10 Most Useless Astronomy Products (Trigger Warning)

I continue my quest to alienate myself from the entire astronomy community.
Support the channel by buying Dylan's Telescopes, Cameras & Equipment using the links below!
EQUIPMENT LIST
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Celestron 11" Edge HD Telescope
USA : bit.ly/3JB95JE
Celestron RASA F2 11" Telescope
USA : bit.ly/3Jy4Ezl
International : amzn.to/3ABsVBz
QHY268M Mono CMOS Camera
USA : bit.ly/33u4k5w
Skywatcher EQ8Rh Pro Mount
USA : bit.ly/3gTdWJX
AUS : bit.ly/3dxdRv1
NexDome Observatory by Sidereal Trading (Australia)
www.siderealtrading.com.au
Celestron RASA 8" F2 Telescope
USA : bit.ly/3GTUwiU
International : amzn.to/3G4nlbP
Celestron NexYZ 3-Axis Smartphone Adapter
USA : bit.ly/351K2ki
International : amzn.to/3g20wLd
Celestron CGX Mount
USA : bit.ly/3BtPVCF
Lunt40mm Solar Telescope
USA : bit.ly/3sP8KMX
Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i Pro Pack
USA : bit.ly/3uUVw3O
International : amzn.to/3ABLAwQ
ZWO ASI 174MM (Planetary / Solar Camera)
USA : bit.ly/3uXpEM8
International : amzn.to/3rXqJAj
ZWO ASI 120MM (Guide Camera)
USA : bit.ly/352iBXg
ZWO ASI 1600MM (Deep Space Camera)
USA : bit.ly/3HVtvg1
International : amzn.to/3rXqJAj
Celestron 0.7x reducer for 11" Edge HD
USA : bit.ly/3gTDJSy
Celestron 0.7x reducer for 9.25” Edge HD
USA : bit.ly/3sNyY2o
Celestron 9.25” Edge HD
USA : bit.ly/3LISupw
Canon 6D mkII DSLR
International : amzn.to/2CbiVER
Tokina 16-28mm Lens
International : amzn.to/3fdFJCo
Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L III USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Full Frame
International : amzn.to/3G9kjmP
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM Lens
International : amzn.to/3H9yPfA
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/ @dylanodonnell
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[@IAMDRREMULAKK]

I'm very interested in Astronomy, but paused this video at the 18 second mark after I realized that this was just another of the millions of douche-bags trying to become famous through social media. Comment. Close video.

[@DylanODonnell]

I’ve been exposed lol

[@BritishBeachcomber]

You really don't get what Dylan is all about. Who's the douche-bag? You's the douche-bag.

[@doccortex1203]

LOL - I doubt very much he would be come a millionaire from this - grow up

[@poruatokin]

Well, you're the one who is losing out. As a Brit I am well tuned to the Aussie style laconic dry wit and humor that Dylan peppers into his incredibly informative and high brow videos. You need to loosen up.

[@dadwhitsett]

Someone needs a hug🥰🥰🥰

[@nikivan]

After reading the manual, I grabbed a sky chart and went to my telescope pier. Attached the scope, removed the dust cap, installed a 2" to 1.25" adapter and slid in an eye piece protected by a luminance filter. Connected the power brick to the mount and started my astronomy session.

[@DylanODonnell]

sounds like a wild night 😆

[@landspide]

rebel yell 👍

[@brianhayward8240]

​@@DylanODonnell Late to the party but (Google finally recommended this video)... Since we're all having fun here. I guess the other option is that he could have setup his astrophotography mount, spent 20 minutes polar aligning, another 30 minutes getting his astro computer to connect to all of the gadgets attached to it, another hour getting the sky telemetry downloaded and plate solving working, another 3 hours struggling with guiding so that stars were only just egg shaped, then finally got 1 hour of photos before the clouds rolled in and he had to pack up all his gear. Anyway, fun video Dylan, I got a chuckle from it. :)

[@rosscayley8773]

...and after seeing some really cool stuff with my own eyes for real for a couple of hours, I decided I wanted a nice photo of it to remember it by.....so I grabbed a beer, jumped on Google for 5 minutes, and downloaded a beautiful image of it taken by some other random dude who had spent 3 nights in a row and 5 hours on his PC wrestling with 4 different bits of freeware preparing it for me...

[@nikivan]

@@rosscayley8773 Yeah, but that's like watching a porn instead of having a girlfriend.

[@michaelsherck5099]

"We don't need to cut down trees to see the sky." You've never seen my yard.

[@DylanODonnell]

Hehe touché

[@matte5810]

HAHA same thats gold

[@rhetoricalquestion6009]

_"... So I did what all good astronomers do: I got the pole saw out."_ -- Dylan O'Donnell • Oct 8, 2021 _"Spent ALL my Ad rev & Patreon Money on THIS...."_ • at 3:56.

[@ragrabau]

Actually I had 8 trees (large pine trees) cut down so I can see the night sky.

[@kaiko-san]

@@ragrabau Are you the Lorax's evil cousin?

[@squirrelsrus1]

I'm offended that you're trying to offend me. I'm also offended that you did the entire video from your kitchen. Also, I'm offended that you provided a trigger warning. What if I prefer to be surprised when I get triggered instead of knowing it is coming. I'm so offended, I hit like. I'm already subscribed so no, I'm not clicking on it. KZbin won't even LET ME and THAT offends me too. I eagerly await your next highly offensive video.

[@DylanODonnell]

I shall try harder next time my friend.

