#821  
Old 09-02-2009, 09:20 PM
astroron's Avatar
astroron (Ron)
Supernova Searcher

astroron is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Cambroon Queensland Australia
Posts: 9,313
Quote:
Originally Posted by jjjnettie View Post
That's incredible Drew.
My other half has only looked through my scope a couple of dozen times at the most in the past 5 years.
He Doesn't know what he is missing JJJ
Reply With Quote
  #822  
Old 09-02-2009, 10:59 PM
jjjnettie's Avatar
jjjnettie (Jeanette)
Registered User

jjjnettie is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Monto
Posts: 16,738
Quote:
Originally Posted by astroron View Post
He Doesn't know what he is missing JJJ
Thank goodness for that.
I like my new moon weekend escapes.
Reply With Quote
  #823  
Old 14-02-2009, 05:17 PM
Kevnool's Avatar
Kevnool (Kev)
Fast Scope & Fast Engine

Kevnool is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Broken Hill N.S.W
Posts: 3,305
Quote:
Originally Posted by fat200sx View Post
Hi I am new to astonomy I've been pretty interested since high school were we were taken to a local observatory a few times. I was looking at buying an 8" dobsonian but have been offered a 12" skywatcher for 860 delivered.

All you guys seam to be very happy about what you see through your scopes, i just dont want to be disapointed and only see a dot in the scope. So is it worth the extra to get the 12" over the 8". I will mostly be using it in my backyard.

Cheers for your help.

John
As Eric said get the 12" and you,ll never look back then learn the art of mirror collimation............ch eers Kev.
Reply With Quote
  #824  
Old 14-02-2009, 06:32 PM
MacBiggles's Avatar
MacBiggles (Gary)
Registered User

MacBiggles is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Geelong
Posts: 3
Where am I...lost in space...!?

Well, hello all other Astronomiacs and Stargazers...
I am planning to photograph star trails Mk III in Northern Victoria this month (February, at West Summit, Melville Caves, Kooyoora State Park), and would like to know if there is a knowledgeable person out there who can tell me the date when the phase of the moon will have the least (read: NO) illumination, so that a 2-hour time exposure isn't made into daylight as per my last effort (though I got the stars around the SCP, just that the sky was bright 'n blue at midnight...!). Speaking of which, the image may not have come out, but I loved my effort leading up to the night shoot: from campsite, lay out 1km of sticks along a sloping granite plateau leading up to erratics forming the foreground anchor. At the stroke of midnight, I began, but a crescent moon was brighter than anticipated, creating shadows and I knew I was in trouble before I'd started (only had one night to get this done) but went ahead. Set camera, trudge back down to camp following the sticks ... in the pitch of black sticks aren't supposed to move down a slope, so they were undoubtedly snakes, not sticks. Never follow a snake down a granite face: they have much better traction.

I photograph predominantly in film (Provia 100F, Velvia 100F) with EOS 1N, EOS 1N RS, EOS 5 mostly a TS-E perspective control lens for night skies; I do have a digi "instamatic" for recording proceedings on the fly and creating postcard pritns for mailing home and to current/former girlfriend of my travels. I have a few years' experience in landscape and rainforest photographer but startrails and working in the quiet of night is a new 'angle' (a profoundly deaf person like me gets a bit spooked in the dead of night in remote locations, but I persevere).

A subsequent star trails shoot on a friend's property at Yandoit in Central Victoria on 2nd January came out spectacularly well, the only trouble up there being roaming kangaroos.

So... pleased to meet you. MacBiggles is the screen name, but Gary is my real name :-).
Any chance one day I'd get to photograph the Aurora Australis?? That would look extra specky from Federation Peak in SW Tasmania... <sigh>...

May your stars be good stars,
MacB
Reply With Quote
  #825  
Old 14-02-2009, 10:50 PM
Kevnool's Avatar
Kevnool (Kev)
Fast Scope & Fast Engine

Kevnool is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Broken Hill N.S.W
Posts: 3,305
25th of February gary is the new moon ,yes a whole night of no moon so i hope its cloudless on that night for ya .......ya gotta show us the pics.....cheers Kev.
Reply With Quote
  #826  
Old 14-02-2009, 10:52 PM
Kevnool's Avatar
Kevnool (Kev)
Fast Scope & Fast Engine

Kevnool is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Broken Hill N.S.W
Posts: 3,305
P.S Gary look over to the left of the page and click on the moon and it will tell you the moon phases.....cheers Kev.
Reply With Quote
  #827  
Old 15-02-2009, 11:53 AM
MacBiggles's Avatar
MacBiggles (Gary)
Registered User

MacBiggles is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Geelong
Posts: 3
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevnool View Post
P.S Gary look over to the left of the page and click on the moon and it will tell you the moon phases.....cheers Kev.

