Doasqa

I sold my skywatcher 100ed telescope in favor of a Oberwerk BT-100 binocular telescope. When I had the telescope I bought a skywatcher AZ5 with the tripod. I never liked it. As you point out the fine tune knobs are difficult to get to. I would struggle with that nightly and also it vibrated at high magnification so much that I couldn’t get it focused. I considered buying the SkyTee 2 and recommend you do the same. There are a few others but can’t remember but the SkyTee looked pretty solid. You can sell your mount and use the tripod. Sorry to not offer a solution for what you have.

Mine is lighter but 34” long. The length is the problem from my observation.

Oops I meant AZ5

If it will work, I could sell you the AZ5 and get something more heavy duty. Although I would sell the head only and keep my tripod. It just might do for because you’re OTL is shorter than my Sky Watcher 100ED. I believe that’s where the problem lies, the OTA is on mine long it vibrates when focusing at high magnification. I think the AZ5 is a great mount, In fact now that I’m getting away from higher magnification I’m less inclined to complain about it. It’s with a 5mm eyepiece at 185x where there is a bit of vibration, only when focusing. That magnification it’s too much for the telescope anyway because the object moves out of view too quickly. . First I was big on magnification but with the problems of high magnification I’m happier at somewhere around 125X. And the only time you really need magnification is when you’re looking at the planets. All of the DSO’s are better viewed at low magnification.

I was surprised how inexpensive the SkyTee id to ship to the USA. They must absorb some of the cost.

How long and what is the weight of you’re telescope?

Hi, I’ve considered a SkyTee for my SW100. Are they stable at high magnification?

The binocular-telescope is the way to go. My BT-100 is far more fun than my telescope. I’m not ready to sell it yet.

I have my email but haven’t had time to go through it but will soon. On quick view it looks great. There isn’t a link to buy the book though. Thanks

I had Orion 25x100, they were excellent. I only get rid of them because where I live now I’m in a valley and you have to look up in my neck strain drove me away from them. If you’re in an area where you’re not forced to look so high they are great. I can’t comment on Celestron other than I don’t like their customer support. Orion has easy online returns if you’re not happy with them.

I own this mount for my Sky Watcher 100ED. It holds up until I go to high magnification. Then it vibrates too much. If you have a heavy telescope it will drive you crazy. Check out the SkyTee 2 or the DSV3. I haven’t upgraded because I’m not pushing the magnification these days.

Thanks again everyone

Do you have enough storage on your gone to download the files?

For the SkyWatcher, I bought the AZ5. It’s OK with my and Celestron 8–24 eyepiece and definitely my 40 mm Penntex. But when I get into the higher magnification 8 mm in below there’s too much vibration. It becomes hard to focus especially with the 5 mm eyepiece because the object moves out of view by the time you make your adjustment and the shaking stops. So if you’re not using high magnification it’s a good mount, it’s about $350. I have considered the SkyTee2 and the DSV3 but I’m not using the telescope so much anymore so I’m probably not gonna do that. I’ve lost interest in high magnification so it’s a moot point for me these days. High Magnification is only good for planets and maybe the moon to see the craters. But everything else looks better at 8 mm and up on my telescope. My favorite is the Pentax 40mm for general sky surfing. It’s TFOV is 3.5° For my BT – 100s from Oberwerk, I chose the wood Oberwerk TR3. This particular tripod comes with the mount, there are more expensive mounts but I’m happy I didn’t spend the money. This one works great with the BT. My only complaint is the elevator shaft is manual. And with a heavy binoculars sitting on top it’s a bit of a stretch to raise and lower it. The one they make with the crank style elevator is metal but I love the word so I’m gonna deal with it. Once again when you use high magnification there is some vibration when focusing. It’s not as bad as the AZ5 and it’s only a problem during focusing. Hearing others post on the forum I think the vibration issue is common across all brands in all models at high magnification.

I prefer apps over books but that’s just me. I like sky safari and star walk. I have the book Night Sky Pocket Atlas but it’s a little much for a beginner and I’m just learning how to use it. But it’s a great book for finding DSO’s. I have the Messier Marathon book and have found it the most useful for learning the night sky with all its charts. I don’t intend on doing the marathon, just find some of the easy Messier objects, I have too much light pollution. Lastly Sky and Telescope magazine is loaded with information with a monthly sky chart.