Newbie in the tropics with some Qs.

[MeerkatinBKK]

Hi all - greetings from sunny Thailand (well it will be when the rainy season ends next month)!

Yet another newbie asking for your wisdom please. Been hankering after getting set up in astronomy for decades but never got further than avid watching of Sir Patrick and Horizon, along with some very elementary binocular viewing in the past. Now with more time on my hands, and a plot of land 400m up on a hilltop miles away from any other light sources it seems like the right time to jump in.

Astronomy is very specialised here in Thailand with most equipment well out of the budget of most of the population (one of the things we'd like to do once up and running is invite local kids to get their first peek at the planets). As such, prices are dear and support is scant. Research on the matter here has driven me towards Celestron whose authorized distributor has offered me more help than their rivals. Not a perfect way to narrow down the options I know, but that's just the way it is out here. Importing on my own not an option - limited after sales service and high import duties anyway.

Have been thinking of either the 6SE (1,130 quid) or the 8SE (1,620). See what I mean about prices... Would you think the extra 500 quid for the 8SE is worth it over the 6" (price diff at in the UK at FLO is only 350 quid for instance)? Mostly live viewing of planets and some DSO, but I will be looking at photography at some point (already got a Canon 20D and will look at converting a webcam too). GoTo is a must to soften the learning curve (and get early brownie points from the wife!). I realise that upgrading the mount (rather than just fitting a wedge) might have to be the way to go for longer exposure photography going forward - especially if I go for the 8", but I won't be ready for that for a while yet.

Accessories. Power Tank and Celstron's EP/filter kit (easy just to get the kit in one go I thought). Any other ideas?

Finally anybody else been scoping in the tropics have any advice? I imagine condensation might be a problem here as humidity is always high. On the plus side I reckon I can get away with not buying a handwarmer!

Thanks in advance (thanks too for a cracking site) and a wave to any other expats on the forum in this part of the world. :wave:

Nick

[ash]

Welcome to the SGL Nick you have picked the right site to ask questions :hello1:

Good luck with your project sounds rewarding :hello1:

Andy

[Vega]

Welcome Nick

Wow, the location sounds ideal (apart from prices :shock: ). The tropics is a fantastic latitude to view the sky... best of both worlds with regard to Northern & Southern sky. The Milky Way should be stunning.

I'm sure Steve @ FLO may be able to help out or give advice at some point. It's sometimes better to give him a call (but that may not be ideal in your case).

Look forward to how things progress

Cheers

Matt

[timetraveller]

hello nick and welcome to SGL could you not order your kit from the uk were it is cheaper and get it shipped out to you im not sure how much it would cost but i would have thought not as much asbuying over there in Thailand.With ref to your list of kit if you have that high a humidity content a dew shield or heaters might be appropriate for your kit also dont forget the little things like red torch ,collimator filters ect its supprising how the smaller stuf adds up anyways i wish you well with your endevours regards Pete

[Doc]

Hello Nick.

Sounds a great project. Any idea to get kids involved is a good one in my book.

One more point is weight. You say you have a 400 metre hill climb. Don't want to be lugging anything to heavy up and down.

[MeerkatinBKK]

Thanks for the kind welcome and suggestions all!

Regarding buying something in the UK (or more likely the US) and having it shipped out. Most authorized retailers won't ship offshore (and I don't begrudge them that), but even if they did it raises problems with support/warranties. On top of that after you take freight, insurance and then customs duties here (which are both expensive and often arbitrary according to which customs officer is on duty!), the risk outweighs any potential savings. Just one of those things, but so much else is so cheap here that I don't mind having to pay through the nose once in a blue moon.

Will look into dew shields and the like - cheers for the hint.

Hi Doc! We've already built a small weekend cottage at the top of the hill with a drive going up so i'll only have a level trek of around 30ft to hulk the gear over. Actually 400m is not really accurate; it's 400m AMSL, but the hill itself is only about 20m above the surrounding countryside. It's a magic spot though - one of those places where you look up outside at night and think, "Wow. Big sky. Big dark sky. Wish I could see those twinkly things better though!"

Thanks again!

[Astro_Baby]

Hi from me - nice location out there.

[TheThing]

Wish I could see those twinkly things better though!"

Welcome to the site!

In good old Blighty, we simply say 'Wish I could SEE those twinkly things!'

[MeerkatinBKK]

Hello again all!

Thought I'd post an update after your earlier suggestions. Have just put in my order with the local Celestron supplier for an 8SE, Powertank and Eyepiece/Filter kit. I've read many opinions against the EP kit, but given the difficulty and expense of trying/buying/selling individual bits and bobs here, I decided it would at least give me a better taste of what the scope will offer (even if I never get to use the highest mag EPs), and I can then buy better quality ones down the road when I've settled upon what really grabs me. And the case looks dead smart!