[@deepastro7460]

@@DylanODonnell lololololol

[@ryanmichaelhaley]

This comment triggered me, without warning, which also triggered me, while watching the video, which triple triggered me.

[@squirrelsrus1]

@@ryanmichaelhaley This offends me, too. :)

[@Robert08010]

@@squirrelsrus1 You know.... I need a new fence around my property... So... Give me all your OFFENCE! (snicker!)

[@vnth2186]

07:03 every visual astronomer has left the chat

[@iwicaks]

No, im still here. Probably the only 1 left...

[@davepastern]

@Vineeth - nope. I love both visual and imaging. Visual is a test of my eyes and observing skills, imaging is a completely different kettle of fish Both have a firm place in this wonderful hobby.

[@Durkan34]

No... I actually burst out laughing. Although I do both visual and AP (badly)... Well more accurately I do visual and endless futzing around in the dark with widgets and cameras and a laptop until it finally goes cloudy.

[@AndrejDoms]

I still do visual, but he is right. For most people it is boring after a while. Most objects are just to dim for our eyes...

[@douweodh4146]

Loved your vid and your sarcasm 👍. Don’t completely agree however on visual. For instance you will never be able to image the Double Cluster as beautifully as your eyes can observe it. Cheers from The Netherlands

[@BIGV1N]

The only way you could properly offend me would be to exclude "everything is meaningless and we're all going to die" from one of your videos. Instant unsub.

[@adamg2671]

Nothing means everything and we're all going to live forever.

[@Robert08010]

"Fame! I'm gonna live forever!!!!"

[@jmannUSMC]

It has been an honor to be offended. I will now go cry into my eyepiece dustcaps.

[@Ms_Dana]

that would clean the dust off of them .lol

[@caleb8239]

I was a tripod man right up until a neurological disease left me in a wheelchair. At first I built a cart to transport the mount and telescope from storage to the observing site but that was a still a lot of work for me, so I cut a John Deere cultivator bar in half, sank it in concrete, and built a pier. Much easier solution for me to get set up quickly, but I never would have needed one if I hadn't become disabled.

[@CarpeNoctem42]

That's called working with what you have and not letting others tell you what can or can't do. A fine example of the exeption for the use of piers, I'm sure Dylan would agree (preferably over a pint)!

[@mycarolinaskies]

Ah but you totally missed #1 then, you should be using a camera so there be no need to get right next to the telescope!

[@Robert08010]

You ought to look into the use of remote automated telescopes.

[@donloughrey1615]

I have to build one next year( in a roll off shed). I'm getting too old to carry my Lx200 light bucket. Clear skies to you.

[@Robert08010]

@@donloughrey1615 Have you ever seen the plastic dome observatory? We affectionately refer to it as "the dog house". My club has one. Anyway, I've been puzzling over how I might build one for my back yard. Have you seen those large plastic water tanks farmers use? One of those might be adapted to serve as a plastic observatory. I'm thinking about getting one of those, cutting a large hole in the top, and then using an inverted circular plastic water trough as the removable cover.

[@desmondellis657]

I’m an imager and a visual astronomer. I live to look through the eyepiece if one scope as I’m imagining through another. You can look at all kinds of glossy pics if astronomical objects in magazines and online, but to see that faint, fuzzy blob through the eyepiece, while not as spectacular as the glossy color photo, is still very awe-inspiring. You ever scan the Milky Way with your imaging system? I still need to grow up, but not in this respect.

[@tomasselnekovic]

visual astronomy is a the most beautiful and relaxing activity, it cannot be compared to astrophotography at all. Seeing these distant objects real time is something which will stay in your heart forever. sorry Dylan :)

[@freeman10000]

I absolutely agree

[@vladimirlenin4080]

It was okay until number one. But an eyepiece?? Useless?! I swear to god I'm gonna buy a plane ticket to Australia just to force you to retract that.

[@kevinradtke3767]

Right as soon as I can find my glasses so I can see my computer screen

[@Robert08010]

Yeah, but whats the point? You will have already retracted your landing gear for the flight over... So what will you do if he refuses?

[@TexasTimelapse]

After tinkering with astrophotography, I have to admit, visual took a backseat. However, using an eyepiece a couple of times helped me get past first base by impressing the ladies with Saturn. ; )

[@donaldfawcett9965]

Don't forget to bring an extra three and a half thou for your mandatory 14 day quarantine. The shareholders will thank you.

[@uptown3636]

Save the $$$ and buy another eyepiece. Visual astronomy is magic.

[@jonwatson654]

Living in Scotland, every single piece of astro equipment I own is completely useless, because the weather is so bad. There's always tomorrow as my accountant used to say, before he died. ✌

[@keithkorthals6183]

Think I saw land flying over once! Usually just clouds...not sure I believed in the place before that.

[@Silent_GM]

Fellow Scot here. I bought a new scope 29 days ago and I've had 29 days of cloud!! So I'd have to say that a telescope is the most useless piece of astro equipment for us who are haunted by cloud.

[@claudiogoncalves1985]

@@Silent_GM almost everyone is haunted by bad weather or lack of time when get some new equipament but, unless you live in Scotland, this will pass.

[@romeoneverdies]

well you can recycle it to birdwatching :P

[@michaelkbutler]

"Proper astronomy???" I find visual atronomy to be SUPER fulfilling....to each his own, right? my budget wont allow for all that hardware

[@JMac85X]

Celestron RASA sucks! My 70mm Tasco on my birdbath pier is top notch!

