Finally got the team back together….

[Stu]

It’s been a long few months spent getting sorted out from our move down to Somerset, but the other day I picked up the last remaining bits of my kit from my parents.

I’ve bought and sold a fair bit of kit recently, and hopefully am at a stage now where I’ve got most bases covered. It’s good to have the 8” f8 down here now for some convenient aperture; I’m looking forward to giving it a go on Jupiter and Saturn soon.

The 16” f4.2 truss dob should be fab under my now darker skies, and I’ll be able to get it down towards the coast for even darker skies, mag 21.3 or maybe more.

The LZOS 130mm will hopefully be great on a wide range of targets from lunar and planetary to widefield DSO and globs etc. I’ve picked up a 13mm and 21mm ethos to help get the best out of it too.

I also want to get much more use out for the Celestron zombies (by which I mean Omni, thanks John 🤣) 120mm f8.3, largely for white light solar which it should excel at.

Looking forward to some better weather and clear skies! Reports to follow, but it’s been pouring all day and is cloudy now!

[Saganite]

Good on you Stu, now get down to it and report as you used to.....

[Captain Scarlet]

And how about that glaring gap at 12” Stu? I know you have something up your sleeve there…

M

PS I just came back from eating out and arriving home the sky was beautifully clear. Skipping inside to grab some binoculars, when I stepped back outside it was clouded over and raining. Space of 60 seconds!

Edited October 2, 2021 by Captain Magenta

[Saganite]

4 minutes ago, Captain Magenta said:

And how about that glaring gap at 12” Stu? I know you have something up your sleeve there…

M

Pray tell .....

[Deadlake]

Great line up Stu. You have some great scopes for deep sky observation.

I wonder if you have any other incoming kit for DSO viewing?

[John]

Glad you have got all your astro gear down to Somerset Stu. Some great equipment in your line up now

By the way, is the Celestron zombies a new model or a mangling of Omni ?

Zombie might be a good name for a scope model though - one that just keeps coming back for more !

 

[Stu]

25 minutes ago, Captain Magenta said:

And how about that glaring gap at 12” Stu? I know you have something up your sleeve there…

M

PS I just came back from eating out and arriving home the sky was beautifully clear. Skipping inside to grab some binoculars, when I stepped back outside it was clouded over and raining. Space of 60 seconds!

Yes indeed Magnus! I have a 12” truss dob chassis, bought a few years back and waiting to fit your mirror set into. The garage is just about workable now so I should be able to make so progress. Trouble is, Mrs Stu wants a desk building for her office, and some shelves, and…. 😱🤣

[Stu]

Just now, John said:

Glad you have got all your astro gear down to Somerset Stu. Some great equipment in your line up now

By the way, is the Celestron zombies a new model or a mangling of Omni ?

Zombie might be a good name for a scope model though - one that just keeps coming back for more !

 

Tee hee! That one got past me I’m afraid. Yes, Celestron Omni it is! 🤣🤣 Very nice scope it is too.

[Stu]

17 minutes ago, Deadlake said:

Great line up Stu. You have some great scopes for deep sky observation.

I wonder if you have any other incoming kit for DSO viewing?

I’m all done I reckon. The 16” is very manageable and should be excellent for DSOs from here.

[RobertI]

Well done Stu, I expect your scopes are all very relieved to be reunited with you. 😁 Enjoy your lovely west country skies.  

[Alan White]

Great location and great scopes = great enjoyment.

 

[JeremyS]

Great stuff Stu. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
But what about the Peashooter?

[Stu]

13 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Great stuff Stu. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
But what about the Peashooter?

Well remembered Jeremy. It is currently gracing my office 😀👍

 

[JeremyS]

56 minutes ago, Stu said:

Well remembered Jeremy. It is currently gracing my office 😀👍

 

Phew. That’s a relief Stu. It’s a nice scope. Especially for those of us with inverse aperture fever 😊

[F15Rules]

12 hours ago, Stu said:

Yes indeed Magnus! I have a 12” truss dob chassis, bought a few years back and waiting to fit your mirror set into. The garage is just about workable now so I should be able to make so progress. Trouble is, Mrs Stu wants a desk building for her office, and some shelves, and…. 😱🤣

Its just a matter of evaluating two things, Stu..

