So glad I bought a new telescope....

[Dannomiss]

So glad I bought a new telescope - but now it's cloudy and thundery in the North of England for the next two weeks ☁️😊

More reading and theory I think until there's a clear night to go out and play. 

What have you observed lately?

Edited June 17, 2020 by Dannomiss

[andrew s]

Such is life. Enjoy the scope.

Regards Andrew 

[Dannomiss]

Just now, andrew s said:

Such is life. Enjoy the scope.

Here we call it Sod's law! LOL. lovely clearly nights for 3 weeks - scope turns up and then the summer thunderstorms hit!

[Skinnypuppy71]

In the same boat..my WO zenithstar 73ii arrived yesterday....cloud and thunderstorms up here on the west coast of Scotland.....flo box does state.."may contain clouds"....still waiting on my mount to arrive anyways.

That scope of yours  looks like a rather large dob...300'???

[Dannomiss]

Just now, Skinnypuppy71 said:

In the same boat..my WO zenithstar 73ii arrived yesterday....cloud and thunderstorms up here on the west coast of Scotland.....flo box does state.."may contain clouds"....still waiting on my mount to arrive anyways.

That scope of yours  looks like a rather large dob...300'???

The delivery guy said to me yesterday, 'What on earth is in the box as it says may contain clouds'. I smiled and laughed!

Its a skywalker heritage 150p 🙂 My first ever telescope!

[Dannomiss]

8 minutes ago, KevS said:

My new frac, sat in the spare room

Very nice. Look at that beauty 

[Skinnypuppy71]

My new frac...as you can see...still waiting on the eqm-35.

[Dannomiss]

46 minutes ago, Skinnypuppy71 said:

My new frac...as you can see...still waiting on the eqm-35.

 

Thats a beauty too 🙂

[JOC]

Psssttt.....Southern SGL members - it looks from the postings above that the clouds should be in North of the UK for the next few weeks!!

Edited June 17, 2020 by JOC

[Louis D]

8 hours ago, Dannomiss said:

Its a skywalker heritage 150p 🙂 My first ever telescope!

I think you might be the first person on SGL to buy one.  We expect a full report when the skies clear. 😉  Until then, you can try out the mechanics and focusing on distant objects while aligning the RDF.

[Tenor Viol]

5 hours ago, JOC said:

Psssttt.....Southern SGL members - it looks from the postings above that the clouds should be in North of the UK for the next few weeks!!

Don't worry, when mine arrives, since I am technically just about in the Midlands (northern extremity of), the arrival of my 'scope in due course will banjax everyone.... 🤣

[JeremyS]

9 hours ago, Dannomiss said:

So glad I bought a new telescope - but now it's cloudy and thundery in the North of England for the next two weeks ☁️😊

More reading and theory I think until there's a clear night to go out and play. 

What have you observed lately?

Congratulations! Hope first light won’t be too far off. 

[Dannomiss]

16 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Congratulations! Hope first light won’t be too far off. 

Thank you 😊 maybe in touch as can't align red dot finder

[Dannomiss]

56 minutes ago, Louis D said:

I think you might be the first person on SGL to buy one.  We expect a full report when the skies clear. 😉  Until then, you can try out the mechanics and focusing on distant objects while aligning the RDF.

Finding aligning red dot finder a struggle. But been playing with distant and focusing... And attaching a smart phone adapter 

[Louis D]

Nice and false-color free like a Newtonian should be.  So far, it appears to be a winner.

Try focusing on an artificial star indoors in a darkened room for another test (you might need an extension tube for this).  A mirror finish Christmas ornament or glossy ball bearing with a bright flashlight (torch) shining on it from next to you can make for a decent facsimile of one.

Edited June 17, 2020 by Louis D

[Dannomiss]

51 minutes ago, Louis D said:

So far, it appears to be a winner.

