Show us your set up in action during the day.

[wookie1965]

Set up for tonight just catching the moon. 

Edited June 4, 2023 by wookie1965

[MalcolmM]

6 hours ago, Roy Challen said:

You've seen it many times before, but here is my Skylight this morning. Seeing was terrible so I went for a walk. Now I see that @Peter Drew has spotted a huge outburst when I am at least an hour from home 😄

Awesome is a very overused word these days, but that scope ... Awesome! Beautiful! It must be at least f100 🙂

Malcolm 

[Roy Challen]

8 hours ago, MalcolmM said:

Awesome is a very overused word these days, but that scope ... Awesome! Beautiful! It must be at least f100 🙂

Malcolm 

f/100, that would be fun! That would make it 7.6 metres in length😄

It is a very good white light and lunar scope, not so good for stars and DSOs. Very conveniently, it has the same tube diameter as my FS60, hence it fits the cradle you see in the pic.

[mce]

Sunshine in Lancashire!

[wookie1965]

5 hours ago, mce said:

Sunshine in Lancashire!

Nice Tal mine is exactly the same have you got the plastic dew shield.

[mce]

56 minutes ago, wookie1965 said:

Nice Tal mine is exactly the same have you got the plastic dew shield.

Yes. Perhaps not its best feature though. In fact, mine arrived with a crack in it, but it serves its purpose.

I only recently realised that the Tal finder shoe is screwed into standard M4 threaded holes, so a Baader universal finder shoe is a straight swap using a couple of hex socket screws. Hence the Sky Surfer V. Not that there is anything wrong with the Tal finder, but the SSV is excellent for finding the sun.

[Gonariu]

To see the Sun I use an achromatic 80/400 (Konus Vista) bought two years ago and a full aperture glass filter, to improve the contrast I put a W58 green filter, a Vixen 8-24 zoom in the eyepiece. The whole thing is put on a photographic tripod. I like this scope for the images it gives and for its portability.

[ArmyAirForce]

Just checking back through this thread and saw that I posted pictures of my old micro observatory around April 2022. At the time, I'd only just started work on my replacement observatory, following moving house. The new observatory is finished now, bar odd small tweaks here and there. It's a dual pier design, one for solar system with my Skywatcher Explorer 200PDS and one for deep sky with my Evostar 80ED. The roof wasn't quite finished in the first picture, but it's the only daylight image I have with the roof open.

[Paz]

The view from under the hood, warming the quark up for some solar. 

[laudropb]

Left my SW ED72 out after a solar session. Had a quick look at the moon but want to see if I can get the SN in M101 with this scope when it gets darker. I have managed to get it with my DOB and my ED 120 so here’s hoping.

[Neil H]

My toys 127 refractor ready for tonight . Solarscout working right now I am not sure about the micro usb wearing so am using magnetic right angle lead so I don't have to keep pulling lead out 

[JeremyS]

[John]

A little white light solar with my travel 70mm ED. Sub-5kg including the tripod and mount so very portable and compact:

 

[Sunshine]

A super wide shot highlights the beautiful blue sky this morning, making the Lunt look tiny 😄

[Dave scutt]

No solar scope yet , so using my 80mm finder scope . The views of the sun spots are still pretty decent. 

@JeremyS you need one of these there self emptying , just wish she would eat the buttercups and daisies. 

 

[Stu]

Using the FS-60Q on Venus this evening.

[paul mc c]

We bit of solar....

[Hawksmoor]

My mini rig with 66mm Altair Astro ED refractor, Star Adventurer and new QHY5111 series camera doing some solar white light video clips from our backyard .

[Franklin]

Trying out my mini-rig with a bit of WL solar today. The FL55SS is super-sharp, love it. The Mobile Porta is very light, has slo-mo's and folds up compactly but it's also a bit on the wobbly side, a compromise really.

 

[mikeDnight]

 Here's my Taky DZ with a Baader solar film filter playing in the Sun this afternoon. 

[josefk]

I was hoping to grab a super low contrast sketch of the moon this morning - i perversely quite like a ghostly moon against a bright blue sky. Sadly it was too hazy for anything decent today. It was a pleasant hour in the park nonetheless...

 

[Franklin]

More solar viewing today, this time with the 80mm F/11.4 achromatic. The long focal length combined with the solar continuum filter creates images that are very sharp indeed, in fact I see no difference between this and the SD81 regards definition. Easier to pump up the magnification with longer focal length eyepieces as well, today I was using my part collection of Vixen silver-top plossl's (2nd generation), they really do go well with this particular scope.

 

[Vroobel]

46 minutes ago, Franklin said:

More solar viewing today, this time with the 80mm F/11.4 achromatic. The long focal length combined with the solar continuum filter creates images that are very sharp indeed, in fact I see no difference between this and the SD81 regards definition. Easier to pump up the magnification with longer focal length eyepieces as well, today I was using my part collection of Vixen silver-top plossl's (2nd generation), they really do go well with this particular scope.

 

I should try my A80M as well. Together with bino (x1.6 and x2.0) and pairs of ortho 9mm and 7mm should give not much worse result than the 102ED F/11. 

[Franklin]

19 minutes ago, Vroobel said:

I should try my A80M as well.

You won't be disappointed, but the 102ed F/11 will have greater resolution. The more I use the A80M the more I like it, as a grab and go all-rounder it never fails to perform. Plus, being a relatively cheap and robust kind of scope, I can just leave it in the shed ready for rapid deployment! Setting up the SD115 on the SXD2 and going through all the goto alignment takes a bit more time and effort, which I have to reserve for extended sessions when it's forecast clear all night and I don't have work next day.

[Vroobel]

24 minutes ago, Franklin said:

You won't be disappointed, but the 102ed F/11 will have greater resolution. The more I use the A80M the more I like it, as a grab and go all-rounder it never fails to perform. Plus, being a relatively cheap and robust kind of scope, I can just leave it in the shed ready for rapid deployment! Setting up the SD115 on the SXD2 and going through all the goto alignment takes a bit more time and effort, which I have to reserve for extended sessions when it's forecast clear all night and I don't have work next day.

That makes sense. Recently I made marks of my CGX tripod legs on paving tiles that I use as a foundation in the garden, so will try it soon whether it keeps PA (14") or not. Then I'll be ready quite quickly forthe precise solar astrophotography. I have also similar marks in front of the house for EQ5, which I only move there at day and back to home, nothing is adjusted.