What did the postman bring?

[Tiny Clanger]

22 minutes ago, John said:

Do they do a RACI one at that price as well ?

 

Have you seen one has very recently popped up in buy/sell on here?

[Dark Vader]

Just had one of these drop through the letterbox - has a magnetic base so sticks nicely to the 200p.

[JeremyS]

Photometric V-filter from the FLO sale:

[Victor Boesen]

54 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Photometric V-filter from the FLO sale:

I saw this on their twitter and wondered what it's used for? Haven't seen these before...

[JeremyS]

50 minutes ago, Victor Boesen said:

I saw this on their twitter and wondered what it's used for? Haven't seen these before...

I use the filter for CCD photometry of variable stars. Each CCD has a different spectral response. Using a photometric filter allows one to compare results from different systems.

This is a V filter. It gives a similar result to visual observers. It’s green in colour.

Other bands can be used e.g. R for red, B for blue.

The wavelengths they transmit are defined (unlike coloured filters used for imaging)

[Nigella Bryant]

56 minutes ago, Victor Boesen said:

I saw this on their twitter and wondered what it's used for? Haven't seen these before...

They are used for photometric observations

low_cost_BVRI_filters (1).pdf

Edited December 1, 2020 by Nigella Bryant

[TerryMcK]

A new pair of binocs that I got in FLOs Black Friday sale. Hellios Stellar-2 20x80 WP. Only had a quick glance at and through them as it is daytime. Wow fantastic instrument and a bit of an upgrade from my 10x50 Carl Zeiss Jena 1979 model which are still going strong.

[Victor Boesen]

Thank you both @Nigella Bryant and @JeremyS! Seems very interesting, look forward to see some observations from you Jeremy!

[HollyHound]

Having been so impressed with its big brother (the ES 2x 2inch Focal Extender), I decided to get the 1.25" only variant. This is significantly lighter, so will be perfect for scopes mounted on the ScopeTech Zero mount whilst the 2inch will remain for the dob 👍

Edited December 1, 2020 by HollyHound

[Dean Hale]

Two books. Half-Hours with a Telescope for the grand total of 54p from Amazon which was recommended on another post here but i cannot find it - so thank you if reading this. It is actually quite a lovely read. A History of the Universe in 21 stars (and 3 imposters) - nothing too taxing, a leisurely read with a cup of tea and a biscuit as i ain't no Brian Cox. Finally i have a little Bresser 100/1400 Mak and the focus knob can be a little rough. A SVBony Helical focuser - seems to work just fine.

[Sky-searcher]

Delivery courtesy of FLO. Skymax 150 Mak in the Black Friday sale & a ADM saddle for my Ercole. 

[Dantooine]

5 hours ago, HollyHound said:

Having been so impressed with its big brother (the ES 2x 2inch Focal Extender), I decided to get the 1.25" only variant. This is significantly lighter, so will be perfect for scopes mounted on the ScopeTech Zero mount whilst the 2inch will remain for the dob 👍

Looks very solid

[MrFreeze]

More Aliexpress sale bits - a 2" to 1.25" adapter, and my first 2" eyepiece. It's the SVbony SV136 34mm 72 degree eyepiece. It looks suspiciously like the GSO Superview eyepieces, although SVbony claim a different lens arrangement - I may try and measure the FOV to check the specs. I can only use this straight through at the moment, as I'm still waiting on a 2" diagonal. Just been looking at the moon through the gaps in the cloud with it, and it seems to be a very nice clear eyepiece with a huge FOV.

David

[HollyHound]

25 minutes ago, Dantooine said:

Looks very solid

It is reassuringly solid indeed, as much so as the 2" unit. Just tried it indoors with the XWs in the StellaMira on the ScopeTech Zero and works very well.

There is a noticeable increase in rear weight when combining with either XW10 or XW7, but this is easily counteracted either by shifting the scope forward half an inch or by adding a small counterweight to the front of the scope. I may invest in a sliding counterweight or (even easier) something to attach the small one I already have... either to the tube ring bolt holes or maybe even just velcro (the OTA is CNC aluminium unlike the dob which is of course steel) 🤔

The XW30 and 2" TeleExtender are way too much, but then that combination is for the dob only. I can still use the XW30 alone on the StellaMira without any issues.

