wormix

Couple of first look reviews on YouTube for this now - primarily in Australia

Funnily enough I have been looking at 8” scts recently and can confirm that prices vary hugely, from an £80 wreck up to several hundreds. 
 

There does seem to be a fair bit attached to the mount which, as mentioned before may not be wise considering how shaky some of the old ones are these days. 
 

Given the comments above re visual Versus imaging it might be worth having a conversation with him/her about their ambitions too. 

I think they are around £150. I live just North of London so benefit from economies of scale I guess

I know! I got lucky on Facebook marketplace one evening. 
 

Depends how much of a rush you’re in I guess - I was happy to just keep an eye on the marketplace until something appropriate turned up.  

I picked up a used Manfrotto 055 for £20 in great nick so there are bargains out there

In terms of quality, it’s head and shoulders above any of the cheaper photography tripods I’ve used in the past. 
 

Figured this out after several trials and error - the threads are (at least for my printer) 50.75mm x0.75 and 25.5mm x 0.75

Printed tonight and gave a quick trial run - works perfectly. Well pleased.  

On 19/08/2017 at 22:27, Stub Mandrel said:

If you want to convert a Skywatcher 9x50 finderscope into a guidescope for use with ZWO cameras, you can use the STL files here. There is the double threaded scope to T-mount adaptor and a very solid dovetailed scope holder (that needs 6xM6 nylon screws to finish). Use a 0.1mm or less layer height to get well-formed threads:

http://www.stubmandrel.co.uk/workshop/153-3d-printed-50mm-finder-to-guidescope-adaptor

The page includes basic advice on printer settings.

Hey @Stub Mandrel - I’m currently wrestling with a similar design myself. 
 

Do you happen to remember what the thread size on the Finderscope is?  I’m currently just doing a bit of suck it and see - I’m guessing 52mm diameter, pitch 0.8 as my 51mm I just printed was too small and pitch was off

Come up against my first block which is knowing what the thread size is - anyone have any idea?  I’m guessing 26mm x 0.6

sound about right?

Thanks all - for me the advantage is not so much in better optics or image quality but more a practical / boring reason. 
 

Firstly is storage, and whilst the PDS is not huge it does take up significantly more room than a frac and space is currently at a premium as I’ve converted my shed into an office to enable me to work from home more in future. 
 

Secondly is the field of view, with my interest being drawn more to the wider field that the Evostar or Zenithstar give me than what the PDS offers. 
 

14 minutes ago, RobertI said:

I sold mine a couple of weeks ago - first time I have ever sold a scope and I’m missing it already!!

Yes, I didn’t even get a chance to enquire after yours before it sold!

This will be sitting firmly in the “never to be sold” pile. 

Has anybody created an adapter like the Modern Astronomy ones to convert a 9x50 finder to guidescope?

I have printer this version; 

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3483611

but the thread requires removal of the front filter on the QHY5L which isn’t ideal. I was going to have a go at creating my own in fusion but wondered if anyone had already done it?

ta

Been after a Megrez 72 for a while and my wish has finally been granted, along with a nice 2” Revelation Astro diagonal and WO Finderscope to complement it. 

Quick question about converting my 9x50. 
 

I have a QHY5L so know I can buy a Modern Astronomy Adapter - do I screw straight into the adapter, or do I remove the filter in the QHY first to expose the c mount thread?

ta

Did you find a solution to this in the end?  
 

Picking up a Meg tomorrow so will be wrestling with flatteners myself soon. 

I enquired about this scope but you got there before me - you absolutely got a bargain!

I have just acquired an Ender 3 Pro printer as it was offered to me at a silly price and I thought why not. 
 

I got it a couple days ago and finally got it running this morning and have spent all day printing things including some brio compatible train track for my son and more excitingly for me a Bahtinov mask for my recently ordered Evostar 72ED. 
 

Im really impressed with how easy it was to use and the quality of the prints, have a big list of things to print in future weeks. 
 

