Telescopes

Subject: Telescopes Sun Jun 15, 2008 9:51 pm

I bought a telescope this morning at the car boot sale - £15 for a 3" reflector with tripod, 3 eyepieces and an LED finder scope! It's not been used and is very clean.

The box is labelled TCM but I've now found it's made by Tchibo - it's a German company; a chain of coffee house like Starbucks that also sells randon 'stuff' that's cheap but good.

Of course the sky is completely clouded over now...

Does anyone know of this make?

Subject: Re: Telescopes Sun Jun 15, 2008 9:58 pm

never heard of it.
Does it have a motor drive or is it manual?

Tip. Take scope outside 30 mins before viewing session to let the lenses adjust to the temperature else you get aweful redshift blur.

Dont forget that the sun is a great thing to view through a small scope although not directly.
Make a shadow box with a cardboard box and project the suns image to view sunspots.

If you have a webcam rip the plastic lens of and stick the ccd onto the eyepiece.
You'll be suprised.

The admin (Pete) has a great scope which I want to buy but haven't got the money at the moment.
PeteG

Subject: Re: Telescopes Sun Jun 15, 2008 10:07 pm

It's manual, which is fairly resonable for fifteen quid!
Thanks for the tips - I'll try projecting the sun.
When there is one...

Subject: Re: Telescopes Sun Jun 15, 2008 10:09 pm

Steve,
you got it just in time for the partial solar eclipse on August 1st.

You should be able to see the rings of saturn before they go edge on and become invisible for a while.
The moons of Jupiter should be easy to see also.

A 2X Barlow convertor will double your viewing power.
PeteG

Guest

Never heard of that one. !
Dont know how familiar you are with scopes but make sure you start with a low magnification if your projecting the sun with a manual scope.( bigger field of vision, easier to locate solar disk.)
And dont expect much from cheapo optics.

Subject: Re: Telescopes Sun Jun 15, 2008 10:46 pm

I've never had a reflector before. Had a refractor as a kid and could see the rings of Saturn etc.

For years I've used a pair of reasonable binoculars, with a tripod adapter that I got in Proops for a quid or so. I spent a year in Alton Barnes veiwing the 4 biggest moons of Jupiter and drawing their positions every time. I did it as often as I could - the intention was to make a flicker book and animate the moons moving around Jupiter. But because the weather is so crap there, I would sometimes miss a whole month! It was good for a few days at a time though - you could see that they were orbiting, at least.

Guest

Ha ha didnt mean to imply ignorance steve but you'll be amazed how many people think magnification is everything.....
There i go again. !

Subject: Re: Telescopes Sun Jun 15, 2008 11:04 pm

I took the telescope outside half an hour ago, because the moon had appeared in a horizontal stripe between clouds, and seemed like it may be visible for a while. I set it up with the lowest eyepiece and just got a quick glimpse of the moon when it started raining! It's still raining - but the moon is still visible too.. Weird night.

Guest

Astronomy in britain can be the most frustrating hobby imaginable, the weather and the 'seeing' are almost always against you. unless your gonna go hi tec and use your scope remotely, best buy some warm winter clothes.....brrrr

Subject: Re: Telescopes Mon Jun 16, 2008 12:06 am

the biggest problem in Wiltshire is river mist.
Especialy near Steve's house.
PeteG

Joined : 15 Jan 2008 Posts : 850 Location : Surrey

We have Tchibo Coffee shops in most of the towns around here...

Whenever we are passing, we check it out... They sell some very good stuff at a reasonable price...

No idea about the Coffee though.. I don't drink it. It plays merry hell with my acid reflux and barratt's oesophagus..

Subject: Re: Telescopes Mon Jun 16, 2008 10:10 pm

Tchibo

http://www.tchibo.co.uk

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tchibo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

•
Tchibo's logoTchibo is a German chain of coffee shops/cafes, but is better known for its weekly changing range. Typical specials are clothing, household items, electronics and electrical appliances. Tchibo's German slogan is Jede Woche eine neue Welt (German for: Every week a new world), and in The UK Tchibo also has the slogan Add a little O to your life. Recently Tchibo expanded its product range, now selling services such as travel and insurance too. With over 1000 shops Tchibo is one of Germany's biggest shop chains.

Tchibo was founded in 1949 in Hamburg by Carl Tchilling-Hiryan and Max Herz and still maintains its headquarters in the city's North. The name Tchibo is an abbreviation for Tchilling and Bohnen (beans, meaning coffee beans). During the formative years Tchibo concentrated on a mail order service of freshly roasted coffee beans. These were produced in the company's own roasting facility in the Hamburg district of Hoheluft.

In the Nineties Tchibo began to expand to countries outside of Germany, and it currently has shops in Switzerland, Austria, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Poland, the Czech Republic and Turkey. Entry in the United States market was planned in early '00s, but cancelled. Its coffee is sold in supermarkets in Romania, Hungary, the Ukraine, Russia and Poland. Shoprite sells coffee and Tchibo's clothing, household items, electronics and electrical appliances in the Isle of Man.

The company’s reorientation concept was presented to Tchibo employees at a staff meeting on December 7th 2007. The name "Stärken stärken 2010" ("Strengthen Strengths 2010") expresses that all changes associated with the programme are to be concluded by 2010, at which point the company hopes to have returned to its traditional strengths and growth.

In the UK, following a consultation period Tchibo GB decided to close half of its existing retail stores and re-structure the head office and field teams. The UK board was streamlined to 4 having at one time had 11 'directors'.

In Retail Week, 14th February 2008, Tchibo was described as 'a glorified pound shop'

Joined : 17 Jan 2008 Posts : 10 Location : West Selkley

Guest

A very helpful site for all amateur astronomers.
Click the 'tonights sky' box for a guide to whats on view at the moment.
http://www.fotozz.com/tonights_sky.htm

Joined : 17 Jan 2008 Posts : 10 Location : West Selkley

Courtesy of the Blackett Observatory in Marlborough: "The Earth reaches aphelion on Friday. This is its furthest distance from the Sun during its annual orbit. The Sun thus appears at its smallest"

Subject: Re: Telescopes Thu Jul 03, 2008 1:14 pm

What? and there's no druid ceremony at Avebury for it?
Thats another one to add to their list for next year....
bounce

PeteG