Chinatown sidewalk session (Jalan Kukoh)

[shirox]

will be there to support, bro!

swee la!

[shirox]

Some updates:

Tried to do some testing after fitting the Moonlite focuser onto the mn61


Original Helical focuser


With the MN61


Star test was tight and nice, well collimated

So I put it onto the Astroslew Inox and started to peek at the moon.
Contrast was super good and sharp on the Baader 21mm. Changed to the Meade 12.7mm and instantly felt the difference in eyepiece quality lol

Then brought the whole set up out to the corridor and pointed at saturn.
As I bring it to center and used a meade 6.4mm....
I was stunned by the views!
At 140x, I can see casini division very very clearly and sharp!
And I'll be more excited to see saturn in the Tak 2.6 and xo2.5 this Sat.

If you wanna join in, you know where to locate us! hahaha
Keeping fingers crossed for clear sky!

[shirox]

a little update about tonight's session.

I will monitor the sky condition. currently its cloudy but at night there may be chances of a clear night.

For those who are coming pls look at the thread again at 830pm. I will make updates again

[shirox]

ok theres some pockets of clear sky in and out so the session is a GO!
some of the guys will be there earlier around 9:30pm - 10:00pm.

I will be there around 930

[shirox]

Just reached home from the session. Was a fun catching up session tonight with nice company.
The sky wasn't really cooperative with high clouds lingering in the sky.
The overall sky condition wasn't ideal and if clear Mersing sky was 10, i would rate tonight as 7.
Nevertheless, Kelvin, Michael, Jeremy, Malcom, Mooey, Newbie and his GF came together and enjoyed the evening. A few passer by came in out of curiosity as well.

The pavillion's power wasn't functional hence I had to share battery with Kelvin.
We did a shoot out between a Takahashi Mewlon 210 (8") and a Intes Micro MN61(6")
2 eyepieces were used for the shoot out, a Takahashi 2.8LE and a Pentax XO 2.5

With a focal length of 900mm, the 2.8LE has won most of the votes that it is slightly brighter and goes very well with the MN design. the 2.5xo also present very sharp image at 360x.
Cassini division is seen very clearly and overall, the MN 61 definately is a keeper.

[melcolmlee]

Here are some photos from that night !



















It was a great session looking at Saturn and Moon thru the MN61 !

[Gary]

@shirox - Congrats! A successful inaugural sidewalk session at Chinatown! Location looks good - dark and nearby chairs to sit down and relax. Hope to see the inox in action for future sessions. Would like to know how it performs for manual high magnification tracking with your MN. Speaking of future sessions, this coming weekend is a super long weekend.

@melcomlee - Thanks for the photos! A picture speaks a thousand words! Enjoyed viewing the rest of your astrophotos in your flickr account too.

[antares2063]

its good that they turn off the lights on the topmost storey of the MSCP, the ones in bedok dont seem to do that for the one near my home ...sadly

Regards,
Junwei

[shirox]

@shirox - Congrats! A successful inaugural sidewalk session at Chinatown! Location looks good - dark and nearby chairs to sit down and relax. Hope to see the inox in action for future sessions. Would like to know how it performs for manual high magnification tracking with your MN. Speaking of future sessions, this coming weekend is a super long weekend.

@melcomlee - Thanks for the photos! A picture speaks a thousand words! Enjoyed viewing the rest of your astrophotos in your flickr account too.

Hey Gary,

Thanks for the kind comments.
The inox performs exceptionally well, considering the weight of the OTA and accessories is about 11KG.
At high power viewing, I pushed the MN61 using a TMB 5mm. that's 180X, saturn appears with a nice contrast and only little pushing is required to get it remains in the FOV.

[rcj]

couldn't make it last moment, but glad the session turned out while, and skies cleared out eventually in the evening.