[@GarnettLeary]

Rasa is an overpriced portrait lens for stars. Read that again. Portrait photography doesn’t belong in astronomy. The Rasa surpasses even dust caps in uselessness. “I’d love some nice bokeh in this emission nebula”...said no imager ever. The image that thing produces is so flat Photoshop includes an “add depth” filter.

[@cliveroberts415]

Yes RASA is crap. I bought one to get some nice views of the moon and stuff and it was faulty. No hole in the back to stick my eyepiece in.

[@JMac85X]

@GO TEXAS RANGERS ! well I do live in Texas, isn't it a prerequisite to drink alcohol. Sure I have expensive telescopes and idk how to use them but I'm drunk and happy and that's all that matters.

[@patrickmcvittie4971]

Personally I think the RASA is the perfect telescope. Short exposure times for amazing photos, I don’t have to wait around all night. In addition long focal lengths just give blurry images, the RASA lets you take amazing nebulae photos without worrying about sky blur...

[@MrProulx]

@@GarnettLeary tell that to this guy. www.astrobin.com/users/Marcel_Drechsler/ of course you'll never be on this level judging by what you do.

[@endolf]

I'm from the UK, coming to the end of month 2 of solid cloud cover, all my astrophotography gear is useless right now....

[@sunneh666]

Dutchman here. Same story. Stop sending over clouds Brits.

[@geert5811]

Belgium: idem dito

[@endolf]

I've not even ordered any toys! :)

[@Robert08010]

While I would not agree that eyepieces are useless, I would agree that a camera is 100% absolute necessity. I discovered that the first time i pointed my DSLR (without telescope) at a Nebula and suddenly saw it for the first time. OMG, its actually there... Not a fuzzy undefined blur, but I can now see a dust cloud. And all it took was a 1 second exposure to go from not seeing nuthin to seeing something.

[@DylanODonnell]

Precisely!

[@prabhuvpop]

all okay but eyepiece? you really should change the title to 10 Most useless Astrophotography products, because in Astronomy eyepiece is one of the most important accessories without that you can't do any observational astronomy, you have offended all the visual observers in one single point.

[@yucas997]

You know what, I do planetary astrophotography and I agree with all the things you said, except for the last one. Eyepieces. I think there's a big difference between watching a picture (even of your own) and observing something. Especially on the Moon! Pics are cool. But to see things, its way more involving. At least for me. 😉 P.s. you got the coolest intro 🤙

[@DanielBoychuk]

Seeing Jupiter’s moons or Saturn’s rings the first time with my eyes was amazing. Of course I had seen pictures a million times before but it was different.

[@wanderingbrummie]

I agree, the visual image is inferior, but you are directly observing the same photons that left the target, gives you a personal connection that isn’t there with a digital image. I love both visual and EEA, but even with the latter I’m just trying to get something workable I can see in ”real time”. I’ve no interest in spending hours generating beautiful pictures that are still inferior to anything I can pull off the web. But I can see how people get hooked. I waste hours playing golf when I know the results are going to be embarrassing! Not seen this channel before, but I’ll be back.

[@donloughrey1615]

I totally agree. When I show someone an image I took, of course they like them but they seem to them like pages in a magazine and just look for a moment and that's it. But when they look through an eyepiece The reaction is WOW I had no idea it is so cool and mesmerized, they have to be told "hey it's my turn". No one has ever said 'can I come over and look at the images. But regularly I do hear 'can I come over next time and look through your telescope?' I do love imaging and it is necessary for looking deeper into space than an E.P. Looking in real time awesome.

[@uptown3636]

I agree completely. There is a kind of magic in the photons from distant objects hitting my retina. Call me sentimental or old-fashioned, but it reminds me that I am a bit of sentient matter in a slow and subtle dance with all the other matter in the universe.

[@johngentri4270]

Lost count how many people I turned on to astronomy by taking off my camera and putting on a lens and giving them a look.

[@pdc023]

Really, I'm not offended, and I don't do much visual astronomy myself anymore, but eyepieces and visual astronomy are still, and will always be, essential to public outreach and sparking that fascination in astronomy into young minds.

[@kishascape]

John “come look at the moon” Dobson.

[@ttp_007]

Dylan, it's important for people to realize that every KZbinr has unique personalities and perspectives. Humor, especially, varies widely, and if someone doesn't appreciate it, it's better to move on than to leave hurtful comments. I've observed that there's a strong urge among people to showcase and boast about having the best setup. Some individuals tend to overshadow others, seeking validation or trying to appear more knowledgeable. Then there are those who seek reassurance from others to feel confident about their choices and approaches. I appreciate your video content, your enthusiasm for Astronomy and your unique dry humor. Keep going strong, and don't let negativity get to you.

[@DylanODonnell]

I like to engage with all comments. They are 99.9 % positive :) I’ll troll a troll back which they often don’t expect. Some of my followers are people who left a negative comment but we’re friends now.

[@robertpascale3248]

Loving where the guy is holding the soldering iron. Toasty.

[@DylanODonnell]

Hehe useless.

[@earth9258]

Missed that 😂

[@BIGV1N]

I didn't catch it till #8. That bass drop at the end though, not quite as subtle.

[@_Piers_]

There's a worrying amount of stock images of people holding soldering irons wrongly...they're mostly poking them at PC motherboards as well.

[@voDKaandEric]

I built my own pier for about 40 bucks and love it. It is sooooo much easier to push the roof back than setup over and over again.. You are completely right that it makes no difference in image quality. LOVE your channel! And btw, that guy soldering is really going to burn his fingers... just say'n.....

