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Bigwings

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Everything posted by Bigwings

  1. Thanks for the input guys. Tried the Starsense on the Newt and it's survived. The focuser needed a few tweeks with the aln key and screwdriverand appears full functional.. Not sure about the diagonal. The Mak 😭😭 FLO have priced a corrector plate at £213 3-4 months delivery time. That's about the same cost as the excess would be on an insurance claim plus the premium would go up. Is changing the corrector a DIY job. There doesn't seem any other visible damage....
  2. Advice needed. 1. Is the Starsense camera likely to be OK. No direct bang and no sign of damage. 2. Can the OTA be economically repaired and if so by who. 3 Is the diagonal likely to be scrap. 3 Will the focuser be ok No sign of damage but its slack. Im gutted
  3. I have dropped my Skymax 150 complete with focuser and Starsense camera. Hard landing on the 2" dielectric corner Glass
  4. Welcome, Hope you enjoy the community your part of. 🍾
  5. I have used a Skymax 150 on an EQ5 Pro and I enjoyed it. The scope is a cracker on planets, doubles and it good on smaller DSO, s. The 180 Mak is a big beast and some would argue that the 150 hits the sweet spot. Maks have a narrow field of view so be aware of that. Think where you are going in the future. Imaging, deep sky, planets or all of these. The EQ5 Pro is a good mount but doesn't give you much headroom in max weight. I now use my Skymax 150 and my Explorer 130PDS on an AZ-EQ6 at the same time in Az mode so I can have wide and narrow high mag views available at the same time. My advice would be to think about future proofing your purchase and spend your money on the mount. Have a look at the AZ-EQ5 and don't be afraid of Newts they give tremendous bang for the buck. My little 130 is a gem and can be used well on my mount in EQ mode for imaging. Best of luck with your choices. I love Mak's but they would not be my choice for beginners.
  6. Bet it was fun turning the tube to get the EP and focuser in a usable position 😜
  7. A big Dob with a set of wheels on its own platform and 3 screw Jack's for levelling I guess
  8. I do like Skywatcher and the rig is nicely colour balanced essential for astro 😉 The finders are Baader as are a lot of my EP's
  9. Thanks for input so far guys. The scope responds to SynScan perfectly and skywatcher SynScan is selected in SkySafari. What ip address and port should be in SkySafari setup?
  10. Running SynScan Pro in Az mode on my AzEQ 6 mount via the skywatcher WiFi dongle. Running SkySafari 6 on same device, a Huawei P30 Pro. SkySafari returns a message saying it cant connect to the scope. Any help appreciated. Clear Skies Bigwings
  11. After a long think I spent my money on a mount rather than a big Dob. Mainy a visual observer I do have a a DSLR and realise I might be seduced by the photographic side. I decided on an AZ EQ mount for flexibility abd dithered between the 5 and the 6 Skywatcher offerings. I'm no spring chicken at 73 so was a bit worried about the weight. Availability was a huge issue and when I sourced an Azeq6 Pro I ordered it. Two big boxes arrived and I set about putting the mount onto the hefty tripod. BIG AND HEAVY. It sat in the dinning room as I pondered it's weight vs my age. It's a lovely well made mount and it just kept whispering to me "keep me". It made tha short journey to the garage to meet its family of tripods and astro stuff and I started building. I just love it. A planet killer and wider views available in seconds and the flexibility to rejig if the astro bug really bites. With regard to weight, with the scopes pointing streight up I can pick up the mount and move it 10 yards or so. Just make sure everything is tight before trying that. I tried the mount with the Skywatcher WiFi dongle and it was very smooth and quiet.. Looking forward to lots of use with this rig. As for appature fever..... Well if the right 12" Newt turns up I have a mount that will handle it..... Now where's my credit card.....
  12. Hi guys. I bought an AZ GTi when they first hit the market. Does this mount upgrade to present day standards with firmware/ software updates? If so how do I do it? Cheers and Clear Skies Bigwings
  13. Gently tiptoeing into astrophotography after many years visual. Contemplating a dedicated astro camera to compliment my old Canon 1000d. I have 3 scopes Explorer 200p Explorer 130 P DS Skymax 150 Mak Mount is an EQ5 Pro. I have a shortlist of the two cameras in the heading for a bit of planitary some DSO and some live stacking. Which is best fit and why please. Of course I could have it totally wrong. Thanks for your guidance..... Oh yes it can be my guide camera for long exposures with the DSLR. Clear skies Big wings the confused
  14. Thanks indeed as I couldn't find my disk either. Clear Skies
  15. I have my old 1000d which has live view. Just ordered an Explorer 130P - DS which will sit atop of my EQ5 Pro. Thought I might like to do some Astrophotography. Usualy a visual guy with a Skymax 150 and an Explorer 200p. How will the camera work with up to date astro programmes. Clear Skies Mile
  16. Thanks guys. It's the second version in Fig 1. Guess I have to work with it.
  17. Bought this mount nearly new .When I look through the polar scope the markings seem to be upside down like I am looking through it from the wrong side. Is it factory fitted ? Can it be fitted the wrong way? Not used to EQ mounts having just moved from AltAz and Dobs. Thanks
  18. I noticed on another thread that Dobbie wanted to downsize from the Skymax 150 Mak to a 127 for portability . Today we exchanged scopes wi h a cash settlement. Tonight M42 was passing to the front of the garage (unheated). To quote Oscar Wild (I think) " I can resist all things except temptation. Lifting the EQ5 to the garage door I mounted the Skymax 150 and chose the Baader Aspheric 31mm. With clutches off and no power the finder was nudged to M42. A few seconds focusing and WOW...... M42 filled the field of view with great contrast and tac sharp stars showing trapezium as clear as I can remember. It seemed to me as good a view as I can remember with the SE8 or my 8" Newt. Perhaps it's my memory. My first light with this scope fills me with anticipation of views lunar and planetary but it certainly can do a good job on bright DSO's. Cool down was not a problem when kept in a cold garage on this occasion. Thanks Dobbie... I love it.
  19. Using my Moto one action phone to control the WiFi to my EQ5. It was working fine. I switched off the phone location permissions and a day later switched it back on again but Synscan won't find the location device. Tried reboots. Tried removing program and reinstall. No good. Buying a tablet to use as a dedicated input device instead of my phone....hope it works. Anyone had similar problems? Anyone got a solution? Cheers Bigwings
  20. Anyone advise me of the weight of the Skywatcher 150 Evostar (blue livery) with rings and Ep Clear skies
  21. Hi. Looking at at a Skywatcher Evostar 150 . Blue tube with collimatable Cell. Can anyone tell me when blue tubes changed to black. I am a visual observer so what if anything do I gain adding this to my 127 Mak and 200p Newt? Would I be pushing the limits of my EQ5 mount. Never had a frac before so contemplating starting with a little one LOL. How much of a problem with CA is there likely to be. It has a Baader Fringe Killer filter. Thanks for the advice. Clear Skies
  22. Thanks Olly. Better get a Frac....but try a few with the Mak 127 firstly Thanks Tim. Sounds like I am better off with my Mak 127. My interest is caused by an urge to try my hand at some photography and more light pollution is driving me to a goto mount anyway and a nice mount for sale is paired with an RC scope. Mainly I am visual... Perhaps an EQ5 goto is the way to go. My main scope is a 10" DOB, not to difficult to collimate.
  23. Thanks for that informative contribution....food for thought. Mike
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