WADAS (Wakefield and District Astronomical Society)

[Soupy]

couriers I work for would pick it up (ipost) but you would not be able to get insured, so would be out of pocket if it got broken or damaged,

it is 205 miles from my house to Colchester, takes roughly 4 hours each way, (I know tis because I have family there)

Leigh

Leigh if you know someone to pick it up for me that would be excellent. I just need the mirrors back intact, I understand the risk would you be able to sort it out for me please?

Cheers

Mate

Soupy

[Soupy]

Go second hand you'll not look back, I know someone who has recently sold a 200pds On an HEQ5 with 4x BST eyepieces for less than £680 so well worth the look for a bargain

Damian

I know of this person you talk about as well... Think he has sold up as he is getting a smaller scope for everyday use but a much bigger one for best...

[hazegood]

Leigh if you know someone to pick it up for me that would be excellent. I just need the mirrors back intact, I understand the risk would you be able to sort it out for me please?

Cheers

Mate

Soupy

if you mean courier, unfortunately we don't work that way, you would have to use the website,

what might help is one of my friends who lives in Colchester comes up to Manchester quite often,    I could check and see if he coming up anytime soon,  (and if he would have room in his car for it) how big is it?

[Soupy]

It is an 8"Orion with an eq3 mount I think. So would fit in most boots

[hazegood]

will phone you soupy

[mapstar]

I know of this person you talk about as well... Think he has sold up as he is getting a smaller scope for everyday use but a much bigger one for best...

Yes that's the fellow complete fruit cake best avoided!

[Vicky050373]

Yes that's the fellow complete fruit cake best avoided!

What is this crazy group I have joined???

[mapstar]

What is this crazy group I have joined???

Ha Ha 

[nicks90]

. Dont know whats wrong with me at the momment, I seem incapable of deciding what scope to buy, and when I do sort of make a decision, i seem to keep looking at the alternatives lol

Keep what you have and buy a cheap second hand mount. I wouldn't even suggest an eq. Just get a cheap manual AZ mount, or even a half decent heavy duty camera tripod, and get out there and view!

At least once you are out there using your scope you can then get practical idea of what you want to do:

DSO, planetary - manual or GOTO - observing or photography. All will affect what scope and mount type will suit you best.

I like finding stuff and using my eyeball, so a big DOB was not only the best bang for my buck but also the best scope for me.

[Vicky050373]

Is it too late to pretend I don't know you??? I was sane this time last year......

[hazegood]

if others are going top overton Friday night  will probably come along, when I work out where overton is

[Vicky050373]

The address is Denby Grange Cricket Club, Smithy Lane, Overton WF4 4RW.

Just had a quick 20 minutes out in the back yard with my binos. Hid behind the shed to prevent the security light coming on!

Had more viewing pleasure with my binos than I managed with my scope last night.

Had a very quick skip around the sky - Tour around the Orion constellation and nebula, Jupiter is fabulous as always, Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy high and bright, had a dart around Cassiopeia and a few star clusters, finishing off with my favourite The Pleiades which were stunningly beautiful as usual.

Nice end to the day

[astrotyke]

Keep what you have and buy a cheap second hand mount. I wouldn't even suggest an eq. Just get a cheap manual AZ mount, or even a half decent heavy duty camera tripod, and get out there and view!

At least once you are out there using your scope you can then get practical idea of what you want to do:

DSO, planetary - manual or GOTO - observing or photography. All will affect what scope and mount type will suit you best.

I like finding stuff and using my eyeball, so a big DOB was not only the best bang for my buck but also the best scope for me.

You speak sense Nick I had the same thought today of just buying an altaz mount for my old scope. I need to get it out of the shed this week to see if its still ok, it should be, its got its tube cover on so might just be a bit dusty i reckon. In the past ive always been interested in planetary/moon observing and dont have any plans at the momment to do photography mainly due to my funds at the moment

[astrotyke]

The address is Denby Grange Cricket Club, Smithy Lane, Overton WF4 4RW.

Just had a quick 20 minutes out in the back yard with my binos. Hid behind the shed to prevent the security light coming on!

