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Morning everyone I would be very grateful if you can offer some advice about a mounting issue I face. Last month I bought the Sky-Watcher Evostar 80ED DS-Pro and the new AZ-EQ6 Pro mount. The OTA comes stock with a very well made, but very short, dovetail. It has 2 recessed parts to fit the nuts that hold the tube rings. I have struggled to balance the OTA in DEC, especially with the heavy 2" diagonal and with 2" eyepieces. With attached camera it becomes even more backend heavy, and impossible to balance. To fix this problem, I bought the LONG Skywatcher dovetail, 33.5cm, also in green. Part number: MPN: 20759 I tried to fit it yesterday night to the OTA, but was surprised to see that on its underside it has no RECESSED holes, and the stock nuts which I removed from the stock dovetail and rings DO NOT FIT through the new dovetail's holes? Can you please advise what to do? I have attached pics of the STOCK short 21cm dovetail, and the LONG 33.5cm new dovetail. Many thanks

Yes. Going for a OSC. I thought with OSC I could do narrowband? Ha, O3 & S2? And also plan on a L Pro for light pollution, so thought I would house them all in a filter-wheel. Obviously I could be planning all this completely wrong, hence the barrage of questions on my part.

I mentioned in my first post above that the camera I am aiming for is a ASI294MC Pro. It also has a 4/3in sensor. Your advice is to go for 32mm filters. But aren’t those 1.25” as well? many thanks

Thanks. I’ve just looked up the ZWO filter wheel, and it says distance between filter and sensor is 10mm. on the calculator that makes the 1.25” very ok. so there is the option of 8x1.25” but then there is also a 7x36mm??? A 36mm filter? That is 1.4” why is Astrophotography so so so confusing???

Thanks thats very helpful. would be great if you can advise the distance between sensor and filter? i still do not have the system setup, so do not know the distance between filter and sensor? is there a standard or common distance?

Would be very helpful if someone can advice me on which filter size to get? I'm pretty confused as to which will fit my setup? I'm slowly assembling my setup, and have made up my mind on what to buy when ZWO have the camera back in stock: SW ED80 Pro ZWO ASI294MC Pro (trying to buy it used!! No luck so far) ZWO ASI120MM as a guide camera attached to the 9x50 SW finder scope. I've settled on the OPTOLONG L PRO filter to start with. At some point will buy a 5 slot EFW. I thought the EFWs have 2” slots, but when I checked it seems they are 1.5” or 36mm I was convinced that a 2” is necessary to avoid vignetting with the 294 So, will I be good to go with 1.25” filter size, or 2” will be a better fit for camera and my ED80? thanks

Thanks to everyone for the advice on this thread. I have contacted Tim and ordered the 4 way controller and 40cm strap. 20cm is sold out at both Tim & Barbara. Will probably get another brand 20cm for the time being. thanks again.

Afternoon everyone I need some advice on a dew management setup? I'm at a loss as to what to buy, and to avoid buying incompatible devices, cables and plugs? I have a SW AZ-EQ6 mount, powered by MAINS. I am trying to get into AP, so will have a SW ED80 on the mount, alongside the stock 9x50 finderscope, which will serve as the guidescope with a ASI120MM or ASI290MM. I want to get dew straps for both, with a controller, but also have in mind the PEGASUS pocket box and possibly the ZWO ASIAir box, both of which, I think, can power the straps? So, when I buy the 2 dew straps, 20cm & 40cm, what sort of connectors should I look at? and should I get a 2 channel controller, that will be redundant when I get a Pegasus? Are there Dew Straps powered by USB at all? Can someone please guide me as to what to buy? Many thanks

I did not notice it when I set it up. Not sure if it was flush with the mount. And yes, it looks very flimsy and cheap.

Great advice. Thanks I have just looked into the hole of the polar scope, and I found ONE of the two labels and managed to remove with my wife's tweezers... She will not be happy... I'll have to look for the other one at another time.. By the way, I've noticed something that triggered my OCD. The aluminium scale on the polar scope seems to have come off, and rotates freely...I never noticed this before? Should it look like this? I never polar aligned yet, as since I bought new 3 weeks ago, never had the chance to setup in the garden as the skies have been hopeless! That aluminum ring looks all flimsy and like its bent in multiple places. I tried to rotate/screw it back on to the mount, but it just rotates freely? Could me pulling and rotating on the CW shaft caused this? They are in completely 2 different axes??

Yes, they are non conductive. They are the paper labels you buy at WHSMITH. They measure about 30x10mm. They were extremely thin and flush on the CW shaft. I’m obviously terrified of opening up the mount and damaging something. I’ll probably just clean the shaft with alcohol and remove the glue residue and hope for the best. maybe even use an endoscope and look through the opening of the polar scope down into the barrel that houses the CW shaft

Extremely helpful replies!! thank you so much...that was very very helpful!!

