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Gazereths

By Gazereths
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Gazereths

Gazereths

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Hi all Gaz here.

I'm just really getting started at the astronomy game. I have owned a telescope for a few years now but never really got into it until this lockdown business started. I'm guessing a lot of people have taken up the hobby, especially looking at all the out of stock telescopes and equipment online lately.

 

Current equipment is:

  • Skywatcher 130 newtonian reflector on a an EQ2 mount
  •  Celestron C90 maksutov on a Omegon mini dobsonion mount (scope was free from my Dad!!)
  •  32mm Celestron Plossl, 25mm no name plossl, 10mm no name plossl, 8mm BST Starguider ED, no name 2x barlow
  •  T2 adapter ring for my A6000 Sony mirrorless camera
  •  * I have a 15mm Celestron omni plossl and matching 2x barlow on the slow boat from China *
  •  * Am looking at the SVBony 23mm aspheric 62° eyepiece as it's cheap (will it be better than the no name 25mm that came with the 130 skywatcher?)

 

I have owned the skywatcher 130 for a few years now but never really got the hang of it, I have trouble polar alligning it to be honest, I'm thinking now the lattitude scale on the mount is slightly off and I need to adjust.  Just waiting for a clear night to see Polaris clearly. It is also a bit of a pain rotating the tube to get the eyepiece in a comfatable location without messing up the balance. But as with everything pratice makes perfect.

My location is just outside of Mansfield in Nottinghamshire so it's pretty badly light polluted, plus I back onto a school that has bright white LED lights on at all times (you'd think they'd shut them off at night but hey ho) and have the new bright white LED street lights on the front :(

To be honest I find myself using the C90 on my windowsill much more than getting the EQ 130 out in the garden, though the 130mm aperture does give better views for general stargazing. But I was surprised to learn the C90 has a longer focal length and therfore higher magnification for a given eyepiece (upto a limit of course)

I haven't seen a great deal yet, mainly the moon and Mars (though it's small atm) The Saturn and Jupiter conjunction was missed due to poor weather. Though I seperated my first double star tonight, Castor in Gemini :D . I doubt any nebulea or galaxies will be visible from my location. If there are any East Midlanders here do you have any recomendations  for a good dark site?

Anyway just looking for like minded people to have a chat with and maybe get some advice on reasonably priced upgrades that would make sense.

 

Clear skys

Gaz

 

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DanWri

DanWri

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Welcome aboard, Gaz. Hope you find someone from your area that can recommend decent dark sites, however you can look at the known ones for yourself in the meantime here (Peak District is probably your best bet). Clear Skies!

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Gazereths

Gazereths

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On 07/01/2021 at 08:33, SStanford said:

Welcome @Gazereths. 

It's certainly true stock is limited! Lot's of members here have their eyes on kit that pops up on the Wanted section.

Who knows when stocks will replenish...

Absolutely, I've been drooling over a new 8-10 inch dob but stock is very scarce.

On 07/01/2021 at 08:33, DanWri said:

Welcome aboard, Gaz. Hope you find someone from your area that can recommend decent dark sites, however you can look at the known ones for yourself in the meantime here (Peak District is probably your best bet). Clear Skies!

Thanks for the link, I thought the peak district would be the best bet, maybe Blue John cavern or 'Surprise View' though I've heard there maybe a few late night "Dog Walkers" 😛 around.

On 07/01/2021 at 08:49, Stu1smartcookie said:

Hi Gaz , welcome ... you could check the latitude angle of the scope by using a smartphone placed against the mount . Might confirm your suspicions .

Ahh good idea, I'll check that next time we get clear skies here, wall to wall fog and clouds tonight :( Although I suppose I could check that anytime night or day really. Would be better to get Polaris in view first though I'm guessing.

On 07/01/2021 at 12:12, banjaxed said:

Hi Gaz, welcome to SGL. I f you can stretch your budget a little bit more I can recommend the SvBony 68 degree eyepieces as imo they are excellent value. 

Yeah I've looked at those also, they look decent for the price, I think I'll pull the trigger on one over the weekend. Thanks :D

Edited by Gazereths
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