Starslayer

Mine

Within another thread I spotted @rwilkey had posted a pic of his wife's scope on AZ5. I have sent pm but he maybe has not seen it. My question is, how has this been mounted on the AZ5? Mine is attached using the original rings and a small astro essentials dovetail from FLO as recommended. Obviously I cannot see the other side of the pic so thought I would ask as it looks a lot neater and presumably reduces weight. I see no points on the OTA for me to do this so does it involve some drilling? Hope rwilkey does not mind me reposting his pic.

The 6"does have a smaller baffle than the 8 and above. I have the reducer and have used it but not much now as I have a smaller refractor for wide field. Also as mentioned above I use an ES 2" 40mm 68° now too.

I would be very surprised if the TV ones are not identical to the Astronomik ones. Think about it. The only reason they supply TV is for money of course but why would they then supply what purports to be a superior product, that TV then mark up, but for assumably the same profit margin? They make clear that this is an Astrom product. It is in the sales pitch. Ok so the sales of their brand ones may suffer and they still get the TV revenue but I smell a rat and that rat is that the product is the same. For discussion. 😃😃😅

Novice question - could you / should you use these at the same time or is that a no no?

I have the Celestron 6” explorer and love it but whilst the supplied tripod is adequate it is by no means brilliant. The mount comes attached to the tripod and whilst I am not one for messing around too much I cannot see how you would swap this out for a sturdier one. ( anybody ? ) Otherwise go with the extra aperture if this is not important to you. Edit - found this

Ah sorry, johninderby pipped me as I was typing

When the phone is in the cradle, the mirror sits at around 45 degree angle to the camera. Obviously the whole,assembly moves as you move the scope on the axis but remains parallel to the tube. Can take more pics if it helps.

I have the 6” and love it. I am Bortle 7. I find the starsense app works well but despite many attempts during the day to get it spot on I find that it is always a touch out when used in anger at night. I find myself noting exactly where an obvious object is, eg jupiter or one of the brighter stars and what tweaking needs doing to get it spot on. Knowing that enables me to tweak it accordingly when it says it is lined up on something less obvious. No issues with the app crashing and on a clear night it always connects well then realigns quickly once scope is moved. In the day I line up to a hospital flag pole that is 2 miles away. I fine tune this with increasing eps but then find it is still a tad off when used at night. If anybody out there has any suggestions then please contribute.

Certainly don’t. I have a telrad on there at the moment so hopefully it will fit where the existing rdf is mounted . Will check before ordering as other sets of pairs of screws are not in a great position. I have starsense cradle too. The explorer version. Want this to compliment the telrad rather than replace it.

Hi. Looking at getting a right angled erect 9 x 50 finderscope that I can use on both my SCT6" and ST102. FLO states that I need one of these for the SCT https://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/baader-universal-quick-release-finder-shoe-base.html Question is how does the shown base fit on the Celestron SCT? Will it screw straight on where the original RDF is mounted or do I have to use other existing screw areas? Don't want to have to drill anything. Obviously the ST102 is a straight fit for the skywatcher finder I am looking at. Thank you

Are the Explore Scientific ones on par with Lumicon and Astronomik?

What scope do you have on it?

Good to know. I think the tripod should be a good deal better than the aluminium one.

Ok thanks all. Santa is bringing me the Az5 mount with the more robust skywatcher steel .38 thread 1.75” tripod. I have ordered the short Astro bar separately. All good. Plenty sturdy to carry the 102 for quick and easy set up.

Thank you

That is the astro short one yes?

Yes looks good. Who needs green any way? 😇😉

Spotted this too……

erm........

Thank you

….. and RVO.. ( mind you their shipping is outrageous for small items. ) Many thanks. Medium is what I need though yes?

Thank you and……… damn I like that splash of green but is it still available. . .?

Thinking of getting the AZ5 for my ST102 that I use for deep sky. Currently on EQ1 which I hate. I do have some weight on the ep end with 2" WO diagonal and Baader zoom. I know there is no such thing as a silly question here but I know I need a vixen type dovetail to mount the 102 to the AZ5 but do I simply keep it in its current rings then easily bolt onto the bar and which bar is recommended for this set up please? If I have to start drilling the tube though I will give it a miss.

This works well for me and cheap too compared to many. . It remembers the redlight setting as well when you turn it off, so no surprises. AND for that price you actually get 2 of them.. bargain and has lasted well for the 6 months I have had it. They even supply batteries. https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07ZWK5QKM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1