wheresthetorch?

Quick mobile phone shot through my AR80S with solar film filter:

Thanks to a recent gap in the clouds while the moon was up and an unexpected clear night last night, I've now had the opportunity for first light with with AR80S on the AZ5. The scope's performance on the moon was really impressive. There was a hint of CA on the limb in the form of a yellowish tinge, but no hint on the lunar face and the terminator was beautifully clear and crisp through my BST Starguiders. Last night I cruised around some familiar DSOs while I got used to the scope and mount - M42, M43, M45, M31, M35, Double Cluster and some double stars in Orion (Struve 747, Struve 745, sigma Orionis and iota Orionis). I was really pleased with the views - stars were pinpoints across most of the view with just a hint of distortion at the extreme edges. At just 40x I was able to see all three components of iota Orionis, and they were easily split at 75x. Similarly, stars D and E in sigma Orionis were easily separated from the main ABC stars. Overall, the telescope is perfect as a 'grab and go' small achro with limited CA. Unfortunately, I'm less impressed with the AZ5 mount. It's really not very steady at all, and any attempt to fine tune the focus led to the view jumping around and taking a good 2-3 seconds to dampen down. It was a still night, and I hate to think what the view would have been like had it been windy. I got the mount used on eBay, and it lacks the pillar extension - I've therefore ordered one from FLO in the hope that having to extend the tripod legs less might improve its steadiness. Anyway, there you go. In summary - scope good, mount less so.

Thanks. Typically, Clear Outside app is showing 100% cloud cover to the end of the year! ?☁️☁️

My AR80S arrived this morning, so I thought I'd post a quick pic of it on my AZ5 mount. First impressions are that it is very light yet substantial, and feels very well made for such a budget price. First light has consisted of pointing at a TV aerial to line up my finderscope; image is crisp and clear with just a hint of CA either side of focus. I guess that, despite being an achro the focal length of f7.5 helps with this. It is a little 'back heavy' with finder, diagonal and eyepiece but the mount holds it ok The Crayford focusser is a little 'sticky' in coarse mode, but fine focus is smoother. It's not as smooth and the 10:1 Crayford on my Revelation dob, so may need some adjusting. Can't wait for a proper first light if the clouds ever roll away!

This has to be worth a look - a Mak on a WiFi GOTO alt-az mount. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az-gti-wifi/sky-watcher-skymax-127-az-gti.html WiFi links directly to an app on your phone; if you have a young child, GOTO makes a big difference as there's less hanging around in the dark while parent tries to find something elusive in the sky. Instead, watch the magic of the telescope moving across the sky.

Just ordered one for my AZ5 as a grab and go to accompany my dob. Was going to wait until after Christmas, but, you know . . . ?

Thanks for this review, as there is a dearth of information about this scope, and the price seemed very reasonable. Definitely on my list for a January treat once Christmas is over!

Not exactly at night, but cooling ready.

Ah, interesting. My old 4SE had a very similar mount to the steel legged AZ4, and it wasn't overly heavy, so maybe that would be the way to go. Food for thought . . . Many thanks for the information.

Thanks - that's really helpful. I was only looking at an ST-102, so it sounds as though it would manage that no problem.

I'd be interested to hear how the aluminium AZ4 stands up to the weight, as I'm considering the same set up as a grab 'n' go and was favouring the ally tripod over the steel to reduce weight.

Ordered a Revelation 8" dob, Telrad and laser collimator online on Tuesday evening from Telescope House. They emailed me on Weds to say it would be delivered the next day, and included a PDF of assembly instructions. Scope and accessories all arrived at 9.20 on Thursday morning (today). Really excellent level of service. This is my second major purchase from Telescope House, and I heartily recommend them.