Refractordude Buys A Reflector Telescope

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Refractordude
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Re: Refractordude Buys A Reflector Telescope

#21

Post by Refractordude »


The Happy Parrot wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 1:55 am I have the DX102AZ refractor version of the StarSense and I enjoy it greatly. Here are a couple of things to try:

+ Make sure your phone camera is centered on the mirror. If it is too far to one side, the app will struggle to find it's location. When I say center, I mean the midline at the top of the mirror.
+ Make sure you are away from building walls, roof corners, etc. Phone camera tend to be fair wide angle and buildings can get in the way.
+Sounds dumb, but stay away from bright lamp posts, etc. The sky does have to be fairly dark past dusk for app to cruise.
+When you set it up and choose your reference star/planet, I like to use the night mode setting and I use my fingers to zoom on the star as I center it on the crosshairs.

What phone are you using?
A cheapo phone but I got a message from the app that the phone is comparable. The system worked for a few minutes then I got a message that I need to try in the evening. I think there is just enough stars under my bortle 9 skies for the app to get a good bearing. Will try in a few days at my dark site. If all goes well I may still return it as I now notice that the LT 80mm refractor is in stock. Thanks for your advice.
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The Happy Parrot
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Re: Refractordude Buys A Reflector Telescope

#22

Post by The Happy Parrot »


Good luck with the exchange. Let us know when you receive the 80mm. The software does work well once you get the hang of it. I even made a simple phone cradle for my Zhummel 8" and use the app on it. Works fine: viewtopic.php?f=61&t=9724
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Re: Refractordude Buys A Reflector Telescope

#23

Post by Refractordude »


Just got in from my dark site and no luck with the StarSense app. Was able to find a few objects with my SkEye app and ST80 combo that is mounted next to my 6" frac. I will work on adding the SkEye app to a small tripod with a red dot finder. I am thinking of a 10" DOB with a GOTO system or I may just do a four hour drive to a bortle blue zone every 4 to 6 weeks with the 6" frac. My 150mm f/8 refractor with the ST80 on the SkyTee mount, and 16x80 ED binoculars for wide views is a great trio. So I am happy with what I currently have.
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Bigzmey United States of America
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Re: Refractordude Buys A Reflector Telescope

#24

Post by Bigzmey »


I see many reports from happy DOB owners using DOBs manually. I hardly see any using GoTo or PushTo DOBs, which make me think that those systems might be tricky to use.

If you want tried and true GoTo system effective on DSOs as well as planets and doubles I would suggest Celestron NexStar 8SE. Large DOBs are harder to handle and transport, and if you end up not liking it - hard to sell. Celestron NexStar 8SE is compact and light weight, easy to re-sell and come for sale on CN and AM fairly often (if you want to stretch your $$).
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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notFritzArgelander
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Re: Refractordude Buys A Reflector Telescope

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Post by notFritzArgelander »


Bigzmey wrote: Wed Dec 01, 2021 7:01 pm I see many reports from happy DOB owners using DOBs manually. I hardly see any using GoTo or PushTo DOBs, which make me think that those systems might be tricky to use.

If you want tried and true GoTo system effective on DSOs as well as planets and doubles I would suggest Celestron NexStar 8SE. Large DOBs are harder to handle and transport, and if you end up not liking it - hard to sell. Celestron NexStar 8SE is compact and light weight, easy to re-sell and come for sale on CN and AM fairly often (if you want to stretch your $$).
I use an inclinometer and azimuth circle along with Cartes du Ciel to push my dob to targets. I had a commercial system and found the accuracy was sensitive to the screws on the tensioning unit being tightened at a sweet spot.
Scopes: Refs: Orion ST80, SV 80EDA f7, TS 102ED f11 Newts: AWB 130mm, f5, Z12 f5; Cats: VMC110L, Intes MK66,VMC200L f9.75 EPs: KK Fujiyama Orthoscopics, 2x Vixen NPLs (40-6mm) and BCOs, Baader Mark IV zooms, TV Panoptics, Delos, Plossl 32-8mm. Mixed brand Masuyama/Astroplans Binoculars: Nikon Aculon 10x50, Celestron 15x70, Baader Maxbright. Mounts: Star Seeker IV, Vixen Porta II, Celestron CG5
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Bigzmey United States of America
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Re: Refractordude Buys A Reflector Telescope

#26

Post by Bigzmey »


notFritzArgelander wrote: Wed Dec 01, 2021 7:08 pm
Bigzmey wrote: Wed Dec 01, 2021 7:01 pm I see many reports from happy DOB owners using DOBs manually. I hardly see any using GoTo or PushTo DOBs, which make me think that those systems might be tricky to use.

If you want tried and true GoTo system effective on DSOs as well as planets and doubles I would suggest Celestron NexStar 8SE. Large DOBs are harder to handle and transport, and if you end up not liking it - hard to sell. Celestron NexStar 8SE is compact and light weight, easy to re-sell and come for sale on CN and AM fairly often (if you want to stretch your $$).
I use an inclinometer and azimuth circle along with Cartes du Ciel to push my dob to targets. I had a commercial system and found the accuracy was sensitive to the screws on the tensioning unit being tightened at a sweet spot.
A valid option, and one that could be applied to many types of manual AltAz mounts including SkyTee2. RD, if you want to give it a shot here is CN post on how to add AltAz circles to the Skytee 2. His version is machine-shopped but many people do paper printouts and glue them to cardboard.

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/4843 ... az-mounts/
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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Re: Refractordude Buys A Reflector Telescope

#27

Post by Refractordude »


Tried again but about ten degrees off target. Maybe it is the metal cross bar. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks all
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