Alright, this is for sharing of your observation experience. Or, if you are arranging gatherings, star-gazing expeditions or just want some company to go observing together, you can shout it out here.
johnteh wrote:Tonite i guess i have seen more then yesterday because of Elton scope,
he uses his PDA so locate object and also the first time i use my VIXEN102mm to see the most thing i ever and i didn't know that i can use it to see lots of deep sky object...
then you should really make use of your 102M before selling it. I mean if you were to buy another scope, you will still never realise its potential and anything beyond a refractor will need constant tinkering. Just look at shoelevy's mirror shift problem and some other people's collimation woes. And with a bigger scope, you have a bigger mount problem.
If I were you, I will use the 102M to improve my star-hopping skills before I move into a bigger scope. Yes, people can buy GOTO, but what happens when the electronic fails? The GOTO, in my opinion gives you another thing to worry and tinker about....just ask around some who owns GOTO here. How many get GOTO to work consistently 100% of the time? I have owned fork-mounted GOTO, eq mounted GOTO, and I tell you that my most loved mount is still the alt-azi mount.
If you have not seen half of the Messier objects with that 102M, you should really keep it first.
The last 2 nights at changi have showed what a 1x finder can do in a dark site if you know where to look. Scrutinizing a star map in the dark can be quite troublesome so what we did sometimes in the group was to let someone find it first then look through his 1x finder to spot the location. Finding it in your own 1x finder is easy after that. Not "cheating", but you can learn a lot faster to star hop this way by recognising star patterns and judging distances. Maybe it would be useful for a group of pple to invest in a cheap goto scope and a green laser?
Never owned a goto before so wondering what are the problems with it? Mechanical failure, inaccuracy or software/firmware problems? I've been using dscs long enough (previously NGC Max, now BBox/pda/bluetooth solution) and they have been very reliable in finding stuff.
Btw guys - it was good company over the last 2 nights. Looking forward to Lim Chu Kang or mersing soon.
I have owned fork-mounted GOTO, eq mounted GOTO, and I tell you that my most loved mount is still the alt-azi mount.
agree with you 100%. compared with my previous mounts, i like my unistar alt-azi the most.
anyway, last night i think we managed to observe around 25-30 messier and caldwell objects from 10pm to 4am, followed by one hour chit chat to plan our next ob sessions (limchukang/batam/mersing). Scopes are elton's 10" teleport, my c8 sct, weixing's 6" newtonian, johnteh's vixen 102m, clemgoh's fs-78, and chrisyeo's etx90.
if you have your own transport, this site is NOT remote. only 10-15 minutes drive from tampines swimming pool
Last edited by ariefm71 on Sun Jun 13, 2004 2:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Last night was a joy. The swan and trifid nebulas, and omega centuari were simply amazing in the teleport and the c8. Better lie down and see doctor...aperture fever can be very painful.
Other things I caught as well in my short time there: Milky way, M6, M7, ring, bug, lagoon nebulas, M22.
Btw, the location is lampost 150 of Changi Coast Rd, past Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal. Somewhere at the point roughly:
Verdict: 10 mins from Tampines, plus a 5 minute drive from the main road. Dirt track. Minus for dustiness and a bit of mud. Sky glow towards the NW, but rest of sky is good - milky way faintly visible. Clear view all way round, but some fencing and airport lights visible. I'm sure there are other spots on the road that have no lights at all, but might have to live with more trees in the way. Another observation site to add to the list!
johnteh wrote:Tonite i guess i have seen more then yesterday because of Elton scope,
he uses his PDA so locate object and also the first time i use my VIXEN102mm to see the most thing i ever and i didn't know that i can use it to see lots of deep sky object...
then you should really make use of your 102M before selling it. I mean if you were to buy another scope, you will still never realise its potential and anything beyond a refractor will need constant tinkering. Just look at shoelevy's mirror shift problem and some other people's collimation woes. And with a bigger scope, you have a bigger mount problem.
If I were you, I will use the 102M to improve my star-hopping skills before I move into a bigger scope. Yes, people can buy GOTO, but what happens when the electronic fails? The GOTO, in my opinion gives you another thing to worry and tinker about....just ask around some who owns GOTO here. How many get GOTO to work consistently 100% of the time? I have owned fork-mounted GOTO, eq mounted GOTO, and I tell you that my most loved mount is still the alt-azi mount.
If you have not seen half of the Messier objects with that 102M, you should really keep it first.
YES!!! i agree with you, for the pass two night i notice my scope can see things that i have not even seen it before. I'm happy with this scope!! But after all it's still aperture fever after looking at Elton scope....
chrisyeo wrote:Last night was a joy. The swan and trifid nebulas, and omega centuari were simply amazing in the teleport and the c8. Better lie down and see doctor...aperture fever can be very painful.
Other things I caught as well in my short time there: Milky way, M6, M7, ring, bug, lagoon nebulas, M22.
Btw, the location is lampost 150 of Changi Coast Rd, past Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal. Somewhere at the point roughly:
Verdict: 10 mins from Tampines, plus a 5 minute drive from the main road. Dirt track. Minus for dustiness and a bit of mud. Sky glow towards the NW, but rest of sky is good - milky way faintly visible. Clear view all way round, but some fencing and airport lights visible. I'm sure there are other spots on the road that have no lights at all, but might have to live with more trees in the way. Another observation site to add to the list!
I went to check out the place in the afternoon. Yes, the place is pretty good except for two problems
1) I saw lots of dogs' paws on the sand. Will there be many wild dogs at night?
2) Plenty of grass that sticks stuff on your jeans.
If go in a group, maybe it's not too bad. But if go alone, this place will give creeps.
1) I saw lots of dogs' paws on the sand. Will there be many wild dogs at night?
2) Plenty of grass that sticks stuff on your jeans.
1) We didn't see any dogs so far....
2) We didn't see any grass... may be we setup our scope on the edge of the sandy road.
May be you wen to the wrong place??? Or you didn't go "deep" enough??
Have a nice day.
Hi,
IC..so you guys setup the scope at the sandy road? But the ground there not very level right? I went all the way in until comes to a sign board
As you enter that road, somewhere mid-way there are two smaller roads. One to the left and one to the right. I took the right turn and it leads into a field......very very open space....but got grass. The ground here is much more level.
If you setup at the sandy road, I am afraid what happens if there are cars coming in and going out?
Just because you cannot see any dogs does not mean they are not there!
Good to have some form of handy protection available like a baton...
I was in Changi base to do something one night and as I was leaving, a pack of dogs pounced onto my car growling...just 1 hr earlier, I was telling my self what a nice and super dark corner for me to star gaze later!
(the dogs could be the same gang on the move or maybe close relatives of the ones at John Teh's new obs site..)
anyway, I was at Sentosa this evening and inspite of the lights, there are actually quite a few places that are very dark and condusive for star gazing...if you are going there for camping, chalet, etc..good to bring your scope along.
rich
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