Greetings from Edinburgh

[MorningMajor]

Hi Dave and welcome - what a great spot!

[Schorhr]

Hello David,

great to hear you had a successful first-light with your bucket.

Too bad about light polution, perhaps you can talk to them to turn it off at certain times. Also, you can construct a light shrowd out of cardboard or velour plastic that will keep stray light out, reducing problems a little.

About the Plössl:

Orbinar/Seben offers them for 8 to 16 € shipped depending on the focal length. I have two of them and a noname Plössl, and all work fine, and are at least a good first upgrade. Though under 10-13mm Plössl will be difficult for people with glasses due to low eye relief, and under 6-9mm even for people without glasses...

At the moment I can"t use the 260x/2.5mm eyepiece a lot due to the current conditions. But a 6mm UWA and the Barlow (better get an achromatic one, though over 30€ another eyepiece makes more sense IMHO.).

Good luck, and don't forget to view the rinh nebula (between the bottom Stars of Lyra) and M81/m82 (extended diagonal through the big dipper), and hercules star cluster (sometimes more stars resovle in indirect observation when you look away from the object slightly, then more details in the corner of your vision appears due to the way the receptors are placed)...

Ciao!

[Guest]

Welcome, I'm also in Edinburgh. Quite a few of us southern scottish types meet up at Harper rigg on occasion. Checkout http://scottishastronomers.com/forum/index.php to find out out when we meet, it's usually spontaneous.

Hope SGL don't mind me posting the link.

[Parus major]

Hiya fi the Pans!

[Dabajeh]

Hello

[dkpw]

Hello David,

great to hear you had a successful first-light with your bucket.

Too bad about light polution, perhaps you can talk to them to turn it off at certain times. Also, you can construct a light shrowd out of cardboard or velour plastic that will keep stray light out, reducing problems a little.

About the Plössl:

Orbinar/Seben offers them for 8 to 16 € shipped depending on the focal length. I have two of them and a noname Plössl, and all work fine, and are at least a good first upgrade. Though under 10-13mm Plössl will be difficult for people with glasses due to low eye relief, and under 6-9mm even for people without glasses...

At the moment I can"t use the 260x/2.5mm eyepiece a lot due to the current conditions. But a 6mm UWA and the Barlow (better get an achromatic one, though over 30€ another eyepiece makes more sense IMHO.).

Good luck, and don't forget to view the rinh nebula (between the bottom Stars of Lyra) and M81/m82 (extended diagonal through the big dipper), and hercules star cluster (sometimes more stars resovle in indirect observation when you look away from the object slightly, then more details in the corner of your vision appears due to the way the receptors are placed)...

Ciao!

Thanks again for the further suggestions and advice.

I was out for an even more successful night yesterday. The skies were very clear and so I was determined to get my first views of the moon through the heritage and to find a darker viewing location. Luckily there are a couple of playing fields nearby which have no obstructions, no nearby houses and so no neighbours with powerful security lights. They are just a five minute walk away. Carrying the Heritage is not an issue, but what to put it on? When viewing from my balcony I use an old bedside cabinet that I can wheel around my flat, an adjustable table is on order.

I tested my electronic organ's stand. It was not the most stable but with judicial alignment, it worked and is of course very light and portable! I did find it slightly high when observing objects high above the horizon. So not elegant, not a long term solution but practicable.

So I had some fantastic views of the moon, again my 25mm and the x2 Barlow produced the best results. They were worth the price of the Heritage! Arcturus, Cassiopea, Capella and Cygnus were all incredibly clear.

Welcome, I'm also in Edinburgh. Quite a few of us southern scottish types meet up at Harper rigg on occasion. Checkout http://scottishastro...forum/index.php to find out out when we meet, it's usually spontaneous.

Hope SGL don't mind me posting the link.

Thanks very much for the link, I'll pay a visit. I know Threipmuir very well but have never been to Harper Rigg. Sadly I don't usually have access to a car but there's the city car club.

Hiya fi the Pans!

Hello - my parents had a house in East Lothian some years back, near North Berwick - far less LP out that way!

[Schorhr]

Neat solution!

Yeah, most thing I have here are a bit Shaky, except a small foldable stool from Ikea, that's just a bit too high for my colapsible stool and too low to view through the telescope when standing.

The box is the best solution IMHO, as it can be used on it's long and high side, giving two different observation heights.

When it's done I'll post some pictures.

I managed to view through my 20mm Erfle + 2x achromatic barlow + 3x achromatic barlow. Better then I expected. Though the 20mm wide angle eyepiece is so worth it (especially since the SUPER eyepieces lack of contrast anyway).

But as it now gives you 26x magnification and a decent field of view that'll surely show some nice things. More critical and IMHO necessary for the h130p is a good high power eyepiece 5-6mm and a achromatic barlow - or a 2.5/3.2mm Ep:

[Bizibilder]

Hello David and welcome to SGL!!

[michigander]

Welcome to SGL, David!

Dana

[Pete Presland]

Hi welcome to SGL from Pete in Bedfordshire

[stev74]

Hi David welcome to SGL.

I hope you enjoy your holiday under really dark skies, you should notice a big difference in what you can see through your scope compared to observing in the city. As you can sometimes get transport I'd recommend heading out of the city if you get the chance, it's a good compromise and luckily you don't have to drive too far to get to fairly dark skies. From the city though you should still be able to see brighter DSO's, the planets will also be good and as you are keen on lunar observing you'll have no issues observing the Moon wherever you are.

Cheers

Steve