We need your help - top ten gadgets / gizmo's / items

[spacemonkey]

Cold feet? Not with a pair of these -

http://www.ellis-brigham.com/cgi-bin/psProdDet.cgi/206113

And for toastie observing sessions -

http://www.ellis-brigham.com/cgi-bin/psProdDet.cgi/205495

In fact, most of my "must have list" seems to come from outdoor shops.

A red LED torch is an obvious one, so how come that's the only thing I ever seem to forget when I turn up at a remote site miles from home? D'oh!

Clear skies, Dave

p.s. I've got no connection with Ellis Brigham, just that it's where I bought mine. Other outdoor retailers are available...

[Sam]

The most useful items I own for astronomy apart from the Telescope, mount, camera etc etc are:

My maplins flight case which was 14.99

The halfords powerpack which was 50.00 or so

Sam

[Paxo]

From experience A spare set of cables (so that when you sever one when closing your flight case you can continue)

A good sapcious flight case

Wooley hat

Thermal gloves

A camping/sleeping mat for doing polar alignments and clambering on the (wet) floor

Steve..

[FLO]

And for toastie observing sessions -

http://www.ellis-brigham.com/cgi-bin/psProdDet.cgi/205495

Do you actually own the coat Dave? I am looking for a good warm coat.

[Whippy]

Steve, if you get yourself down to your nearest skiing & boarding shop, they'll have plenty of gear going cheap as it's coming towards the end of the season. I remember buying my ski boots at less than half price from Snow & Rock this time of year . Don't forget your salopettes...

Tony..

[saturn5]

Is it really that cold down in Englandshire?

[Kai]

And for toastie observing sessions -

http://www.ellis-brigham.com/cgi-bin/psProdDet.cgi/205495

Do you actually own the coat Dave? I am looking for a good warm coat.

Steve...

I have the McMurdo Parka ands its plenty warm enough,I fact the other week when it was frosty etc i was outside in a normal t shirt and the Parka,with no problems.

Plus it has loads (13 i think) of pockets to loose you eyepieces in

[lunator]

Most of the useful items have been covered already.

But 2 items I have found useful

1- Cheap Hair dryer works a treat for demisting the eyepieces etc.....

2- Neck Warmer free from a motor cycle mag

Cheers

ian

[Gordon G]

For Me,

Mains Inverter for giving the laptop and Camera battery chargers a kick.

Leatherman, as it is always inevitable that things become loose and require tools, easy to carry one tool rather than a box of them.

Hartman Masks, agree with above, good and free

Planisphere ( Cos the lappy is either going flat or doing other jobs )

4way Cig socket adaptor

Beer

But the best thing, when observing away from home ( and always keep them near buy ) Simple, Humble, Large Plastic rubble bags, As you always get those little moments of passing drizzle, throw a few of them over the all the kit until it passes. You will be surprised at star parties how many people turn up with nothing to cover gear up, as it always blumming rains, cheap easy to carry and everybody always asks if you have spares ones, and at the end of trips if it has been raining you can throw all the wet kit ( tents, sheets, kit boxes ) inside them without mucking you car up.

Regards

[Jack]

Here is my list of ten (not always so) important items.

A pair of cotton gloves from your local chemist. It keeps your hands warm whilst preserving dexterity, it also keeps those stray fingers from leaving their indelible mark on those all important lenses.

Masking tape. I use this on my L-bracket. This is to keep the bare tipped silver lock down screw on my EZ touch mount from biting into the paintwork. It could also be used to protect similar damage to other such equipment.

Starry Night C.A.S. An excellent sky simulator.

If you enjoy a bit of satellite spotting a digital alarm clock is essential.

A homemade dewshield.

A cuddly toy???

A companion i.e. a girlfriend, failing that get a dog.

Bed linen: to keep dust from settling onto a wet objective when the scope is left to dry off. However it must be noted that it is important to cap your equipment before it is brought indoors. Allow the scope/lenses to acclimatize before uncapping and airing.

A simple box to keep those eyepieces and other bits and bobs secure.

A mobile phone, 'cause you never know!

Happy hunting!

Jack Yee.

[Astronut]

A Cheshire eyepiece is a pretty nifty gadget. Simple but effective.

I'll put a vote in for a Ronchi grating eyepiece too even though I've not had the chance to test my optics with it yet.

How about a well padded and waterproof eyepiece and accessory case - still on my list of things to buy after I get some more eyepieces.

Starry Night Pro Plus gets used a lot too with all these cloudy UK nights.

Laminated star charts - must make some soon.