[@ragrabau]

My pier was $0.00 - 11.5 feet 12 inch diameter. Works great in my 8ft dome.

[@TheSpacePlaceYT]

"Go ahead and dislike the video." *NO DISLIKES* That lets you know...

[@DylanODonnell]

Hahaha

[@ahmada.9953]

Reverse psychology at work.

[@MikeLikesChannel]

There's a single dude in my astro club with an entire dating strategy of showing his new lady friends Jupiter/Saturn/Moon through the eyepiece - most often they've never looked through an eyepiece before - it's like a bolt of lightning to the face. Don't *always* need to use a camera ;)

[@guyyanez6949]

Yes, eyepieces are useless. Please do you a favor and send me your eyepiece collection. I will make an effort and keep them.

[@rapid13]

Meh. The only folks who dismiss visual astronomy are those who can't find the target in the EP anyway.

[@madagoselis]

Luminance filter - optics with lenses are designed for optimum wavelength range and they can focus all that range pretty well, but the further away you get from that "design range" the worst the performance gets (ability to focus all wavelengths to same spot size). If target emits wavelengths that are very far apart you can not focus both of those perfectly. This should not be an issue for emission nebulae, but maybe for stars it is? Since they are broadband. Anyway - that's the theory behind it, thou I only saw this effect on daylight cameras with CMOS sensors, since I do not have a mono camera for astrophotography :) Generally this inability to focus all light rays look like blur on photos.

[@orionm4254]

Some like to simply gaze with binoculars, others go expensive 9k-20k to capture highly detailed frames.

[@caput_in_astris]

Completely wrong, without a pier and allen keys, the Hubble telescope wouldn’t have been able to such great pictures. And I remember Hubble also had a dust cup - they even forgot to remove it when they first launched it 😅

[@matte5810]

Did they fly it back to take it off :P

[@caput_in_astris]

@@matte5810 Actually yes 😅 In december 1993 (Endeavour mission STS 61)

[@matte5810]

@@caput_in_astris HAHA thats fukn Gold

[@epic_playz4283]

* TRIGGERED *

[@johntremain8403]

When you live somewhere that has winter, a pier is necessary due to frost heaving in the spring. I live in Ohio and anything you don't want to lose alignment on you need to imbed a slab around 36" down to get below the winter frost layer. Otherwise when the ground thaws in the spring, your slab on grade will be a few degrees high on one side or the other. I don't have a large scope, so I'm tripod. But if I did and I wanted to hold alignment, I'd need not only a pier, but one on a deep foundation.

[@astrosheepy3906]

I know astrophotography is awesome and I love it it lets us see the universe like we can’t see it with the naked eye. But do you never look at the moon or the planets anymore with your eyepiece? Because seeing something with your own eye is still super cool. even if a deepsky object is just a gray vague smudge i find it still super cool that I’m looking at a nebula/galaxy/... that is light years away with my own eyes.

[@JimHendrickson]

The best part of the video is when you tell people to unsubscribe--a definite dig to those who beg their viewers to subscribe on EVERY video. I don't know why that's a thing. Allen keys is the only item we have in common. Anyone who owns or uses enough astro gear has a metric and english set of allen keys already. My list of most useless astro gear includes: * Tripod spreaders - most get in the way and usually have to be removed in order for you to fold up the tripod completely. Honestly, I'd rather have a pier. * Eyepiece racks (goes along with tripod spreaders) - because my eyepieces aren't wet enough, I'll just leave them exposed to dew. * Dew shields and dew heaters - a dew shield is just a big radiator to cool your optics just as quickly as without, and heater straps never stay attached properly. Surely there's got to be a better way - reflective metallic scope tubes perhaps (did those antique brass telescopes ever dew up? * Cigarette lighter plugs with flimsy cables - why is this still the standard 12v power connector? * Lens caps - what is the hard thing about making a lens cap that stays on your scope or camera lens so it doesn't pop off when you're handling it or taking it out of its case? * "Zero power" finders - perhaps it's just me, but light amplification and a little bit of magnification actually helps me "find" things. * Red headlamps - unless you astronomize alone, leave this junk at home.

[@freeman10000]

I am a visual astronomer and love my eyepieces. We all know what images (photos) of celestrial objects look like. You can download high resolution images from the likes of NASA for free. I have no intention spending megabucks on astro gear trying to replicate the professionals. However, with visual Astronomy you are seeing objects in real life and real time. And the thrill of seeing a celestrial object, in the flesh, is superior than spending stacks of cash capturing an image that you see on a computer.

[@mar504]

Seeing saturn with my own eyes the first time was magical, got me hooked. But stacking my photos gives me that same feeling, I'm achieving superhuman vision, seeing things you could never experience in front of an eyepiece and I get to share them with my friends and family. I get to mix art with astronomy, not for everyone but I think it's pretty damn cool.

[@flanerpete2040]

Did the astrophotography thing back in the 80s and 90s. You know, with star charts, setting circles, film and manual guiding for up to an hour. Had a blast and learned a lot. Now, I enjoy the visual aspect of looking up using "useless" TV eyepieces, but am not offended in the least. Keep up the good work, Dylan! 😊

[@zparagi]

You have to do a lot of dirty astrophoto tricks before you can achieve anything close to what you get with a blink of an eye on the Moon/planets! :)

[@earth9258]

Ya that’s what I was thinking about the moon. Not really true about the planets though in my opinion. Stacking is pretty easy and goes a long way in reducing the atmospheres effects

[@jimangela4589]

I agree on the eyepieces. With a camera I can throw an image live or single shot onto a computer screen that everyone can see. No squinting, no waiting in line, no bumping the telescope.

