dweller25

Hello @Plissken and welcome to SGL For deep sky objects you may be better with more aperture than 72mm. Have you thought about a Dobsonian ?

See this thread on Cloudynights - I suspect it is the same guy ? Sounds like there was a problem with the visual back. https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/695985-i-tried-to-collimate-my-sct-after-2-hrs-i-didnt-do-much/

I think it’s too late for that as the OP has been tinkering 😩 I must have been unlucky as my C6 and C9.25 needed collimating, however my C8 was spot on 🙂

Sorry - but don’t expect miracles

That is exactly what I did - it worked well 👍

How do slightly out of focus star images look ? When well collimated you should see several perfect concentric circles like this....

@Captain Magenta I suspect your primary is not pointing directly at your secondary so would suggest you focus (pun intended) on that first. Looking at the scope from the front in daylight and examining the hall of mirrors may help you to get reasonably good collimation.

Here is a little info...... https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/429506-diamond-z/

Not really, just wait for a clear night and use the Moon to align the finder

Lots of factors can give an unsteady image..... Target at a low altitude Scope not cooled properly - a scope stored outside in a garage/shed will still need a little time to reach true ambient temperature. Observing over the roofs of houses giving off heat Scope set up on concrete giving off heat - grass is best High wind speeds The Jet stream Your video is quite good given it was windy 👍

I also had the VX8L. To align the finder during the day on a church spire around 1/4 mile away I had to use all the extension tubes in the focuser. Once under the stars I had to remove one extension tube to get focus. I also moved the primary to it’s furthest setting from the secondary.

@Neil H You will not need the extension tube when you focus on astronomical targets

Good advice from Stu 👍

Moon & Venus taken with an iPad 19:20UT

Unexpectedly I am enjoying ST Picard. It’s pitched just right for Patrick Stewarts age and the storyline is intriguing. It’s good 🙂

No,no @Vicky050373, I think your scope is the most interesting 👍

👍

Another vote for Jupiter..... Usually around every year Usually at a reasonable height Shows good detail in smaller scopes Doesn’t need high magnification Always changing surface features Major moons add interest too

Sad news, always enjoyed listening to her on TV

Hi @Martin13 and welcome to SGL. We can spend your money easier if we know what kind of viewing you want to do 😆 You don’t need GOTO to track objects - simple motor drives will do that and they are much cheaper. Taks are very nice scopes and perhaps an FC-76 might be worth considering as it quite portable. For the planets you would be better off with more aperture so the FC-100 will show more detail - but is a little less portable on a plane. There are other non Tak options too - Vixen is one manufacturer that gets good reviews.

I also discharged a Skywatcher powertank and I’m afraid there was no return. I learned to never fully discharge it and always keep it fully charged after use and during the summer when it gets used less.

The focuser is set on a lobal cam, so to take up any slack it just needs to be loosened and rotated slightly 👍

Great writeup @Captain Magenta- How is the dovetail attached to the OTA ? Mine was attached with pop rivets which were loose - they were all removed and replaced with stainless steel nuts and bolts.

@Captain Magenta When I took mine apart to clean it I found that the primary pointed straight to the middle of the secondary so I just needed to collimate the secondary. You may find the same as they are very well engineered scopes 👍

This may help..... https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/484675-colimation-intes-603-alster/