thesaintishere

Hi guys,

I've recently got my hands on some binoviewers and have been advised to use to 1.25" diagonal rather than a 2" one to shorten the light path.

Which adapter do I need to fit a 1.25" diagonal to the Skymax 150? I've attached photos if that helps!

Cheers!

Hi guys,

I've seen that the Skytee II is sold with the 1.75" steel-legged tripod used for the EQ mounts, but does it fit on the regular 1.75" steel-legged tripod (this one here) and the extension tube?

Cheers!

I've had my SW 80ED for around 8 months and have really enjoyed my foray into the world of astronomy....even if I've mainly observed from Bortle 8 skies!

I'm thinking of upgrading the 80ED as I feel I want a bit more aperture, and even though I like observing most things, I have a particular like for planets. Would the Skymax 150 be a good upgrade?

Is it going to show a lot more? 

For those that have used/own both, what are your thoughts?

Cheers!

2 hours ago, Stu said:

Whilst a lot depends on the scope you intend to use it, from my experience I would agree with what @IB20 has said. Which scope do you have?

I too use a Herschel Wedge rather than film which does give a better image, but still, Baader astrosolar film is very good and should show you detail in the active regions, faculae around the limb and granulation when the seeing is good.

Single shot images that are posted on here (including my own) are much less sharp than the views through my 4” apo/Herschel Wedge. The added bonus is that the Sun has woken up from its recent minimum and is now showing very regular sunspot activity. Normally plenty to see.

I have a Skywatcher 80ED. 

Thanks to everyone for the above input!

I know it might be a bit of a silly question, but what does the sun actually look like through a telescope (using an appropriate solar filter of course! - this one for example: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/all-filters/astrozap-baader-solar-filter.html)?

Can you see sun spots? Activity? 

Cheers!

9 minutes ago, Stu said:

Not sure I would do both the 4mm and a Barlow, probably wouldn’t be needed. The 4mm will give you x150 which is a decent max for the scope. You might get more on a good night but diminishing returns.

Might be worth adding a 24mm 68 degree at some point for max field of view with a 1.25”. Would give you 2.72 degrees, great for large objects like the North America Nebula and M31. Not cheap, so look out for a used Maxvision, Explore Scientific are more expensive but basically the same optics I believe.

Thanks for the advice! Any suggestions re 4mm eyepiece? Both the OVL Nirvana 4mm and the Vixen SLV 4mm are within budget, but I could simply wait a while longer if a more expensive eyepiece is going to be much better than either of those. Cheers! 

21 hours ago, Gonariu said:

A good Barlow 2X apochromat would also fit.

Any recommendations? Thanks!

Very much belated, but thank you for all your above advice. After a month or two of toing and froing I decided to opt for the 80ED on an AZ5 manual mount. It took me a couple of months to pick up all the bits second hand (aside from a few eyepieces) but I got there eventually! Here's what I bought for circa £750:

- Skywatcher 80ED pro kit
- AZ5 Mount
- Skywatcher Steel 3/8" tripod
- AZ5 extension pillar
- BST Starguiders 5mm, 8mm & 15mm
- Baader Classic Ortho 6mm & 10mm. 

Thanks to the clouds (!!!) I've only had it out a couple of times, but I've had some amazing views of the moon and I think I saw M57 (ring nebula). In a word, I'm hooked! Looking to add a 4mm planetary eyepiece (Vixen SLV or OVL Nirvana) and a 18mm Classic Ortho too as I love the view through the 6mm & 10mm classic orthos. 

Thanks again!

Greetings!

I'm thinking about my first scope and I've kind of narrowed it down to either the Skymax 127 or Evostar 80ed on an AZ-GTI. I'm only interested in visual observing at present, so wondering which would be the option?

A friend is selling their Evostar 80ed so cost will be about the same regardless of which I plump for.

Thoughts?

Thank you.