Show us your set up in action at night.

[Sunshine]

45 minutes ago, Les Ewan said:

Skywatcher Astrolux 76mm Newtonian

A 76mm newtonian? wow, that is one small mirror! I wasn’t aware mirrors were made so small.

[Mr Spock]

Clear sky at last. Looking at some doubles in Aquila. First time with the extension so I can stand. Standing is good - lugging the mount around isn't... It's heavy and awkward to pick up. But for a change I don't have any backache from observing 👍

[Sunshine]

31 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

Clear sky at last. Looking at some doubles in Aquila. First time with the extension so I can stand. Standing is good - lugging the mount around isn't... It's heavy and awkward to pick up. But for a change I don't have any backache from observing 👍

That is one looong extension!

[Jim Franklin]

This was the kit I was getting set up the other night - LX90 - 8" with the Startravel 102 mounted atop it, plus the EOS mounted on top of that. Need to add the ZWO cameras etc to this setup, I wanted to ensure the 8", 102 and the finder were all lined up and seeing the same patch of sky - 

[Sunshine]

1 hour ago, Jim Franklin said:

This was the kit I was getting set up the other night - LX90 - 8" with the Startravel 102 mounted atop it, plus the EOS mounted on top of that. Need to add the ZWO cameras etc to this setup, I wanted to ensure the 8", 102 and the finder were all lined up and seeing the same patch of sky - 

Wow, nice setup! but I just have to ask, with just one counterweight which I can see, is it not under ballanced by a good amount? quite the load on that CG4 with one weight.

[Les Ewan]

On 29/08/2024 at 03:25, Sunshine said:

A 76mm newtonian? wow, that is one small mirror! I wasn’t aware mirrors were made so small.

Skywatcher has at least one other 76mm reflector in its range a table top Dob with a short focal length. They have spherical mirrors which is not ideal for fast insruments.

As far as I know the Astrolux is the smallest model of their range with a full height tripod and parabolic primary(which is f9. Although small the Astrolux OTA is a capable instrument which has a real telescope vibe about it,however it is badly let down by the supplied finder and non achromatic barlow.

There is a 60mm Mak on the market by another company and I believe the Russians produced 60mm reflectors in the past.

Edited August 31 by Les Ewan

[Vroobel]

A new approach to my 'old' 102ED F/11 Planet Killer equipped now with EAF and guider, sitting on top of EQ5 OnStep mod controlled by ASIair Plus. An ASI678MC works as the planetary camera. 

Waiting for a bit of clear sky for PA, focusing and other adjustments. 🤞

I'm very curious if planetary imaging supported by guiding is possible and how it works. 🙂

Edit. Clouds and rain. 😞

 

 

Edited September 5 by Vroobel

[Jim Franklin]

On 31/08/2024 at 15:30, Sunshine said:

Wow, nice setup! but I just have to ask, with just one counterweight which I can see, is it not under ballanced by a good amount? quite the load on that CG4 with one weight.

It would appear so you would think, but it is balanced quite well, with the cluthes unlocked it will sit quite happily as long as I move the weight to balance it - although to be fair, what you cannot see is a smalled, but 2.5kg weight under the skywatcher supplied one - its actually a steel weight from my Free weight set!!

[Dave scutt]

First light using the skywatcher 100 ED Pro and all the other goodies , very clear dark night with just a breeze.

 

I wanted to focus on Saturn and Jupiter, or I can say is WOW when I saw the band's and red spot 

[JeremyS]

On 22/03/2024 at 19:27, IB20 said:

Ain’t it glorious having a grab n go scope. Poking through those cloud gaps…

 

Goooooaaaal! 👍🏻

[PeterStudz]

Just got back from Loutro in Crete. Took a SkyWatcher 1145p with us. It’s amazing what a small, reasonably priced telescope can do at a really dark site. Had fun observing with my daughter. A few highlights included - M16, M17, M24, M22, M20, M8, M6, the Veil & Saturn. Many a first for us. Even Barbie had a go 😀

 

[saac]

Really good session last night (10 Sep) with clear sky all way through. Used the opportunity to carry on fettling my RASA 8 - I think I now have it properly collimated at last and producing decent images. Once I got collimation tied in I ran a 3 hour run on Andromeda as a test, hopefully do the processing today. Turned in a 3 am feeling very happy, my little observatory technician is looking a little tired today! I think she will perk up when we go for a walk  

Jim

 

[F15Rules]

First night out for literally months..