Either way, when balanced, the normal smooth movement and slow motion controls of the Zero mount are maintained, even though I'm right on the limit (7kg) with all this kit... I adore this little mount 😃

Edited December 1, 2020 by HollyHound

[johninderby]

Counterweight for the StellaLyra CC6”.

One ADM Vixen dovetail plate and a pair of 1kg counterweights from Amazon.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adm-vixen-type-v-series/adm_vdpa_adaptor.html

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01JCJLUJE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

BTW the Amazon description says the weights are aluminium but they are of course steel. 🙄

More detail. https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/363986-stellalyra-classical-cassegrain-ritchey-chrétien-telescopes/page/13/?tab=comments#comment-3995421

 

Edited December 2, 2020 by johninderby

[Alan White]

Postie Pete has been with my recent Classifieds purchase....
My smile gave me away, he noted the grin and commented, More Astronomy Kit then.

[HollyHound]

55 minutes ago, Alan White said:

Postie Pete has been with my recent Classifieds purchase....
My smile gave me away, he noted the grin and commented, More Astronomy Kit then.

The purchases I made from you Alan, have turned up too (many thanks) and I had the same from the postman (he spotted the "May Contain Clouds" sticker on the re-used FLO box 🤣 

Firstly, a TeleVue DioOptrx... now mounted on my Pentax XW30, where it will likely get most (if not all) of its usage... see if it helps these ageing eyes, before resorting to glasses 🤞

Edit: Amazingly, the DiOptrx also fits perfectly inside the XW eyecup and so is completely integrated 😮👍

Edited December 2, 2020 by HollyHound
Added photo with eyecup replaced

[Alan White]

10 minutes ago, HollyHound said:

The purchases I made from you Alan, have turned up too (many thanks) and I had the same from the postman (he spotted the "May Contain Clouds" sticker on the re-used FLO box 🤣 

Firstly, a TeleVue DioOptrx... now mounted on my Pentax XW30, where it will likely get most (if not all) of its usage... see if it helps these ageing eyes, before resorting to glasses 🤞

 

Glad it has arrived.
On the packaging front, re-use is always my mantra, has been for years,
Exporting of the clouds is a secondary but advantageous situation,
however the clouds escaped the box before posting!

[HollyHound]

5 minutes ago, Alan White said:

Glad it has arrived.
On the packaging front, re-use is always my mantra, has been for years,
Exporting of the clouds is a secondary but advantageous situation,
however the clouds escaped the box before posting!

Same here, I have a wonderful collection of boxes for shipping out anything I sell... some of them do indeed contain clouds too unfortunately 😬🤣

[HollyHound]

And also from Alan (in the same box, with the clouds 😬)... three Celestron Plossls:

26mm (Halloween)

18mm Ultima

12.5mm Ultima 

These are intended for use in the Mak 127 or C5, but may do duty in the StellaMira too... at least until I need the longer eye relief (see above) 👍

Edited December 2, 2020 by HollyHound
Added photo

[HollyHound]

57 minutes ago, Alan White said:

Postie Pete has been with my recent Classifieds purchase....
My smile gave me away, he noted the grin and commented, More Astronomy Kit then.

Look forward to a report on how this performs... I'm debating between a Morpheus 14mm instead of Pentax XW14, as I've read these may (possibly) be better performers in the 14 to 20mm range 🤔

[shropshire lad]

A Sky Watcher AZ-GTI goto head .... now just need some clear nights to test it out.

Using either my Canon 80D and 70-200mm lens .... or my Canon sx50 Bridge camera.

So now my astronomy journey begins.

Any tips will be gratefully received .

 

 

Edited December 2, 2020 by shropshire lad

[TerryMcK]

A DynaSun WT011H Professional Tripod Head Grip for use when using binoculars. First impressions are it is absolutely astonishing - why didn't I buy one of these years ago for use with my cameras too.

 

[Pixies]

Not bad for £40 from eBay:

 

[John]

4 hours ago, HollyHound said:

Same here, I have a wonderful collection of boxes for shipping out anything I sell... some of them do indeed contain clouds too unfortunately 😬🤣

Me too. Explore Scientific gets the award for the biggest box though - I could store quite a few of my Tele Vue and Pentax boxes in the box that contained the ES 17mm 92 degree whopper

Edited December 2, 2020 by John