two years and is still level (luck), there is 3m3 of concrete in that part and some very large stone pieces.

I may do some photos as I build it may help me on a bit. After my Brother died last year as of now it sort of took a lot of my drive away but I have it back now.

Alan

[Stargazer_00]

It'd be great to see your project in completion and if it helps keep you motivated then all the better

[Dunkster]

How much are flights to Bulgaria anyhow? There's a guy in here building an astro resort

[alan potts]

Now there is an idea. No only a humble observatory and it would be nice if I could finish it this year, I have just carried the LX outside and it is getting heavier I'm sure

Flights, not cheap, even EsayJet want 220 ish, Wizz do it from Luton for 200, but it is only 3 years back it was half that price, Mainline Airlines want 400-500 ish.

Alan.

[Stargazer_00]

A friend of mine went to Bulgaria a few years back and told me two things that I've remembered since

1) the entire country appears to be run by the mafia

2) the holiday experience there is second to none because the mafia make everyone give you the best service they can to ensure you keep spending

any truth in that?

[alan potts]

I don't know where he went , it may have been true once but not any longer, I have been hare 14 years and I have not seen anything to support that claim. We have sort of drifted away from the BGO's with Hoildays and Observatories, my fault yet again, sorry everyone.

Alan.

[Stargazer_00]

I wouldn't worry about it. It's my thread I created to provide a heads up about a good deal. It exhausted is purpose by the first response. Since then we just had a good old chat

[alan potts]

Graham,

It's done well then after we found out Russell had run off with the goods, we are now on page 10. I forgot you started it. I tried to use the scopes again last night but it was too painful with the eye. I will just have to wait until I come back with all my goodies, and there are a lot of them. You watch it will wall to wall clouds then. It is crazy at the moment yesterday got to 31.4 and it isn't even May When it get hot like this it is no good for seeing, the best time is early morning when it has cooled off somewhat. Some of the best seeing it mornings here, there just seems to be a different quality to the air I haven't got words for it.

[Dunkster]

Have you got one of those tartan shopping wheelies?

Btw, I got out last night, only for an hour and half of viewing, but been working all day the eyes were pretty tired already. The Moon, right on cue, jumped in with both feet and Saturn was the "only" thing worth watching after that

[Stargazer_00]

the heat sure does ruin the seeing, in a town all that tarmac and rooftops which soaked up heat all day spend the next 5 hours pouring that heat back into the world, ruins the seeing totally.

I hadn't thoght about mornings although I probably wouldn't get up early enough considering the ungodly hour the sun is up these days too.

i did get out last night and it was surprisingly good for about 2 hours. I managed to spot a bunch of galaxies in virgo, a few globs (NGC5053 still evades me, this thing is light pollution proof or something!) and a few open clusters. was a bit aimless, it's been a bit like that since that marathon night I did spottng all those targets in one night. every time ive been out since it sort of.. not as good. That night i took all the targets i expected to be looking at for most of the rest of the year.

I spend so long reading and researching and analysing to death, I wonder sometimes if it doesnt take you away from the core enjoyment of just sitting and observing in its simplicity.

[Dunkster]

I spend so long reading and researching and analysing to death, I wonder sometimes if it doesnt take you away from the core enjoyment of just sitting and observing in its simplicity.

I don't think so, or at least, not for me! It's part of the fun building a target list, having a home list and a "darker" sky list, thinking about what EPs to use, even which scope to use we're striding into glob season, so I'm taking any opportunity I can. I've looked at M13, M92, M3, M5 and M53 several times in the past week in the different scopes though Never ending possibilities right up above us, when the clouds cooperate

[Stargazer_00]

that's not really what i meant Dunk. I enjoy planning an evening out, thats great fun. I mean't perhaps the debating the kit and it's quality. I find myself looking at the defects in the eyepieces and thinking if the quality could be better if i had a smoother mirror, or a bigger mirror, or a better finish on my mirror. and so on. Which is good in a way because feedback for the community on things you own helps inform others however I sometimes find myself caught up in this analytic mindset and not really soaking up the beauty of what im looking at.

I think I'm going to go back to grass roots in my reading for a few weeks and leave the reviews and analysis reading out for a bit. I enjoy knowing as much as I can about the objects im looking at.

One of my biggest problems is a personal one. I have a good memory. I sometimes wish I didn't. I can recall where most objects I've viewed are just from the finderscope. For instance I random slewed the scope into Virgo last night. I've only been through this area thoroughly one time but when I looked through the finderscope it only took a few moments to locate a familar pattern and sure enough i looked in the eyeice and there was M49. From there, just from memory from over a month ago, i hopped around just in the eyepiece and picked up the other targets id found last time. my dad calls me "goto graham" because I find things from memory so easily.

You wouldnt believe the amount of things i have memorised. bank account and sort codes, card numbers, including expiries, ccv numbers. both my cards and my wifes (just in case), my national insurance number-- i mean what use is that ever? sure enough i can recall it whenever i want! all the important phone numbers i need, i can remember all the registration plates for cars ive owned. my brain is just a sponge, its annoying.

[Dunkster]

As they say... it's not what you've got that counts, but what you do with it

A good memory is a good thing to have but it's more a case of how you process the memories and all the inbound information that makes the difference.

There's a fine line between perfectionist and obsessive. Rationalisation is the counterbalance. I'll use the ES analogy here. We all know (pretty certain?) that the Naglers are better than the ES82s, but the rational part is that the ES82s are roughly 90% of the experience and a fair bit cheaper, so it's easier to collect a nice spread of EPs for all occasions. If money were/is no object, then we'd all throw caution to the wind and have the best we could lay our hands on, all for the few nights the weather chooses to cooperate. As Russell put it yesterday, how many hours do we need to put in to net enough to buy these things

But I like my toys as much as the next man, and I work hard for them. They're not always the same as everyone else's. But they suit me. When I buy something, it's because I've done my research and already rationalised it (ok, sometimes on impulse ), and understand the strengths and weaknesses and estimated how much it's likely to affect my enjoyment. I like things where I am the limiting component in the chain. But it's all too easy to get caught up in the obsessive side, we have way to many cloudy nights sitting in here reading, writing, getting frustrated. You can see evidence of it in countless threads, mostly here in the Eyepiece discussions It's just a question of finding the sweet spot. And then the happy place. For me, I enjoy all the researching, understanding and rationalising steps, and the sweet spot is realising my choice. The happy place is a clear night under the stars using it, warts or otherwise

[alan potts]

Two very nice posts, what's a memory? I can't remember what I was doing this morning. I just enjoy looking at things and feeling totally insignificant in the larger picture of it all.

Alan