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This particular evening highlighted the frustrations of the hobby that are all too common 🤣

Thank you Mohammad, I am glad you found the video useful.

🤣. My wife has been wearing hers around the house for the last week or so. Mine come out for the first time this winter tomorrow night when I will be in the garden doing some astronomy stuff. Glad you enjoyed the video, and hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend 👍

Thank you 😊. I think this scope and those similar to it are a great way to start astrophotography without spending too much money.

Funnily enough a dew heater is top of my list for Christmas 😊

@@thecampingastronomer8554 If you're getting a usb powered dew heater, what I did was strap an extension lead to my tripod leg that has usb 5v outlets. The heaters have 3 power settings and work really well. Have you got dew heaters for any of your scopes John?

I look forward to watching your video where you give a full understanding of the subject in 5 minutes. I'll check your channel out later to see how it should be done.

It could have been worse Ian, and yes, I think a heated dew strap is called for. It's interesting what you say about almost having to re-learn stuff. I certainly feel that way. My next target is likely to be the Soul Nebula, which I haven't had much luck with in the past. Fingers crossed for some good luck.

Thank you Simon. I think a dew heater will be on my Christmas list 🤣

Thanks Mike. I think I will have to get a dew heater to help out. I reckon that the focus problem is possibly made worse when the filter is screwed into the end of the scope/lens, as it is far away from the sensor. It might not be so obvious when the filter is at the other end of the scope near the camera. That is a mistake I won't make again. As you say, the hobby is full of problems to trip you up. Thanks for watching and have a great weekend.

@@chucky2316 🤣🤣

@scotthall727 Thank you Scott. I think I will have to look at some sort of dew heater to help with these issues 😊

@@NorwayHikesTrails thank you 😊. Have a nice weekend.

That's a great set up you have. Good luck tonight 👍

@dougieranger Thanks Dougie, I could have kicked myself 🤣

@richt3993 thanks Rich, much appreciated 😊. From what I gather, Goretex has upped its game with the 3 layer jackets. I think that you are correct about standard Goretex 3 layer jackets, and particularly those with a higher denier rating.I think that the latest versions of Goretex Pro are a bit more breathable and suitable for higher activity levels. On top of these they have a number of running and cycling jackets, which are allegedly very breathable. However, I suspect that these lighter, more breathable jackets are probably more fragile. In the last couple of years, their has been a change to the actual membrane, to produce one which is more environmentally friendly. I believe that the membrane used in my jackets was not particularly good for the environment. According to the marketing material the latest Goretex Pro membranes are thinner and lighter than before, and about 25% more breathable. However, at £500 a jacket, I will stick with what I have. I have been very pleased with my Garwhal jacket, so much so that I bought an orange one aswell. Thanks very much for watching and taking the time to make an interesting comment, it is much appreciated 😊.

@StuScott-iy1tf What have you got your Redcat mounted on Stu, and do you have a red dot finder for it ? Although the Redcat has a fairly large field of view, I found that I need to use a little red dot finder in order to get close to my target if I am using a non goto mount like a Star Adventurer. You can then aim for the nearest bright star to your target. Once you have that in the field of view it is easier to just nudge the scope along to your target.

Hi there, Thank you for your reply. I have it mounted on an Ioptron skyguider pro with ipolar. I'm only new to it, so I'm probably looking in all the wrong places. Haha. I've been trying to use stalerium and then point in that direction, but no luck as yet. Milky way, I have no problems with my other lens, but deep sky is a tougher nut to crack Kind Regards Stu

@StuScott-iy1tf Ah OK. I think the Ioptron skyguider pro is similar to my Star Adventurer in that it tracks the sky really well, but you have to manually find the target. You are quite right in that deep sky stuff is harder to find than when you do Milky Way images with a camera lens of say 50mm. I reckon that you should get a red dot finderscope for your Redcat (if you haven't already got one), and then pick some deep sky targets that are close to stars visible with the naked eye. You can use the red dot finder to centre your scope on the star to get in the right area. One such target right now would be the Packman Nebula, which sits very close to the star Shedir in Cassiopeia. A bit dimmer is the Ghost of Cassiopeia which sits immediately next to the star Navi in Cassiopeia. Also if you point at either Deneb or Sadr in Cygnus, and just take a photo you will get lots of lovely nebulosity. Another good target is the Pleiades star cluster, visible to the naked eye and great through a Redcat. You are doing the right thing using Stellarium, this will give you a good idea of where stuff is in relation to the brighter stars that you can see with you eye. For now, avoid targets that are not immediately adjacent to a visible star, or not themselves visible to the naked eye.