[@cdh79]

I do mostly visual astronomy.. I look at my scope inside the house, collecting dust because of the constant bad circumstances in the Netherlands (almost no astronomical darkness for half of the year, constant bad weather, light pollution, wind and low altitude so always bad seeing)

[@josephdragan7734]

How about buying full set of eyepieces (accessory kits) for those of us (stubborn luddites) who still love the thought of photons flying through space traveling into our eyes?

[@astroblast9352]

Obviously you have never looked through a 30 inch dob in a dark sky. I was expecting something like color filters, moon filters, bird jones telescopes, etc

[@Jason-qt8bm]

I keep my dustcovers so I can cap off my beer in the summer and not worry about a wasp seeking refugee in my drink

[@howardbond1583]

Great Show Dylan!! I agree on many of your Top 10, but you have to remember I’m old. I’m trying to get more experience with my digital camera, but there nothing like seeing a youngster or old person looking up from your telescope the first time they see Saturn. Looking at a monitor just doesn’t compare! Take Care Dylan & Stay Safe

[@wesleydonnelly2141]

lol you are hilarious at times Dylan!! The bit about the disgustingly expensive feather touch focusers is absolutely spot on!! I do exactly as you suggested, I made a little arm that connects to the focuser and it allows me to focus in on object precisely and it didn't cost me $400+ !! My biggest gripe about this Hobby that we all know and love is disgustingly high costs!!?? It puts 95% of potential Astrophotographers off the Hobby because either they can't afford it, or refuse to pay the insanely high prices! Take for example something simple like a set of Tube Rings for you OTA to mount onto your ( also disgustingly expensive! ) Mount! A set of 354mm Tube Ring's for a 12inch OTA will set you back around $150 PLUS POSTAGE AND PACKAGING!!?? So you're looking at almost $200 for what is essentially just two pieces of cheap steel!!?? And that doesn't even include you having to also buy the Dovetail Bar to connect the rings/OTA to the Mount!!?? That will cost you another $100 plus shipping, so all in, you're looking at paying almost $300 just for a set of Tube Rings and Dovetail Bar!!?? Add in the cost of a half decent 'scope, and a half decent Mount/Tripod and it's minimum $1'400 !!!??? And if you include some decent eyepieces, and upgrade to a GoTo Mount, Astroimaging Camera or DSLR Camera etc you're into $3'000+ minimum!!!??? It really annoys me how indefensibly expensive our Hobby is!! Now obviously the prices I quoted could be significantly reduced if you're willing to buy junk with awful optics etc, but that would just put a potential Astronomy/Astrophotographer off too!! So it's a no-win situation!!?? Great Vid Dillan! Thanks! Wes, Liverpool, Uk.

[@noth606]

Or do like I did, find an old late '80s/early 90s 4" SCT for $100 with one useless eyepiece, and proceed to breaking your back and never using it. You do get the added bonus of 'legit' watching astronomy vids and occasionally commenting.

[@wesleydonnelly2141]

@@noth606 LOL I totally sympathise with you! I bought an old second hand 80's 3 inch refractor from a car boot sale, and it's optics were awful!! LOL. Thankfully I was advised by a seasoned amateur astronomer that it was telescope that was at fault, not the night sky! I now own a few v good 'scopes, one of which is my most used, the skywatcher 200P on a Skywatcher HEQ5 mount. I adore this hobby now! Wes.

[@tim71pos]

My goodness the hatred of eyepieces is certainly an indicator of why he dislikes planispheres. I use computers at home but in the field I want to be dark adapted and so I avoid screens. Planispheres are good for alignment stars and for figuring out which constellations are going to be where so you can plan the night. Considering they only cost a few bucks....they are also useful for some for some daytime tests of computerized go-to and push-to equipment. I remember when I said to an on-line group that I was going to get a Canon to do some imaging and people I had known for years said DON'T DO IT YOU'LL SPEND ANOTHER $30,000 AND LOSE ALL YOUR TIME IMAGE PROCESSING AND IT WON'T BE FUN ANY MORE. That made an impression. I already had $30k in telescopes. I certainly had no need to spend $30k more. And I spend 40 to 50 hours a week in front of computers and it is not my idea of fun to spend more time behind a screen accumulating data and processing it. Piers: I guess what is meant is fixed piers. ATS piers are lightweight and portable, sort of a cross between tripod and a fixed pier. A viable alternative to a tripod. If I had a big empty field behind my house I might well have a permanent pier. But I don't. So he hates visual astronomy. Now I know why I haven't been paying attention to this guy until youtube suggested I pay a visit.

[@user-nt9ct1lz9f]

i am totally on your side

[@henryv1598]

I completely agree here. Planispheres are not the best tool, but for beginners, they're definitely useful, and even now and then for more experienced users. The bigger problem here is his lack of appreciation for visual astronomy. I'm an astrophotographer myself, but the experience at the eyepiece is totally different. And you shouldn't even touch astrophotography without some experience doing visual observing. Until you know your way around the sky somewhat and have a fundamental understanding of how telescopes work and how to use them, then you shouldn't start imaging. You don't learn to fly a plane by hopping in the cockpit of an F/A-18E and shooting off a catapult. You learn to fly in a light single engine aircraft and work your way up. Jumping directly into imaging misses a lot of amazing experiences. And there's nothing at all to rival the experience of looking at a galaxy 50 million light years away or more and realizing the photons hitting your eyes have traveled that far for that long. His lack of appreciation for visual observing and the way he publicly derided it here is a massive disservice to the community. But I totally agree with him about power bricks. I totally hate them with a burning passion. Someday I'll put a 12V power supply in my observatory and run everything off one supply instead of a half dozen individual ones. Ugh.

