What did the postman bring? V2

[cajen2]

2 hours ago, Zermelo said:

DHL delivered the Bresser 10" that I bought on sale:

 

 

I'm glad I didn't go for a 12" !  This will be quite enough to handle.

I've not used a Dob before, but I'm quite happy with the build and finish of this one, in the lounge at least.

I'll be replacing the Bresser finder shoes with some Synta-type ones that I have already. I'll be using one of my RACIs instead of the supplied finder, and I need to decide whether to pair it with a red dot or fit a Telrad base. I already have a magnetic inclinometer, and I'll investigate some sort of printed setting circles.  The Hexafoc focuser is decent enough, and will probably be sufficient, but I might swap in the fine focus kit from my Bresser frac.

Nice job, Z!

I think with the RACI, the RDF will be fine but I know others are addicted to Telrads.... Suck it and see.

Fine focus is so good to have....😉

[Roy Challen]

On 19/01/2024 at 19:36, Stu said:

A SvBony 3 to 8mm zoom for me. Having borrowed Paul’s and been very impressed by it, I ordered one and it came very quickly. Been viewing Jupiter with it tonight, though the seeing is not great.

 

On 19/01/2024 at 19:49, glafnazur said:

These keep getting great write ups so I have gone ahead and ordered one.

Check that the barrel doesn't contact the mirror/prism in your diagonals. The barrel is quite long, and does make contact with the diagonal I use.

A parfocal ring/s solves this, PM me if you want one or both, I have two spare.

Edited January 22 by Roy Challen

[Stu]

1 hour ago, Roy Challen said:

 

Check that the barrel doesn't contact the mirror/prism in your diagonals. The barrel is quite long, and does make contact with the diagonal I use.

A parfocal ring/s solves this, PM me if you want one or both, I have two spare.

Thanks Roy. It’s not an issue normally for me, as I use a 2” Clicklock for binoviewing then put a 1.25” in to use 1.25” eyepieces, that gives enough distance for it not to be an issue. I’ll be mindful though if I use it in my T2 prism with just a 1.25” Clicklock on it. I have a parfocal ring on my Nag Zoom for that reason.

[Alan White]

Postie has been with a little bundle of joy this morning.

Adding to my slowly returning and growing DeLite collection, thanks to @Stridor for this one.

 

and sat with its friends in my Oklop eyepiece bag, that I highly recommend for flexibility and price.

and yesterday a little gift from my friend up north to put my Vixen Porta and tripod in

[Captain Scarlet]

7 hours ago, Alan White said:

Postie has been with a little bundle of joy this morning.

Adding to my slowly returning and growing DeLite collection, thanks to @Stridor for this one.

 

and sat with its friends in my Oklop eyepiece bag, that I highly recommend for flexibility and price.

and yesterday a little gift from my friend up north to put my Vixen Porta and tripod in

Good to see my 13-&-7 siblings getting on with new cousins

[Nigella Bryant]

Just had these two short cables for powering my focuser's from the new Cq350 mount hub. Sooo disappointed it didn't contain snow. They shouldn't say, " may contain snow" if there's not a chance, but I guess their get out clause is, "May." 

Edited January 24 by Nigella Bryant

[LongJohn54]

Last March I was looking for a new scope/camera combination and had pretty much decided on the Askar 107PDQ and a ZWO cmos camera.  However, I saw the Askar 130PDQ and spotted a review at the bottom of the page by someone called Lee who I discovered was @Lee_P   I had a read (excellent review) and looked for images here and on Astrobin.  I found some great images and most (at the time) were taken with the ZWO 2600MC camera.   So, a change of plan.  I bought the bigger scope and priced up the camera, OAG and guide camera and set about getting the extra cash needed.   Whilst saving I noticed ZWO had released a new camera, the ZWO 2600MC Duo with a built in guide camera.  Wooo, interesting. 😁  Another change of plan.  The only problem was there were none available.   FLO showed out of stock all summer and into the autumn.   Then FLO/ZWO had a black friday sale.  £250(ish) off.  Can't ignore that so I hit the buy button and sat back and waited. And waited.  On 8th January I emailed FLO asking for an update and within the hour had a reply from Grant. (Excellent response as usual).  There were manufacturing delays on anything with the 2600 imaging chip but the camera should be arriving soon.

