What did the postman bring?

[dark knight]

Thank you FLO and dpd for another successful delivery

[Paul M]

13 minutes ago, Franklin said:

Very nice, those little Borg achros have great optics.

So I believe !

The prospect of using the wee beastie for a bit of wide field imaging was in my mind when I chose it

[Telescope40]

3 hours ago, Stu said:

These were off eBay,  but actually from our own @F15Rules and before him @Franklin I think! It all got a bit confusing I must say. I bid on the auction thinking it was for two, but it was for one (clearly stated if I had read it!!), paid a low price for two (one) then Dave offered me the second so I ended up paying what I thought I would in the first place. See? Clear as mud 🤪🤣

Yes, I guess try a wanted ad on here, or ABS, although I think ABS may be a little more prone to scams on wanted ads. If you are patient, they do come up every now and then.

Stu. That explains me seeing this pair more than once, as I’d seen a post from Dave @F15Rules showing he’d acquired a pair as well. 😁😁

[Sunshine]

On 17/02/2023 at 15:52, Greymouser said:

Come on now, you know the rules, where is the tin of beans for scale? ( please... )

It wasn’t the postman but I did run out for a tin of beans, can’t be caught without beans for scale.

[Stu]

1 hour ago, dark knight said:

Thank you FLO and dpd for another successful delivery

At first glance, that looks like a very fancy oil filter for a car! 🤪 There speaks an ignorant visual observer 🤣

[Stu1smartcookie]

So the postman has been busy again ( got to get in before the next strike ) 

Actually it was the DPD man who made me wait right until the end of the working day before delivering an ADM clamp for my skytee 2 and a nice little Bresser 127 Mak which I have been busy upgrading with a 2"baader clicklock and a decent red dot finder of course the obligatory clouds were present in the box zzzzz

[Highburymark]

7 hours ago, Littleguy80 said:

I saw this one come up. Very much looking forward to hearing how you find it!

Thanks Neil. It has extraordinary eye relief of less than 4mm, AND the eye lens is quite recessed, but it’s possible to see 60-70% of the fov by careful hovering. Rather that than clean it after every session. Need to sell some other gear now to pay for it…..

[saac]

Ok, so technically the postman didn't bring this but it is astro related - it will keep me warm when observing!  Belated birthday present from my wonderful wife   

Can't drink on a school night so I'll look forward to being properly introduced to it at the weekend - a port wood reserve, it looks thoroughly delightful  

Jim 

[Highburymark]

On 19/02/2023 at 14:49, Littleguy80 said:

The DPD man surprised me with a Sunday delivery this morning. A Giro-WR and various bits and pieces to go with it. This brings me into the world of dual mounted scopes. The sun even came out so I could give it a try! Seems really stable even on my carbon fibre photo tripod. Had wondered whether I’d need to get a chunky steel tripod but first impressions are that it seems good. 

I’ve been amazed at the capabilities of this little mount over the years in Stu’s posts. I had a similar one for a while, a mini giro, but the WR seems exceptional for its size

[Highburymark]

1 hour ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

So the postman has been busy again ( got to get in before the next strike ) 

Actually it was the DPD man who made me wait right until the end of the working day before delivering an ADM clamp for my skytee 2 and a nice little Bresser 127 Mak which I have been busy upgrading with a 2"baader clicklock and a decent red dot finder of course the obligatory clouds were present in the box zzzzz

And speaking of mounts….. Skytee 2 with ADM clamp is a superb, affordable, rock solid option for slo-mo alt-az. I have one on a heavy duty camera tripod and it’s all I need, even with 120mm triplet and binoviewer.

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

I stupidly sold my last 2" diagonal. Fancying another, @Stephenstargazerswapped his TS-Optics 2" for one of my 1.25" diagonals.

 

[iantaylor2uk]

Just got myself an FRA300 Pro refractor from FLO - looks like a great piece of kit, 300mm f/5 refractor with fully flat field, aimed at astrophotographers. Very quick delivery from FLO, much appreciated.

With my ASI 071 MC Pro APS-C camera, this will give a field of view of 4.5 x 3 degrees.

For anyone thinking of getting this, if you have a OSC camera and don't have a filter wheel, you need a M48 to M42 converter, as it is only the M48 plate that comes with the 2 inch thread for filters.

Hoping to try this out on the Orion and Rosette Nebulae later this week if it clears up, as it looks like a great bit of kit.

