What did the postman bring?

[Anthony1979]

On 20/03/2020 at 11:55, Barry-W-Fenner said:

Skywatcher dual speed focuser from FLO. Ordered yesterday morning delivered this morning!! All fitted and feels very nice. I hope I can fine tune my focus for a better view now. Can't wait to try it out.

 

Baz

Ive just bought one of these arrived today.... Let me no how you fine tune it please mine feels a bit tight

[ShrewView]

A new toy has just arrived, and the forecast is good for the next few days!😲

Bought it as a part of a travel set up, even though I can't actually go far at the moment. Came in a box, inside a box, inside another box. Build feels good but will wait until I've seen stars before I judge. Looking forward to trying it out

[Guest]

My new smart phone holder has arrived. I just need some decent weather to try it out with... 

[Stu]

A lovely Moonlite with Vixen three hole flange for my FL102S. It will allow me you use my other diagonals with it and gives me fine focus which I have been missing on this scope as well as the two finder shows. I think it looks great, very happy. Pics before and after.

[johninderby]

TS Alt-Az balance system, saddle and aluminium angle. For a little project I have in mind. 😎

[Guest]

29 minutes ago, Stu said:

A lovely Moonlite with Vixen three hole flange for my FL102S. It will allow me you use my other diagonals with it and gives me fine focus which I have been missing on this scope as well as the two finder shows. I think it looks great, very happy. Pics before and after.

I prefer the Hammerite look myself, but each to their own.😉

[F15Rules]

2 hours ago, Stu said:

A lovely Moonlite with Vixen three hole flange for my FL102S. It will allow me you use my other diagonals with it and gives me fine focus which I have been missing on this scope as well as the two finder shows. I think it looks great, very happy. Pics before and after.

That's great Stu!

Did you acquire the FL102s recently? A beautiful scope 💘..

Have you still got your Tak 100 too? If so, we MUST get a head to head comparison asap please!

Yours in anticipation 😊..

Dave

[Chaz2b]

Thought I’d bring Christmas a little quicker this year considering!

That’s two eye guard extenders! for my binoviewers. A EOS adapter to 2” and a smartphone holder.

Edited March 25, 2020 by Chaz2b

[Stu]

5 hours ago, F15Rules said:

That's great Stu!

Did you acquire the FL102s recently? A beautiful scope 💘..

Have you still got your Tak 100 too? If so, we MUST get a head to head comparison asap please!

Yours in anticipation 😊..

Dave

Thanks Dave, yes not long ago.

Was this what you had in mind? 😉

My big problem is having to get up at 5am currently whilst we are all at home as I have to fit a few hours schooling in for Lorna alongside work. So, not much time to spend under these lovely skies 😢. Spent an hour aligning the two scopes and having a quick whizz around. Very close between the two of them, won’t pass judgement just yet, will spend some time assessing and write something up.

[F15Rules]

9 hours ago, Stu said:

Was this what you had in mind? 😉

Absolutely Stu!

What a lovely pair of Fluorite scopes..I'm very much looking forward to your detailed thoughts.

I do understand your present domestic constraints: we have just yesterday had to take my wife's 86 year old mum into our home for who knows how long..she lives 100 miles away back in Coventry, in sheltered accommodation. The residents were told last week that they would have to be in isolation in their small flats for 12 weeks, and wouldn't be able to mix with their friends or go into the common areas.

Within just a few days she really started to deteriorate, and wasn't eating or drinking properly, and began to have hallucinations.. my wife's sister who lives locally, and who was helping their mum since we moved to Lincolnshire after my wife's breast cancer, has now also got cancer and is awaiting radiotherapy (now on hold thanks to Covid-19): their brother is still working and says he can't help, so we felt we couldn't leave her to just fade away. She is hard work at times, and can't walk very well, so we will need a lot of patience to cope with her for maybe many weeks, but it's the right thing to do and we will get in with it 🙂. In the meantime, observing opportunities are likely to be quite restricted.

I've just come in from a very short (30 minutes) session with my FS128 as the sky is SO clear here tonight..just had time to check out Castor, Algeiba in Leo, Praesepe cluster, and the Double Cluster, and the contrast and "diamonds on velvet" effect was just wonderful. 

Bloomin' cold though, it's forecast to be freezing or below by morning!

Hope you can get a few good sessions to do your comparison soon Stu..👍

Dave

Edited March 26, 2020 by F15Rules
Spelling correction

[Stu]

Had the scope for a while, and recently acquired the mount. I think it will look very nice in my study. Shame I don’t have one, but when I do, this will be in the corner!! 🤣🤣

It is a Unitron (Nihon Seiko) Alt-Az Mount, can be moved manually or with slow mo controls which always face you, very handy. It makes for a very light grab and go setup for some quick Moon gazing.