No snow 🤣

but hiding underneath was a very smart box.  Inside the box was (after carefully opening and unpacking)

Am I excited?

[Lee_P]

1 hour ago, LongJohn54 said:

Last March I was looking for a new scope/camera combination and had pretty much decided on the Askar 107PDQ and a ZWO cmos camera.  However, I saw the Askar 130PDQ and spotted a review at the bottom of the page by someone called Lee who I discovered was @Lee_P   I had a read (excellent review) and looked for images here and on Astrobin.  I found some great images and most (at the time) were taken with the ZWO 2600MC camera.   So, a change of plan.  I bought the bigger scope and priced up the camera, OAG and guide camera and set about getting the extra cash needed.   Whilst saving I noticed ZWO had released a new camera, the ZWO 2600MC Duo with a built in guide camera.  Wooo, interesting. 😁  Another change of plan.  The only problem was there were none available.   FLO showed out of stock all summer and into the autumn.   Then FLO/ZWO had a black friday sale.  £250(ish) off.  Can't ignore that so I hit the buy button and sat back and waited. And waited.  On 8th January I emailed FLO asking for an update and within the hour had a reply from Grant. (Excellent response as usual).  There were manufacturing delays on anything with the 2600 imaging chip but the camera should be arriving soon.

No snow 🤣

but hiding underneath was a very smart box.  Inside the box was (after carefully opening and unpacking)

Am I excited?

This is great to hear, you're going to have a brilliant time with the 130PHQ and 2600MC Duo!

[Alan White]

3 hours ago, Nigella Bryant said:

Sooo disappointed it didn't contain snow. They shouldn't say, " may contain snow" if there's not a chance, but I guess their get out clause is, "May." 

Nigella, I fully understand, but how would you feel if the snow had melted and
made all the new kit wet through?    
Always a positive outcome 😉

 

[Nigella Bryant]

27 minutes ago, Alan White said:

Nigella, I fully understand, but how would you feel if the snow had melted and
made all the new kit wet through?    
Always a positive outcome 😉

 

I thought of that to Alan, 😆 

[Stu1smartcookie]

Enough of this snow talk ! ( although I do prefer it to rain … hey, I’m talking about it now zzz)   

Anyway back to business. The parcel butchers that are DHL or as they will now be known as DropHideLose your parcel ! Slung my new scope off the van as witnessed by a colleague , but luckily everything survived, including my new 180 Maksutov from FLO . 
Already tried it out in the moon , which is all but full . And I was indoors , the views were predictably brilliant . However , a couple of gripes … why do we still get the 2” visual back without a compression ring ? Why include the two pathetic EPs ( you know the ones you get with an st80, and why do we have to suffer the cheapo 2”diagonal which seems to be thrown together using a couple of pieces of old iron?

sort it out Sky-Watcher ! 
especially as the scope looks so beautiful

[Mandy D]

7 minutes ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

Why include the two pathetic EPs ( you know the ones you get with an st80, and why do we have to suffer the cheapo 2”diagonal which seems to be thrown together using a couple of pieces of old iron?

What? You get eyepieces and a diagonal thrown in for 'free'? 😁

I'm surprised, on a scope of this calibre, that you get any of that. My iOptron RC6 had none of that and not even a finder of any type. I actually prefer that they do not supply me with these cheap accessories, so I can put the money saved towards quality ones. I understand supplying the complete kit when it is a beginner scope, but this really isn't.

Hopefully, you will enjoy it.

[Stu1smartcookie]

10 minutes ago, Mandy D said:

What? You get eyepieces and a diagonal thrown in for 'free'? 😁

I'm surprised, on a scope of this calibre, that you get any of that. My iOptron RC6 had none of that and not even a finder of any type. I actually prefer that they do not supply me with these cheap accessories, so I can put the money saved towards quality ones. I understand supplying the complete kit when it is a beginner scope, but this really isn't.

