dweller25

I had an excellent OO 8” F/6 that was great on the planets, yours will be better 👍

I have found the Baader Neodymium filter to work very well on the planets.

Mega 👍👍😁

Hello Jon, My father passed away two years ago so I can understand how you feel at the moment. Your dad had some very nice telescopes that you may feel better about selling to astronomers who will use and value them rather than a dealer who will just be looking to make a profit. As already suggested, talking to the members of your local astronomy club may help. I am sure the scopes would sell if you advertised them on this site or perhaps Ukastronomy buysell. Personally I would have bought the 6” Skymax from you but I suspect you live in Cornwall so it’s a bit too far Best of luck

x130 - x150 at the moment but you must use a neutral density filter.

Brilliant sketch 👍👍

@MSammon Are the planets very low where you live - if so any telescope is going to struggle to show good planetary detail at the moment. You will have to wait until autumn 2020 if you live in the UK before a planet (Mars) is high enough for good results. You have an excellent 10” planetary scope but as the planets are low then try to keep magnification below x150, this will give a very bright image in your 10” scope so you will need to use a neutral density filter - I used a 96-0.3 which gave great results in terms of improving contrast. As already mentioned you could make a simple off axis mask to stop your scope down - this would give you a 90mm APO for no cost 😁

Looking at the photos on the FLO website I would suggest a short OTA up to 5kg will be fine. I suspect a C8 with dewshield, finder, diagonal and eyepiece may be a little too heavy for the AZ5.

Thats odd - FLO website says the Skywatcher AZ5 has a 5kg capacity 🤔

@Paz Hello, did you figure collimation out ?

Great info John, thanks

Hello @johninderby I am interested in this scope, could you answer a few questions please ? Does the Bresser have the same rubber o-ring as the Skywatcher 127 at the rear ? Are the rear plate and rear opening plastic or metal ? How many screws are used to adjust collimation ? Thanks in advance

Oh dear, what a shame

I have had both the 8” F/6 Skywatcher and the 8” F/6 Orion Optics scopes (1/10th wave) The Orion was only slightly better than the Skywatcher and not worth the massive price difference. So I would recommend the Skywatcher 8” F/6

Welcome to SGL @Spock Junior and good luck with the restoration

Sadly the C9.25 I used to have was the second worst scope I ever had - it gave very soft planetary views, was hard to cool down and dewed up for fun. I think with hindsight I had a lemon as the C8 I bought years later was a superb planetary scope - very sharp and contrasty. The C6 I currently own is also excellent. The Skywatcher 10" Newtonian I had was a real winner - it would thermally equilibriate much sooner than the C9.25, did not dew up, was much cheaper and had more clear aperture - so better on the planets - BUT you can get into some awkward angles when viewing. Had to sell it though as I have a bad back - not the scopes fault.

I think the “Bartholemew” is actually a barlow lens which will multiply the magnification power of your eyepieces. The mount looks like an equatorial so will naturally match the path of stars and planets if you set it’s angle to your latitude. At the moment the mount looks to be set in alt-az mode ie simple left right up down movements. The tripod tray looks to be broken - ideally this needs fixing as it will give MUCH better stability when using higher powers on the Moon and Planets it’s a nice scope and will give you great views ?

Hello and welcome to SGL You have a nice classic scope - also branded as Carton. This is not quite your scope but close...... https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/312273-a-classic-hilkin-arrives/

Haven’t owned a 140 but did have a 200mm carbon fiber tubed OMC which gave excellent views when fully cooled and seeing allowed BUT cool down was a major issue even with the fans running. The scopes corrector would often dew up internally before the primary had cooled !!! I have a C6 now ?

@thekwango Hello and welcome to SGL and the complex choice of selecting which scope is best for you. Perhaps a visit to your local astro club may help ? As a good value/performing telescope this is well worth considering.... https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-heritage-130p-flextube.html It will allow you to “test the water” at a reasonable price. Hope that helps

Hello ABDG and welcome to SGL. A C8 is a good all rounder for planets and DSO's but with GOTO they start to get expensive. For much less money and just as good (although some may say slightly better) performance is an 8" Dobsonian. They do make excellent scopes to get you started - and you can put the optical tube assembly on a GOTO mount at a later date if the astronomy bug really bites ?

Welcome to SGL, Nice image, There is a currently a comet worth pointing your camera at .........

@John We seem to have similar setups ?

I tried the 1.75" and 2" steel Skywatcher tripods but found they did not absorb vibrations well, the foot tips kept dropping off and they were not that great to adjust in cold/damp conditions. I now use a Berlebach UNI28 for my refractors and a Berlebach UNI18 for my cats. They are expensive but offer greater vibration resistance than steel, are very well made and nice to use in the dark.