[johninderby]

Something to wear when going to the shop. 👍🏻

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

7 hours ago, johninderby said:

Something to wear when going to the shop. 👍🏻

Just remember to take them off before picking your nose...

[RT65CB-SWL]

On 20/03/2020 at 18:15, Mr niall said:

It’s arrived! I’ve been looking for this at a reasonable price for the last 4 years. Finally found a copy for a half reasonable not quite eye watering price (although still pretty expensive but totally worth it)

I will have to find out what 'copy number' mine is.

[JOC]

The bank balance is now safe from SGL classifieds my final 17.5mm Morpheus turned up today.  Look out for the triumphant thread with my box shot in it!!  😄

 

[Chaz2b]

Latest arrival from the East! My adapter so I can use any of my Canon EOS lens with an eyepiece, next purchase will be a correct image diagonal and therefore use it as a spotting scope, neat, and all for £12.99 delivered.

The only criticism is the release button is a little hard on your finger, looking into glueing a silicone button onto it.

The lens is a ROKUNAR 500mm mirror lens with a Hoya 72mm PL-CIR filter, another skip freebie! In very good condition at that!

[JeremyS]

[JeremyS]

So, thanks to Aunty @FLO's stork, a package has arrived.

And it seems to be triple boxed... 🤔

Seems we're nearly ready for the birth. That kind @mikeDnight promised me a cigar for this moment. But neither of us smoke. 

[Stu]

Just now, JeremyS said:

So, thanks to Aunty @FLO's stork, a package has arrived.

And it seems to be triple boxed... 🤔

Seems we're nearly ready for the birth. That kind @mikeDnight promised me a cigar for this moment. But neither of us smoke. 

You teaser.... 🤣

[JeremyS]

2 minutes ago, Stu said:

You teaser.... 🤣

I think we might need a new thread to share the joy properly.

[Stu]

Just now, JeremyS said:

I think we might need a new thread to share the joy properly.

Yep!

[PeterW]

?? Another few layers of boxes.... could just be a focal reducer, an eyepiece... certainly not a big scope....

 

peter

[Highburymark]

On 26/03/2020 at 00:27, F15Rules said:

Absolutely Stu!

What a lovely pair of Fluorite scopes..I'm very much looking forward to your detailed thoughts.

I do understand your present domestic constraints: we have just yesterday had to take my wife's 86 year old mum into our home for who knows how long..she lives 100 miles away back in Coventry, in sheltered accommodation. The residents were told last week that they would have to be in isolation in their small flats for 12 weeks, and wouldn't be able to mix with their friends or go into the common areas.

Within just a few days she really started to deteriorate, and wasn't eating or drinking properly, and began to have hallucinations.. my wife's sister who lives locally, and who was helping their mum since we moved to Lincolnshire after my wife's breast cancer, has now also got cancer and is awaiting radiotherapy (now on hold thanks to Covid-19): their brother is still working and says he can't help, so we felt we couldn't leave her to just fade away. She is hard work at times, and can't walk very well, so we will need a lot of patience to cope with her for maybe many weeks, but it's the right thing to do and we will get in with it 🙂. In the meantime, observing opportunities are likely to be quite restricted.

I've just come in from a very short (30 minutes) session with my FS128 as the sky is SO clear here tonight..just had time to check out Castor, Algeiba in Leo, Praesepe cluster, and the Double Cluster, and the contrast and "diamonds on velvet" effect was just wonderful. 

Bloomin' cold though, it's forecast to be freezing or below by morning!

Hope you can get a few good sessions to do your comparison soon Stu..👍

Dave

Sorry to hear you’ve been having a tough time Dave. Hope things improve. 

[Ags]

On 30/03/2020 at 13:11, Chaz2b said:

Latest arrival from the East! My adapter so I can use any of my Canon EOS lens with an eyepiece

I'm curious. Can you share a link to this product?

[F15Rules]

2 hours ago, Highburymark said:

Sorry to hear you’ve been having a tough time Dave. Hope things improve. 

Thanks Mark, that's very kind of you🙂.

We are now one week into having my mother in law with us..it's not easy at all, there is no denying it, but we are still smiling most of the time. 

It's lovely and clear outside, but my wife is having a well deserved rest this evening, chatting to one of her sisters for an hour or so, so no observing tonight,  (have to keep an eye on her mum), and Orion has all but gone from view from our garden.

Never mind, by the time this crisis is over, Orion might be rising again into view!

Stay safe Mark and thanks again for your good wishes😊.

Dave

Edited March 31, 2020 by F15Rules