LGDSO

The Bishop Museum of Science and Nature is now an authorized telescope dealer. They are one of just two in the entire state of Florida. They carry a very nice selection of telescopes under $500 and binoculars as well. Wolf will be happy to hear that they just received a shipment of SkyWatcher 6" Dobs. If you buy there they will also teach you how to use it. They sell at the regular street prices too, no price gouging. Check it out...support the local business.

Who's teaching?

Wolf.

Alternative designations of HR999

Henry Draper Catalogue   HD20644
SAO Catalogue   SAO75871
Hipparcos Catalogue   HIP15549
Durchmusterung Catalogue   BD+28 516
FK5 Catalogue   2234

Yup! That was a good time last night. How many were in the crowd is there a count yet?

It was fun listening to Dennis teach people what they are looking at.

Wolf.

Keep working on them Ed. It would be nice to have a brick and mortar that sells astronomy stuff locally.

Wolf.

How about these?

https://www.go-astronomy.com/observatories-state.php?State=FL

Wolf.

Another way to increase the performance of the 4SE is to take it out to a dark sky site. And take your time at the eyepeice. Back in '06 we went to Murphy NC for a Jeep Jamboree. We were staying at a campsite on the back side of a mountain from Murphy which was blocking the very little light pollution that was there. I packed my Celesteron ED80 (3") refractor for the trip along with a camera tripod. I was actually blown away by what I could see with it. For the first time when looking at Andromeda, I could see M110 sitting right next to it. Not to mention that Andromeda completely spanned the 32mm eyepiece. The scope has a focal length of 600mm so this is a very wide field view. Next i swung around to Alberio in Cygnus and the amount of stars behind that double was breathtaking. I would definitely keep that little 4 as a grab and go when you don't want to or have the time for big gear. All the stuff mentioned above is good, but a question you need to ask yourself is "what do you want to do with the hobby? Visual or astrophotography? Both?" If the answer is mainly visual, then you might want to look into some of the dobsonian scopes. Bigger aperture for less money. Just a thought.

Here is an interesting article to consider...
https://www.bbastrodesigns.com/TipsToImproveTelescopePerformance.html


Wolf.

You should be fine as the 13.8 will quickly drop the in the 12 zone once you start using the equipment. My 20AH sla battery reads 14+ sometimes right after charging it, but within an hour of use its down to 12.4. Unless you are talking about AC to DC power supply then it should remain at the constant that it is set at. What equipment are you looking to power?

Wolf.