What did the postman bring?

[Ags]

I had a Castor II for a while, I am sure you will enjoy it. Ironically, I am now using an AZT6 🤣

[Victor Boesen]

1 minute ago, Ags said:

I had a Castor II for a while, I am sure you will enjoy it. Ironically, I am now using an AZT6 🤣

Hah, I've read about your experience with the AZT6 and Castor before purchasing😅 I agree with you, the AZT6 punches well beyond its price and size and I've really enjoyed it. I just felt like it was slowly becoming the weak link of my setup and I'd sometimes get a little annoyed with it during high magnification observing with my 102mm APO. I'll probably be keeping the AZT6 anyways though!!

[Ags]

The AZT6 certainly has its limits, but it gets the job done. I particularly like the low weight and small size. I do think a Scopetech Mount Zero would be a good upgrade for me.

[Stu]

Lovely looking mount @Victor Boesen! Idea for those two scopes, I’m sure it will give you lots of fun. Do the scopes clash with the tripod at all? It looks like it is ok, but if not then the little skywatcher pillar might work well.

[Franklin]

8 minutes ago, Ags said:

The AZT6 certainly has its limits, but it gets the job done

AZT6 is probably the best ultra-portable mount on the market. Can handle a small ED frac with no counterweight and fits on a photo tripod. Perfect for astronomers that want to walk to the top of mountains to observe.

[Victor Boesen]

2 minutes ago, Stu said:

Lovely looking mount @Victor Boesen! Idea for those two scopes, I’m sure it will give you lots of fun. Do the scopes clash with the tripod at all? It looks like it is ok, but if not then the little skywatcher pillar might work well.

Thank you Stu, I hope so too! I know the Tecnosky will hit the tripod at zenith but don't think the Evostar will. But as you mention, I will most likely always be using it with the Skywatcher pillar As always, it's pouring down here at the moment, Berlebeach didn't include a warning about bad weather like FLO😅, but hopefully I can test it out soon.

[MalcolmM]

I've read a lot about the virtues of 2" eyepieces so I thought I'd give one a go.

Holy Cow! They are big. I now know how the Lilliputians felt when Gulliver came to visit! I keep bursting out laughing when I look at it

Views during the day look great and it's a really easy eyepiece to look through. The FOV when paired with the 60CB is bigger than my pair of 8x42 binoculars! Unfortunately I have not been able to use it at night yet but I'm hopeful it'll show great views.

It's a StellaLyra 45mm 2" KITAKARU RPL

Malcolm

[JeremyS]

5 minutes ago, MalcolmM said:

I've read a lot about the virtues of 2" eyepieces so I thought I'd give one a go.

Holy Cow! They are big. I now know how the Lilliputians felt when Gulliver came to visit! I keep bursting out laughing when I look at it

Views during the day look great and it's a really easy eyepiece to look through. The FOV when paired with the 60CB is bigger than my pair of 8x42 binoculars! Unfortunately I have not been able to use it at night yet but I'm hopeful it'll show great views.

It's a StellaLyra 45mm 2" KITAKARU RPL

Malcolm

You just needed a second FS60 OTA and you can forget the 8 x 42’s Malcolm 😊

[HollyHound]

2 hours ago, MalcolmM said:

Views during the day look great and it's a really easy eyepiece to look through. The FOV when paired with the 60CB is bigger than my pair of 8x42 binoculars! Unfortunately I have not been able to use it at night yet but I'm hopeful it'll show great views.

Welcome to (almost) the ideal setup for using an FS-60CB 😃

I use mine with the Pentax XW40 and it does indeed give super wide “binocular” like FoV, especially when paired with a diagonal with a very large clear aperture 👍

Edited May 30, 2022 by HollyHound

[HollyHound]

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

You just needed a second FS60 OTA and you can forget the 8 x 42’s Malcolm 😊

You have no idea how many times I have come close to doing exactly that @JeremyS 😬

Decided instead to get the Lunt 16x70 binoculars... for now 😁

Edited May 30, 2022 by HollyHound

[ONIKKINEN]

Good bye coma! TeleVue Paracorr type 2 from FLO.

