Show us your set up in action during the day.

[IB20]

12 minutes ago, Franklin said:

Your Starbase appears to have morphed into a full blown Tak.👍

I couldn’t stop the Takitis, like a bad ear worm. My 16 month old will be getting a cracking f10 80mm achromat when he’s old enough though.

The alt-az mount and tripod from the SB80 and the Tak are a beautiful pairing though! 

 

[badhex]

Had a little play around this afternoon to see how my sadly underused 80ED fares on the Scopetech mount zero and aluminium SW tripod. 

Not great not terrible - like the man said. Definitely the tripod at fault, though. 

[IB20]

14 minutes ago, badhex said:

Had a little play around this afternoon to see how my sadly underused 80ED fares on the Scopetech mount zero and aluminium SW tripod. 

Not great not terrible - like the man said. Definitely the tripod at fault, though. 

Quite surprised at the size of that scope against the Zero. Are you thinking about upgrading the tripod? 

[900SL]

Setting up in a remote wadi SSW of Riyadh yesterday. 

 

 

[maw lod qan]

1 minute ago, 900SL said:

Setting up in a remote wadi SSW of Riyadh yesterday. 

 

 

I can only imagine what the sky must look like there!

[900SL]

4 minutes ago, maw lod qan said:

I can only imagine what the sky must look like there!

Full of dust and moths and bats

 

It was pretty good this weekend, the Khamsin has abated for a while so high pressure and no wind. Clouds? I see no clouds

 

 

Edited April 2, 2022 by 900SL

[westmarch]

And scorpions!  We regularly had people brought in to the local hospitals with scorpion stings. Watch out, especially at dusk.

John

[900SL]

7 minutes ago, westmarch said:

And scorpions!  We regularly had people brought in to the local hospitals with scorpion stings. Watch out, especially at dusk.

John

No worries, I know them by name the Fattail and the innocuously named Deathstalker. We have UV lights. They show up bright white. My mate got stung in the back a couple of years ago and I've been stung in the toe. Like having a red hot sewing needle slowly inserted over several minutes into my toe. 

 

Fattail, these move quickly    

 

I'm more wary of the vipers. They could spoil your day

Edited April 2, 2022 by 900SL

[IB20]

6 minutes ago, 900SL said:

No worries, I know them by name the Fattail and the innocuously named Deathstalker. We have UV lights. They show up bright white. My mate got stung in the back a couple of years ago and I've been stung in the toe. Like having a red hot sewing needle slowly inserted over several minutes into my toe. 

 

Fattail, these move quickly    

 

I'm more wary of the vipers. They could spoil your day

😮😮 yikes!!

[badhex]

47 minutes ago, IB20 said:

Quite surprised at the size of that scope against the Zero. Are you thinking about upgrading the tripod? 

Yes, the subject another another thread and some anguish on my part. The Zero is rated at 7kg but the tripod is only good for my ZS73 really - anything bigger and the stability is frankly shash. 

[Franklin]

49 minutes ago, 900SL said:

I'm more wary of the vipers. They could spoil your day

And we moan about a few midges! 🤣

[IB20]

1 hour ago, badhex said:

Yes, the subject another another thread and some anguish on my part. The Zero is rated at 7kg but the tripod is only good for my ZS73 really - anything bigger and the stability is frankly shash. 

My dream set-up is a Scopetech Zero and Berlebach Report 312. Ended up getting a Tak scope first though 😅. I’d be interested in seeing what you settle for tripod wise though, sturdy and light = 💰💰💰

[badhex]

1 hour ago, IB20 said:

sturdy and light = 💰💰💰

Hence my anguish! A report of the X12 variety seems like a logical option but somehow I'm still not quite convinced. I'd really like a Gitzo 5 series but that are ludicrously expensive 😱

[tooth_dr]

When my dad passed away last year he left behind a slightly tatty LXD-75.

Its working mechanically ok but the paint has bubbled off from the aluminium.  I’m in the process of tidying it up, in the hope to use it for my solar scope.

Plan is to eventually build a small external pier and just leave the mount permanently on it covered with a cover. Keep the scope indoors and mount the solar scope when required, so the scope should be polar aligned 

 Thanks

Adam

 

Edited April 2, 2022 by tooth_dr

[saac]

17 hours ago, Franklin said:

And we moan about a few midges! 🤣

A few would be ok but they tend to go about with back up, raiding parties of a few hundred thousand   Having said that I would happily settle for midges than scorpions any day.

Jim 

[Nigella Bryant]

3 hours ago, saac said:

A few would be ok but they tend to go about with back up, raiding parties of a few hundred thousand   Having said that I would happily settle for midges than scorpions any day.

Jim 

I have to deal with wildcat's falling asleep in the obsy, lol. Sometimes they go around in prides of two, lol. 

[Dave scutt]

First time viewing the sun

[JeremyS]

1 hour ago, Dave scutt said:

First time viewing the sun

Is that to transport your 36” Dob?
 

[Dave scutt]

2 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Is that to transport your 36” Dob?
 

No the boat is on the grass so I can paint the outside of it, I've done the inside 

[Dave scutt]

On 26/04/2022 at 16:32, JeremyS said:

Is that to transport your 36” Dob?
 

Just about fits but I don't think it will float🤣

[rojay]

Looks like the mother of all equatorial platforms!

[PeterStudz]

Here’s my little Skywatcher Skyhawk 1145p doing some solar. And a couple of single shot iPhone snaps taken last Wednesday and Sunday. 

[ArmyAirForce]

I built a micro observatory in 2016, which served me well, day and night until 2021 when I moved house.

I made great use of it and it was ready for the 2016 transit of Mercury.

Since moving house, I'm back to setting up on the patio.

Despite quite a cloudy day, I still caught the June 2021 partial eclipse in Ha and white light.

All is not lost however and in the last couple of weeks, I started building my new 12 x 8ft, dual pier observatory. So far, I have the footings in for the shed and started digging the foundation for the first pier today.

[callisto]

1 hour ago, ArmyAirForce said:

I built a micro observatory in 2016, which served me well, day and night until 2021 when I moved house.

I made great use of it and it was ready for the 2016 transit of Mercury.

Since moving house, I'm back to setting up on the patio.

Despite quite a cloudy day, I still caught the June 2021 partial eclipse in Ha and white light.

All is not lost however and in the last couple of weeks, I started building my new 12 x 8ft, dual pier observatory. So far, I have the footings in for the shed and started digging the foundation for the first pier today.

Your eclipse image is stunning.... love it 

Mark.

 

[Franklin]

The clouds cleared for an hour or so this morning allowing a brief bit of WL. I put the trellis up to shield from the neighbours fairylights but it's going to be a while before the climbing plants cover it.