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<\/p>\nMy NexStar 8 GPS continues to serve me well (when the UK skies actually co-operate), and with the Hyperstar attached, it supplies me with plenty of quality image to data to work on. What I do miss is actually looking through my telescope… yes, odd really! \ud83d\ude42 I would love to look through my telescope more often, but gievn that clear skies here in the UK are in terribly short supply, if its a choice between imaging or observing, then imaging always wins.<\/p>\n
I`ve been on the lookout for a suitable observing system for a while. I did toy with the idea of getting a Celestron 6SE, but I wanted something with more light grasp. I also toyed with the idea of a SkyWatcher FlexTube 12″ Dobsonian (which I was fortunate to use at Kelling star party in Spring 2008), but there is something to be said for the old saying “Being in the right place at the right time”. With my annual bonus arriving recently, I was offered two great (and complimenatry) deals by two friends at the same time, so I jumped at the chance to expand my equipment list, and it can be used for observing and imaging, depending on the seeing and sky quality.<\/p>\n
So, here it is, my latest addition: EQ6 Pro, Celestron C11 XLT, ED80 Pro, all on an ADM Side-By-Side plate (the C11 OTA is not Fastar compatible, but probably best in the long run \ud83d\ude42 )<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"\/images\/misc\/20080607_c11_view02.jpg\")
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It will take me a while to get used to this new system, as I have never used a GEM before. A bit of a learning curve ahead for me, learning to use the polar scope, having to do the real polar alignment the hard way (unlike the oh so easy Celestron Wedge Align routine!), plus the joys of EQASCOM look tempting but overwhelming. More news as it happens… thats if I ever get to see clear dark skies again!<\/p>\n
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My NexStar 8 GPS continues to serve me well (when the UK skies actually co-operate), and with the Hyperstar attached, it supplies me with plenty of quality image to data to work on. What I do miss is actually looking through my telescope… yes, odd really! \ud83d\ude42 I would love to look through my telescope […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.steves-astro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.steves-astro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.steves-astro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.steves-astro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.steves-astro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=83"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.steves-astro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.steves-astro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=83"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.steves-astro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=83"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.steves-astro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=83"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}