[MalcolmM]

1 hour ago, HollyHound said:

Welcome to (almost) the ideal setup for using an FS-60CB 😃

I use mine with the Pentax XW40 and it does indeed give super wide “binocular” like FoV, especially when paired with a diagonal with a very large clear aperture 👍

The Rolls Royces of eyepieces! That looks very impressive! I had originally ordered a TV 55 Plossl but it was taking forever to arrive so I swapped for the Stellalyra. I think yours suits the look of the 60CB better!

Malcolm

[MalcolmM]

12 hours ago, JeremyS said:

You just needed a second FS60 OTA and you can forget the 8 x 42’s Malcolm 😊

I'm not sure even telling my partner another OTA was an essential integral part of the system would cut any weight. She's been very understanding up to now of all the boxes arriving with clouds but I've detected a subtle change in her attitude; well, not that subtle

Malcolm

[Stu1smartcookie]

1 hour ago, MalcolmM said:

I'm not sure even telling my partner another OTA was an essential integral part of the system would cut any weight. She's been very understanding up to now of all the boxes arriving with clouds but I've detected a subtle change in her attitude; well, not that subtle

Malcolm

i think we should have an unoficial club , where we can say to our er Significant others that we bought the scope etc cheap from a named member of the club ... and that person backs up the story ... deception ?... lies?... no , its called staying alive !!!!!

[callisto]

4 minutes ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

i think we should have an unoficial club , where we can say to our er Significant others that we bought the scope etc cheap from a named member of the club ... and that person backs up the story ... deception ?... lies?... no , its called staying alive !!!!!

Good idea Stu 😉  😂

[tompato]

A lovely Asiair in anticipation of my Az-Gti which I'm hopefully getting as a 33rd birthday present from the family.

I'd been trying to find one of these or a RPI 4 and not been able to find either, then this week I found one just after ordering this so I'll try both methods and see what suits me (maybe keep the RPi 4 for more mobile sessions).

 

[johninderby]

Couple of boxes from FLO. Suppose I’ll have to open them up and see what’s inside. 😁😁😁

 

Edited May 31, 2022 by johninderby

[badhex]

2 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Couple of boxes from FLO. Suppose I’ll have to open them up and see what’s inside. 😁😁😁

Argh! No picture! 

[gilesco]

5 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Couple of boxes from FLO. Suppose I’ll have to open them up and see what’s inside. 😁😁😁

 

Looks like an Evolux 82ED ?

Edited May 31, 2022 by gilesco

[PeterC65]

Geoptik Nadira Observing Chair from RVO.

The seat is smaller than I'd expected, at around 8.5" square, and the back support bends at the higher settings under my not inconsiderable load (18 stone, but that is still within spec).

It was delivered less than 24 hours after I ordered it, so amazing service from Adam at Rother Valley Optics.

 

[johninderby]

Evolux 82 First Look thread started.

 

[Zermelo]

13 minutes ago, PeterC65 said:

Geoptik Nadira Observing Chair from RVO.

The seat is smaller than I'd expected, at around 8.5" square, and the back support bends at the higher settings under my not inconsiderable load (18 stone, but that is still within spec).

It was delivered less than 24 hours after I ordered it, so amazing service from Adam at Rother Valley Optics.

 

I love using mine with the Mak.

If you do get around to perching at the top with a big dob (as per other thread), then watch out for a bit of wobble, as the base isn't that wide.

And you might want to get/make a cushion!

[DaveL59]

since I've seen others swear by it...

Time to overhaul the other EQ5 as it's quite heavy on both axes, always was since bought S/H and why I transferred the SynScan kit off it onto the other EQ5 I have. Now I have a dual-motor kit its time I sorted it properly I think 🙂 

[Rob]

1 minute ago, DaveL59 said:

since I've seen others swear by it...

Time to overhaul the other EQ5 as it's quite heavy on both axes, always was since bought S/H and why I transferred the SynScan kit off it onto the other EQ5 I have. Now I have a dual-motor kit its time I sorted it properly I think 🙂 

Good purchase!. I stripped down the HEQ5 last year and used this… buttery smooth

Rob

[cajen2]

1 hour ago, PeterC65 said:

Geoptik Nadira Observing Chair from RVO.

The seat is smaller than I'd expected, at around 8.5" square, and the back support bends at the higher settings under my not inconsiderable load (18 stone, but that is still within spec).

It was delivered less than 24 hours after I ordered it, so amazing service from Adam at Rother Valley Optics.

 

I've been looking into buying that exact chair as it seems to do the same job as those twice the price.