Only have grey filament at the moment, so question - does a bahtinov have to be black or will this do?  If not I need to buy more filament anyway, or I’ll get the Sharpie out. 
 

4 minutes ago, Adam J said:

I would not really regard any of those three as a direct refractor replacement for a 150PDS anyway. At 750mm the 150PDS is a world away from a 400-500mm focal length refractor in terms of what you will be imaging. For a direct replacement you are really looking at a 100-120mm refractor.

Adam

Thanks Adam, am aware - was looking to move away from the narrower field of the PDS to wider field.   

I am currently sitting in a camping field looking at a clearing sky and had a moment of clarity. 
 

I have therefore just pulled the trigger on the 72ED with FLO as I think the quality vs price match my current ambitions and allow me to grow into a pricier scope in a few years 

Of course, due to long lead times I have plenty of time to change my mind and cancel the purchase! And @newbie alert, if you consider selling that WO then let me know as I may fancy some diy....
 

Cheers all for helping me to clarify my thoughts. 

Did a search on that particular model and the original sale post for your scope popped up first. 
 

It’s a stunner of a scope and as you say, too nice to be stuck in a box. There must be someone who can effect a repair on it if it’s just the bearings - it’s just finding the right someone I guess. 

2 hours ago, newbie alert said:

You made me ping another email over to them, just to see if it could be fixed if I sent the whole focuser unit over to them in Taiwan,  Tim said , if there's missing bearings it cannot be fixed, and then recommended buying a moonlite as he's heard that they fit ...

Great customer service 

That's such a shame - can it not be used at all at the moment?  Have you tried dismantling yourself to see if you can repair?

Just found your scope and its a stunner

Very nice - I was considering that scope but put it to one side as it just topped out my budget

Is there any reason why you couldn’t use the OVL flattener in the ZS?  At £100 less it could steer me that way. 

Cheers all, have read about issues with the SW focuser - currently have a 450d but considering changing it for an Astro modified something else, but likely that would be a 600d or similar so not hugely heavy but it does give me pause.

Timings wise I’m in no huge rush - playing the long game ready for the winter nights.  
 

The ZS would make me very happy, but maybe I would just end up stroking it all the time rather than imaging......

4 minutes ago, newbie alert said:

Your 150PDS is 750mm FL I believe? The 80ED is 600mm native. Not sure what the FF/reducer brings it to but maybe it won’t be as wide as you want?

With the skywatcher .85 reducer/ flattener the focal length is reduced to 510mm

I've had issues with William optics focuser before and they wasn't interested in helping me getting it fixed so won't be buying that brand anymore..

If you say you could afford all 3 why not dive in deep and get a triplet, abit more money but far better performance 

you don't say what mount you're using.. AP is built from the ground up, it's all in the mount

I have a HEQ5 pro so mount is sorted - supposed to hear about WO customer service as have heard elsewhere that they are very good. I guess it’s luck of the draw. 
 

Re triplet - the ZS is pushing my upper limit and am struggling to justify it vs the 72ed so spending more is not an option. 
 

I think I’m going to settle on the 72ed and play for a few years and see how I go, but every now and then I get an overwhelming desire for the WO

Evening all,

I am looking to replace my 150pds with a frac and am currently considering 3 separate OTAs;

Evostar 72ed 

Evostar 80ed

WO Zenithstar 73

I’m very much a beginner in the AP world, having been hooked last winter using my newt and 450d. I have purchased a guide scope / cam ready for the “new season” and as part of that prep I thought I might want to dabble in wider field - hence the new purchase. 
 

Financially speaking I can afford all 3 of these plus flatteners, etc, but in reality am I going to see much difference in end product at my level?  I have no intention of moving away from my DSLR at this point so the only change will be the optics. 
 

My head is saying go for the Evostar 72, whilst the heart is all out for the Zenithstar. I guess if I go Evo 72 then I would probably upgrade in a year or 2 so it’s likely just a stepping stone.  The Evo 80 is in there as a halfway house, although addition of the flattener makes it fairly pricey.  
 

thoughts?