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The battery in the HC lasts for quite a while so no real concern of it loosing time or anything. When you plate solve in the air you can press the button sync to mount and I believe this aligns the mount model to the actual pointing location as calculated by the air. I've never felt the need to use this though.

@Louis D I have one 20mm 68deg from ES , was thinking to use it in a pair , sadly the lathe i've found only does 0.5/0.75/1mm thread steps and the ES has the standard 1.25" thread 27.5 x 0.6 so it'l have to wait. Probably going to 'upgrade' the binoviewer to 1.25" holders in the future but currently I'm playing with it as it is - and use eyepieces that come with 0.75mm thread with adaptors. EDIT: I was thinking at this type of adapters , iniatially wa looking at the click-lock but I did read that it sometimes does not hold the EP as intended and that the screw ones are safer.

I don't particularly like using it either, though it doesn't apply to the hem15, I've read someone blew the board in their gem28 by trying to connect directly to the mount. So I'll keep to manufacturer recommendations.

I was using the hand controller, I just never bothered putting a battery in the hand controller or setting up date/time on it - I thought that would all come from the Air... The air does set some info like location, but not all, it would seem. I object to setting up the hand controller. Having two sources of time and location information is very, very wrong and asking for trouble. But it is what it is.

pass the salt please

Same here. I also scored 99%. 0% scored higher (more nerdy), 1% scored the same, and 99% scored lower (less nerdy).

When I'm using my C6 F6.3 reduced the dovetail position is very similar to yours. I bought a vixen saddle clamp that has threaded holes in the underside, clamp that under the dovetail near the front and screw in stackable gimbal weights (they're 300g each) under the vixen saddle. Near enough good Dec balance.

It never occurred to me to ask but for clarification how exactly did you use the hem15 with the air without the hand controller? The usb connection and WiFi are contained within the hand controller.

Looking forward to the actual review of the 12".

So over a number of night ( a couple of hours here and there) i have managed to capture the soul nebula, its only 40 x 5 on each narrowband filter with OSC, Think this could do with a lot more data, but more than happy with it at the moment.

I mean, you probably could. Once 🤣

I agree, SX kit is superb, but always on the very expensive side, I have been waiting for them to bring out an IMX571 based camera, but now they are, I dare not ask the price…😮😮

Once mastered the eyepieces are very enjoyable to use, the feel wider than they are tagged.

The SX combined Autofocuser and Active Optics does look very interesting but probably very expensive. it would be interesting to know the bore.

Kostas have you checked all the relevant grub screws and Allen screws which position and hold the various plates of the clutch assembly? The video posted earlier in the thread shows these various screws and where they are located. I ask this due to your description that the brass worm gear is turning and it is tensioned against the teeth on the drive plate yet it's not moving the axis. To me it appears that the clutch is slipping and this could be due to the screws mentioned. Tightening the main tensioning nut on top of the assembly will have no effect due to this. I would watch the video and check the screws on yours at each disassembly stage. Good luck 🤞.

Thanks! I love prime imaging with planetary conjunctions

Yes I know ... sorry Central Europe.. it is cloudy, raining and even snowing 😄. At least I had ample time to put together and now to collimate.

My score is 99%

Excellent, vibrant, informative, good-humoured forum! But, just on the nerd thing, there needs to be a special subcategory for people who talk about the Svbony 8-3 zoom all the time

... true but you cant eat the EP 🤣

That small SW HD mount can slew fast enough to satellite track so will definitely be interesting. Being able to use it in EQ or a dual mount alt az mode will definitely be of use. Wave 100i $1700 USD Wave 150i $2200 USD Source CN.

Actually I do, I swap from hovering over the lens to pressing against the eye cup. I just need to practice

I now I should always keep my periodic table next to me😁 shameful score, I need to buy another anorak…

Good advice above, but I would add that it is very dependent on your set up. I image with a 1600MM pro and a RisingCam IMX571 colour camera and I have no problem with a standard LED panel (tracing panel from Amazon) and very short exposures << 1sec. (Not recommended with a 294 sensor). This is particularly convenient when taking NB and LRGB flats at the same time as I do not need to alter the screen brightness. Similarly, with the RC8 I remove the dew shield for the flats and it is fine. Obviously, this may not be the case with an SCT due the effect of the corrector plate.

Nice brass Gregorian on Sunday's broadcast about 29 minutes in ... https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001bf3j/antiques-roadshow-series-44-ham-house-3