Show us your set up in action at night.

[Beulah]

@tooth_dr - That dome is a thing of beauty!

[tooth_dr]

1 hour ago, Beulah said:

@tooth_dr - That dome is a thing of beauty!

Thanks Beulah. It has a nice elevated spot next to a couple of poly tunnels I build.  Handy for a midnight snack 😂

[John Nodding]

[wimvb]

My and @Firas setup after some drama last night. (I know that this is not my setup in action at night, but forgive me for not taking pictures while the drama was evolving. 😉)

Unexpected snowfall put an end to an imaging session. I had to rush out, release clutches and just poinet the scopes down. Then closed the roofs (two halves) before more snow could get in. The floor was covered in snow, as was the corrector plate of my MN190. The positive with the current weather is that the temperature in the observatory, even with two smal heaters, is sub zero, so snow is dry and is easily removed; I could brush and blow off most of the snow. I left the scopes in this position until this morning when I cleaned everything.

From the outside it looked much nicer. (No worries, not all that snow fell yesterday. Just that thin layer on the roof.)

Edited February 6, 2021 by wimvb

[JeremyS]

Mainly in the observatory doing CCD photometry, but couldn’t resist getting the Tak FS 60Q on the ScopeTech + Berlebach Report out for a quick look around. So I grabbed and went 🤣👍🏻

[tooth_dr]

Finally making some progress with the new cameras. Still waiting on a M74-M68 ring from FLO for the FF on the SS94, but was able to get everything balanced and couple of subs this evening.  I made a 3D printed bracket for mounting the QHY9 and lens on a vixen dovetail bar. 

[Spile]

[Thorney]

A bit to windy for imaging tonight so it’s a bit of visual instead. (So I don’t feel like I’ve wasted a clear night) 

[John]

Clear but a bit "milky" tonight so I'm giving my old Vixen ED102SS a short session on double stars. This scope is over 20 years old now. I've owned it for 14 of those !

Really versatile scope which can go from a 4 degree true field view to a sharp 200x plus.

Hoping to take this setup to darkest Wales later this year

 

 

[Sunshine]

29 minutes ago, John said:

Clear but a bit "milky" tonight so I'm giving my old Vixen ED102SS a short session on double stars. This scope is over 20 years old now. I've owned it for 14 of those !

Really versatile scope which can go from a 4 degree true field view to a sharp 200x plus.

Hoping to take this setup to darkest Wales later this year

 

 

That the fluorite model? if I am correct,  if so that scope’s optical prowess is legendary. Don’t ever give that one up, no way, I saw one for sale months ago in classifieds, I was desperate for it but it was over a thousand miles away and I couldn’t  bear having it shipped so I was sunk.

Edited February 18, 2021 by Sunshine

[John]

16 minutes ago, Sunshine said:

That the fluorite model? if I am correct,  if so that scope’s optical prowess is legendary. Don’t ever give that one up, no way, I saw one for sale months ago in classifieds, I was desperate for it but it was over a thousand miles away and I couldn’t  bear having it shipped so I was sunk.

No, the ED102SS is an F/6.5 ED doublet with an FPL-53 element although Vixen never confirmed that.

The fluorite ones were F/8.8 and F/9.0.

3.8 degree true field with the "Terminagler" in the diagonal

 

 

Edited February 18, 2021 by John

[Sunshine]

A beautiful specimen no less!

[tomato]

Here is my dual imaging rig, currently set up in galaxy hunting mode. The second shot is illuminated by the plethora of red LEDs inside the dome.

 

[Stu]

The Telementor in action for me again tonight, lovely views.

[Mr Jones]

Finally got some clear skies tonight. Grabbed this shot with my Samsung Note 20 through a Takahashi DL and TOE 4mm. Crater bottom right is Theophilus. It's 4km deep, and the mountain formed by the impact is just over 2km high.

[Deadlake]

2 hours ago, John said:

Clear but a bit "milky" tonight so I'm giving my old Vixen ED102SS a short session on double stars. This scope is over 20 years old now. I've owned it for 14 of those !

Really versatile scope which can go from a 4 degree true field view to a sharp 200x plus.

Hoping to take this setup to darkest Wales later this year

 

 

Nice scope, but I’m biased. By the time I got out Orion was parked behind some trees and the moon was reflecting light off some clouds on the horizon making it “milky “ as you say. I had to settle for some high altitude views of the moon...

[Guest]

Cloudy just now at 7 30.p.m. I know. But there were some breaks in this cloud cover to observe the Moon. So putting the glass of Prosecco to restI set up the 80 mm Equinox on my small table top Dobsonian mount.

[AdeKing]

3 hours ago, Grumpy Martian said:

Cloudy just now at 7 30.p.m. I know. But there were some breaks in this cloud cover to observe the Moon. So putting the glass of Prosecco to restI set up the 80 mm Equinox on my small table top Dobsonian mount.

That tabletop dob mount looks a pretty good match for the Equinox 80 Martin.

How do you find it in use?

I've been thinking about one for the ZS66 for a while.

Edited February 19, 2021 by AdeKing

[CCD-Freak]

This 6" Unitron refractor belongs to the University of North Texas so it is not mine but I wish it was.   I dreamed of having the 6" since I first saw the ads in Sky & Telescope magazine.

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, AdeKing said:

That tabletop dob mount looks a pretty good match for the Equinox 80 Martin.

How do you find it in use?

I've been thinking about one for the ZD66 for a while.

It is stable Ade. Just depends on the sturdiness of the table. I have even put the 150 mm Skymax on this mount and it works.

[Sunshine]

First light with TSA-102, only half hour with the moon before clouds spoiled the fun but, a glorious half hour it was, eager to write report tonight.

[Sunshine]

5 hours ago, CCD-Freak said:

This 6" Unitron refractor belongs to the University of North Texas so it is not mine but I wish it was.   I dreamed of having the 6" since I first saw the ads in Sky & Telescope magazine.

 

What a magnificent instrument! you are very lucky to have had a peek, imagine that beauty parked in your back yard!

Edited February 20, 2021 by Sunshine

[Roy Challen]

It's so long and spindly!

Had a half-hour session on the moon this evening with the Skylight. Had it on its original mount on top of a Horizon tripod. It's a bit wobbly but not too bad. Needs some adjustments to make it better, but it's a lot lighter than the Tak mount so it gets used!

The views were fantastic, btw.

Edited February 20, 2021 by Roy Challen

[Roy Challen]

20 hours ago, CCD-Freak said:

This 6" Unitron refractor belongs to the University of North Texas so it is not mine but I wish it was.   I dreamed of having the 6" since I first saw the ads in Sky & Telescope magazine.

 

Nice! My kind of telescope.

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

Set up on the patio for a no frills lunar session.

It's a high one!