What did the postman bring?

[Highburymark]

50 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

This is one of my all time keepers, Stu 👍🏻

Do you have the 1.6mm Jeremy? And if so, what have you used it for?

[Alan White]

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

This is one of my all time keepers, Stu 👍🏻

Me too, love the HR 3.4mm.

[Deadlake]

1 hour ago, Highburymark said:

Superb Stu. Perfect eyepiece for the DC and many other scopes too, and probably as good as you can get. I’ve just ordered the 2.5mm TOE as I love the 3.3mm so much. Don’t look quite as cool as the HRs though.
Sorry RVO didn’t have the 2mm as the website indicated. 

I think the TOE ep's look very good. Also the view is a little more smoother thru the TOE than the HR. If I was buying again and ignoring the extra cost the 2.5 mm TOE would be my choice. Having said that the 1.6 mm and 2 mm HR sizes are the only show in town. Usefully on planets and doubles. 

[Stu]

Thanks chaps, I’m looking forward to giving it a go. I don’t think my eyes will cope with the 1.6 or 2.0, but a 2.4mm might be fun. The TOEs look interesting, a bit pricey in comparison but maybe the 2.5mm is worth a shout if a 2.4 HR doesn’t pop up.

[JeremyS]

1 hour ago, Highburymark said:

Do you have the 1.6mm Jeremy? And if so, what have you used it for?

Yes, I got the complete set. @mikeDnight made me do it 🤣

Ive used the HR 1.6 in the TSA120 on the Moon and Venus when conditions have been steady. With excellent results. 

[Maideneer]

After months and months and months of impatient waiting, checking stock every single day at all outlets, today is finally the day it all arrives.  The Dew Shield and Starsense are at the front door, now just awaiting the rest.

I never imagined when I got into this hobby late last year that it would have taken this long to get a scope, but I guess that's what pandemic supply chains will do to things.  Now then, I don't know if I can swing it, but if I can get home early enough and set it all up, my hope is that it stays clear enough overnight tonight to get some kind of viewing in.

I'm beyond excited.

[Highburymark]

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

Yes, I got the complete set. @mikeDnight made me do it 🤣

Ive used the HR 1.6 in the TSA120 on the Moon and Venus when conditions have been steady. With excellent results. 

Wow - would love to have a peek through one. There are still 4 left at APM so maybe a pair would be good for binoviewing tricky double stars……

[Highburymark]

27 minutes ago, Maideneer said:

After months and months and months of impatient waiting, checking stock every single day at all outlets, today is finally the day it all arrives.  The Dew Shield and Starsense are at the front door, now just awaiting the rest.

I never imagined when I got into this hobby late last year that it would have taken this long to get a scope, but I guess that's what pandemic supply chains will do to things.  Now then, I don't know if I can swing it, but if I can get home early enough and set it all up, my hope is that it stays clear enough overnight tonight to get some kind of viewing in.

I'm beyond excited.

Fantastic - congratulations. 
Jupiter, Saturn and the Moon are all rising, awaiting your first light….

[Highburymark]

2 minutes ago, Highburymark said:

Fantastic - congratulations. 
Jupiter, Saturn and the Moon are all rising, awaiting your first light….

Oops - only just seen your location - you have a bit longer to wait until darkness than we do the U.K. Time to get everything set up.

[Deadlake]

52 minutes ago, Highburymark said:

Wow - would love to have a peek through one. There are still 4 left at APM so maybe a pair would be good for binoviewing tricky double stars……

Very good on the moon, with a Baader BBHS mirror, you will see everything. Maybe a little to much detail….

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

A used Celestron AVX...

*Does a scouse jig* 🙄👍😄🤳

[Andypeck101]

After a few years of lapsed astronomy,  I'm returning the fold with a lovely new Celestron Nexstar Evo 6.

Main goals for this are observational and planetary imaging once I've got the hang of it. 

Sorry for the cloudy weather since I ordered it. 

[Budgie1]

I managed to nab this in the FLO sale last week, along with the matched reducer/flattener. It arrived first thing Monday morning and is now waiting for a clear night and bit more darkness. 

It'll give me a bit more FOV over the Evostar 100ED DS Pro I have already and should work well with the ASI294MC.

