I know there are a few budding astronomers on here. Just "man-mathed" my way from looking at sub £300 scopes into buying myself a Celestron NexStar 6SE courtesy of a cheeky discount on Amazon
Dew hood, additional lenses and some filters already ordered from various sources. Seems that despite selling the Disco I just can't stay away from expensive hobbies I know it's not considered "kind" to say no these days, but no. Just no, ok? And if it's not ok, still no.
21st Jan 2020 7:53 pm
Pelyma
Member Since: 06 Jan 2005
Location: Patching, Sussex
Posts: 15496
My son had a 4SE, good fun but he sold it on to Rich, I don’t know if he’s still got it. It’s a great hobby and having a goto telescope makes it easier for beginners. DS3 TDV6 HSE - Silver with Alpaca (old one) Gone
DS3 TDV6 HSE- Silver with Alpaca (new one) Gone
D4 HSE Lux - Montalcino Red Gone
Porsche Cayenne V8 Diesel S
21st Jan 2020 9:54 pm
Paul J.
Member Since: 09 Dec 2005
Location: Leafy Cheshire
Posts: 7661
Ooooooooh, an excuse to post this again.......
An ex-Disco3 / FFRR / I-Pace owner ......
..... now pootling around in a Porker EV.
21st Jan 2020 9:59 pm
James W
Member Since: 27 Mar 2008
Location: Riyadh, KSA
Posts: 3079
I love my 4SE but it got a lot more usable with a good lens kit. I also bought the power cable to save on millions of AA batteriesD4 XS, gone, much loved, never forgotten
2018 FFRR SDV8 Autobiography - Gone to someone with less sense and more time to enjoy it
2016 Toyota Hilux Invincible - Liberating experience
My son had a 4SE, good fun but he sold it on to Rich, I don’t know if he’s still got it. It’s a great hobby and having a goto telescope makes it easier for beginners.
Yup, Rich still has it. Was chatting with him earlier
I'm lucky enough that where I live the sky is pretty good for light pollution. The maps I've looked at indicate a 4, closing on 3 on the Bortle scale. Certainly on a night like tonight I only need to stand outside for a few minutes to acclimatise and suddenly the sky is an absolute mass of light.I know it's not considered "kind" to say no these days, but no. Just no, ok? And if it's not ok, still no.
No such thing as a perfect compromise when it comes to optics, I get it......
James W wrote:
I love my 4SE but it got a lot more usable with a good lens kit. I also bought the power cable to save on millions of AA batteries
Have a power lead that runs off a cigarette lighter coming, which will work fine with my jump starter pack. I've ordered a 13% filter for lunar stuff, and a barlow/T-piece, plus a 15mm wide angle to go with the 25mm that comes with it. Oh, and a dew hood!
As I get more into it I'll build up the lenses and filters.I know it's not considered "kind" to say no these days, but no. Just no, ok? And if it's not ok, still no.
21st Jan 2020 10:26 pm
James W
Member Since: 27 Mar 2008
Location: Riyadh, KSA
Posts: 3079
You're lucky with light pollution. I bought mine to use when camping or in the caravan in nice dark places in the middle of nowhere. Keep us updated on how you get on! I'd love to try astrophotography, and get an adapter for my now pretty much unused DSLR to make some use of it again. Not got my head around all that's involved though yetD4 XS, gone, much loved, never forgotten
2018 FFRR SDV8 Autobiography - Gone to someone with less sense and more time to enjoy it
2016 Toyota Hilux Invincible - Liberating experience
Last edited by James W on 21st Jan 2020 11:31 pm. Edited 1 time in total
From what I have read you'll need to get software to allow you to stitch together and overlay multiple images at modest (sub 10 sec) exposures, usually running into hundreds of pics and selecting the best 30-40-50%
I may leave exploring that for a bit I know it's not considered "kind" to say no these days, but no. Just no, ok? And if it's not ok, still no.
21st Jan 2020 11:25 pm
James W
Member Since: 27 Mar 2008
Location: Riyadh, KSA
Posts: 3079
Yeah that's where I ended up for now too having looked into it.
For now I'm just trying to tick off different stars, nebulae and planets, and trying to learn where the most common ones are by sight.D4 XS, gone, much loved, never forgotten
2018 FFRR SDV8 Autobiography - Gone to someone with less sense and more time to enjoy it
2016 Toyota Hilux Invincible - Liberating experience
21st Jan 2020 11:31 pm
James W
Member Since: 27 Mar 2008
Location: Riyadh, KSA
Posts: 3079
I believe this book is supposed to be very good for getting started. I'm going to buy it before this summer's weekends away. Up to now I've just used the combination of the "Nightshift" app on Android to see what's around on a particular night (which is very good for free) and the 'go to' catalogues of stars etc on the scope controller.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1108457568/ref...jEbWFJ6536D4 XS, gone, much loved, never forgotten
2018 FFRR SDV8 Autobiography - Gone to someone with less sense and more time to enjoy it
2016 Toyota Hilux Invincible - Liberating experience
21st Jan 2020 11:35 pm
DG Site Moderator
Member Since: 12 Dec 2005
Location: The Gaff
Posts: 50979
Pelyma wrote:
My son had a 4SE, good fun but he sold it on to Rich, I don’t know if he’s still got it. It’s a great hobby and having a goto telescope makes it easier for beginners.
Yes.... great trade that. I was explaining to Alan that a desirable more powerful 6SE or 8SE would have been wasted on the wife's expectation of my use vs local light pollution. Still make good use of the 4SE though..... despite London's red tinge 21 year LR veteran > D2 GS 2003 > D3 S 2006 > D3 HSE 2009 > D4 HSE 2013 > D4 HSE 2015 > D5 HSE 2018 > DS HSE R-Dynamic P300e 2021
Last edited by DG on 22nd Jan 2020 12:38 am. Edited 1 time in total
22nd Jan 2020 12:35 am
DG Site Moderator
Member Since: 12 Dec 2005
Location: The Gaff
Posts: 50979
NoDo$h wrote:
From what I have read you'll need to get software to allow you to stitch together and overlay multiple images at modest (sub 10 sec) exposures, usually running into hundreds of pics and selecting the best 30-40-50%
I may leave exploring that for a bit
It's commonly known as 'stacking' 21 year LR veteran > D2 GS 2003 > D3 S 2006 > D3 HSE 2009 > D4 HSE 2013 > D4 HSE 2015 > D5 HSE 2018 > DS HSE R-Dynamic P300e 2021
Pegging? I know it's not considered "kind" to say no these days, but no. Just no, ok? And if it's not ok, still no.
22nd Jan 2020 1:28 am
Paul J.
Member Since: 09 Dec 2005
Location: Leafy Cheshire
Posts: 7661
Registax for planetary imaging (capture using a camera that is a glorified webcam).
Deep Sky Stacker for deep sky images (DSLRs do an OK job at capturing these images).
I won’t mention Peltier cooled mono ccds with a filter wheel and autoguider at this stage .... but if the bug bites you then this is your (expensive) future. You will need a wedge too An ex-Disco3 / FFRR / I-Pace owner ......
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