Thanks Kev,
You're at Broken Hill, fab. How I'd love to be on tht knoll at Silverton under a dark and starry sky!!
Ah, so! Most educational. I thought that "Current Moon" thingy was an advertisement, so steered clear of it (!).
I've marked the calendar for 25th Feb for a spot at Melville Caves under a dark and stormy (sorry, starry) night...
Reply With Quote
  #828  
Old 15-02-2009, 07:14 PM
Kevnool's Avatar
Kevnool (Kev)
Fast Scope & Fast Engine

Kevnool is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Broken Hill N.S.W
Posts: 3,305
Hey Gary that (knoll )Mundi Mundi lookout that you mention is one of our deep sky observing sites.
I hope its clear for you on the 25th......Cheers Kev.
Reply With Quote
  #829  
Old 16-02-2009, 08:29 AM
MacBiggles's Avatar
MacBiggles (Gary)
Registered User

MacBiggles is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Geelong
Posts: 3
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevnool View Post
Hey Gary that (knoll )Mundi Mundi lookout that you mention is one of our deep sky observing sites.
I hope its clear for you on the 25th......Cheers Kev.
Yes, thanks Kev. Got the name right. I was there (Mundi Mundi lookout) in 2003 watching a thunderstorm dance and swirl on the far horizon in the everning. It then amazingly doubled speed and headed straight for our group on that lonely hill. We jumped on our bikes and headed like blazes to the pub. Thunderstorm first, followed by a voracious duststorm, then long ride back to BH. Memorable! On my upcoming return to BH, I have plans to do a double exposure of star trails on UHSP (ultra-high saturation palette film) in two different locations and see what happens...
Reply With Quote
  #830  
Old 21-02-2009, 04:29 PM
mulo (VMulokas)
Registered User

mulo is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Dromana Australia
Posts: 2
Motor for mount EQ4 A

Hello All,I,m looking for a motor to drive my EQ4 A mout and trace stars with 8' feflector,any idea haw these Chinese frflectors mach with the others,loking forward for your coments and advice \,cheers to allad thankyou,mulohttp://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/i...cons/icon7.gif

Last edited by mulo; 22-02-2009 at 09:19 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #831  
Old 24-02-2009, 09:17 PM
Deathstarr's Avatar
Deathstarr (Loz)
Feel My Wrath MWAHAHA

Deathstarr is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Adelaide
Posts: 4
Hey all,
I'm Deathstarr aka Loz, Nice to meet you all !
I'm just starting out basically, havent really had anybody to guide me through the world of astronomy since my uncle died 10 years ago.
Just wondering if anyone can recommend some basic starting out gear for a n00b like myself at a reasonable price etc.
Hopefully someone can help =) if they can it would be MUCH appreciated for many reasons.
Looking forward to my future space adventures !

Loz
Reply With Quote
  #832  
Old 25-02-2009, 09:22 PM
Kevnool's Avatar
Kevnool (Kev)
Fast Scope & Fast Engine

Kevnool is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Broken Hill N.S.W
Posts: 3,305
Hey Loz look up at the skies with binoculars b4 you decide which scope to buy.
Get a planisphere and a set of star charts to have a real decent look around up there.

Get out of the city i looked up at elizabeth one night and couldnt see much through the sky glow.

Cheers Kev.
Reply With Quote
  #833  
Old 25-02-2009, 10:59 PM
desler's Avatar
desler
Registered User

desler is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Werribee, Australia
Posts: 1,053
Loz

Couldn't agree with kev more.


Get a set of Bino's, cheap as, if you shop around. Whatever you decide to do, take a look at some of the beginner posts on this site, especially about buying you first scope and remember, if it's not fun or a pain to setup, you probably won't do it that often.

Once you get hooked though, well that's another story.