Vixen SD115S on Takahashi EM2s equatorial and selection of mainly LVW eyepieces.

And a handheld phone shot of Albireo..through the eyepiece the colour differences were so striking..

It was so lovely to have a really dark clear sky with the Milky Way showing structure to the naked eye.. 

The new to me Everbrite 2" dielectric mirror diagonal performed admirably, holding all my eyepieces really effortlessly👍

Edited September 12 by F15Rules
Additional text info

[Mircea]

On 29/08/2024 at 05:25, Sunshine said:

A 76mm newtonian? wow, that is one small mirror! I wasn’t aware mirrors were made so small.

Well Sunshine, it mean you haven't seen it all.

I built a 72mm F/ 11 Newtonian with the BIG mirror grinded by my friend Attila. We had a cutting tool of 72mm made for cutting the blanks for a Cassegrain mirror. So why not make also a Newtonian of that size ?

Actually my friend made more such mirrors, some ended in working OTA. Bellow is my 72mm F/11 Newtonian. Is splitting Eps 1-2 Lyr , Mu Dra, 16-17 Dra as triple, Porrima and so on.

 

The Russian smallest Newtonian reflector was Alcor of 65mm diameter. Why this odd size ? If I remembr right, the prototype  was made from the bottom of a bottle. ( I hope you don't ask me what kind of bottle ... )

But in the past, worldwide, there were made small reflectors of 50mm or even 40mm. I know, I know,  hard to believe ...

Even more. The French Claude Simeon Passemant wrote one of the first ATM books . The first project proposed is a Gregorian reflector with an aperture of one inch.

It  help much to know it was a French inch, meaning 27mm, in stark contrast with the dwarf British inch of 25,4mm. 

Mircea

 

 

[Ratlet]

6 hours ago, F15Rules said:

First night out for literally months..

Vixen SD115S on Takahashi EM2s equatorial and selection of mainly LVW eyepieces.

And a handheld phone shot of Albireo..through the eyepiece the colour differences were so striking..

It was so lovely to have a really dark clear sky with the Milky Way showing structure to the naked eye.. 

The new to me Everbrite 2" dielectric mirror diagonal performed admirably, holding all my eyepieces really effortlessly👍

I always think that imaging doubles is underrated.  Albireo for me is a really difficult blue to capture/express.  It's almost like a black light.

[Sunshine]

7 hours ago, F15Rules said:

First night out for literally months..

Vixen SD115S on Takahashi EM2s equatorial and selection of mainly LVW eyepieces.

And a handheld phone shot of Albireo..through the eyepiece the colour differences were so striking..

It was so lovely to have a really dark clear sky with the Milky Way showing structure to the naked eye.. 

The new to me Everbrite 2" dielectric mirror diagonal performed admirably, holding all my eyepieces really effortlessly👍

A beautiful telescope/mount setup, your image of Alberio through the eyepiece with your phone is quite good! inspires me to try my hand at phone doubles.

[F15Rules]

Thanks, Sunshine😉.

I dont take many images with my phone, but now and then a visual image looks so stunning that I feel compelled to try and capture it..and probably only 1 image in 25 is any good at all!

I find that keeping my phone still once I align the phone camera with the eyepiece view for 3 seconds is the biggest challenge..

And, IMHO you still can't beat a live visual MK1 eyeball view at any time!😊

Dave

Edited September 12 by F15Rules
Typo

[John]

Clear skies forecast here so I've decided to give my Tele Vue 85 a run out. I'm pleased with this setup 🙂

 

[Simon Pepper]

First light for the Rasa tonight. I think I may need to break out the EQ6r from storage 😬

[Dave scutt]

The problem is having everything black when it's dark I can't see it.

[JeremyS]

51 minutes ago, Dave scutt said:

The problem is having everything black when it's dark I can't see it.

What? 🤣

[Dave scutt]

9 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

What? 🤣

You can just make out the focuser 

[Sunshine]

1 hour ago, Dave scutt said:

You can just make out the focuser 

Is it a skywatcher?

[Budgie1]

Mine's a bit lit up with Aurora this evening.  

Sorry about the quality, taken with the phone camera.  

 

[RobertI]

The 102ED-R with the new Maxbrights, a pair of Ursa Major 25mm eyepieces and the trusty bino-bandit. All worked flawlessly, very pleased with my new setup.