John

The Ercole needed a lot of counterweighting (10 kg) on the other side to allow smooth motions. Due to the optical issues that I had with both the ED150's that I received I didn't do any serious observing so I've not used the Ercole "in anger" with that scope. The Ercole copes with my 130 F/9.2 triplet (which is not far off the same length and weight as the ED150) quite well but the Skytee II is a bit more stable at high powers. I've thought for some while that I probably need a mount with more capacity / capability than both the Skytee II and the Ercole for the 130 F/9.2 to give it's best but I've been wary of investing £1K plus in one thus far. I have hopes that this new alt-az that FLO are due to announce might be what I'm looking for

You must have more acute vision than I do

You are quite right about the elongation from the host planet making, or breaking, the chances of spotting them. I have managed to see 2 Uranian moons with my 12 inch dob - Titania and Oberon. In theory I might also be able to manage Ariel and Umbriel under good conditions. All 4 of these are fainter and harder to spot than Triton.

150 F/8's are a lot larger than the ED120. The Giro Ercole was very much at it's limit with this lot on board to be honest. It's much, much happier with just the ED120 !

Vixen never revealed the ED glass type they use for many of their models. This reviewer is of the opinion that it must be FPL-53 but thats from the performance that it gives rather than confirmation from the manufacturer I think: https://astromart.com/reviews-and-articles/reviews/telescopes/refractors/show/vixen-ed115s-refractor Takahashi refractors don't all use Fluorite by the way. Some have FPL-53 elements in them. Are you pleased with the peformance of your Vixen ED115S ?

I agree with Mark - it's interesting to use an O-III filter on M42 but I feel that its best without a filter. It is probably the most striking nebula that we can see in the northern skies. With an O-III filter however, the Veil Nebula complex rivals it for intricacy though and there is more of it to explore

The Ercole will cope with 2 quite large and long scopes reasonably well:

I found it with the 13 Ethos Mark but found the view better with the 8mm and 6mm Ethos. You may well get a chance to try the latter soon I see

Don specialises in visual observing accessories, which is why I thought his comment was interesting.

The comment that I read was posted by a well known and respected dealer in the USA, Don Pensack. Don posts here occasionally as well.

Perhaps I'll tell the poster on the other forum that he might be mistaken ? He is a dealer though so I wondered if his comments were based on sales trends.

As above. It's visibility varies though. A couple of nights ago Triton was clear with my 12 inch dob at 450x with direct vision. Last night I could not detect it at all with that scope under similar conditions

I've really enjoyed reading though the posts in this thread - thanks so much for sharing your thoughts I think what really counts is that astronomy now offers a very wide variety of ways to enjoy and engage with it - hopefully that will enable a wider range of people to find interest in the Universe around them. It's not just a hobby for "boffins" but has something to offer everybody

Very interesting responses folks - thanks for posting them I have to confess to snapping the Moon and (filtered) Sun a few times lately with my mobile and having enjoyed getting some easy but half decent results. There does seem to be a strong urge from folks I talk to in my astro society and others whos views I read on here and elsewhere towards capturing in some way what they see rather than just describing it. Maybe some of the Facebook type culture is also coming into play - the "if there is no picture, it didn't happen" type thing perhaps ?

I've just been reading a long thread on another forum during which a respected source stated that observational astronomy was on the wane compared with imaging. I have suspected for some time that this is the case, although observation is all that I do. I'd be interested to hear others views. Is observing now becoming a minority occupation within the hobby of astronomy ?

William Optics put them on their focusers as well:

Got this comet again tonight. 12 inch dob again. It seems a little brighter but that could be slightly better transparency ? It's moved quite a bit in 48 hours:

Hope your Op is a success Alan and that you are feeling your old self again soon

From the UK Saturn is currently pretty low in the sky. Thats a lot of atmosphere to view through hence the lack of a stready view and also it makes seeing more challenging features such as the Cassini Division more difficult as well.

Great stuff - I'm sure you will enjoy it I've put a 2 inch diameter barrel extender on my 13, 8 and 6mm Ethos so that I can use a 2 inch filter with them to tease out those nebulae. The Baader 28mm Fine Tuning Rings do a good job for this purpose.

I've been a member of Bristol Astronomical Society for the past 4 years now and I've really enjoyed what I've got out of it. I've been a member of SGL for over 10 years and enjoyed that immensely as well. The two things complement each other for me What the Bristol AS has provided, in addition to excellent, frequent and stimulating meetings, is the chance to get involved with outreach events which is a dimension of the hobby that I had not really been involved with until I joined the society and one that I've very much enjoyed. The Society also gives me the chance to meet regularly face to face with other folks interested in astronomy in my area and have access to a well equipped observatory with some exciting "toys" to play with

Now that does look really nice !

Great comparison report Stu 16 Vulpeculae is a great split to get with a 200mm aperture. I believe it's right at the very limit of a top end 6 inch refractor.

I think Synta / Skywatcher have addressed the issues of packing and made some small modifications to the objective cell design now. The more recent reports of these scopes that I have read have been much more positive. I'd like to try another at some point - despite the issues that I encountered with the early ones that I tried, I think the scope has a lot of potential.

Quite correct. The Skytee II is not a Skywatcher product.