Helical fine focuser for the Omegon 127 Mak.

The OO 44mm one would be excellent but pushing it a bit and a fair few quid for an experiment.

https://www.orionoptics.co.uk/OPTICS/ellipticalflats.html

One thing to be aware of when fitting a smaller secondary is the quality of it. Most mass produced secondarys aren’t as flat near the edges so often are oversized to avoid the edge problem.  If fitting a smaller one would get a quality one.

There are pros and cons to doing this. For the minor improvement on planetary with 1.25” eyepieces if using two inch eyepieces edge performance may fall off. Loads of arguments on CN about this. 

So while yes a smaller secondary can slightly improve contrast on purely visual panetary observing there are downsides as well.

4 minutes ago, jonathan said:

Or at the bland pre-recorded dross or depressingly one-topic news on TV.

I don’t watch the one dimensional news any more. Just skim through the BBC news site and ignore the virus bits. 

What about the Ztelescope Express offerings?

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p49_TS-PHOTON-8--f-5-Advanced-Newtonian-Telescope-OTA.html

TS has a “like new” example of the carbon tube one on offer.

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p12116_Like-new--TS-PHOTON-8--F5-Advanced-Newtonian-Telescope-with-Carbon-Tube.html

Looks interesting. 🙂

National Geographic Channel 

Mars: One Day On The Red Planet

Tuesday 28th April 

An epic journey revealing the real Mars, as you've never seen it before. Using data from orbiters and rovers to build accurate views of the red planet and uncover its secrets. On a single circuit of Mars from dawn to dusk, encounter monster volcanos, ancient lakes, alien ice-worlds and spacecraft crash sites. Explore humanity's Martian obsession, join the relentless search for life there, and hunt for a human home on the red planet's surface.

Perhaps it should be a requirement of being an SGL menber to own a copy. 😁😁😁

Would suit the “Lunatics” on here. 🤪

Looks like a clamp for attaching a camera or accessory to something??? 🤔

Oh dear. Just checked on the UK distributors website and they are showing out of stock.Some further investigation needed.

https://www.dhinds.co.uk/collections/telescopes/products/celestron-nexstar-5se-computerised-telescope

2 minutes ago, Beardy30 said:

Getting a 5se is no issue Plenty out there 

Yes no problem getting one. Just have to order from a  high street shop etc. and they will have it shipped from the UK Celestron distributor directly to you. 

Unfortunately it’s on a manual EQ mount without any drive motors. 🙁

Grovers doesn’t actually stock the 5SE but will have it drop shipped from the UK distrubutor.

See this thread about Celestron stopping supplying UK astro dealers.

Check again and while they still have them listed they also show as not in stock. 

One thing to note Celestron is no longer supplying the SE scopes to astro dealers but only to high street shops etc. so a bit of hunting around online.

The one thing to keep in mind the 6” and 7” maks are a lot heavier and require a bigger mount so not as portable.

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/skywatcher-skymax-150-pro-eq5-pro-goto-telescope.html

3 minutes ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

Thanks John - to be honest I bought a Svbony solar finder which is spot on. I use it on the Skywatcher 150P with the 13mm Ethos and the image of the Sun is in the centre of the OTA. But thanks for the thought.

I have a Svbony solar finder in the drawer. I use the 9x50 finder to check the sun to see if it’s worth getting the scope setup as the image is big enough to see if there are spots. Well if there were spots to see. 😁

One thing I highly recommend is getting is a solar filter for your 9x50 finder. Much better than the SolSearcher type and makes it much easier to get the sun centred. 

Something else to throw into the mix. Should be excellent for WL.

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p11262_TS-Optics-102-mm-f-11-ED-Refractor-with-2-5--RAP-Focuser.html

BTW the new Takahashi isn’t actually made by them. Made by another company to Taks design.

The 6SE is really in a different class but is a lot more expensive. Lot of pluses for the 6SE over the others but however that extra 400 quid is a lot extra to find and could be hard to justify.

Putting the Omegon 127 mak next to the CC 8” makes you realise how tiny it is. 😁

Both are good scopes. The 127 SLT will be slightly better on the moon and planets but the 5SE is a better all round scope and will be a bit better on DSOs  (deep space objects).

However the 6SE is a brilliant scope and will be more stable on the heavier mount. Bit of a no contest if the budget is there. My favourite small SCT. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

At this rate will there be anyone on SGL that doesn’t get a copy? 😁😁😁

From the Telescope Express website.

Very good writeup. 👍🏻. 

Yes the sun in white light is a bit subtle you might say at the moment. You have to search out the detail. 

According to NOAA not a lot going on in the immediate fiture.