MartianHill

Interesting numbers but the eyepiece views are noticeably better in a 5” over a 4” as long as the optical quality is the same.

@Nikolai De Silva How spooky - we saw in the UK what you saw in Sri Lanka 😱

Great image

@johnturley Yes it’s screwed in , I used two small Allen keys clamped between 2 pieces of wood, taking care not to slip

Yes

I found adjusting the two screws evenly and slightly on the focuser pressure plate on the underside of the focuser allowed very good adjustment control for the focus tension.

That’s a nice image, I was out around an hour earlier and although the Moon was surrounded by a halo of mist the seeing was VERY stable 🙂

That’s a great scope Andy, which mount are you using ?

I suspect the 8” CC is a little bit too heavy for an EQ5 photographically, plus the scopes operating aperture is only around 190mm.

There’s an FC100-DZ in the for sale section

@Neutrinosoup The new Askar 120 weighs 6.5kgs https://www.firstlightoptics.com/askar-telescopes/askar-120-apo-triplet-refractor.html But those Fluorite 4” Takahashi’s are superb

Nice scope @lansonlad and worth doing up 👍 There are some slow mo controls here…

Why not try your existing scopes on the new EQ5 ? Have you considered a used Vixen GP - better quality ? But to answer your question, I suspect a C8 would be the limit for an EQ5 - I had a C9.25 and it needed an EQ6 and that was for visual, I think imaging is more demanding on the mount.

Wow, there are some big toys there 🤪

@JamesGlasgow That scope is a good choice 👍

For me a 4” Refractor and an 8” F/6 Newtonian would cover all the options.

Yes, a white Ferrari just doesn’t work, but a red Takahashi 😩

A Takahashi repainted in a non standard colour would raise red flags for me.

I use my 4” refractor on a Skywatcher AZ4 and it’s a really good combination for getting out quick and viewing. Even high power planetary is possible.

My Fastar C8 was a bit average optically and had no manufacturers markings on the corrector, so after reading a thread on CN I marked the corrector myself then rotated it 90’ and tested it and it improved. I then rotated it another 90’ and the contrast and sharpness was excellent, so that’s how I left it. A result, but don’t ask me why 🤷🏻

BIG Mozzies 😱😱😱

Some suggestions @EliinAfrica….. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/evostar/sky-watcher-mercury-707-az-telescope.html https://www.firstlightoptics.com/evostar/skywatcher-evostar-90-az3.html https://www.firstlightoptics.com/evostar/skywatcher-evostar-102-eq3-2.html

Was the feature you saw in the middle of the finder also in the middle of the eyepiece ? If not line a feature up in the middle of the eyepiece then adjust the finder to get the same feature central - then at night what is central in the finder will be central in the eye piece.

Hello @EliinAfrica and welcome to SGL, This is quite a capable scope, easy to set up and use, affordable too and First Light Optics are reputable and may ship to Zanzibar…… https://www.firstlightoptics.com/evostar/sky-watcher-mercury-707-az-telescope.html There are other options too but would cost more, the above is a budget choice but decent (you may have to buy better eyepieces). I find it more comfortable to sit down when viewing. You may have to limit your expectations though as many of the impressive images you see are made with professional telescopes. If your budget is higher then do let us know as it’s always great to spend other peoples money 😁 Hope that helps

Ulama’s aka Devil Birds 👹