SCANS

Way to go AstralFields! I'm down to two : M49 and M61. With a bit of luck, I might find them this weekend 🤞

I look forward to seeing how it all works out for you. Not sure about the whole polar alignment thing. Won't you need the centre axis of the mount aligned to north? But with the scopes offset on either side, I'm not sure how that will work. Also, you might want to shop around for that levelling base. It seems like the market is full of them. FLO sells one just like that, as does Amazon. I've been looking at them too and I think my best deal when I factor in exchange rate, taxes and shipping will be via Amazon.ca. Shipping with some places is almost as much as the device! Good luck 👍

So, how's it going with the wedge? Any worries about balance? I have a hard enough time dealing with normal alt-az alignment without the added complication of polar alignment so I'm curious to learn from your experience.

Yes. I used a couple thin washers to shim the dovetail on my refractor and with a bit of trial and error, I aligned it with a 6SE. Pretty easy. The key is to clamp the dovetails near the same places with the mount each time, but with the difference in fields of view, there's a bit of tolerance before the line of sight of the 6SE gets too far out. My only issue at the moment is that the collimation is off on the 6SE and I'm unable to get it back. Grr. My patience with SCTs is wearing thin!

It's fun to read about all these great choices. For our XT8+ dob, my top three are Morpheus 12.5 and 6.5 as well as an APM UW 30mm. The APM gets me where I want to observe and then then I progress down through our Morpheus eyepieces until I find the right combination of field of view and magnification. That usually lands around the 12.5m, or 6.5mm for small bright stuff. That said, the 17.5, 9, and 4.5 mm Morpheus also spend a fair bit of time in the scope, but probably not quite as much. I also enjoy our little StarTravel 102 refractor. For this one it's the 17.5mm for expanded objects and as a finder, and then the 9mm and 4.5mm. The 30mm is pretty crazy in this scope. It shows nearly 5° of sky, but I prefer the added contrast and magnification with the 17.5.

Hi Don, Hope retirement is treating you well. I just noticed the sizes you list for your current eyepieces. If I'm not mistaken, you mentioned on CN that the Morpheus lineup was part of your main collection, but those focal lengths don't align with your list. Have you switched things up with some new glass? Or is this indicative of what you mean re: +/-?

For the £2k scenario, I really like what I'm hearing about that StellaMira 125ED. I think it's at the limit of what my AZ5 could handle, so I'd probably need a better mount too, but it looks like a pretty sweet scope. Alternatively, I've never actually seen a Tak IRL, but I would like to and FLO lists the FC-100DC for £1998. And with the extra £2 I could buy some gum 😁

Not sure if I'd go beyond 25mm for low power with this scope. It's a short tube (f/5) so 25mm yields 20x with an exit pupil of 5.1mm and a 2.5° FoV with the stock 25, or 3.0° with a StarGuider. I also have an inexpensive 30mm that I use as a finder once in a while. It isn't near as good as either the SL or Vixen, but while it's cool to see so much sky at once, the magnification is so low and the exit pupil is so large that I don't find as enjoyable in this scope.

My family and I have been quite happy with our StarGuiders and our StarTravel 102. They've certainly lived up to the hype for us. You might want to check the prices at FLO. We got a good discount from them by purchasing several at once instead of one at a time. In terms of which sizes to start with, the 5mm seems like a good recommendation. That's about the maximum magnification (100x) that we use with that scope. You might also consider the 8mm and/or 12mm because we found the stock 10mm a bit tiring to use. The StarGuiders are just much more comfortable with more eye relief, wider FoV, easier eye placement, and the twist up eyecup. The stock 25mm isn't too bad, so upgrading for low power probably wouldn't be a priority yet and you might find that the jump from the stock 25mm to 12mm and then 5mm will suffice. Although I do use the 8mm more than the 12mm in this scope because I find that the 63x magnification with 1.6mm exit pupil is more pleasant. Which ever you choose, I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed.

Ooo, now you're challenging my wee brain before my morning caffeine boost 😁 I suppose one might say, it depends on the eyepiece. Definitely not with the stock 10mm Plössl that came with my dob, but perhaps with a fancy Ethos or XWA? Alternatively, perhaps it isn't so much gazing INTO a scope as THROUGH one? But this is too much to for me to contemplate without a cup of tea . . . time to put the kettle on 😊

This is a fun topic to read through on a pleasant Saturday morning. I'm firmly in the stargazer camp. I have yet to achieve a level of proficiency in astronomy to be comfortable calling myself an astronomer. I'm all about the dreamy, experiential aspects. It's a pursuit I enjoy for unwinding from the challenges and stresses of day-to-day life and I find that I do far more gazing than observing.