[@petejones6827]

@@henryv1598 this dude told me my dust cap over my 10 inch dob is pointless im new to this but im pretty sure keeping dust off that mirror is something i would want. and the dustcap on my eyepiece well i leave the 25mm on there and id rather not have to wipe the lens all the time hoping i dont scratch it.

[@stevenwarner9156]

I can see the utility in piers if space is at a premium on the ground, and you don't ever need to transport your 'scope anywhere, but if your tripod does the job, you are sorted. Don't succumb to pier pressure. Looking forward to when I can get into astrophotography. Need to save a bit. Will be nice to hike in early Spring or late Autumn at a national park here in Norway. Got a total setup listed, but need a new 'scope (Skywatcher 72 ED Pro should do), the new StarAdventurer 2i Pro pack, a guide scope setup, and a DSLR, possibly a Canon M50. Autoguiding will still be limited, but will help. Learning to manually move the telescope's position ever so slightly for each exposure for dithering purposes should be interesting... Anyway, great content Dylan. You always find a way to make me grin!

[@JoeBob79569]

I actually found the little booklet I got with my old Soligor telescope to be quite useful, because it had item numbers for some of the extras, like the polar scope, and RA motor, so that I could go and buy them. Except when I went to the Soligor website, after only 20 years, it was no longer in use. So, yea, I guess it wasn't so useful after all.

[@GoldSrc_]

lol. Those astro cameras need to up their dynamic range game if they want to compete with my squishy eyeball though. Also, dust caps can be used to collimate newtonians by drilling a hole in the middle, so they do have some use but not so much as dust caps.

[@DylanODonnell]

the dynamic range is a lie perpetuated by your brain! ;)

[@thomaspetersen5114]

Lol, well played. The only one that gave me pause was the lum filter. Having it gives me a focusing routine on lum with parfocal r, g, b filters. Besides, I do appreciate that little extra dust protection in from of the image sensor.

[@derekderek2570]

I picked up a William Optics FLT 132 the other day and the guy selling it to me was like "if you really want to see this perform you gotta do some visual astronomy" I was like da fuq did you just say to me? You practice picking up your teeth, I'm going to put this in my car and be right back."

[@DylanODonnell]

LOL *slaps bonnet*

[@raizalmohammad7444]

I STiLL need an" EYEPIECE" for my 100mm f4""" Quadruplet Apo """ guiderscope for my Widefield Astrometric Camera system for asteroid/NEO hunting..... We all still need that humble piece of gear no matter at what stage were at in astronomy.....

[@johnbrewer318]

I'm new to astronomy without a telescope just using a basic tracking mount and an SLR and do find a planisphere useful for star hopping :)

[@toddnoseworthy1447]

Most of the list I would agree with but I do have two exceptions. One - eyepieces are great for large visual telescopes like Dobsonians, there are big beautiful objects that can be seen with that combination, two - piers, they allow you to run your scope's guiding system closer to the meridian without the worry of striking your tripod. I hope these two points offend you. Lol.

[@mohammedalshethry4862]

hey Dylan, love your videos please keep doing them, I want to know if you can make a video about how do you know if you have enough signal to noise ratio for your images or you still need more exposure, can too much exposure ruin your photos? I once photographed orion overnight is it overkill? not sure.

[@astro_zane]

As a visual purist I have zero understanding of why the hell star wheels were ever useful or why they still bother to print them. The ones that cost $10-$15 are even worse.

[@DylanODonnell]

Right??

[@astro_zane]

@@DylanODonnell The only use I could see would be of if you needed to learn the constellations before computers existed. Even then, it's a real niche use case and there are other/better ways to do it that would provide more functionality.

[@sjbastro]

Never been offended by your videos, right up until you mentioned eyepieces!!! Grr, sketching is better than astrophotography anytime!!! 😉😂. Seriously though, nice video and I can relate to many of those. I'll be trying the clothes peg one for sure 😃👍

[@DylanODonnell]

Hehe thx Steven. I’ll roast sketchers later ;)

[@sjbastro]

@@DylanODonnell Excellent - I wouldn't want to be missed out 😉👍

[@DenimSuitPhoto]

Visual astronomers. Ya Burned!

[@rvoykin]

Carrying around a star chart is like carrying around a scratch piece of paper and pencil so you can do math when you have a phone with a calculator in the same pocket

[@skesinis]

The Allen key was probably one of my most used ones but for a different reason. I was using it as a lever for my focuser instead of a peg. 😂 That was until I made one myself with a stepper motor and an Arduino. Great video as usual Dylan!

[@Caedo12]

Me: God I love this channel Dylan: Yeah, about "God"... LOL

[@DylanODonnell]

hehe

[@zeustehbirb3000]

@@DylanODonnell nyeheheh

[@angrysnowmanz]

I'm offended that guys hand isn't smoking from holding the soldering iron like that.

