Hello from Sydney

[rjmd (RJ)]

Hi all,

I am new to the astronomy game but am keen to go star gazing! My girlfriend and I purchased a SkyWatcher Black Diamond ED80 for $600 off someone on EBay who had never even taken the telescope out of the shrink wrap!

I am located south of Sydney in the Sutherland Shire and am currently looking for some good dark spots to do some star gazing. Generally just thought I would say hello here first and see if anyone knows any good spots

-RJ

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

Hi RJ
There is a Sutherland Astro Society which I believe is quite active. Their website is here http://www.sasi.net.au/ . Probably worth contacting.

Oh and Welcome to IIS!!

Malcolm

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

RJ , a very good scopes those ED80's, by the way what mount is it on ? .
Brian.

[hobbit]

greetings fellow shire folk.

[GeoffW1 (Geoff)]

Hi,

The oval at Barden Ridge is a good spot, elevated and as dark as it gets around there. It can be spooky after dark though, I'd try to be there in company.

Then, anywhere on the coast you get a dark sky to the East of course, which gives you good viewing over 1/3 of the sky.

Cheers

[Larryp (Laurie)]

Sutherland Astronomical Society has a fairly good site at Waterfall Oval. They use it every month on the Saturdays closest to new moon.
Worth joining for the help available and they are a friendly bunch.
Much safer observing in a group than alone.

[rjmd (RJ)]

Originally Posted by brian nordstrom

RJ , a very good scopes those ED80's, by the way what mount is it on ? .
Brian.

I am using the Sky Watches AZ3 mount... it barely can handle the weight when i point the damn thing up. The people at Bintel said it would be fine but I find myself having to always trying to balance the weight which is quite fussy.

Link: http://www.bintel.com.au/Mounts---Tr...oductview.aspx

Originally Posted by GeoffW1

The oval at Barden Ridge is a good spot, elevated and as dark as it gets around there. It can be spooky after dark though, I'd try to be there in company.

Do you mean the big sporting complex? They usually shut it off at 9pm and up until that time all the lights are on... :/

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

Welcome RJ!

Sounds like this is one of or a combination of two factors...

Balance point - you may need move the scope dovetail through the clamp one way or another to get better balance. Do this with a diagonal and eyepiece attached so that you can simulate real balance. Just don't let go of the scope at any time!

Friction clutches - all mounts should have these - even my little travel tripod has them! You should try tightening at least the altitude clutch, but only once you have balanced the scope on the mount. The 'right' amount of friction/tension may take a little fiddling to find...you want it just right so that you can track objects smoothly, but not so much that your scope flops around.

The Bintel guys are right (they're good guys!) - the AZ3 should easily carry that scope.

[hobbit]

There's a couple off the road/side of the road spots in the nasho that could be used

[omegacrux (David)]

Hi RJ
I think you will always struggle with that mount .
The pivot point is below the scope so as soon as you move it , it gets tippy
So you end up having to tighten the ra screw right up
Start saving and get a vixen porta or gso SkyView alt-az they are so much better

David