This would probably suffice for my interests : Taurus T350 f/4.8; Borg 107FL f/5.6; APM UFF 30mm; Baader Morpheus set; Baader VIP barlow; Rowan AZ75 mount for the Borg with suitable tripod; and 20+ ha in a safe, warm, dry, 21.8 mpsas or better area, without snakes, scorpions, poisonous spiders, or other beasties that might bite or eat me.

For budget friendly eyepieces, our SkyGuiders have been of great value. After much research, I ended up getting a complete set soon after we got our first scope. They've been terrific aids for learning how to use our scope and observe. They aren't quite as sharp or rich in contrast as the set of Morpheus we recently upgraded to, but from a price/performance perspective I think they'd be tough to beat. They've certainly lived up to their reputation for us and I still enjoy using them from time.

Don't worry about ordering from FLO. Astro equipment is duty free in Canada. Just expect to pay HST and about $20 for brokerage fees, and even with shipping and brokerage fee, their prices are competitive and delivery is quick.

So happy for you. Santa will have a tough time topping that 😁 Best wishes for many years of enjoyment ahead 👍

Do you mean Bortle? I guess it would be 4, but it's quite variable. SQM readings generally 20.8 to 21.4 although some nights down to 20.4. How about you? I use Astrospheric as my main forecasting tool and find that seeing and transparency vary between poor and average, with the two seldom coinciding. Occasionally I've seen above average on one or the other, but never for both at the same time. But lately I haven't given it much thought. If it's even marginally clear and I'm free, I'll go out for a look and just enjoy whatever I can see at the moment.

Ugh, same here in Nova Scotia. I share your pain. Stormy with gusts 60-90km today so no observing again tonight ☹️ But the upside is that it's +13°C so that's taking care of our recent snow.

You sir, are evil 😂

It isn't a question of need for me, but after seeing AstroLaVista's videos, I most definitely want one 🤤 What stuck me the most wasn't the sharpness of the Tak, it was how much brighter 125mm is vs 100mm. And since I'm not willing to pay for a Tak, the Stellamira is a very suitable alternative. In fact, considering how much I'm saving by not buying a Tak, one might say that I really should buy one regardless of want, or need 😁

Yeah, if you're already fidgety, you probably don't want to check out Chris's reviews on AstroLaVista : https://youtu.be/_ii55pJqHwo Personally, I'm hanging by a thread. I really don't need another scope, but I'm pretty much convinced that I should treat myself to one of these anyway.

Wow! That's brilliant. Well done and thanks for sharing 😊

Great clip and topic. I bought a few StarGuiders from FLO a few months after getting our first scope. I too found them to be great, especially considering the price (hmm, perhaps we shouldn't mention that to FLO 😉), and eventually acquired a complete set. More recently I added some Morpheus eyepieces to the collection (all but the 14mm). They're definitely better . . . not 4X better, but I got them during that sale in the summer so all good 👍 Still keeping the StarGuiders though. I don't use them that much anymore, but they're great for backup, travel (because they're so compact), and framing a view tighter when sketching per Ratlet's comment above.

Hey all, I also found this handy resource : https://www.bintel.com.au/tools/astronomy-calculator/ It's a bit like FLO's own Field of View Calculator (https://astronomy.tools/calculators/field_of_view/) with the added indicator for over/under sampling. Of course now that I've figured out that it's just confirming if the resolution is in the acceptable range, I can use the FLO calculator with the same effect on more objects / scope combinations. My challenge remains matching resolution to seeing conditions, although with conditions in Nova Scotia being lousy so often, I'm usually just happy to capture something when I'm out 😁

ADM makes clamps for the AZGTi?!!! Nice! I must investigate 👍

Hey Steve72, nothing stupid about that at all. And good news. The left saddle and the saddle on the L-bracket have adjusting screws for aligning the two scopes. It took a bit to understand what those screws were for and why they included the bracket in the kit, but it became perfectly clear as soon as I tried mounting our refractor. I've adjusted them by aligning to a distant tree top much like setting up an RDF. Should be pretty close and as soon as these infernal clouds relent, I'll be able to make the final adjustments under the stars.