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Wishlist (don't show your husband/wife/partner/bank manager)

Mr Thingy

By Mr Thingy
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Mr Thingy

Mr Thingy

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Cloudy days, hence daydreaming about my next purchases. I'm sure many of you are in the same boat and have a wishlist of astro gear you want/plan to buy.

I'm interested to see your plans and what your goals are - just don't tell your husband/wife/partner.

I'll start with mine (in priority order):

- OIII and SII 7NM NB filters, to complete my set of imaging filters

- Polar camera

- Observing chair

- A Dobby (12"+)

- Electronic camera rotator 

- SCT or RC scope for imaging (may need an upgraded mount for this).

 

Goals: completing the tools I want for AP and automating as much as possible. The idea being to make time to observe whilst the AP gear is doing it's thing. 

Still awaiting my HEQ5 though (ordered 4 months ago, but should be here before Xmas), so I'm yet to get into AP and learn the ropes and work out if it allows me time for observing. 

I have various observing scopes (refractors), and a CST and a Newtonian in the past, but never owned a Dobby, yet it's probably the scope I should have bought all along to meet my needs. The simplicity and power of them really appeals to me and I'm still fit enough to lug a heavy one around. 

-Thingy-

Edited by Mr Thingy
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Mr Thingy
Mr Thingy

I should have stipulated to avoid highly unrealistic wishes 😆

cloudsweeper
cloudsweeper

I've got a nice visual line-up, so would only add say a 190MN (for sharp images of really tight doubles), and a dedicated solar 'scope. But above all - a remote cottage in a very dark location wh

Mr Spock
Mr Spock

Yeah, she said I'd spent too much money on astro, and some stuff had to go. It did - I helped her pack...

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Craney

Craney

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"don't show your husband/wife/partner"  ........

and Bank Manager..!!!!

43 minutes ago, tooth_dr said:

My wishlist:   ....

QHY268M

 

Yes, looking forward to the 268 Mono.   

That will keep imagers happy for a few years with the technological advancement it brings, as well as hopefully creating a surge of still very capable wider field CCD's on the second hand market.

 

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Mr Thingy

Mr Thingy

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9 minutes ago, Craney said:

"don't show your husband/wife/partner"  ........

and Bank Manager..!!!!

Yes, looking forward to the 268 Mono.   

 

You are right. I modified the title accordingly. 😁

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tooth_dr

tooth_dr

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8 minutes ago, Craney said:

"don't show your husband/wife/partner"  ........

and Bank Manager..!!!!

Yes, looking forward to the 268 Mono.   

That will keep imagers happy for a few years with the technological advancement it brings, as well as hopefully creating a surge of still very capable wider field CCD's on the second hand market.

 

My problem is that the colour version is on 'sale' now so my hand may be forced

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John

John

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24 minutes ago, Peter Drew said:

I don't have an equipment wish list, can't think of anything I would like that I haven't already got.    🙂

I'm in a similar, fortunate, position. Need to get rid of some stuff really.

I could do with some more clear skies though but I suspect that will be on everybodys wish list :smiley:

 

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Mr Thingy

Mr Thingy

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32 minutes ago, John said:

I'm in a similar, fortunate, position. Need to get rid of some stuff really.

I could do with some more clear skies though but I suspect that will be on everybodys wish list :smiley:

 

That's a nice place to be. Best for bank balance too.

Hopefully after my list is complete I'll be able to resist the urge to upgrade more. 

A friend suggested that I moved house to find better skies and views. Maybe I should add to my wishlist.... My wife may know I'm up to something if I spend most of my time in the garden with a compass during any viewing 🤭

Edited by Mr Thingy
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Luke

Luke

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Dear Santa,

3. Solar scope / filter

We'd like to replace our Quarks. Not sure with what yet and it depends on funds. Lunt 50 or 60? SolarMax 90? Solar Spectrum? Ideally, 90mm upwards, but a 50mm would be lovely too.

2. Skywatcher ED150

Feels like it would complete my frac lineup (60, 85, 100, 120), and I really like my Skywatcher ED100 and ED120. If a HEQ5 mount would be sufficient for it, that would be a plus.

1. 12 or 14 inch dob

We sold our 16 Inch Flextube goto dob as it was very heavy for me and I had a knee injury. We currently have a 10 inch dob with okay optics, that is very easy to handle. We'd like more aperture and better optics and a much lighter option than the 16, with a solid tube.

The short Orion Optics UK 14 inch might fit the bill, though price new is difficult. I wish they still did the Skywatcher 12" solid tube!

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Moonshed

Moonshed

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To live in a country that’s warm and dry, has permanently clear skies and zero light pollution, then I will get down to making my astro list.

(I actually thought I had  achieved practically all of the above when we left the UK to live on the outskirts of a small village in Spain, it was great, until 6 months later ill health forced me back again. You just can’t win!)