So far I think its pretty decent. Red dot finder is pretty, but I keep playing to see if I can correct it. There's one thing and as I don't know anything about telescopes, wondering if this is normal... The 3 locking screws at the back of the telescope are loose - is that normal? 

[Alan White]

What have I been observing you ask, well Weather Apps and forecast and my bank balance at present.

The danger in poor weather is a twitching buy it finger on the internet!

 

[Pixies]

4 minutes ago, KevS said:

I dread to think what the outcome would be if I plotted an expense/usage graph on XL to derive £/hr for AP and astronomy in general. I have purchased some comparatively expensive cycles over the years, but at least I can use them when it's cloudy.🙄 Having said that I feel a new camera coming on🤣

I see a lot of references to bikes. Is there a correlation between astronomy and bikes? (Visual vs Astrophotography) VS (road vs MTB)?

Anyway - back to Dannomiss' last question...

8 hours ago, Dannomiss said:

The 3 locking screws at the back of the telescope are loose - is that normal? 

You mean the 3 primary mirror collimation locking screws? There appears to be 2 schools of thought. I guess most would say you need to tighten them up once you have collimated the primary with the 3 adjusting screws. However, they can throw out the collimation slightly. The other school says don't bother with them if you are happy collimating the primary at each use.

I'm in the first camp (although a newbie). You can see how they alter the collimation if you are a less than very gentle. I treat them as the final stage of collimation - like a fine-tune. However, don't tighten them too much, as they will just take over collimation duties from the main adjusters.

[Dannomiss]

13 minutes ago, Pixies said:

You mean the 3 primary mirror collimation locking screws?

That's the ones - on the primary. I noticed they are really loose last night because the screws rattle. I haven't started or tried any collimation yet (if it's needed) too scared to adjust anything yet as Not even sure how to do it or if I understand instructions lol

[Pixies]

1 minute ago, Dannomiss said:

That's the ones - on the primary. I noticed they are really loose last night because the screws rattle. I haven't started or tried any collimation yet (if it's needed) too scared to adjust anything yet as Not even sure how to do it or if I understand instructions lol

If it's cloudy, now's the time to learn. And if the locking screws are loose, then it will probably need a quick tune up.

Plenty of expertise on here. I've found the following 2 resources were excellent:

https://garyseronik.com/a-beginners-guide-to-collimation/

http://www.astro-baby.com/astrobaby/help/collimation-guide-newtonian-reflector/

 

And I hope it goes without saying.. Keep fingers away from the secondary mirror surface. I always wondered with these open heritage designs, how easy it would be for someone to mistakenly get a fingerprint on it?

[Dannomiss]

40 minutes ago, Pixies said:

Plenty of expertise on here. I've found the following 2 resources were excellent:

https://garyseronik.com/a-beginners-guide-to-collimation/

http://www.astro-baby.com/astrobaby/help/collimation-guide-newtonian-reflector/

Brilliant, thanks for these. Will have a read. Going to set aside some time to really understand it. And as one of those articles says. 'Before starting collimation don’t assume that anything is out of kilter and check each element before adjusting anything. ' 🙂

[Nigeyboy]

The new Heritage 150p looks like it will be a really good, value for money scope! As some have said above, it will great to hear how you get on with it once the clouds clear!! I'm looking at my 150-PL right now, and past it through the rain covered patio doors . . . . . been over a week since we have been out together!!!

[Dannomiss]

3 minutes ago, Nigeyboy said:

it will great to hear how you get on with it once the clouds clear!!

I took it out last night, but too much orange light pollution so was disappointing, so will need to go somewhere much darker. I am impatient and realise learning a new scope is going to take time and practice. 🙂

[Nigeyboy]

Yeah, nothing beats a good dark sky site! And after the weekend, the nights will also start to get darker a bit earlier!!

[vindubs]

On 17/06/2020 at 13:25, Skinnypuppy71 said:

My new frac...as you can see...still waiting on the eqm-35.

Yep nice bit of kit.  I own one of these too.