I may swap the focusers over later in the year but I've got some targets planned for early this season which need the 100ED before I do that.

[Maideneer]

5 hours ago, Highburymark said:

Fantastic - congratulations. 
Jupiter, Saturn and the Moon are all rising, awaiting your first light….

Just got home and opened everything. I…didn’t expect everything would be THIS big lol👀

Talk about overwhelmed😂

[John]

18 minutes ago, Maideneer said:

Just got home and opened everything. I…didn’t expect everything would be THIS big lol👀

 

I think that is pretty much the reaction that is had from many that are new to decent aperture telescopes

I hope you really enjoy using it !

[Maideneer]

3 minutes ago, John said:

I think that is pretty much the reaction that is had from many that are new to decent aperture telescopes

I hope you really enjoy using it !

I’m going from a Travelscope 70 to this. Holy baloney! Forget the gym membership, this is weightlifting enough!

[Maideneer]

Well this is devastating. My CGEM mount came but they forgot to pack the counterweight bar🙁 now what?

[mikemarotta]

I gave up on collimation this winter and donated the reflector and the collimator to the Goodwill. But, alas, I could not pass up a bargain and I bought a factory-reconditioned Bresser 8-inch (208 mm) Newtonian reflector, which is also an f/3.9 and therefore a challenge to collimate. So, I decided to face the music, pay the piper, etc.,etc., and I bought tools. I bought two different Cheshires just to compare them.

I will let y'all know how it went when it goes. Right now, the telescope is in the shipping carton along with the calibrators. The telescope needs a mount and tripod (and a finder). But, that being as it may, the postal service did deliver the goods, all from Agena Astro in Cerritos, California:

 

 

Edited July 29, 2021 by mikemarotta
grammar

[xvariablestarx]

I got a Sparta mount (some type of Porta II clone) and a Svbony 25mm Plossl eyepiece from Aliexpress. No idea as to their quality as haven't tried them yet.

[Ags]

1 hour ago, xvariablestarx said:

I got a Sparta mount (some type of Porta II clone) and a Svbony 25mm Plossl eyepiece from Aliexpress.

The price is amazing, I would love to hear your findings. It does look a bit small to carry a C6 though?

[xvariablestarx]

43 minutes ago, Ags said:

The price is amazing, I would love to hear your findings. It does look a bit small to carry a C6 though?

Let me tell you what I posted on another site:

The majority of the mount is metal, feels like some form of Aluminium The Alt and Azimuth locking screws have a tendency to get in the way of the alt and azimuth slow motion controls.  The two screws for connecting the scope's dovetail to the mount hold it securely. The two slow motion control elements, look like metal but are in fact a cheap plastic. The cost of the mount was around €60(edit actually €79), but with tax and shipping the total cost came to just over €100.

I tend to keep the altitude locking screw as tight as possible so the slow motion control fully works for that direction, the azimuth screw I keep looser so I can move the scope manually/faster side to side.

Is it worth it?  Probably, if you have a tripod already and want to try it out, but it is not a high quality item in my estimation. I will be keeping it and using it though

The scopes I put on it were a  100mm Mak and a 75mm 700mm(ish) tube length reflector, both seemed fine on it.

 

 

Edited July 29, 2021 by xvariablestarx

[johninderby]

Now showing as unavailable.

[xvariablestarx]

These are the dudes who make it: https://www.st-optics.cn/

[Maideneer]

14 hours ago, Maideneer said:

Well this is devastating. My CGEM mount came but they forgot to pack the counterweight bar🙁 now what?

I'm contacting Agena Astro today to try and resolve it.  My heart sank as I was building my new rig and came to the point where I realized there was no bar.  I checked each shipping box 6 times, looked in my couch cushions, you name it...it's just not there.  I worry that they just don't have something like that laying around, but maybe I'm wrong.  Hoping for good news, but I'll probably have to wait another week now to start using the thing.

[johninderby]

Craters of the Near Side Moon book to go along with the Features of the Near Side Moon received a few days again. Couldn’t find it used so new from Amazon.

Hefty book at 722 pages. 🙀

Edited July 29, 2021 by johninderby