Really appreciate the help & information👍🏼 Im hoping it's going to be clear skys on Thursday so i can get back out. Do you have any recommended pointers. I worked in the Falkland Islands for 8 years with the most amazing skys and did not have a camera. Now I'm back in the cloudy uk haha Kind Regards Stu

@StuScott-iy1tf I'm sure our cloudy skies are a shock 😢. William Optics do make a red dot finder for the scope, but it is really expensive (about £85). Harrison Telescopes does a similar one called the Starwave, which is about £45. If you look at the William Optics one first it will show you what you are looking for, and then look for the Starwave one. The alternative would be a Skywatcher finder which can probably fit with an adapter. This is about £30.

@fabiofranch91 Thank you for your nice comment Fabio 😊. I think that if Scarpa boots suit the shape of your feet they are fantastic. I did look at the "non lite" version of the boot, and as you say, I think they are pretty well identical. In fact, I slightly preferred the suede look of the "non lite" version. In the end, I opted for the lite version because it was the one available in my local shops. I quite like the orange colour now I have got used to how bright it is 🤣. All in all, I am very pleased with these boots and they are now my favourites.

@@thecampingastronomer8554 Thank you very much for your nice reply! Take care and happy trails!

@ShanOutdoors Thanks for the encouragement, Shan. I am quite confident that if I do the exercises, and particularly the weights, that I will see significant improvement. Giving up work will most likely make a big difference to me also, and enable a big step up in the amount of exercise I can do. My physiotherapist reckons that there is no reason why I cannot get another 10 years or so of walking in our mountains.

@OlliesSpace Hi Ollie, you look far too young to be working part time, I have obviously missed a trick somewhere in life 🤣. A big benefit of retirement would be not having to worry about getting up in the morning when out the night before with my telescope.

@@AmatureAstronomer Ah yes, Animal Farm was good, and also Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

@h.bsfaithfulservant4136. Maybe we all go down the pan as soon as we turn 60 🤣. It's interesting that you found your job generally good for your back up until recently. I think that initially I found that I got a lot fitter after I finished my desk job and went to work in a shop. However, the sheer amount of time spent standing seems to have caught up with me, and as you say, the decision is partly made for me by my company. One option is to quit and focus on my exercise to get strong again. If I miss my work after a few months, I could probably get a few hours a week in the other shops in my group. Most likely, I won't get bored and will be too busy enjoying myself. Hope you enjoy the weekend 😊 Sadly, I am working both days 😭

@NorwayHikesTrails Thank you Arnstein, hope you have a great weekend 😊

@iainsharples1433 You have a good point there Ian, about your job helping keep you fairly fit. The social side is also important, as you say.

That's very interesting and encouraging. I was toying with the idea of a general health makeover, so any links would be welcome 😊

Thanks for taking the time to watch my video, and make a nice comment. I reckon that this bag hits a sweet spot for pack size, warmth and cost. I found it best to use it a bit above the comfort temperature of 1 deg, so your idea of having some test nights in it will help you work out what the minimum temperature it is good for, for you. It should be great for April in Scotland. Enjoy your trip to the Hebrides.

@@thecampingastronomer8554 thanks ☺️ I’m hoping, having lived there, there won’t be any nights below 5-6 degrees when I do the walk but with climate unpredictability, we’ll see.

@majellafergus3643 yes, I would have guessed that sort of temperature too 😊

@across8339 thanks for taking the time to watch and make a comment. I have not noticed any issues around the edge of my images. Any distortions I get are evenly distributed throughout the image, and are almost certainly caused by imperfect balance I think. However, the scope is perfectly suited to a dslr with a back focus to suit. I looked at my focus point on the scope and I have plenty of adjustment available to me on either side of the focus point. It sounds like you are right at the extreme end of focus adjustment, so my guess would be a back focus issue is the problem. I looked on the internet to see if I could find others with similar problems to you. One reviewer struggled with coma at the edges when using a dedicated astro camera with a relatively large sensor. He put this down to the flat field correction not being perfect, and any sensor tilt would cause issues at the edge of the image. Another person also suffered from bad coma when using a dslr. This wasn't so apparent when looking at the screen on the back of the camera, but was very noticeable when viewed on a computer. In the end, this person found that there was flex in the scope between the focuser and the end of the scope. He ended up returning his as a faulty unit. Given that you are right on the limit for focusing, I wonder if some spacers might help with your problem.

@@thecampingastronomer8554 Thank you John, that is a very thorough answer and gives me a steer. I will try the DSLR tonight but I agree that some spacers might also help with the astro camera. This evening is looking good for me in Suffolk, hope you have a good one too.

