Gfamily

I've had that elsewhere.

Both would be great scopes for observations; but it has to be said that neither is going to be ideal for astrophotography. The issue with Newtonians is that the standard design places the prime focus from the main mirror inside the focuser tube, so you can't get that prime image on the dSLR sensor. You might consider getting a Skywatcher PDS telescope as that is designed to be used for imaging. However, the other consideration for imaging is the quality of the mount - and you would ideally use a much more capable mount for imaging with a 150mm Newtonian. You may be OK imaging planets with the 150 PDS on a motorised mount, as they are bright and are usually best imaged using a video capture that is then processed and stacked, but other imaging would be more difficult. If you do want to try imaging, an option would be to use the motor driven equatorial mount, and fix the dSLR with its own lens on a ball head directly attached to the mount. You won't get the magnification, but the demands made on the mount will be much less, so you're going to have a much higher chance of getting satisfactory results. In terms of visual observing though - both telescopes will be great for the Moon and planets of course, but will also work well for star clusters, the brighter nebulae and some of the brighter galaxies.

DaveL59 has already replied to your previous post.

There's a google cached version - I assume it's the relevant article https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Wnq6h12LUw4J:https://www2.wwnorton.com/college/astronomy/astro21/sandt/startright.html+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

I think you mean that the slow motion control cable has broken - in principle they can be replaced, though no guarantee that these will fit. https://www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/acatalog/skywatcher-slow-motion-cable-set-eq2-eq5-az3.html (no particular reason for suggesting these, other vendors exist) The eyepieces can also be replaced - what you need to know is the diameter of the eyepiece holder. These days, they mostly come as 2 inches or 1 1/4 inches, but on older telescopes it was quite common to have 0.965" diameter eyepieces. Finding those older ones may need a bit more searching - though ebay or various astro Buy/Sell sites exist.

This is how mine is, it definitely looks as though yours has been separated in the wrong way, and it does look as though there's part missing too.

Having returned from Astrofarm in France (where I first ran the combo) to our edge-urban location in UK, we can see that it is limited by urban skies. But it'll travel with us to darker skies about an hour away.

There shouldn't be a reason why not - if it has the same mounting block.

I've been very fortunate in that I've been given the loan of an Altair Astro Lightwave 72, and I've found it works really well with my AZ GTi With such a wide field of view, alignment is straightforward even without a finderscope, and the scope is so easily within the payload of the mount that targets are reliably within the eyepiece, so if I can't see something I'll know it's because the sky is rubbish rather than it being the GOTO being rubbish. At one point early in my astronomy purchases, I bought a second hand 6.7mm eyepiece, but I've never had a scope that was useable with it, but with the Lightwave it was giving really good views of Saturn and Mars this evening (albeit with a narrow field of view). I've been really impressed too by the AZ GTi - setup and alignment are so straightforward, and the app's 'best tonight' function suggests targets that might not have come to mind. I particularly like that there's been an interface to it built into the Stellarium Plus app - so select a target in the planisphere app, and the scope will go to it. Up 'til now, my 'goto' scope has been my Mak 127, but I can really see the attraction of a much smaller ED refractor.

You should be able to get a mini SD card with the firmware on from astro shops. I got one from Harrison Telescopes a couple of years ago, and have a friend who got one from them earlier this year.

One day, we'll meet up again, but because of the development work they've been doing, we may be meeting in the new building- it's all a bit up in the air until we can get back to meeting in person.

That is a reasonable approach - GOTO can be its own world of frustration, and doesn't always make life easier. However, I would expect that the stars that are suggested for alignment would be sufficiently bright to stand out in the Finder. Have you confirmed that your finder scope and your main scope are aligned? It can then be worth practising on pointing the finder at bright stars; sometimes sighting along the finder tube can be a useful technique - or alternatively get yourself a Telrad to sit alongside the finder.

Steve Tonkin (author of Binocularsky.org and articles on binocular use) has recommended the Opticron Adventurer 10x50 WPs as "if there is a better pair for astro use for under £125, then I've not seen it" ) https://binocularsky.com/reviews/Opticron_Adventurer_T_WP_10x50.pdf

I would suggest M13 - if you have a pair of binoculars, use them first so you know where to look in relation to the 4 stars forming the Keystone in Hercules. This is relatively easily identified due to its 'fuzziness' and the stars on either side making a distinctive broad arrow shape. Once you have it in the binoculars, you should be able to find it in the finderscope, and then get it centred in the eyepiece. As for photographing it - that may be more tricky*, but it's certainly worth trying. * Newtonian scopes often have problems with getting prime focus on the dSLR sensor, as they are designed to be used with an eyepiece which uses a longer focuser.

To be honest, news like that would remove a lot of the current anxiety about pandemics and politics and the environment. In not saying it would be a good thing, but - you know, it would remove a lot of stress

Google maps puts that location in the middle of the North Sea. Keep safe.

Might the YouTuber have been based in the Philippines?

That's useful to know - I'll edit my previous post to clarify

How about leaving the OTA safely just inside the front door on our way to a star party. Fortunately, it rained all weekend.

Got all but the 'Muscle man' I think.

There was a mention of the binocularsky.com website earlier - its author Steve Tonkin has written a '10 Autumn binocular targets' for Sky at Night magazine. https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/skills/binocular-astronomy-targets-autumn/ MrsG spent a very fruitful yesterday evening picking them out at Astrofarm France with our 15x70s on a tripod.

If you're wiring your own connector, make sure you know which terminal is expected to be positive. Unless the motherboard is protected against reverse polarity, it could be distressing to get it wrong.

The other point raised in that thread is the benefit of using the L bracket as it means you can re-check the polar scope after centring on the target. But that's only an issue if you're not using the L bracket. Hope you get it sorted anyway.

Have you checked the alignment of the polar scope itself? There's a good SGL post here that outlines what's needed, and it can be a daytime check.

Not on Vyrnwy, but a favoured location for nightscape photography is the car park below Alwen Reservoir. This is about 30 minutes from Bala.