Show us your set up in action at night.

[Mr Thingy]

A fine April we're having here. I think tonight might be the 7th or 8th clear night so far and tomorrow looks promising too. 😁

Happy viewing!

[Arneb]

A Tak and Tele Vue tag team tonight (how's that for alliteration!). 

[Marvin Jenkins]

I feel a little under gunned! But it is the best I have and tonight the moon is amazing.

150 PDS on an NEQ5 and a box of plossles, nothing going wrong there.

Marv

[Marvin Jenkins]

iPhone picture, sorry it is not better by t my 6S is terrible at the EP.

M

[gorann]

54 minutes ago, Arneb said:

A Tak and Tele Vue tag team tonight (how's that for alliteration!). 

A bino viewer for a real big head!

[Muc]

120 achromat on SkyTee sporting a 70s Tupperware colour scheme. Chilling with the moon at almost f/20 using aperature mask. Gorgeous evening. Now for a cuppa, some tunes and then out again to hang with some Bootes

 

[Sunshine]

9 hours ago, CCD-Freak said:

I was at my new Star Ranch Observatory site.   It is indeed the middle of nowhere and 200 miles from home.  Being a pensioner i can go out in my caravan and stay for as long as the sky is clear.  I just got water and electric installed so I can now begin construction of piers and observatory structures and eventually a cabin.  According to the 2015 data my site is Bortle-1-2 at SQM 21.99.   I figured that if I had to drive a long way to be free of the Dallas / Ft Worth light pollution bubble I might as well go for as dark as I could get.  It took over three years of searching to find it.  My friend Robert has Paducah Skies Observatory next door.   https://www.cleardarksky.com/c/PSSRObsTXkey.html

As a bonus there is a West Texas Mesonet research weather station on the property that we can access.   It is the PADU station on the map.  http://rain.ttu.edu/mesonet/obsframe.html

I feel extremely lucky to have this land under such dark sky. 🙂  here are some images from my first two trips to the site.

Star Ranch Observatory, everything about that seems so right.

[Captain Scarlet]

On 11/04/2021 at 20:24, John said:

"Praesepe" - not a name that's used often enough IMHO

Apparently it means "manger" in latin.

 

It’s probably my favourite celestial-object name. I have a boat which needs naming and that’s going to be it.

[Stu]

9 hours ago, gorann said:

A bino viewer for a real big head!

Time for my Sid image again 🤣🤣

[Stu]

We had a first club meet up since lock down last night, and met up at the local village green. I just took my Tak and Heritage 150p and only viewed the Moon. The seeing was actually pretty good, quite surprising given the wobbliness during the day.

[F15Rules]

9 hours ago, Muc said:

120 achromat on SkyTee sporting a 70s Tupperware colour scheme. Chilling with the moon at almost f/20 using aperature mask. Gorgeous evening. Now for a cuppa, some tunes and then out again to hang with some Bootes

 

"Konus" branded Synta 120mm F8 achromat..or, "Evostar" as they are known today 😊👍. Also seen in older incarnations as "Helios"..

I haven't seen one of those for years! It would certainly stand out in the loft if put into storage!😂

At F20 you must have masked it down to c 50mm aperture..so you've turned your big achromat into a mini Apo 👍😊

Dave

Edited April 23, 2021 by F15Rules
Additional text info

[F15Rules]

11 hours ago, Arneb said:

A Tak and Tele Vue tag team tonight (how's that for alliteration!). 

A totally tempting twin tube teaser!!

Dave😋

[wimvb]

1 hour ago, Stu said:

Time for my Sid image again 🤣🤣

That was my first thought as well, but I didn't have an image at hand. The other creature that came to mind was the Hammerhead in Shark Tale

[GavStar]

2 hours ago, Stu said:

We had a first club meet up since lock down last night, and met up at the local village green. I just took my Tak and Heritage 150p and only viewed the Moon. The seeing was actually pretty good, quite surprising given the wobbliness during the day.

It was good to be able to do a meet up after such a long time. Shame I forgot that I didn’t have a diagonal attached to my AP130GTX! However luckily I had my tec turret to use instead which was quite fun to rotate around for easy magnification changes.

 

[Muc]

12 hours ago, F15Rules said:

 F20 you must have masked it down to c 50mm aperture..so you've turned your big achromat into a mini Apo 👍😊

Dave

Yeah the lenscap has a 50mm opening, really makes the sky appear super dark. It great on colourful doubles that aren't too faint and with the moon. Can't wait to give Venus a go in that setup. The 120mm has allowed me to see a good few of the brighter galaxies. Goes great with SkyTee!

[CCD-Freak]

On 22/04/2021 at 13:33, Paul M said:

I've just been talking with colleagues about what we'd do with a big lottery win. All I'd like is to be able to give up work and do the things I enjoy. This would be high on the list  :

 

 

I have been enjoying being a pensioner and as we say "every day is Saturday".  Being able to go out to the observatory site for extended stays is great.  My wife is happy I found the place and she doesn't mind when I am gone for a few days.  She may even go out with me on occasion when I get a cabin (cottage) built out there. 

We have some nice sunsets out there too.

Edited April 23, 2021 by CCD-Freak

[CraigT82]

On 21/04/2021 at 23:05, Piero said:

Secondary spider and holder are from astrosystems, although part of the holder was modified. The mirror cell is based on a slightly modified Kriege design and includes a (real) Glatter sling.

What a fantastic scope, we'll done! What mod did you do to the astrosystems secondary holder (I've just ordered one). Also what made you decide on a glatter sling over a whiffle tree arrangement? 

[Sunshine]

On 23/04/2021 at 17:02, CCD-Freak said:

I have been enjoying being a pensioner and as we say "every day is Saturday".  Being able to go out to the observatory site for extended stays is great.  My wife is happy I found the place and she doesn't mind when I am gone for a few days.  She may even go out with me on occasion when I get a cabin (cottage) built out there. 

We have some nice sunsets out there too.

This sounds like a dream, enjoy every minute of it.

[Piero]

5 hours ago, CraigT82 said:

What a fantastic scope, we'll done! What mod did you do to the astrosystems secondary holder (I've just ordered one). Also what made you decide on a glatter sling over a whiffle tree arrangement? 

Thanks Craig! 🙂

I replaced the original wood plate where the 4 long collimation bolts connect to, with a custom one in aluminium. Probably, not necessary, but I wanted as little as possible secondary shift in collimation. This aluminium plate was drilled and tapped at the centre and each edge. The central thread allowed me to remove the nut fixing the stud at the bottom of the spider hub. As a consequence, the plate "binds" to the 4 vanes.

Regarding the Glatter sling VS whiffletree, i chose the former due to its simplicity. This is the first telescope I made, and also my first wood/metal project ever. To be honest, I never drilled a hole before this work, so there was a bit of learning curve for me. I think both solutions work without issues as long as implemented and installed correctly.

Feel free to PM me if you want to see more photos about the construction of my dob.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 30, 2021 by Piero

[CraigT82]

2 hours ago, Piero said:

This is the first telescope I made, and also my first wood/metal project ever.

Wow what a fantastic result for your first go! 

[Peco4321]

Always a nicer night with a Bombay Bramble gin. 

[CCD-Freak]

Here is my AT10RC Galaxy Canon on my AP900 doing it's thing out under the DARK skies of western New Mexico last week.

 

 

[John]

Refractor plus shrubbery. Target = the moon

[JeremyS]

15 minutes ago, John said:

Refractor plus shrubbery. Target = the moon

Looks beautiful. And the rhododendron 😊

[Sunshine]

Wonderful lunar session this past Thursday! Schiller had me puzzled as to its peculiar elongated shape.