1. What are your "really, truly" priorities?

2. How much do you value your "soft bits"??

😱🤣

Dave

[Nigella Bryant]

Great the astro move went well. Welcome to the South West of England where it rains eight days out of seven.  Did the boxes say "May contain cloud's" lol. 

[JeremyS]

14 minutes ago, Nigella Bryant said:

Great the astro move went well. Welcome to the South West of England where it rains eight days out of seven.  Did the boxes say "May contain cloud's" lol. 

I wonder whether @Stu has discovered the scrumpy yet, though 🤔

[Stu]

33 minutes ago, Nigella Bryant said:

Great the astro move went well. Welcome to the South West of England where it rains eight days out of seven.  Did the boxes say "May contain cloud's" lol. 

It does seem that way Nigella, today being no exception, although we’ve just had a nice sunny morning on the beach at Lyme Regis 👍. Some quite dramatic skies and a rain storm out at sea which was nice to watch.

Home now, and it’s raining!

[geoflewis]

Hi @Stu, I've not been following SGL much recently, just dip in and out occaisionally, so imagine my surprise when I saw that you'd moved to Somerset? When did that happen and what part of Somerset are you now residing? My wife and I were going to move from Surrey to the Illmisnster area nearly 6 years ago, but that fell through and we ended up in my native county of Norfolk - me very happy, my wife initially less so, as she'd set her heart on Somerset/Dorset/East Devon region, but 5 1/2 years on, she loves it here 🙂

[Nigella Bryant]

3 minutes ago, Stu said:

It does seem that way Nigella, today being no exception, although we’ve just had a nice sunny morning on the beach at Lyme Regis 👍. Some quite dramatic skies and a rain storm out at sea which was nice to watch.

Home now, and it’s raining!

I love living by the seaside having moved down to Devon nearly two years ago now. 

[John]

41 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

I wonder whether @Stu has discovered the scrumpy yet, though 🤔

Can't have yet - the photos are still quite sharp !

 

[Stu]

21 hours ago, geoflewis said:

Hi @Stu, I've not been following SGL much recently, just dip in and out occaisionally, so imagine my surprise when I saw that you'd moved to Somerset? When did that happen and what part of Somerset are you now residing? My wife and I were going to move from Surrey to the Illmisnster area nearly 6 years ago, but that fell through and we ended up in my native county of Norfolk - me very happy, my wife initially less so, as she'd set her heart on Somerset/Dorset/East Devon region, but 5 1/2 years on, she loves it here 🙂

Hi Geof! You take your eyes off the forum for a moment and people start moving all over the place! 🤣

We finally moved in early August and are now down in Crewkerne. Seems a nice little town, more affordable than being nearer the coast and we have loads of space, basically moving from a 2 up/2 down to a 5/6 bed with lovely big garden for about the same price!
 

We are just over half an hour from the coast which suits Mrs Stu (she loves the sea), and I can see the Milky Way from our back garden finally, and are within 15 mins of mag 21+ skies, so I’m happy too!

Whilst we are in Somerset, we’re very close to both Devon and Dorset so often find ourselves in all three counties when out for a drive.

Glad you are settled in Norfolk 👍

[geoflewis]

11 minutes ago, Stu said:

We finally moved in early August and are now down in Crewkerne. Seems a nice little town, more affordable than being nearer the coast and we have loads of space, basically moving from a 2 up/2 down to a 5/6 bed with lovely big garden for about the same price!

That's excellent Stu. We looked in the Crewkerne area too, I recall it being a nice town. Definitely darker skies there than urban Surrey... . I won't mention it to my wife, or she'll be in a bad mood the rest of the day / next week.....

[Stu]

10 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Phew. That’s a relief Stu. It’s a nice scope. Especially for those of us with inverse aperture fever 😊

Don’t worry Jeremy, the Telementor isn’t going anywhere. I was going to post up a list and description of all my current kit but to be honest it started boring even me, so I just saved it somewhere and decided not to inflict it on you lovely chaps and chappesses 🤣🤣

[F15Rules]

5 minutes ago, Stu said:

Don’t worry Jeremy, the Telementor isn’t going anywhere. I was going to post up a list and description of all my current kit but to be honest it started boring even me, so I just saved it somewhere and decided not to inflict it on you lovely chaps and chappesses 🤣🤣

Well, Stu, I'm sure your equipment list would be less boring to read than Jeremy's list of all the scopes he has that have handles..

Dave