Darren
Reply With Quote
  #834  
Old 28-02-2009, 12:35 AM
Deathstarr's Avatar
Deathstarr (Loz)
Feel My Wrath MWAHAHA

Deathstarr is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Adelaide
Posts: 4
Thanks guys =D I really appreciate the help.
Yeah there is a few spots ive got in mind
although surprisingly where I live the light pollution inst TOO bad, but does impact depending on which way you look.
Reply With Quote
  #835  
Old 07-03-2009, 07:19 AM
blackbetty50 (Mike)
Registered User

blackbetty50 is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Adelaide
Posts: 9
Hi all, name is Mike and have recently decided to start looking up a bit more than I used to. I have had a small 114mm f/5 newtonian for a number of years now and finally decided to get something bigger settling on a 200mm f/6 dob. Have bought a few upgraded ep's to go with it and lashed out and bought a 2 inch uw 30mm eyepiece. I must say i am more than happy with the new scope. As a newbie to this i have always seated the ep's all the way into the focuser without a problem, but on placing the 2 inch ep into the focuser i found I could not get anything into focus without raising it about 10mm in the focuser. Are there spacers I can get to place on this lens? Is there a problem with the focuser or lens? Hope someone can advise as the lens when it is focusable is brilliant.
Reply With Quote
  #836  
Old 07-03-2009, 09:11 AM
Kevnool's Avatar
Kevnool (Kev)
Fast Scope & Fast Engine

Kevnool is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Broken Hill N.S.W
Posts: 3,305
Hi Mike and Welcome i wouldnt worry about that to much Lots of scopes do it , Mine also does it , There is another thread here to fix the problem by moveing the mirror up the scope a fraction but i,m happy just to let sit out of the focuser as i dont use low power often, I,m more of a 14mm person.
Cheers Kev.
Reply With Quote
  #837  
Old 07-03-2009, 12:52 PM
Kevnool's Avatar
Kevnool (Kev)
Fast Scope & Fast Engine

Kevnool is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Broken Hill N.S.W
Posts: 3,305
Heres that thread Mike have a read......cheers Kev.

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=39024
Reply With Quote
  #838  
Old 07-03-2009, 03:15 PM
erick's Avatar
erick (Eric)
Starcatcher

erick is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Gerringong
Posts: 8,532
Yes, Mike, we usually just sit them out a bit. If you don't like that, you can buy an extension tube. A 2" 35mm extension tube sells for around $39.
Reply With Quote
  #839  
Old 14-03-2009, 10:47 PM
Chillie's Avatar
Chillie (Henry)
Registered User

Chillie is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Horsham, Victoria
Posts: 443
Quote:
Originally Posted by fat200sx View Post
Hi I am new to astonomy I've been pretty interested since high school were we were taken to a local observatory a few times. I was looking at buying an 8" dobsonian but have been offered a 12" skywatcher for 860 delivered.

All you guys seam to be very happy about what you see through your scopes, i just dont want to be disapointed and only see a dot in the scope. So is it worth the extra to get the 12" over the 8". I will mostly be using it in my backyard.

Cheers for your help.

John
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevnool View Post
As Eric said get the 12" and you,ll never look back then learn the art of mirror collimation............ch eers Kev.
Thanks for the great advice Kev. But I'll add another question to John's question.

What will I see with a 12" truss Dobsonian that I can't see with an 8" solid barrel Dobsonian?

I'm just starting out and new to this forum. I can buy an 8" solid barrel Dobsonian for $519.00. I have been quoted around $1,700.00 for a 12" truss style Dobsonian. Both are from a local shop and both brand are Sky-Watcher.

Cheers,
Henry.
Reply With Quote
  #840  
Old 15-03-2009, 06:39 AM
iceman's Avatar
iceman (Mike)
Sir Post a Lot!

iceman is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Gosford, NSW, Australia
Posts: 36,760
Hi Henry, to IceInSpace!

Whether it's truss or solid doesn't change what you can see - the 12" versus the 8" is the difference. That's a whole lot more light collecting ability in the 12" which puts more faint stuff within reach. More resolution for planetary/lunar viewing, too.

The difference between the truss style and solid tube is:
1) weight
2) portability
3) setup time
4) Cost

The truss can fold up smaller and is great for portability, as the 12" solid tube is a BIG tube - think HOT WATER HEATER.

The truss will require a little longer to setup and start viewing, but not significantly.

$1700 seems a lot for a 12" truss - you can get a 12" solid tube for under $1000.

Check my equipment page for what a 12" solid tube looks like - I have mine on a EQ6 mount but I still have the dobsonian mount for it that I still use occassionally.

I hope that helps!
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +10. The time is now 06:25 PM.

Powered by vBulletin Version 3.8.7 | Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Advertisement
Testar
Advertisement
Bintel
Advertisement