Advice for contrail spotting?

[leedseagle]

Hi there

i have just started contrail spottting i live in leeds and see contrails flying north BA/EASYJET/RYANAIR/AIRFRANCE/LUFTSTANSA.

I only have Celestron Powerseeker 60AZ with 2.4 inch aperture (60mm) and 800mm Focal length (f/ratio 13).

I use Skywatcher Nirvana UWA 4mm Eyepiece http://www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/aca ... 1.25_.html

This gives 200x mag, with the ultra wide FOV planes are very clear but planes bit difficult to find sometimes due to small aperture of scope.

I have been very well informed by skystef about skywatcher scopes in earlier posts, i definate am going to buy one but would like to know whether the 8",10" or the 12" Dobsonian would have best results with my UWA 4mm eyepiece as i have read that high magnification with low f/ratio scopes can have quite blurry images.http://www.ulo.ucl.ac.uk/public/telescope-guide/

Also i want to buy AirNav radar box but would like to know if anyone knows the range of the Magmount Aerial you get with it as i have read that for best results you need to buy separate (and huge) Antenna (HBS 1090 Mk.II UHF Aerial) http://www.airsupply.co.uk/enthusiastsinfo.html (bottom of page)

I look forward to hearing from you

leedseagle

[Skystef]

Hi leedseagle,

1200 mm with 8 inch gives F ratio 6
1200 mm with 10 inch gives F ratio 4,8
1500 mm with 12 inch gives F ratio 5
So differences are quite small.

Referring to your link
8 inch would give a max usuable power of 400
10 inch = 500
12 inch = 600

If photography is prior I have a slight preference for a scope with lowest F ratio, (so this would be the one with F4,8, although it's very close with an F6 which cost about half the money). If watching is prior I would buy the 12 Inch, as obviously the viewfield is the widest of all three scopes.

Radar box: depends what range you have in mind to see aircraft on your radarscreen. For example if you have the small standard antenne inside the house, range is not more than 40 km, but when putting outside on a pylon of a couple meter height, then this range doubles easely (at least when no large buidings as obstructions).

[leedseagle]

Radar box: depends what range you have in mind to see aircraft on your radarscreen. For example if you have the small standard antenne inside the house, range is not more than 40 km, but when putting outside on a pylon of a couple meter height, then this range doubles easely (at least when no large buidings as obstructions).

Cheers for your help i'm gonna go for 12" Skywatcher as for radar box as long as i can see all contrails on the radarscreen that are going to come over my garden i'll be happy

All the best

leedseagle

[jan_olieslagers]

For radar information, you could consider the acarsd project, see www.acarsd.org
I have not tried this myself, it is attractive in using only simple hardware: an airband receiver or scanner connected to your pc's audio card, and that's all. But to judge from the website it is native to the Linux world so I bet it will take some fidgeting to install & activate. As said, I have no experience as yet, one day when I find time...

[ilpavone2004]

Hello leedseagle!
I have a radarbox and my range if i put the antenna outside is around 150-170 km. i don't live in a plain but i don't have building in the vicinities. This is really importante because then the radarbox is almost useless. If you don't have mountains and building near to your location you can reach up to 250km of range or even more with the standard antenna.

[concordino]

I am not a photographer so cannot comment on that side of things (Skystef is THE man)

Regarding your wanting to know more about Radar box (or even the SBS box) it is like the TV programme says - Location, Location, Location. From your nickname I would assume you are in Leeds, W Yorkshire and Leeds sits in some lovely counrryside but sight of the sky can be restricted so choose you aerial position carefully. Trees, buildings and terrain all affect performance along with weather conditions (it is a radio signal you are receiving) I have yet to buy a fixed aerial for my box and rely on the original mag mount placed on an old metal tin lid for ground plane effect.(your car will give a brilliant boost) With just my small aerial I can reach out a very long way at times but I tend to use it at a range of around 100 miles as my eyes don't see that far and I am only really interested in what I can see near me. One disadvantage of these boxes is that not aircraft are equipped with ADS/B equipment and therefore do not show up on the "radar" screen - Canadair, Embraer most bizjets and most military are logged but not shown. Even with the limitations you have to beware that you will end up in front of your computer for hours - very addictive. One piece of advice would be to get yourself up to LBA and chat with some local spotters about how their boxes work in your area. Maybe someone will have one in their car for you to check out?

C

ps UK spotters refer to flyovers as "trails" or "stripes", rarely contrails - a cultural thing!

[ukdotspotter]

Hi Guys

Looking for some info, i've just purchased a cheap 600mm lens and a 2x Converter for a Canon DSLR. Giving me 1200mm Manual focus. Is this sufficent to take good photos over the top? I currently use a 300mm and can read the registrations on some aircraft so with 1200mm am I going to be getting better chances of reading registrations? Im not after taking superb sharp photos just something different and to know the exact aircraft thats flying over the top of me?

Any help greatly appreciated

MB

[contrailwatcherUK]

Hi Guys

Looking for some info, i've just purchased a cheap 600mm lens and a 2x Converter for a Canon DSLR. Giving me 1200mm Manual focus. Is this sufficent to take good photos over the top? I currently use a 300mm and can read the registrations on some aircraft so with 1200mm am I going to be getting better chances of reading registrations? Im not after taking superb sharp photos just something different and to know the exact aircraft thats flying over the top of me?

Any help greatly appreciated

MB

Hi, Welcome.

You will be able to get closer with the 1200mm lens but your going to have trouble following the aircraft unless you have a tripod. Also you will find the photos might be quite dark. Telescopes are really the best way to go to get the best photos, but if your happy with just being able to read the reg then you'll be fine. However, you might struggle to read the reg on some of the planes with small letters under the wing.

CWuk

[leedseagle]

just had my 12" dob delivered with t-ring and adapter and 2" Barlow along with canon 300d so i'll get some practice and add some pictures soon