New guy from Norway

[Thorbear]

Thanks 

The weather gods are not pleased, it's snowing now...

I got the skywatcher eq3 one, it does come with 10mm and 25mm EPs.

That 6mm wide angle looks nice, affordable too.

That 2" adapter means it will come straight from the OTA right, and I might need a 2" diagonal as well?

You do make a point about the added weight for these mounts, certainly not something I considered when I ordered the hyperion 24-8mm zoom..haha

I thought that would be a nice feature for a new stargazer, find the object with low power, then zoom in.

I also got some baader solar filter foil, and a  filter set from TS including a moon filter, and 5 coloured ones.

It's a start 

[Schorhr]

Hi,

I started with a similar zoom, it's not bad, and the Baader zoom should be a bit better, too.

The zoom eyepieces have some issues. I hardly use any zoom eyepieces anymore as the field of view get narrow, exceptions such as the astro zooms of course.

The Baader aparent field of View gets kind of narow, too, but not as narrow as with the 50€ eyepieces.

You won't be needing the 66deg eyepiece then, though, as you now have a usable 8mm.

Just as a future advice, before ordering acessories, you should make a thread or post in here about it That's a lot of money :-)

Yes, the whole 2" on the Mak is a bit expensive, thus I mentioned the limited field of view all the time. That, the obstruction and the cool-down time are some reasons why people rather get a longer newtonian/dobsonian.

Oh, I thought you where going to get one of the Alt Az Goto versions. I have a 5" reflector on one of those, that works quite well. The NEQ3 should be handling the 5" Mak well, and if you ever get interested in imaging, the equatorial mount is a nice starter mount. It's limit for visual use is probably a 150/750 Newt, so a 5" Mak plus camera will probably work, though tracking or goto motor sets cost quite a bit compared to the mount's price.

Regarding deepsky you should get a book with star charts, it helps a lot.

Raw maps can be found at avila.star-shine.ch -> http://avila.star-shine.ch/download/telradkarten.pdf

I suppose the scope comes with a zero-magification red dot finder?

Those work great, much easier then cheap finder scope, but a good overview eyepiece is important.

You really should be set for observing now, as I said, start with what you have before buying more stuff :-) Have fun.

[Thorbear]

I read a fair bit about this zoom, and there are certainly mixed reviews - as in some love it for the convenience, some only want fixed focal lengths.

It was my understanding that it suffers most from the narrow field at lower power, but is a quite good EP on higher power.

I did think that since it is 1,25" and 2" it will get some use in the 2" focuser of my (possible) future larger dob 

I did consider the alt az goto mounts, and it took me a while to make my mind up there - seeing as the eq mount does seem to need some getting used to.

In the end I just got a bit put off that it needs batteries or a power source to move at all, and I think that would probably frustrate me more in the long run.

And without the goto maybe I will get to know the sky a bit better too.

It does indeed come with the red dot finder.

I've been playing around a bit with stellarium lately. Certainly a nice tool too to begin getting aquainted. I had not tried the ocular views there, so thanks for pointing that out.

[Schorhr]

Hi :-)

Yeah, the EQ has a lot of benefits. When the Az/SLT Goto runs out of powe, it is frustrating indeed - though as I have another manual mount, it is not as bad.

If you have a better digital camera or dslr even, you can try imaging the sky at low focal lengths, too

The dual eyepieces are nice as you do not have to use adapters then.

[Thorbear]

Wasn't my intention initially, but I might try sticking my dslr on there at some point.

Just have to wait a few days for everything to arrive now.

Looking forward to getting it all set up and , inevitably, see it standing there while waiting for a clear night.

[ronin]

Getting the idea that SGL needs a Norwegian section, think you are the fouth or fifth. At least you could maintain some contact via a section.

[Thorbear]

It arrived yesterday 

Have just had time to set it up and have a little play around with it, got a nice view of a house across the fjord about 20 miles away.

As per expected, this is what I'm dealing with atm:

And the setup, waiting to get its chance to be used properly

[Blind Pugh]

Greetings Thorbjorn and welcome from Tiree, a dark island to the west of Scotland which is often covered in cloud. I hope that you will enjoy the site as much as I do. There is a huge amount of information here.

[Schorhr]

Nice portable set-up, I hope you get some clear skies soon!

[Thorbear]

Thank you schorhr, hoping for that too.

For now I have just been pointing it out the window, looking at various antennae and such on the peaks at the other side of the fjord.

Snapped a pic of the sunset just now.

[Double Kick Drum]

Welcome aboard the lounge!

[Schorhr]

In case of bad weather get a http://www.ebay.de/itm/T2-T-Mount-Lens-To-Canon-EOS-EF-Adapter-For-550D-7D-450D-1000D-5D-II-40D-50D-60D-/370562086340?pt=US_Lens_Adapters_Mounts_Tubes&hash=item564738b5c4 or http://www.aliexpress.com/item/digital-camera-mount-telescope-adapter-universal-mount-astronomers-mirror-adapter/1721522359.html depending on your camera :-)

Oh, just saw the exif tags of your photos, so probably

http://www.ebay.de/itm/T2-Lens-to-Sony-Alpha-mount-adapter-ring-With-Tool-for-a77-a65-Donkey-a33-a390-etc-/121233149021?pt=UK_Photography_CameraLenses_Lens_caps_hoods_adaptors_ET&hash=item1c3a0f0c5d

http://www.ebay.de/itm/T2-Adapter-fur-Sony-A290L-A290Y-A390L-A390Y-A450-A450L-/390298530269?pt=DE_Foto_Camcorder_Objetivanschl%C3%BCsse_Adapter&hash=item5adf9af1dd

http://www.ebay.de/itm/T2-T-Mount-Lens-to-Sony-Alpha-Minolta-AF-Mount-Adapter-A580-A77-A99-D-T2-MA-/390836342778?pt=US_Lens_Adapters_Mounts_Tubes&hash=item5affa94ffa

But even yesterday, WHILE it was raining, I was able to get a few glimpses of Saturn at night Not very long though...

If all fails, Stellarium.

[sloz1664]

Hi there and welcome to the Lounge 

Steve