John

Optically the Antares 1.6x is good and it works well with the Ethos. There can be issues with the amount of inwards focuser movement required to reach focus though, depending on the body design that you get. I've owned a couple of them, one of the old set screw type and a more recent twist lock one. The latter seemed to need more inwards travel than the former. If you can reach focus OK the optics suit the Ethos eyepieces well The Powermate does not change the focus position or effect eye relief (as barlows do) but the price tag is hefty and the Powermate 2x 2 inch is quite heavy.

The 2.5 barlow is just generating too much magnification to be any use with the 10mm and with the 25mm you get a 10mm effective eyepiece which is pointless as you already have one ! Get the finder precisely aligned with the view through the main scope and stick to the 25mm and 10mm eyepieces while you get used to the scope. While finding things, keep the 25mm eyepiece in the scope and only swap to the 10mm once you have found your target and if it would benefit from more magnification.

I've not seen variance in the BST ED "Starguider" eyepieces, having used them under 3 brandings now. I have seen variance with other eyepiece designs under different brandings though. Cosmetic changes but also different coatings being used on the lenses. The BST ED "Starguiders" though, so far, seem to be the same apart from the printing on them.

I would leave the Barlow Lens out for now - it's going to create very high magnifications which makes finding anything much harder ! Is your 200P the equatorially mounted version or the dobsonian ? Most important thing (what ever scope you use) is to make sure that the finder scope is very closely aligned with the view through the main scope. This makes finding things so much easier. Use low power eyepieces to start with as you get used to finding and observing, eg: the 25mm.

I've noticed that Orion often supply plossl eyepieces with their scopes which are a better design than the achromatic huygenian eyepieces that are supplied with many other brands. Some of the lower end scopes only come with non-achromat huygens or ramsden type eyepieces which are even poorer than the AH types. Of course premium branded scopes don't come with any eyepieces at all !

The mods and admins of the forum want the classifieds section to run with the lowest possible input from us. We will remind folks to put a price on but don't know why they don't always put one in - the rules are quite clear and we expect people who use that section to read them and abide by them just as they do the code of conduct for the forum as a whole. Here they are for those who would like to refresh their memory: https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/260503-astro-classified-rules/ At one point we debated not having such a section and opinion was quite equally divided. We decided on balance to keep it but on the basis that it would require minimal input from the team. We would much rather be enjoying the forum as a whole rather than running / policing a classifieds section

If there is no moon, good transparency and DSO's are going to be the main targets, then my 12 inch dob is usually the one used. Otherwise I have a choice of a number of refractors between 100mm and 130mm. I tend to rotate those but the Takahashi 100mm and the Skywatcher ED120 seem to get the most use overall. Saturn and Jupiter have been so low that getting the dob onto them is awkward so it's a frac if those are the main targets. All my scopes can be setup within a few minutes, including the 12 inch dob.

If you see something you are looking for at around the right price ....... don't hang around !

The AZ8 is a nice mount. I looked into it when I was looking for a mount for my 130mm F/9 triplet but I don't think it would handle that tube too well from feedback I got from other AZ8 owners. Very good for your 102mm F/7 though

Personally I would stick to 100mm as a minimium aperture. I've owned some good quality ED doublets of, 70mm, 80mm and 90mm but, for me it's 100mm and above which deliver views that are engaging enough to be more than just "nice". The Skywatcher ED100 is a great scope for the money IMHO. I owned one of the very early blue tubed ones. Now my "100's" are the Vixen ED102SS F/6.5 and the superb Tak FC100-DL F/9. Both very capable scopes at low, medium, high and, in the case of the Tak, very high magnifications. F/7 is a versatile focal ratio for an ED doublet. Slow enough to cause CA to be mostly invisible if an FPL-53 element is used but fast enough to get whopping true fields with long FL 2 inch eyepieces.

I've been wanting to try my Takahashi FC100-DL out on my T-Rex alt-azimuth mount. I wondered if the slim lines of the Tak would be rather overpowered by the T-Rex but they seem to fit together rather well. The F/9 Tak is absolutely rock solid on this mount as you might imagine. While I was setting it up the clouds seem to have formed a solid ceiling sadly but I thought I'd snap some pics anyway

Would your insurance cover it ?

This is the set that I use with my 12 inch F/5.3 dobsonian. I don't use a coma corrector. The 40mm does not get much use to be honest. The 17mm is an ES 92 degrees. Not a focal length that I use a lot so I don't have an Ethos in there any more: For my refractors I have this set which has a Delos / Pentax XW run at it's heart, plus some others to "bookend" those: For someone new to observing I think the ~70 degree Delos / Pentax XW's are probably the easiest and most comfortable to use. It's taken me quite a few years and more than a few other eyepieces including many of the Tele Vue's to arrive at these and I'm very happy with them. Not perfect of course but they will do me

I agree that there is a niche for a good alt-az mount priced between the Skytee II / Ercole and the AZ8 / Rowan AZ100.

The thread was originally about the 6mm Ethos. The 9mm DeLite is also very good I'm sure 😀

The optical tubes can be bought for around £120 used and the EQ5's for around £100 (undriven). Worth bearing in mind.

It's not just here. We spent a month touring western Australia in 2018. Lovely weather generally but we only got 2 clear nights to explore the southern skies.

I read about the 1999 total eclipse when I was about 10 years old. 29 years of waiting and it was clouded out in Cornwall on the day ! Yes, it's a frustrating place to practice astronomy. Having a setup that is quick to deploy and tear down is helpful to getting more observing in when the conditions do allow it. My setups all now follow this approach - even the 12 inch dob.

If you can remove the mount head from the tripod, you can check the tripod hub fitting is EQ3 / EQ5 / HEQ5 compatible before you commit to buying another tripod. The steel tubed tripod is a noticable upgrade over the aluminium tripod. Maybe try the scope under the stars first though and see how you get on ?. It will be at higher magnifications (100x plus) that you notice vibrations / unsteadiness, if they are there.

At least most of the 2nd hand equipment sold is "low mileage" in the UK !

The tube length is what puts the strain on the mount and on the tripod in particular, more so than the weight of the scope.

If equatorial, a Vixen GP or Celestron AVX would do the job. For alt-azimuth I think the Skytee II or Ercole would be suitable. It's a long tube so a tall tripod or tripod plus pillar is very nice to have as well. Perhaps start another thread to get more opinions ?

I think David has a Tak TSA 102 and a Tak FS 128 so the FC100 DZ is in good company. He probably has some other scopes as well.

There is quite a big difference between F/11 and F/7 re: mounting requirements.

Excellent - good work