Shimrod

I would second this concern - I have an 8" LX90 and 8" EdgeHD on a EQ mount. The LX90 requires two trips to get to the garden and set up, the Edge takes 3 (with counterweights). Neither is particularly light, and you might be trading one trip for 2 or 3 making you even less likely to use the telescope. A smaller dob with goto/push to might be a better choice or a refractor on a alt-az mount. If you can do outside storage like Alan White and have relatively flat ground, there are various trolley options that would make moving the telescope a bit easier.

You can obviously all stay up later than me - it's still light when I go to bed!

I've attached a Baader SCT clicklock in place of the 1.25" visual back, but otherwise it looks the same as yours. The only non-standard bit I see is the focus motor.

I suspect relatively new and affordable mounts like the star adventurer make it easier to get into imaging, and it has been covered a couple of times on the news as a lockdown activity. For experience visual astronomers, lockdown may have given more time to experiment with imaging than was otherwise avaialable. In my case I am just starting the imaging journey, and that is primarily because I am steadily losing the nightsky from the garden. I have neighbours who like to leave lights on in bedrooms with curtains open all evening, and the latest is a string of bare bulb lights that practically run down the garden fence between us. If I did not try imaging, my astro activities would be limited to travels to darker sky locations.

It was a couple of days before I saw mine - my wife had picked up the post and tidied it away!

I got mine last week.

You might want to have a read of this thread - it discusses Opticstar extenders and eyepieces - which appear to be rebranded ES products (both made by JOC), but a bit cheaper - and according to the Opticstar website - in stock. Opticstar barlows thread Opticstar extenders

I just thought I would provide an update on this thread - I've taken advantage of the ZWO sale at FLO to buy a guide camera along with the ZS61 and the WO 45 erecting diagonal for some casual terrestrial viewing. The Baader zoom also went in and out the basket a few times - I like the idea of the zoom to go with the ZS61 as part of a compact travel kit, but wasn't sure how well the two would go together although it would be a good fit for my other scopes. Thanks for all the suggestions - it's taken me a while to come to a decision!

As noted above, if you have to pay VAT (plus a handling fee) then the FLO prices are competitive with the direct purchase anyway (the ASI290MM works out the same price) and if there is a few £s difference, that's worth it for the ease of support and customer service. I'd buy from FLO, but I appreciate that if you are on a tight budget then the saving (or potential saving) from buying direct might be attractive. I have bought Canon equipment in the past from Hong Kong, because even with VAT the saving has been hundreds of pounds. The ASI533 is now reduced at FLO as well, so they must have still been updating the prices when I initially looked.

There are some differences in the products on sale as well - ZWO have the ASI533 on sale, but FLO do not.

Offer prices also available at FLO. Prices naturally aren't as cheap as ZWO direct, but then you don't have the worry of VAT & customs being added on either - as well as easier customer service should you need to return an item. The sale does give some odd prices, with the ASI290MM USB3 now cheaper than the ASI290MM USB2 which is not included in the sale.

I picked up this book for free on Kindle after someone else here posted the link a while back. It supports academic courses and has a lot of good reviews so sounds like it might be useful for you. astronomy

NEQ6 look to sell for around £800 on Ebay - the OTA is a bit more difficult to price - a carbon fibre version with a nexstar tripod sold for £1600, but a CPC 1100 HD with some extras went for £4000, but that was with extras that probably made the new price something over £6000. I think you might be a bit optimistic with your price - but it's easy to go down than to go up! You might fare better selling the OTA and mount separately - I would suspect the mount would sell more quickly than the C11 - which would really have a smaller potential market than the mount.

If you are happy with the 6" OTA and just want a goto mount, it would be cheaper to buy a new mount on its own rather than a whole new kit. Second hand Evolution and Nexstar mounts sometimes come up second hand in the for sale section, or you could buy a goto mount from one of the other brands like Skywatcher.