[Marc1964]

21 hours ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

So the postman has been busy again ( got to get in before the next strike ) 

Actually it was the DPD man who made me wait right until the end of the working day before delivering an ADM clamp for my skytee 2 and a nice little Bresser 127 Mak which I have been busy upgrading with a 2"baader clicklock and a decent red dot finder of course the obligatory clouds were present in the box zzzzz

Be interested in your review of the Bresser Mak... 

[Alan White]

Evri man has been, not my usual postie, Telescope House look to use Evri these days.
I noted others posts and had a fit of eyepieces past.

And it says Vixen on the box too. 😃

 

Edited February 22, 2023 by Alan White

[Stu1smartcookie]

16 hours ago, Marc1964 said:

Be interested in your review of the Bresser Mak... 

Hi Marc , i am hopefully giving the Mak its first light tonight , although we have a hundred mile round trip and a chinese buffet to negotiate first , so i wont be home until after 8 ... who knows what the sky will be like then lol ... message to everyone , leave a bit of clear sky for me pleeeeease ... report to come on both the Mak and the 152 Starwave

 

[badhex]

On 21/02/2023 at 21:45, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

I stupidly sold my last 2" diagonal. Fancying another, @Stephenstargazerswapped his TS-Optics 2" for one of my 1.25" diagonals.

 

It's a great diagonal this GSO one, and has a clear aperture of 47.5mm which the one of the largest clear apertures of any 2" diagonal that we have managed to find!

[Surfer Chris]

New addition to the EP collection arrived this morning. Looking forward to seeing how it compares to the 3mm Delite.

[Paul M]

Another DPD delivery.

A power cable, can't even remember why it was in my FLO basket! 😀

And a pair of very nice looking dovetail clamps for mounting my recently acquired 60ED Borg guidescope.

It'll be Sunday before I can have a dress rehearsal with the guidescope mounting.

[Ratlet]

Some adapters for my vintage lens obsession and a giant spirit level thing so I can hopefully optimise levelling my mounts.

Supposed to have been a 49mm to 48mm Stepdown in there but I couldn't see it.  Unfortunately I opened the packet at work and the bins got emptied before I realised!

[StuartT]

On 21/02/2023 at 17:01, dark knight said:

Thank you FLO and dpd for another successful delivery

 

I have one of those and it's a fantastic camera! 😍

[markse68]

on recommendation from our resident Mars expert @mikeDnight, all the way from America, I’m looking forward to this good read  

 

Mark

[mikeDnight]

56 minutes ago, markse68 said:

on recommendation from our resident Mars expert @mikeDnight, all the way from America, I’m looking forward to this good read  

 

Mark

Im sure youll enjoy it Mark! 

[HollyHound]

Well this arrived yesterday, as part of my renewed interest in photography... I'd previously bought a Micro Four Thirds camera (Lumix GX8) for doing some bird/wildlife photography, alongside my existing Lumix S5, but needed a significant amount of extra reach... so this new Panasonic Leica 100-400mm f/4-6.3 should do the trick nicely (equivalent to 200-800mm in 35mm full frame!).

However, I popped out last night for a quick look in (partly) clear sky, thought I'd give it a go on the moon, and got this shot (unedited, apart from a slight crop), 400mm f/6.3 1/500 sec, ISO 400, handheld (the built in lens/body stabilisation is just incredible 😮).

I think I'm going to have some fun with this combination 😁

Edited February 28, 2023 by HollyHound
Added photos

[Alan White]

@HollyHound nice lens, my wife owns the same one.
Always liked the look of the GX8 myself, but ended up wedded to Olympus m4/3.

Indeed a lens that should be lots of fun. 

[HollyHound]

8 minutes ago, Alan White said:

@HollyHound nice lens, my wife owns the same one.
Always liked the look of the GX8 myself, but ended up wedded to Olympus m4/3.

Indeed a lens that should be lots of fun. 

Thanks... been having a go on some birds on our bird feeder today, and it's brilliant 😀

The GX8 is great... I got a very good used copy (no longer made) which was in immaculate condition. Coupled with some of the MFT lenses, it's been excellent as a camera to take on walks with, and this telephoto is super lightweight too, so should be able to do the same. I've also bought the fixed Leica Elmarit 200mm f/2.8 (with 1.4x teleconverter) to use for static work.

Funnily enough, I'm currently looking at getting a (slightly) larger MFT camera to use alongside this one, and am torn between the Lumix G9 (which would be a logical step) and some of the recent Olympus (OM Systems)... the OM-1 looks amazing, but not sure if too much camera for me right now 🤔

Let's get some hours with this one first and see how it goes... at least I have something to mess about with in the daytime as well now, and when we get bouts of cloudy skies 🤞😁

Edited February 28, 2023 by HollyHound