@across8339 good luck tonight 😊

Hi Ian, hope you are well. I really like what you can get out of the Askar FMA135. It is probably very similar to the Samyang 135mm that Trevor on Astrobackyard uses. Hope the week ahead goes well for you 😊

Hi Simon, thank you 😊. Hope the week ahead is kind to you.

The cats have got a new agent. She is very pushy, although the cats are delighted 🤣

@@thecampingastronomer8554 Haha 😆...cats have pushy in their DNA 🤭 I like the new agent 👌😉

@@h.bsfaithfulservant4136 🤣

Thank you Glenn, I always find it amazing what is really out there that we cannot see. Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend 👍

Thanks Ollie. Pebbles is best described as a needy cat 🤣

@@NorwayHikesTrails thanks Arnstein, have a great weekend 👍

@@tullyfisher Thanks very much Michael 🙂. I find the Star Adventurer very quick to set up, especially if you are using a dslr and camera lens. It's not so fussy about balance and polar alignment etc.

@@AmatureAstronomer thanks, glad you like it 😊

@@pliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii unfortunately, here in the South East of the UK we haven't had decent snow for several years. Our winters tend to be wet and windy 🙂

@@thecampingastronomer8554 i just came bacj from camping with the MSR elixir 1 that i just bought and i really.liked it. It went down to 4 degrees two nights in a row and it isnt the best for that kind of cold tho. But i still liked it

Thank you 😊

Thanks for taking the time to watch and make a comment 🙂. These boots are very good as a do it all boot and are surprisingly comfortable to use as a normal walking boot. I think the slight flex in the sole, coupled with the roll profile at the toes contribute to this. This is where they win over the Manta boot, which is not ideal as a general boot as it is too stiff and heavy. I have found my Ribelle boots to be warm enough in temperatures between about -7 deg up to +18 deg, with an appropriate choice of sock. At the lower temperatures I think you need to be moving or only have short stops. I reckon that if you were standing still for more than half an hour you might get cold feet. The boots work really well with the Grivel Air Tech crampons, which are C2 but with a slightly flexible bar. I think Petzl make a similar model. Standard C2 crampons like the Grivel G12 might be a little stiff for this boot. Any C1 crampon is fine with the boot. Scarpa suggest that the Ribelle Lite is great for summer alpine use. I think that for a beginner doing easier routes in summer, with a bit of glacier crossing and easier snow slopes, they would be perfect. I reckon they would not be warm enough for 4000m peaks and not quite stiff enough for technical routes. It sounds as if you are interested in dipping your toe into snow and ice, and as long as you are not going too high into very cold temperatures, I reckon these boots would be great. The boots are pretty expensive, but the fact that you can use them across all seasons, and pretty much all terrain means their versatility warrants the cost. I like mine so much that they get used for all of my walking apart from on the South Downs where they would look a bit silly 🙂. If you end up buying off the Internet, then it is best to go by the Scarpa quoted Euro sizing rather than the UK sizes. I reckon that since you get on with Salomon boots, the width of the Scarpa's should be OK. Hope this helps, and thanks again for watching.

Glad you enjoyed the video 🙂

@@thecampingastronomer8554 You earned a new subscriber. Keep producing excellent videos.

@slapastronomy8646 thank you very much for your support, it is most appreciated 👍

Thank you 😊. Glad you enjoyed the video.

Absolutely Ollie 🙂

Thank you, glad you like the bike. I think you are correct about the longer wheelbase giving more stability. Certainly I feel a lot more confident on the Bokeh 😊

@thewanderingforester that's what I thought too. I have been tempted to stay in a Yurt or Tipee before, but been put off by the price.

It is indeed very different to being in the Soulo, Ant, and both options have a lot to recommend them. We did have a VW Type 2 campervan from 1972 until about 10 years ago, which was lovely to have but expensive to keep in decent condition. I agree with you that this Yurt trip would be great in the autumn and also in winter. I think it was the fire that made this trip so enjoyable, and being able to go with my wife, who is not keen on wild camping anymore.

It was really nice Doug. When we go back next year I might take my star adventurer with me as the skies are a bit darker than at home.

@@zafiracamper it was absolutely lovely and worth every penny 😊

@h.bsfaithfulservant4136 even Mrs CA is mad keen to go back again. Hope next week is good to you 😊

@@thecampingastronomer8554 Thanks Jon... here's hoping we all have a great week 🙏👌 It's great to know Mrs C A is raring to go, as long as she doesn't want you to build one in the back garden Jon 😉...they ain't easy to put up ☺️

@@h.bsfaithfulservant4136 🤣🤣