On the Celestron website, the Evolution tripod weights 5.4kg vs 4kg for the SE, so probably a bit more stiffness - both have the same leg diameter. I've done a side-by-side comparison and all the details are below - key points are: 2 eyepieces vs 1 - slightly better as a starter package different finderscope - higher mount load and dovetail on the evolution give a bit more flexibility if you want to buy another OTA in the future Evolution will has greater range in height setup - might be important if you are tall 4 ports on the Evolution - easier to add gizmos (but you can buy a £25 splitter for the Nexstar) Evolution nearly twice the weight - important if you have to move it up/down stairs. Evolution Nexstar SE Optical Design: Schmidt-Cassegrain Schmidt-Cassegrain Aperture: 150mm (6") 150mm (5.91") Focal Length: 1500mm (59") 1500mm (59") Focal Ratio: f/10 f/10 Focal Length of Eyepiece 1: 40mm (1.57") 25mm (.98") Magnification of Eyepiece 1: 38x 60x Focal Length of Eyepiece 2: 13mm (0.51") Magnification of Eyepiece 2: 115x Finderscope: Red Dot Finderscope StarPointer™ red dot finderscope Star Diagonal: 1.25" Star Diagonal 1.25" Star Diagonal Optical Tube: Aluminum Aluminum Highest Useful Magnification: 354x 354x Lowest Useful Magnification: 21x 21x Limiting Stellar Magnitude: 13.4 13.4 Resolution (Rayleigh): 0.93 arc seconds 0.93 arc seconds Resolution (Dawes): 0.77 arc seconds 0.77 arc seconds Light Gathering Power (Compared to human eye): 459x 459x Secondary Mirror Obstruction: 56mm (2.2") 56mm (2.2") Secondary Mirror Obstruction by Diameter: 37% 37% Secondary Mirror Obstruction by Area: 14% 14% Optical Coatings: StarBright XLT StarBright XLT Optical Tube Length: 406mm (16") 406mm (16") Optical Tube Diameter: 184.15mm (7.25") 181mm (7.1") Optical Tube Weight: 10 lbs (4.54 kg) 8 lbs (3.6 kg) Dovetail: CG-5 Dovetail bar Mount Type: Computerized Altitude-Azimuth Single Fork Arm Computerized Altitude-Azimuth Single Fork Arm Instrument load capacity: 25 lbs (11 kg) 12 lbs (5.44 kg) Height adjustment range (includes mount and tripod): 1193.8mm - 1752.6mm (47" – 69") 965.2mm - 1422.4mm (38" - 56") Tripod Leg Diameter: 38.1mm (1.5") Stainless Steel 38.1mm (1.5") Stainless Steel Mount Head Weight: 16 lbs (7 kg) 11 lbs (5 kg) Accessory Tray: Yes Yes Tripod Weight: 12 lbs (5.44 kg) 9 lbs (4.08 kg) Slew Speeds: 9 slew speeds - max speed 4°/second 9 slew speeds - max speed 5°/second Tracking Rates: Sidereal, Solar and Lunar Sidereal, Solar and Lunar Tracking Modes: Alt-Az, EQ North and EQ South Alt-Az, EQ North and EQ South GPS: N/A N/A Dovetail Compatibility: CG-5 saddle plate CG-5 dovetail Number of Auxiliary Ports: 4 AUX Ports (Hand Control can use any of the AUX Ports) 1x AUX Port Autoguide Port: No Yes USB Port: Yes, Hand Control input and Mount output Yes, Hand Control input Power Requirements: Internal 9 6V, 4 5Ah lithium iron phosphate battery (LiFePO4), charge battery with 12VDC, 5 0Amps 8-AA batteries (not included) | 12 VDC-750 mA (Tip positive) Motor Drive: DC servo motors DC servo motors Alignment Procedures: SkyAlign, 1-Star Align, 2-Star Align, Auto 2-Star Align, Solar System Align, Quick-Align, Last Alignment, EQ North / EQ South Alignment (EQ align requires an equatorial wedge) SkyAlign, 1-Star Align, 2-Star Align, Auto 2-Star Align, Solar System Align, EQ North / EQ South Alignment (EQ align requires an equatorial wedge) Periodic Error Correction: No No Computerized Hand Control: 2 line x 18 character backlit Liquid Crystal Display, 19 LED backlit buttons, USB 2.0 Port for PC connection Double line, 18 character Liquid Crystal Display with 19 fiber optic backlit LED buttons NexStar+ Database: Over 40,000 including 220 of the best deep sky and solar system objects 40,000 objects, 200 user defined programmable objects. Enhanced information on over 200 objects Software: Celestron Starry Night Special Edition Software | SkyPortal App Celestron Starry Night Special Edition Software | SkyPortal App Total Kit Weight: 38 lbs (17.23 kg) 21 lbs (9.5 kg)

I didn't realise the Ever Given had been impounded by Egypt in a dispute over compensation for blocking the Suez canal. It is being released on Wednesday, with an estimated £775m of goods on board - headed for Rotterdam then Felixstowe. May be a bit more Astro kit arriving soon....

You could try loading the magic lantern software into the camera (it doesn't permanently alter your firmware) and see if you get any different behaviour with that.

I use a Celestron Powerpack Pro with my AVX, ASI533 and dew band. It's the same technology as the tracer batteries, has 12v car output, 2.1mm power out and two 5v USB ports. I bought mine from picstop, which is the cheapest I've seen it (with cashback as well if you use Topcashback).

It's worth pointing out you only get the mirror locks with the 'HD' optics and not with the standard SCT assembly.

Orion ship most of their UK telescopes from the Netherlands, not from the US (Orion shipping). Returns go back to the Netherlands as well, although that would still not be cheap to ship. You can get 8% cashback (ex-VAT price) on Orion if you use Topcashback if you do fancy the larger aperture. Can't give you any advice on which scope to choose though, as I have no experience of either.

You can find a number of threads on here if you search for starsense - mostly happy users although there are a few cases where people have had difficulty getting the device to work accurately. I have one which I use with my AVX. It's great if you are doing visual work for getting the telescope aligned/up and running quickly and are not using a laptop. If you are imaging, there are more cost effective alternatives using free platesolving software. Starsense devices are often available in the 'for sale' section of this forum.

Might be worth having a read of this thread for some ideas - small scopes used for both visual and astrophotography. small can be beautiful

I have a 12mm illuminated reticle eyepiece and a set of three extension tubes. The eyepiece was significantly cheaper than available alternatives and the extension tubes seem solid and go together well. I've not bought any expensive items but the quality on these cheaper items has been fine.

Are you sure you've really been insured? Most couriers have exclusions which would see to cover telescopes. In Hermes case you are not insured for: cameras and lenses Glass items or fragile items that contain glass parts(including kitchen appliances) And just in case you were in any doubt.... Spectacles and optical equipment(e.g.telescopes or binoculars) The guide to what they won't carry and won't insure is here: Hermes non-compensation items I have failed to find any mainstream courier that would insure a telescope and if you search on here it's a question that comes up quite often without a satisfactory answer. I think the Royal Mail may insure if you ship in original packaging, but you have to confirm with them first it is acceptable.

There is a review of the R6 in this month's Sky at Night Magazine. The review is by Chris Grimmer - the longest exposures in the review images appear to be 60s.