[@NatarajanGanesan]

Eyepieces? really! I knew you saved that for the last. While many may love astrophotography, the joy of watching with your plain ol' eyes is just different. Star Charts are a relic BUT great to have too ... in case your smartphone starts behaving (which THEY DO :D). Same for instruction manual

[@cosmoscarl4332]

You should do one on video astronomy. Since you're shooting down visual. For guys like me who still appreciate the fact that we can still make out fine details doing visual astronomy, even though we're old as f**k! I am also a visual artist and I think it would be fun to at least try astronomy sketching. Electronically assisted astronomy is great for people who can't tolerate staying out all night like we do and who may not have access to unpolluted night skies.

[@zubuyerkaolin]

Yes, we are the hoarders of useless things hoping one day they will come in some kind of use. If they were totally useless then Dylan would have thrown them away. He even kept the eyepiece ;) I'll be honest, I kind of knew I wanted to get into astrophotography, yet I bought a zoom eyepiece so I could show people the moon and stuff. Never really use it for myself though. But I don't plan on throwing it away at all. I do feel like I should have a visual setup next to my photography rig just to spend the imaging time under the stars, break two bottles with one stone ;)

[@ranjitgovindaraj]

Agree with everything ... But the pier... My mount tripod legs hit the counterweight at 11°N latitude so I got a pier extension and eventually built a simple pier with a rolling shed ... Have to say life’s much easier...

[@martinhiggins9814]

Hi Dylan, just wanted to give a huge thanks. I've beeen flat out in bed due to dire back problem for the last six weeks (so no observing whatsoever) so a great opportunity to bone up on astronomy stuff. Been through all your vids (as well as much else on the web), learnt to use Sharpcap, Registax and Autostakker having the ZWO plugged into laptop and focused on a open wardrobe while I tease the image of the stuff inside! Now if I can just get some more detail on that tee shirt. Anyhow cheers for all your work it's much appreciated. Having problems with the humorus stuff though as it hurts when I laugh.

[@cyc996863]

not exactly to #9. pier is thin and equipments won't hit the leg especially passing meridian while tripod legs are widely spreaded and equipments like counterweight could hit tripod legs much easier

[@LoneWolf-sh1ph]

I wasn't offended but I did nearly 💩 myself at the end when the sound nearly blew my eardrums!!

[@DylanODonnell]

Oops haha

[@ClearAmbientSkies]

Sound should never exceed -12db in a production. An audio engineer told me this long ago. Still applies today and can be set in Final Cut or Premiere easily.

[@jvrotter]

Actually I’ve got 4 piers, 2 at home and 2 at my dark site. All my tripods are useless and collecting dust. Covered in large plastic bags of course! I still have my original star wheel when I was a kid 60yrs ago. Even though I use SkySafari, still think the star wheel is good learning tool for the youngsters.

[@Gnarlys_Garage]

Me for the first 9: “still hasn’t offended me!” Dillon: “#1, eye pieces” Me: *waiting for Amazon to deliver the 3 eyepieces I just ordered*

[@DylanODonnell]

Hah!

[@2001johngalt]

I enjoy your videos and find them very helpful. Do you have any offensive opinions about the Stellina and eVscope electronic telescopes? Any comments about asteroid observing with these scopes?

[@superIuminaI]

Most Useless Astronomy Equipment #1 - An Eyepiece Al Nagler:

[@oz6123]

Somewhere there is a Televue eyepiece graveyard.

[@harmannmultani6305]

Dylan after showing the number 1 equipment, destroyed my whole career

[@Jakke101]

Hit the subscribe button 5 seconds in being told I was going to be offended. ”Oh baby, here we go” I heard myself say, ”This’ll be great”. I was NOT disappointed … hence offended! Good job, sir!

[@Bazzasphotolife]

I don't even own a telescope and am totally offended! But your accent softened the blow a bit knowing what a-holes ozzies can be ;-) Keep up the class work!

[@lalitac]

3rd! I have the same haircut as you Dylan! Lots and lots of love from India!

[@DylanODonnell]

You get bronze my man 🥉

[@thesnitch7]

I love a bit of pier pressure in the morning

[@davidnelmsesq]

Watching this video will save you $610 US dollars right out of the gate. Since the video is 8 minutes long, it's the equivalent of making $4,575 per hour to ingest KZbin content. This represents a substantial raise (for me at least). Highly recommended.

[@DylanODonnell]

Hehe the figures check out!

[@keithjohnson5713]

Owch, number 1 will go down like a lead balloon with visual astronomers!! - one of my astro mates often comments all of my eyepiece's have a USB cable attached to the end of it !

[@alanhat26]

After going through the comments I'm offended that everyone has has said what I wanted to say already 🤣

[@realtruth2875]

very bold video. i agree with all points except last, eye peice. visual observation is the first thing , which attracts you toward astronomy. astrophotography pictures are already available on internet.

[@dovthiessen]

Totally agree. There are many amazing photographers out there, and I do admire their shots. I’d rather observe and explore.

[@cdhouder]

Question about the luminance filter. I had problems focussing my zwoasi224mc + samyang 135mm on the veil nebula. I was told this is because it didnt have a filter on it and the IR wavelenght has a different focuspoint. To overcome this I should buy an UV/IR cut filter (this is the same as a luminence filter, right?). Sooooo now I'm a bit confused haha. Would this filter fix my focusproblems, or is it useless?

[@catchingphotons]

You really made me laugh :-D It's also a cool video for beginners!! There are those 10^20 people out there telling you what YOU REALLY NEED TO BUY! And havin a good sense of whats really necessary (a good camera) and whats not (eyepieces) is very helpfull, I think. Clear skies my fried! -Chris

[@nicklloyd9165]

Love this video as it confirms my happiness of not being a millennial.

[@uptown3636]

Spoken like a Gen X-er. Am I right?

