v4cascade

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I went down the collimator rabbit hole and purchase the Ocal collimation tool from FLO. It was one of their customer return items so I couldn't turn down that opportunity. 

Nice! I have family in Renton so I travel between the two quite frequently. 

Welcome! I'm also from the PNW. Whereabouts are you? I'm in PDX. 

***I should also mention that I'm a newbie as well so I can't offer any real advice other than what I have read and seen. 

Welcome!

Good thing your other hobby isn't firearms. Prices on those 2x even 3x since covid and has only slightly came down in the past few months. 

Did this to all my collimation EPs as well especially that tiny hole on the reflective angled piece that you look through. One was a cheap hollowed plastic and the other was a solid block of aluminum. Just let me say the drill bit they used to drill that hole was extremely worn. The tooling marks on the inside of that hole was ridiculously bad. The black paint covered up all those flaws although I'm not sure how much of an improvement it had but I'd like to think that it did. 

1 hour ago, Louis D said:

Do you ever find it too smooth in that it tends to overshoot and/or not stay put due to a complete lack of "sticktion"?  I could see if the base were not completely level it might contribute to "windmilling" of the upper assembly (seeking the lowest potential energy state).

Yes, if it's not complete leveled gravity will want to play with it. I'll probably add one of these in the near future with some kind of padding so I can have some adjustability with the amount of friction or completely lock it in place while still maintaining that butter smooth rotation when needed. 

I decided to get one of these "lube disk" for a 5th wheel. It doesn't work and actually made it worst. It's just cheap plastic and has no lubricity at all! Then, I tried to "fix" it by spraying some teflon dry lube on it. Slight improvement but it wasn't worth the hassle anymore so I went with the lazy susan ball bearing ring. Smooth as butter now. Long story short; don't buy the lube disk.

3 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

Hi

It's great to capture the Moon, it's hard to be steady by hand.

The focuser can be tightened by winding plumbing PTFE tape on it 

Yes, already did that. I meant when the phone mount is attached to the EP it's blocking the two knobs to secure it. I was trying to free-float the EP so I could adjust the focus but than that would cause it to tilt since it's now loose. If I tighten everything the entire mount+phone would have to spin with the focuser which wasn't ideal anyways. The actual viewing is fantastic for what it is.........just not so much for trying to capture an image. 

First Lunar image taken with the AWB Onesky. The focuser on this thing really sucks with a phone attachment..........

14 hours ago, Parziva1 said:

I meant I have the cheap $100 Powerseeker 60AZ. Much different. 

Yes, that is very different! 

As another member said there is no right or wrong answer. There are pros and cons to both. The 130 is compact and easily maneuverable but the 8" aperture is hard to ignore. Why not both!  

5 hours ago, FLO said:

I wondered why Don had cut/pasted his negative review of the original Concenter into this discussion ... 

@v4cascade If you want to buy locally then look for a US stockist of TS Optics or TS Photoline telescopes then email them. They might be willing to add a TS Concenter to their next stock order. 

HTH, 

Steve 

Steve, thanks for replying to both my message and email as that cleared up a few of the questions I had. One more thing, do you stock the newest version of the concenter (visus)? I don't see it on your website? 

Welcome!

I'm going to assume your Powerseeker is the 127. If it is there's negligible difference between that and the 130 in terms of aperture. What you will be paying for is the features that comes with it. It's like trading in your base honda civic for another honda civic with power windows.  Get the AD8 instead and learn the night skies. Get camera mounts and try it out to see if you actually enjoy it first. Dedicated AP gears can get pricy really quick! 

Not so much an eyepiece but didn't know where else to post this so mods please move if needed. 

Why does all the good stuff seems to be on the other side of the pond? I cannot find one retailer in the U.S. that sells this and I don't want to sell off one of my kidneys to pay for the shipping and a long ETA. What are some alternatives to a Concenter EP? I already have a standard collimator, laser collimator and cheshire piece. None of this seems to satisfy my OCD to perfectly align the secondary mirror.  

Glad to be here. Bought my first telescope years ago but it got lost while moving around and joining the Navy. I've always been fascinated with the stars and the Navy really helped solidify that interest. The night sky under a moonless night in the middle of the ocean is absolutely breathtaking! You will never get that kind of view in the city. Anyways, glad to be here. Just recently acquired a 10" Skywatcher Flextube for a great deal and cant wait to use it.