First look at Jupiter with FS128

[Stu]

43 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

Thanks Chris (both of you?). That's a good point about grass versus hardstanding..before moving I always observed on a tarmac drive..now from a lawn. Is that going to make a significant difference either way?

Dave

I guess it depends if there is a road or other tarmac area at the end of the lawn Dave. Any tarmac closeby under the direct line to the target will have an impact. 

I really must take my Tak up to the nearby Heath before Jupiter disappears. I observe from my back garden, over my house and the road in front. Our central heating flume is in the way at certain points, as well as those of the neighbours. Add to that the planes from Heathrow criss-crossing the sky, something I know many people across the country suffer, and it's amazing I see anything!

Keep at it Dave, I'm sure it will come together soon.

[John]

Heat plumes from surrounding houses are the particular "achilles heel" of my back garden oberving site 

I'm surrounded by housing so there is no escape !

I tend to take the line that, whatever I'm putting up with, decent quality optics make a better job of it than mediocre ones would !

 

[chiltonstar]

1 hour ago, John said:

I tend to take the line that, whatever I'm putting up with, decent quality optics make a better job of it than mediocre ones would !

 

Too true! Better to be sitting in a traffic jam in a Ferrari than a Ford Escort!

Chris

[Chris]

47 minutes ago, chiltonstar said:

Too true! Better to be sitting in a traffic jam in a Ferrari than a Ford Escort!

Chris

Very true! although I'd probably prefer the clutch control of the Ford in a traffic jam  

[F15Rules]

Yes, escaping heat from houses, boilers etc are all occupational hazards..we now have an external oil fired boiler just to add to the fun, plus two log burners (which are great to sit in front of!), plus their chimneys..

I really appreciate everyone's replies and encouragement, and just want to underline that I am very happy with the Tak and it's mount, and our new house and it's location..I now need to be patient, get to know the scope, our skies, our garden situation and some new to me older but half decent Japan made eyepieces I have bought..

I'll report back in a while when I have more to share??.

Dave

[Chris]

What Glass have you bought, Dave? Do tell!  

Oh wait, are we talking about the Tak LE's?

[F15Rules]

Nothing so fancy Chris at the moment Chris, sadly, although I do really like the LE's,they are really nice eyepieces. I still have my lovely Pentax 10.5mm XL too, so I'm not without a few nice bits of glass?..

Dave

[Moonshane]

Personally, the key thing I always (try to) remember is that the seeing/transparency in the UK has more effect on the views than any other single factor. Often there's a tendency to think 'what's wrong with my 'scope?', 'has something been dislodged since I last used it?', 'is the collimation out?' etc etc, when in reality it's either the high sky or the lower area (e.g. heating plumes etc) that's responsible for the poor views. No matter which scope you use, I think that you can almost without exception blame the seeing on poor views. When the seeing is good though the views shine through. It's always worth investing in quality and I have never regretted doing so. I have regretted investing in lesser quality and then corrected this as soon as I could afford to. I really like my 120ED and recent reports from various folk have convinced me it's pretty top notch. That said, if I could afford a 120 ish Tak, then I'd certainly get one in its place. 

I could sell all my gear and get one probably but I do like the flexibility my current scopes offer me so I suppose we are at different points in our 'career' for the time being. Enjoy what's obviously a beautiful and pure quality instrument 

p.s. the seeing was quite poor today and my emoji shows the usual effect 

[Davey-T]

4 minutes ago, Moonshane said:

Personally, the key thing I always (try to) remember is that the seeing/transparency in the UK has more effect on the views than any other single factor. Often there's a tendency to think 'what's wrong with my 'scope?', 'has something been dislodged since I last used it?', 'is the collimation out?' etc etc, when in reality it's either the high sky or the lower area (e.g. heating plumes etc) that's responsible for the poor views. No matter which scope you use, I think that you can almost without exception blame the seeing on poor views. When the seeing is good though the views shine through. It's always worth investing in quality and I have never regretted doing so. I have regretted investing in lesser quality and then corrected this as soon as I could afford to. I really like my 120ED and recent reports from various folk have convinced me it's pretty top notch. That said, if I could afford a 120 ish Tak, then I'd certainly get one in its place. 

I could sell all my gear and get one probably but I do like the flexibility my current scopes offer me so I suppose we are at different points in our 'career' for the time being. Enjoy what's obviously a beautiful and pure quality instrument 

p.s. the seeing was quite poor today and my emoji shows the usual effect 

Set up Sunday and focused on Jupiter and thought blimey what's RIGHT with the scope 

Viewing from the south coast over fields and the Solent and got the best views of Jupiter with a not very suitable scope 152mm 5.9 Tecnosky, used the 6mm Ethos and 2 X Powermate and could have used more magnification but didn't have anything with me.

Can only put it down to the excellent / location, seeing, just after dusk, clear sky and no wind, it didn't last long, just long enough to see the GRS moving onto the disc then it went rapidly downhill.

Dave

[F15Rules]

8 hours ago, Moonshane said:

Personally, the key thing I always (try to) remember is that the seeing/transparency in the UK has more effect on the views than any other single factor. Often there's a tendency to think 'what's wrong with my 'scope?', 'has something been dislodged since I last used it?', 'is the collimation out?' etc etc, when in reality it's either the high sky or the lower area (e.g. heating plumes etc) that's responsible for the poor views. No matter which scope you use, I think that you can almost without exception blame the seeing on poor views. When the seeing is good though the views shine through. It's always worth investing in quality and I have never regretted doing so. I have regretted investing in lesser quality and then corrected this as soon as I could afford to. I really like my 120ED and recent reports from various folk have convinced me it's pretty top notch. That said, if I could afford a 120 ish Tak, then I'd certainly get one in its place. 

I could sell all my gear and get one probably but I do like the flexibility my current scopes offer me so I suppose we are at different points in our 'career' for the time being. Enjoy what's obviously a beautiful and pure quality instrument 

p.s. the seeing was quite poor today and my emoji shows the usual effect 

I think you've said it all there Shane?. Thank you.

Dave

[John]

11 hours ago, F15Rules said:

...I now need to be patient, get to know the scope, our skies, our garden situation ....

Thats just the way I'm playing it with the 2 lovely refractors I splashed out on last year

 

 

[alan potts]

Really good report and interesting to read, my seeing is even worse, you just can't see through cloud, terrible year so far.