[@jonathanhansen3709]

Everyone has the right to be wrong. Having been in the hobby for 56 years since I was 11, I’ve seen a lot of change in amateur astronomy, in both visual, and imaging. I would classify you as a ‘gadgeteer’, which is fine, you can have a lot of fun fiddling with your latest camera, doodad, or software system. I gave up on astrophotography in the film days of the 1970’s, when a wise man told me, “I can buy a better picture than I can take”. Today I would say I can find a better picture on line than I can take. Any NGC or IC object, get it for free, and without the extra cost, of an expensive camera, and mount. Even the several expensive TeleVue eyepieces I have in my collection are far cheaper than a good ccd camera, or ‘go-to’ mount like you need. And I dare say I have just as much fun! Oh, and I still use paper charts like Sky Atlas 2000 and Uranometria. I find I can access them much faster than any digital program, plus be able to modify them, and easily make permanent notes to myself.

[@NightSkySurferAstro]

NO ONE GETS INTO ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY just to have pictures of celestial objects. it's to have pictures THEY THEMSELVES took and processed.

[@nicke.3536]

So funny: All items, except dust caps( dust caps really useless) are most used by people in astronomy...

[@garyklein7498]

I agree with most of your critique, I have a few Auto-guide scopes, modified of course. Wifi, Starry night, Nikon FX DSLR, also wifi output using qDslr dashboard on a 50" 4k. Focus drive for the SCT, gearbox built laser printer cogs, motor/encoder an amplifier volume motor, coupled to a cheap radio controlled car.

[@jeffreypicard6022]

Do I have to sign up on a list to be offended? I want what's coming to me!!

[@justinhendrickson3133]

GET OFF MY LAWN! lol

[@DylanODonnell]

DAMN STRAIGHT

[@timtooley1301]

I think it is a shame you know longer enjoy observing at the eyepiece. There is something special about looking at objects through a nice scope/eyepiece on a good night!

[@eddwar8597]

Nice, but if I want to go to AP, I need space and a good mount, witch is too complicated and extremely expensive to get in my country. That's why I'm still in visual astronomy.

[@ronhunt2477]

Dylan - I'm offended - I just can't remember why! Oh yeah and CABLES that are too short to reach anything!!!!! I'm depressed that didn't make your list!

[@lancewilliams8732]

Totally agree, so many damn cables

[@z4zuse]

Probably did make the short list

[@VincentGroenewold]

What about little metal spacers that cost 50 dollars each! hahaha

[@mycarolinaskies]

Now it's cables that are either too short or too long

[@MobilMobil-kv5ke]

Trigger warning: Clothes peg????? Here in the US they’re called “clothes pins”.

[@BuzzLightyear9999]

....yeah, but you guys also don’t know how to say “aluminium”, or “solder”, or “autumn”...🤷‍♂️😉

[@DylanODonnell]

Imperial measurement. Your argument is invalid ;)

[@thesnitch7]

@@BuzzLightyear9999 sawwwwwwwwww drrrrrrrrrr

[@birreboi]

@@BuzzLightyear9999 Or tomatoes, bananas and many other words they strangle ;-)

[@majestikkal8603]

@@DylanODonnell Oooooo...BUURRRNNN! Lmao 😂

[@charlessands6933]

The fact that you don't think we should be printing sky charts on paper is not relevant to whether or not they are useful.

[@DylanODonnell]

Redundant - adjective “not or no longer needed or useful; superfluous.” - Oxford dictionary.

[@charlessands6933]

@@DylanODonnell: you can say what you want but useful means it has uses and it does. It might not be convenient anymore but that's not the same as being useless.

[@karllewis735]

I cannot believe that you don't like dust caps! This is an outrage! How is that not a violation of KZbin's TOS?

[@justinelliott4127]

Lol this guy and his CMOS. We do straight rod and cone jack-in jobs here. None of that cheap Chinese well-depth BS. Here, stick this in your neck, were going to Triton.

[@ivanhancock]

Well, Dylan, here I sit Un-Offended, I'd have to agree with all of that 100% Actually the only thing that pisses me off is clouds as specially months of clouds !! Cheers :)

[@warrenwhubner7233]

Hello Dylan Just wondering what your thoughts are on H(b) filters for both visual and imaging I recently purchased an older C11PEC with an Argo Navis system and also a LX200 8" ACF that included a Atik 314L and Atik 5 filter manual filter wheel that has a CLS CCD and Baader IR filter in it plus dark red dark blue and a yellow green coloured cheap generic rubbish filters that need to be thrown away so I'm just considering what may be worth my while buying Cheers

[@SoftwareSavesMe]

Au contraire, amigo! My brand-new Celestron EdgeHD 9.25 came with all sorts of handy advice on how to set the shutter on my film SLR to take pictures of the moon. And pointed out I could even buy a broken SLR because I won’t be needing it’s light meter. Sheesh. You nailed that one, Dylan.

[@billmurphypenguins3774]

Totally agree, after about three visual sessions i bought a DSLR. Its still snowballing.....

[@frl8031]

Feathertouch focusers are awesome. They focus beautifully, they don't have backlash so autofocus is easier, and they don't lose focus any way near as much as a crappy one. Piers are good for allowing a long scope to shoot at steep angles without crashing into the legs

[@Astrofrank]

Feathertouch focusers also don't have the problem many Crayford focusers have - the drawtube sliding through.

[@AstroLaVista]

I have a pier in my obsy, I don't need it, I just like compensating for something.