Had more viewing pleasure with my binos than I managed with my scope last night.

Had a very quick skip around the sky - Tour around the Orion constellation and nebula, Jupiter is fabulous as always, Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy high and bright, had a dart around Cassiopeia and a few star clusters, finishing off with my favourite The Pleiades which were stunningly beautiful as usual.

Nice end to the day

binoculars are a great for a quick grab and go solution for a quick observing session

[mapstar]

The address is Denby Grange Cricket Club, Smithy Lane, Overton WF4 4RW.

Just had a quick 20 minutes out in the back yard with my binos. Hid behind the shed to prevent the security light coming on!

Had more viewing pleasure with my binos than I managed with my scope last night.

Had a very quick skip around the sky - Tour around the Orion constellation and nebula, Jupiter is fabulous as always, Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy high and bright, had a dart around Cassiopeia and a few star clusters, finishing off with my favourite The Pleiades which were stunningly beautiful as usual.

Nice end to the day

Can we have a bit more detail in the observing reports Vicky 

[Sam Baker]

Just curious since I'm unable to get out observing so I've been reading about distant objects and wondered if anyone here has seen the quasar 3c 273?

[Sam Baker]

I think being able to see something as distant as that would be one of those that starts your mind churning thoughts of what our planet or even anything in the observable universe which is much closer would have looked like at the time which you're peering through space.... 2 billion light years away makes me feel the need to see it!

[astrotyke]

Just curious since I'm unable to get out observing so I've been reading about distant objects and wondered if anyone here has seen the quasar 3c 273?

not with my scope no, was this the brightest ever discovered quasar? or something like that, but its a faint object from earth isnt it?

[Sam Baker]

Yeah it is, it's mag 12.8 i think - I've read a few sources that say an 8" scope will be able to pick it up but I'm not sure.... i think i would need damien to finish his monster dob and find it for me with his unparalleled star hopping skills!

[astrotyke]

yea, i think an 8 inch scope should be able to see that sort of magnitude, seeing conditions taken into account of course

[Sam Baker]

Astrotyke did you take that image of saturn?

[astrotyke]

Astrotyke did you take that image of saturn?

No, it was one i found on google images ive not got a scope at the momment, im sort of between scopes

[astrotyke]

Hi.

Ive just seen this Stargazing live astro photography experiment online and thought id share it in case people havnt seen it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zymwq6f

Chris

[Vicky050373]

Quick question for all you astrophotographers - Soupy, Kieran, Sam etc (sorry if I've missed anyone) - I only need a quick yes or no (if possible), as I am just having a look through my various imaging equipment and getting to grips with specs/capabilities/uses etc.

OK, I have an 8SE which has an autoguider port, and my Atik 161c-s has an autoguider port, and says in the spec that it can be used as an autoguider when using for long exposure astrophotography. Would there be any benefit in buying an ST-4 cable (cost only £5 ish), to hook them up together to use the autoguide function of the camera once I start to use this one for DSO imaging. I am not 100% sure I understand the autoguide function - does it over-ride the tracking of the Goto on the 8SE in order for it to work for long exposure? Could this be why they removed the built-in wedge from the 8SE mount? Can someone give a brief answer?

Also, even if this is possible, would I get better results using the 80mm frac (which is an F9), with a focal reducer (which I have a 6.3 in my kit)?

My 80mm frac is now on a CG-3 mount, and will shortly have the motor drive fitted to allow tracking.

I'm just needing a bit of clarification for now as I don't really know what I have got and want to start to use it to it's optimum when I do dive in!

For now I am still working the finer points of imaging Jupiter etc with the planetary camera, and not even got onto the RGB filter wheel yet!

[MattGoo]

Guiding can be done in two ways:

Guidescope - this means using a separate telescope attached to your mount with it's own camera.

Off-axis - this means an adapter which fits in to your optical train and diverts a bit of the view to a separate camera.

It's usually controlled by software (like the free PHD), which then sends a correcting signal to your mount. This can be via ST4 cable or via pulse guiding.

The Atik 16IC-S can be used as a guide camera and connected to your mount using a ST4 cable, but then you wouldn't be able to use it as the actual imaging camera.