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Moonshed

Moonshed

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I wonder if we could ever be satisfied? Back in the day when I had to store all my kit in foot lockers and haul them  back and forth from the garage for an hour or two observing my only wish was for a permanent set up. Now I have that, in the form of a shed whereby I store my kit fully assembled and only have to lift it out, my only wish is for an observatory. Once I had that I would of course need a larger scope.....and so on. Does it ever end?

To be honest, although it would be nice to have an observatory, I’m really not that bothered and count myself lucky when I look at what I do have. Would be nice though Santa. 😄

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old_eyes

old_eyes

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Let me see - for the moment I have been eliminating the obvious deficiencies so I am down to various bits and pieces to make better use of what I have, before stretching for major upgrades. So my list would be something like:

  • Side-by-side mounting bar so that I can mount standard and widefield rig at the same time and not have to mess around changing everything over.
  • One of those JTD telescope adjuster thingies to keep everything aligned.
  • A cloud sensor/weather station so that I can safely run all night AND sleep.
  • A magic box of bits that always contains the bolt, adapter, spacer, cable I need.

Longer term:

  • An all-sky camera - cool but definitely not essential
  • 8-inch RASA - to take advantage of the infrequent gaps in the cloud.

Oh! and probably top of the list:

  • Some better processing skills.
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MylesGibson

MylesGibson

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There are a few things I would love to own, but with a few things in life about to take up a vast majority of my funds, it'll be a dream for a few years at least!

  • Wide field triplet refractor
  • RC for narrow FOV imaging
  • Large (16" +) Dob for visual use
  • EQ6-R or equivalent mount
  • Top end mono camera
  • Various RGB/narrowband filters with filter wheel
  • Some clear skies
  • A wife who understands the need for new gear!
Edited by MylesGibson
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discardedastro

discardedastro

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Oh, man, it's got to be the observatory to start with for my imaging. Everything else comes after.

  • Fully-automated dome or roll-off obsy
  • I want to "perfect" my Newtonian imaging setup - probably a carbon tube 300mm w/ some very good optics
  • Something long-focal-length for planetary work would be lovely, thinking 400mm+ Dob or similar, plus a planetary camera/filter set
  • Big 2"+ filter wheel and a matching set of Chroma/Astrodon 3nm filters for narrowband
  • Just a nice simple visual observing setup but done well - something like a Rowan AZ mount and a 100mm Takahashi, few more TV eyepieces etc.

And I'll be done by the time I retire, I reckon (and I'm not yet 30!)

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Mr Thingy

Mr Thingy

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11 minutes ago, discardedastro said:

Oh, man, it's got to be the observatory to start with for my imaging. Everything else comes after.

  • Fully-automated dome or roll-off obsy
  • I want to "perfect" my Newtonian imaging setup - probably a carbon tube 300mm w/ some very good optics
  • Something long-focal-length for planetary work would be lovely, thinking 400mm+ Dob or similar, plus a planetary camera/filter set
  • Big 2"+ filter wheel and a matching set of Chroma/Astrodon 3nm filters for narrowband
  • Just a nice simple visual observing setup but done well - something like a Rowan AZ mount and a 100mm Takahashi, few more TV eyepieces etc.

And I'll be done by the time I retire, I reckon (and I'm not yet 30!)

I keep thinking about an Obsy but my garden just isn't right for one. I have fairly good views, a little but obscured to the West by my house, but I have to move around the garden depending on which direction I want to view. Do they sell Observatories on wheels? 🤭

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discardedastro

discardedastro

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2 minutes ago, Mr Thingy said:

I keep thinking about an Obsy but my garden just isn't right for one. I have fairly good views, a little but obscured to the West by my house, but I have to move around the garden depending on which direction I want to view. Do they sell Observatories on wheels? 🤭

Sort of what I've done so far - the rig lives under a Telegizmos 365 cover and I can move it all around if I need to. But it can't wake up for those clear skies at 1am and put itself away again at 5am, and neither can I!

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Paz

Paz

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In terms of gear I'm lucky that I've got most of the things I've had on my hit list. There's only a few things left. In the short term finding the ideal eyepieces for binoviewing, and in the longer term a Ha visual solar set up and also a night-vision visual set up for deep sky observing if the prices come down far enough in my lifetime! 

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bomberbaz

bomberbaz

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I am with Moonshed in that a permanent setup (obvs) would be nice but where I live it isn't practical (or really affordable).

I have a great main viewing setup with high end glass but my other glass I use with the mak, frac and P-DS is all fairly mid range stuff but it does the job.

However if it was money is no problem option I could see most of it easily replaced with televue Delites and Delos or maybe Nikon Nav SW eyepieces. 

Oh I might think about eye surgery to remove my astigmatism

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