Hopefully, you will enjoy it.

Absolutely, this scope isn’t aimed at beginners so just lower the price and let us choose the accessories. 

[bosun21]

10 hours ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

Enough of this snow talk ! ( although I do prefer it to rain … hey, I’m talking about it now zzz)   

Anyway back to business. The parcel butchers that are DHL or as they will now be known as DropHideLose your parcel ! Slung my new scope off the van as witnessed by a colleague , but luckily everything survived, including my new 180 Maksutov from FLO . 
Already tried it out in the moon , which is all but full . And I was indoors , the views were predictably brilliant . However , a couple of gripes … why do we still get the 2” visual back without a compression ring ? Why include the two pathetic EPs ( you know the ones you get with an st80, and why do we have to suffer the cheapo 2”diagonal which seems to be thrown together using a couple of pieces of old iron?

sort it out Sky-Watcher ! 
especially as the scope looks so beautiful

Lovely scope Stu. I am considering buying one for myself for the planets next apparition. What are you going to mount it on? 

[Stu1smartcookie]

2 hours ago, bosun21 said:

Lovely scope Stu. I am considering buying one for myself for the planets next apparition. What are you going to mount it on? 

This is my next project Ian , as I don’t have a tracking mount . At present I am using the sabre mount which is brilliant for visual and holds both the 200 newt and the  Mak . I need a quiet mount . The AVX I had was far too noisy and would have disturbed the neighbours kids especially on those late summer evenings . I also want something light in weight . My mate has an AM5 and I was looking at the AM3 , maybe the option equivalent? .. a bit too expensive at present so I thought about an EQ5 with motors as I am not into AP . I have the staresense unit so I can manually slew to the target and then start tracking .Anyway enough to ponder 

Stu

Edited January 25 by Stu1smartcookie
Spelling

[Littleguy80]

Pack of grub screws to replace a missing one from my Tak MEF3 microfocuser. If anyone else is missing one then give me a shout as I have spares  

[SuburbanMak]

Joining the SV Bony 3-8mm Zoom club…

 

[glafnazur]

On 25/01/2024 at 22:22, SuburbanMak said:

Joining the SV Bony 3-8mm Zoom club…

 

Used mine for the first time tonight on Jupiter and I was well impressed with how it performed.

[Space Oddities]

Le postier delivered this nice ASI533MM Pro camera this morning. Courtesy of a French gentleman who is sadly stopping the hobby due to health problems. I can't help but feel a bit like a vulture, when someone sells their equipment due to health issues... At least the camera will be put to good use. 

I wasn't planning on getting this camera yet, but the seller was offering a fair price, and I figured I could sell my ASI1600MM for the same price. So it's more of a swap, really.

Somehow I still consider this an upgrade over the venerable ASI1600MM. The sensor is slightly smaller and square, but with a much better tech inside: no amp glow, better sensitivity, better dynamic range... And less vignette with my 1.25" filters. And easier rotations since it's a square sensor.

Oh and farewell, microlensing effect! You won't be missed!  

[Stu1smartcookie]

33 minutes ago, Space Oddities said:

I can't help but feel a bit like a vulture, when someone sells their equipment due to health issues... At least the camera will be put to good use. 

No need to feel like that ( although understandable in the circumstances ) , i'm sure the seller is very happy that you will get the use from the camera

 

[Kon]

Not the post man but me doing a 5hr round trip to Essex to collect an almost brand  new 12" goto. 8" next to it for comparison. 

[Saganite]

Very nice  !

Hope you enjoy that .

[Saganite]

This beauty arrived a short while ago, the only one of the range I have not tried before.  I also have the Pentax XW 3.5mm so maybe a comparison is on the cards, though  I know which one I am keeping already....

[Saganite]

This Lyra Optic 102mm f11 was collected a week ago but had first light last night.  

Edited January 31 by Saganite

[Stu1smartcookie]

14 minutes ago, Saganite said:

This Lyra Optic 102mm f11 was collected a week ago but had first light last night.  

I recognise that scope ... its certainly found a wonderful home