Flocking paper - ordering some this weekend.

[spacemonkey]

And for toastie observing sessions -

http://www.ellis-brigham.com/cgi-bin/psProdDet.cgi/205495

Do you actually own the coat Dave? I am looking for a good warm coat.

No, I've got one of these -

http://www.towerridge.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=38&products_id=281&zenid=7de66b1f29ee532ec69948648f327dfd

but I've had it a few years. If I was buying now, I'd get the North Face one. It's good value and has loads of pockets. It's also true that you can go observing in sub-zero temperatures with just a fleece and those jackets. The hood gets in the way if you're close in to the eyepiece, but that's no bad thing if you need to block out stray light, and they're detatchable anyway.

Regards, Dave

[FLO]

Thanks Dave

[Tiny]

And for toastie observing sessions -

http://www.ellis-brigham.com/cgi-bin/psProdDet.cgi/205495

Do you actually own the coat Dave? I am looking for a good warm coat.

As we boat and it can get very cold when the wind blows over the water. We get our gear from Bank's (for big and tall people) at www.bigtall.uk.com.

They sell outsize - often selling off end of lines cheap - and we buy sizes much larger than we are to pack layers on top. So our top coat - double lined is 5X while the fleeces are 3X and the medium coat 4X. You would not need the wet gear but that is 6X!

For a cold night under the stars the single top coat is plenty!

[iang]

Slight modification to the torch...

May I suggest one of the handle wind-up rechargeable led torches? No more dead batteries to worry about.

Ian

[GazOC]

Slight modification to the torch...

May I suggest one of the handle wind-up rechargeable led torches? No more dead batteries to worry about.

Ian

The WideScreen Centre (and others I guess) have just started selling something similar, its in the months Sky at Night mag.

[SteelRat]

A mobile phone, cause you never know!

Gets my vote too

[markenroj]

an air rifle with a night vision scope on it to shoot all the extremly bright back garden security lights that seem to be on only when you go out observing.

[Tim]

an air rifle with a night vision scope on it to shoot all the extremly bright back garden security lights that seem to be on only when you go out observing.

Yeh, I know what you mean, there's nothing worse than sneaking into someones back garden with your telescope, and all of a sudden BLAM the security lights come on and the hounds are loosed.

Oh wait, are we talking about the same thing??????????? :clown:

The tool of choice for streetlights etc is a .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire rifle. High velocity and accurate over 150m and the round has a plastic tip which disintegrates the round completely, there's no trace left behind.

Not that I would know about that sort of thing you understand.

TJ

[tom3949]

1. Warm beanie hat

2. 'Credit Card' LED torch - fits in a wallet and you will always have it with you

3. Aluminium thermos - looks cool and only £4 from one of those well known 'bargain' stores

4. Portable, lightweight comfy seat

[Ant]

I do feel that I need to make clear that SGL does not condone or encourage it's members to use air rifles, or any other projectiles / pointy sticks, to cause damage to other people's property.

Ant

[FLO]

Visited Taunton Leisure here in Exeter and bought one of THESE along with a fleece and base layer. Nick talked me through the choices and I got some discount - turns out he is an astronomer too 8)

[geoff_k]

Clear Skies all the time - they're very useful

Coming down to earth -

£11 step stool from Argos - saves having to undo the rings on a big cold tube.

Handles on the aforementioned tube for easy transport.

Wing nuts which cost nowt for collimating the mirror.

Celestron Ultima X2 Barlow

5mm LER eyepiece which gives excellent views of Saturn.

Fingerless gloves.

An unending supply of swearwords for those 'tense' moments.

A tin of Aquastop.

A very good friend who works about 5 minutes walk away who has repaired and re-soldered various things for me.

Helpful advice from folks on this forum and others elsewhere who are too numerous to mention.

And being rather cute:

Just being able to enjoy this hobby (sometimes) and look at and even take pictures of some wonderful things.

[BG]

I tried on and nearly shelled out for an Alpkit Filo Jacket at the weekend at the OS Outdoors Show, it's a lot of down jacket for a minimal price (£65 inc VAT and p&p).

I'm also considering getting one of their PipeDream 200 half-bags for those "stay up all night" sessions away from the house and car.

No, I've no affiliation with the company, but I've bought a lot of their kit and I can recommend it for those who value fit and function above designer-labelling.

[michaelmorris]

In no particular order:

Red light head torch

Observing stool

Norton's Star Atlas

£2.99 plastic-covered spiral bound notebook from WH Smith's to use as Log book

Red dot finder

Membership of local astronomical society