Shimrod

Wouldn't that depend on the scopes - I don't do any guided imaging yet, but from reading I thought a guidescope with 150mm focal length would not be suitable for an SCT with 2000mm focal length. Conversely, a 600mm guidescope would provide mounting challenges if used with a small refractor. Is there a 'goldilocks' guidescope that would work with both small refractor and SCT?

There's a thread from 2017 on Cloudy Nights which states they are not compatible. Possibly there has been an firmware update since, but I would expect to see the compatibility mentioned on the Celestron website if that was the case.

I thought the Skyportal was specific to Celestron telescopes - certainly a quick look at the Celestron website does not show compatibility with any non-Celestron mounts. There is the SKYFI III from simulation curriculum that is compatible with a range of telescopes, but that seems to cost around twice the price of the Skyportal device (although I have seen it on sale with significant discounts).

Have you considered the Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 as an alternative to the Samyang? I've used one for a few years now - very sharp, very fast and gives a bit of flexibility in focal length, albeit not as wide as the Samyang.

I check satellite imagery for cloud patterns and direction of travel in the early evening - something like this site: Satellite Cloud Cover This gives the cloud cover and movement for the previous hour or so. I've found this approach to deciding whether the 'scope will be out for the evening or not much more reliable than using weather apps which cannot really give a local enough forecast.

Thanks for posting, just finished watching and i was very entertaining. Just goes to show that you don't need to spend £2000 to get started in imaging - and also that I need to spend more time with my existing equipment before I think about upgrading!

As with @geoflewis my specified items are insured on or off the premises (and abroad). The definition of premise includes all outbuildings. I am with UIA and the definitions are below: Premises The buildings and boundaries of the home Buildings The structure of the private dwelling and the domestic outbuildings, including ... all contained within the premises Home The private dwelling you live in shown in the schedule as the Insured Property,together with its garages and outbuildings And in Section C of the insurance policy: Personal Possessions in and away from the home We will pay for loss of, theft, or Accidental Damage to: Specified Items • The items belonging to you or your family which are shown on your schedule

Have you looked into the cost of getting your astronomy equipment added to your insurance as specified items? I do this for my camera equipment and it was a lot cheaper than getting a separate policy.

Weather has been fine here, but possibly you are to blame for these strange short nights we've been having recently 😀

I guess it's that line between simplicity and complication. I've always found the handsets difficult to work with (I first had an LX90 in 2003) and the scrolling text on the Starsense handset a particularly hard to read. Being able to choose where to point the telescope and select objects from what is available in the sections of sky I can see for me creates a much more enjoyable observing experience. I see this as simplifying the experience, but appreciate that may not be true for all.

The 294MC Pro and and the Altair 269C are based on different chips - the former is 11.7 mp, the latter is 21mp and the pixels are a different size. I know pixel size is important, but not whether the difference in the case is significant. The 2600 camera is twice the price of these cameras. I am in a very similar position to @spikkyboy and have been thinking of buying a camera later in the year. The Altair 269c looks interesting, with the claim that it is another one (along with the ASI533 and ASI2600) that there is no amp glow on the output. I get the impression Altair cameras aren't as popular as ZWO but hopefully someone is able to provide some more adivce.

I've owned an 8" EdgeHD for about 12 months now, and I thought a similar way - I bought the reducer at the same time. However on subsequent reading around there is a whole separate set of challenges imaging at F/2 do to with camera set up. Also note the hyperstar is for imaging only, and you will need to buy a dedicated astro camera as a DSLR will block too much light on an 8" EdgeHD - so add another £1000+ for that! I may still buy a hyperstar at some point in the future, but it's easier to accept that you will have/need more than one scope depending on what you want to achieve. I bought a Skywatcher 80ed ds prod to start with widefield photography using my DSLR and even with some upgrades that cost significantly less than the hyperstar adapter.

I guess it depends on how much you like the interface on the various control software available. I find it much easier searching and selecting from the tablet app (or starry night on my laptop) than working with a couple of 40 character lines on the handset. Using CPWI (the free celestron software) I do most of my control with an xbox controller!

I would suggest Startsense and Skyportal rather than Skysync GPS. I have read of some issues )on here and TeamCelestron) with the SE, Starsense and GPS module not working well together. The Skyportal wi-fi is cheaper than the GPS module, and you can then control your telescope from your phone, tablet or laptop. The mount will take your date, time and location from your phone settings instead. I use Starsense on my AVX mount and it makes set up much easier and quicker.

Presumably the RVO branded version of this Altair branded one : Altair 72mm Doublet with some value added extras (like the case). So own brand, but it should be possible to find some reviews of the Altair scope if you fancy the RVO package.

If you don't mind a bit of DIY, you can build your own 'manual' focus motor: Focuser using a couple of servos (used in remote control devices) and a bit of wire! Probably cost you around £10 all in. Use your focus knob for the coarse control, then go hands off with the servo for the fine focus!

I had a couple of recommendations for the TS Optics photoline - 80 or 90mm ( TS Optics ) when I asked a similar question a while back. I ended up with a ds pro 80ed and upgraded the focuser as I was also looking for a lightweight travel scope and wanted the slightly longer focal length. edit: Link to cheaper non-carbon fibre version TS optics

I do! But with close neighbours it would be wasted where I live. Depending on which part of the sky I want to look at I also have to set up in two different places in the garden to dodge the houses. Maybe I deserve two...

I keep my scope in the house and take it out to use. If I was to leave it in the garden under a cover, I probably wouldn't own a telescope for very long! I have thought about a secure shed, but it doesn't really offer much of an advantage because the telescope still needs to be set up. If I could have a permanent observatory that would be a different matter...

I can't comment on the chair (I don't use one for observing), but I guess you mean this one - omegon observing chair which is sold by astroshop through Amazon (but also available direct)

You use Starsense regardless of the telescope attached as you always need to perform your alignment process. The 'simplicity' of the refractor in this instance is that a less perfectly aligned scope will still give you reasonable imaging times as they normally have a much smaller focal length than the SCT (smaller focal length gives you a longer time before any imperfections in your alignment or tracking become obvious).

I use an iOptron iPolar. It's quick and let's me set up/align before it's even dark enough for me to see Polaris. Anything that gets me ready to go a bit earlier is an advantage.

Are you thinking of the issue with the Celestron electronic focuser? It wouldn't fit on an EdgeHD 9.25" until they had produced an adapter. The Celestron focuser mounts over the existing focus control knob on the OTA.

@shazstars01 I'd also suggest there is no need to rush into a purchase. The nights are getting very short now - with the constraints of work I can't stay up for long after dark so will be packing my telescope away in the next week or so and probably won't appear again until the end of August. Starsense seems to have a bit of a marmite response! I think mine's great and it reduces the time to get set up. I polar align with the ipolar, then leave Starsense to do the alignment while I am fetching other bits from the house.

The Starsense comes with two brackets - one which fits onto the finder mount of the Skywatcher 80ed focuser. If you want both the finder and the starsense mounted, you will need to buy an adaptor as the focuser has only one mounting position. I think Joel has covered the main differences between the EdgeHD 8 and the 80ed ds pro - for focusing, on the Edge (2m focal length), slight interactions with the OTA (such as focusing) will introduce a small amount of wobble and you have to wait for that to settle down to see if you have your image in focus.