On the plus side: In spite of the outrageous prices I have to pay here for the gear, the dealer has all but thrown in a Celestron dew shield and NexImage cam! He's been trying to get rid of the latter for ages and seems to have taken pity on me when I begged him to throw some extras in...

On the minus side: Everything's going to take around 60 days to get here. Oh well - I'm not going to pay another hefty surcharge to have it flown over rather than shipped. :crybaby:

In the meantime there have been some good naked eye/bino viewing nights to keep me happy (rainy season still holding in there but its power is fading!) Mrs Meerkat is suitably enthused and has fallen in love with the Pleiades (I'd originally put "Seven Sisters" there but...ahem...it didn't look right :shock: ), and even the littlest of the Meerkittens (at 33 months) has added the Moon, Venus and "Doopiter" to his vocabulary! The laptop is ready with CdC, Stellarium and Virtual Moon Atlas loaded up, so there's plenty for me to be learning while I wait - any other s/w recommendations will be gratefully accepted.

I quipped in my OP that I wouldn't need a handwarmer. Well that might well be true, but I've since discovered that all my viewing will be done a) smothered from head-to-toe in mosquito repellant, and in thick boots to protect my ankles from the scorpions we've now found lurking around our dark-sky retreat. Serves me right for being smug, or as the missus would say, "Karma"!

Thanks again all - I'm looking forward to posting first light!

Nick :wave:

[Starjumper]

Hi and welcome to SGL, sounds like a great site.

John

[dogfish]

Hi Nick

You'll enjoy that set-up. I had a 6SE for a while - lovely scope.

Welcome to SGL as well.

Regards, Martin

[MeerkatinBKK]

First Light!

Hi again all. Well everything* arrived early and we had the opportunity to take it all up to our place in the country over the weekend. Please don't hate me, but my luck held out and we had two glorious cloudless nights! There was quite a bit of haze up to around 15deg (Polaris was very dim), but above that it was pretty black, although not as inky as I've seen it in the past. Set up went well, and SkyAlign worked from the second attempt on. Goto worked pretty well (nearly everything was within the 25mm eyepiece) as did tracking, but seeing as in my mad rush to get viewing I hadn't got around to properly balancing the scope or taking a blind bit of notice to making sure I was slewing in the right order to prevent backlash, I was well chuffed.

I couldn't believe how bright everything was! I'd been looking at the telescope simulator web page to get an idea of what I would be able to see, but the real thing seemed ten times brighter. Jupiter and four moons were awesome, and the cloud bands were clearly visible up to 9mm (I did try the 6mm EP, but couldn't quite get it as clear as I'd like - it was getting low in the sky at this point and was "boiling" a bit). Spent around six hours viewing over the two nights and the whole family were oohing and aahing all the way through. I haven't had a chance to use the NexImage cam yet; viewing is my priority and there's still so much more to find. Favourite so far must be M42 (or at least as much of it as I could fit in) - I'd seen the images of course, but had no idea how stunning it could look just through the scope itself.

A few early observations:

Having a stool was a must (and thanks to all on various threads who have made that clear). It was so much more comfortable than standing up and really allowed me to concentrate on "looking".

The motors are a lot louder than I'd have expected (but not whilst tracking). That might be just because the area we were viewing from is totally devoid of things like traffic at night. Other than that the mount seemed fine, and more sturdy than I'd have expected on reading some comments about the 8SE. A motor focus will be on a future shopping list though.

I need to organize myself better! I struggled to comfortably find the right EPs at the right time, and I need to teach myself how to use the laptop in red/night mode properly (ie a dimly backlit keyboard would have been a boon). No doubt I'll get all these things sorted in due course.

There are two streetlights about half a mile away. Whilst they don't really impinge on viewing, I couldn't stop my eyes from drifting towards the light (a la moth to a flame)! I need to get an eyepatch I think...

Anyway we're back in the light-polluted 'burbs of Bangkok again, but I'll be trying to peer through the muck to see Jupiter and a sliver of the moon again in an hour or so's time. If anyone visits this part of the world and fancies a gander, please drop us a line. Sadly with the political shenanigans going on here at the moment, I guess Thailand's not at the top of many people's holiday plans...

Thanks again for your welcome and help,

Nick :wave:

*Nearly everything. According to the distributor here, Celestron are discontinuing the 8" dew shield and bringing out a new model soon, so that will follow on later. No idea if it's true or not, but their US website doesn't quote a price for it anymore so there might be something in it.

[Sam]

Great report Nick and very interesting. I hope things are ok in Thailand at the moment the news reports are a bit rough.