Dear all, I posted this earlier on CN, and according to the advice I got, it seems I will need some local expertise and knowledge? Since I got this mount about 3 weeks ago, being my first GEM mount, I struggled a little with learning the directions of LOCK & UNLOCK for the clutches in RA and DEC. So, last week I printed out some labels on a laser printer, and stuck them on the mount in various external locations, to guide me in rotating the clutch clockwise and anticlockwise to release the clutches when I am in AZ mode, and just manually moving the mount about during visual sessions. In the manual, and following advice here on CN, I also marked the counter weight shaft with the same labels, so that I have a 2 markers in place on the shaft to guide me where to put the CWs to balance in RA when the mount is in AZ mode and parallel to the ground. The reason I needed 2 labels on the shaft is that I have a C11 and a 80ED, and both have very different weights, so I wanted to have a point of reference on the shaft to know where to place the CWs. Long story short, today I noticed Venus very bright in the sky, so I quickly took out the mount, set it up on the tripod, but the CW shaft WOULD NOT COME OUT OF THE MOUNT!! I had to pull and rotate the shaft clockwise and anitclockwise, and even removed the plastic cap covering the polar scope hole in the mount to look inside the mount, and I could see that the labels where catching, and wrinkled, and not allowing the shaft to extend out of the mount. After a few tries, the shaft finally came out, with some glue residue of the labels, but the labels where still inside the mount's shaft enclosure, as they seem to have been sheared off? Did not realise that the tolerances where that tight. Anyways, with the crumbled up paper labels are still inside the barrel enclosure housing the shaft, could I have caused any sort of damage? Or is this barrel for the CW shaft not holding anything sensitive? I was advised to take the mount apart and clean the shaft and remove the paper. Can someone please guide me, or advice on local professional help? Thanks

Morning everyone Aim is DSO, nebulae, clusters, smaller galaxies etc... My kit is: Mount: Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6 Pro Telescopes: 1- Nexstar 8SE (OTA) 2- C11 XLT (I guess this will be better off purely visual) 3- SW ED80 Pro-DS (primary imaging scope) Planned purchases: 1- Sky-Watcher x0.85 FR or Altair Astro x0.8 FR for the ED80 2- Celestron f/6.3 FR 3- Very long term, POSSIBLY a Hyperstar for the C11 (I doubt I will invest in this!) I've decided to go OSC, and for now, avoid the extra layer of complexity of shooting mono with filters etc... I have narrowed down my options to: 1. ASI294MC Pro 2- ASI533MC-P 3- ASI183MC Pro 4- ASI1600MC Pro 5- ASI071MC Pro just for comparison sake. I have attached an image comparing the cameras primarily on PIXEL SCALE, as I do not understand the Sensitivity, SNR, and WELL specs. I am leaning towards the ASI294MC Pro, as I like the wider image scale, and am not a fan of the square 533MC Pro scale. I realise that the 533 is the newest, and everyone is raving about its sensitivity and no amp glow etc... Please advise me on what would best fit my setup. my table suggests that the ASI1600MCPro is the best fit for scopes? Lastly, would the cheapest Mono Mini ZWO guide camera be OK for the guiding camera? the ASI120MM Mini? Many thanks

I didn't know that?! I'll give it a shot.. thanks

That's on Amazon USA In the UK they are not available.. https://www.amazon.com/Telescope-Eyepieces-Barlow-Other-Accessories/dp/B07K1V8B2R/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=eyepiece+caps&qid=1580213433&sr=8-3

Can you please point me in the direction of one? Also looking for those WHITE plugs that sit INSIDE the eyepiece and are locked in place with the thumbscrews? Thanks

Good morning everyone Where can I find those eyepiece end caps? I'm looking for both the transparent and opaque ones that fit to either end? For 1.25” cant seem to find them online? thanks.

Thanks Steve That is reassuring... I am begining to think that my focuser is also faulty, as its extremely rough, and feels like its skipping/jumping with every rotation. I'm struggling to describe it correctly

Thank you. I've done that, and maked the CW shaft with electric tape, one for the ED80mm scope which needed just one CW, and another for the SCT OTA, which is much heavier, and needed both the CWs

Yes!! First refractor. All my life wanted to buy a full setup, work, life, commitments etc prevented me from buying one. This past xmas, kids asked me to get a scope...PERFECT EXCUSE so SWMBO caved in... Bought a Nexstar 8SE, even though all my life wanted a C11... Then the bug bit big time...and I went totally mad... Last week I ordered the ED80mm and a AZ-EQ6 Pro, as I want to get into AP at some point in time in the future...

Did you buy yours directly from OVL, or from FLO?

I have indeed, and many thanks for that.... But I would be terrified to do that on my own!!! I'm an absolute, total newbie!!

Good luck with the return....hope you receive a pristine sample!! On second thought, maybe you had perfect balance due to the EXCESS glue on the lens!!