northwalesparry

I'm considering buying celestron's starsense  . Is it any good? 

Any advice would be grateful.

Thanks Phil 

Apologies if this is a silly question. How cold is too cold to your scope up .

It's currently -2 here in North Wales . 

Yes , you need to download the celestron app Sky portal on Android or iOS.

It's really simple to use , look on you tube for celestron WiFi adapter videos .

One thing it doesn't tell you is that if you are using your phone , switch off your data otherwise you will have connection problems .

Otherwise its simple just plug in the Qlink  into the mount and connect your phone to its WiFi signal .

What eye pieces would you recommend for a 8inch SCT. I mainly look at star clusters and dso's .

Any advice would be greatfull.

9 hours ago, Stu said:

Two questions.....

What are you going to put on the mount in terms of scope and what do you want to do with it? Astro photography or visual?

I was looking at celestron c9.25 SCT.

Reason for my question is that the skywatcher looks to be a better mount .

9 hours ago, Stu said:

Two questions.....

What are you going to put on the mount in terms of scope and what do you want to do with it? Astro photography or visual?

Looking into getting a new mount . Which one on these would you choose and why?

Skywatcher heq5 pro goto. Or 

Celestron VX go to mount.

Both are around the same price.

Thanks for your reply , I think 8se too.

Only because it's more portable and takes up less storage space .😁

Ok how about this then :

Skywatcher 200p

            Or

celestron 8se

both have the same aperture.

My name says it all 

4 hours ago, happy-kat said:

I don't know if the board in your mount has the capability but it would be worth finding out if it could use the skywatcher wifi dongle that can be used on similar mounts to give goto using the free app you put on say a smart phone, it's reasonably priced or if it does have the board capability could look for a used synscan handset though these I've found to be a little more expensive then the wifi dongle.

Current mount will not support WiFi dongle I've tried it on mine , works fine on Star discovery mount thou.

I had that mount , but upgraded to the star discovery mount it came with a synscan handset and it's skywatcher WiFi compatable ( bought seperatly) for a altaz it keeps good tracking .

Look on FLO

10 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

Depends on focal reducer and star diagonal.

Photographic accessories often use T2 thread for attachment, sometimes M48 (2" filter thread) but often other larger threads. Star diagonal is either 2" or 1.25". There are models with T2 attachment as well.

There is one more important consideration - focal reducers that also act as field flatteners work on specific distance to the sensor (or rather in visual case - focal plane of telescope). This means that you need to place it at exact distance to eyepiece for it to operate to specs. Problem with this is that eyepieces are not par focal - some need a bit more in focus travel, some need a bit more out focus travel. Ideally, eyepiece should have its focal point at the "shoulder", but not all eyepieces do.

Once you know the working distance and type of thread of field flattener / focal reducer, you need to make sure it is mounted at proper distance to eyepiece for it to work as intended. If you miss the distance, you will get different aberrations (astigmatism for example). This is why visual coma correctors often have tuning mechanism, to allow you to alter distance to eyepiece so you can find proper distance for each eyepiece that you use (CCs are also sensitive to proper distance to focal plane).

For that particular reducer, thread size is M48, so it should screw in 2" diagonal (one that has 2"/M48 filter thread), however, optimal working distance is only 55mm - that is enough for AP applications, but not nearly enough for visual as most 2" diagonals are 100+mm of optical path. Only way I see it being used is in straight thru configuration (not sure if anyone would like to use long refractor in straight thru configuration), with suitable 2" extender and 2" eyepiece.

Thank you f, I think I understand what you're saying here , I will pass all you're comments along .

I'm not sure if the focal reducer can be use visually or not either or is it for AP only . 

So will the star diagonal connect to the focal reducer? . Sorry if that's a dumb question , tried searching the web can't find anything.

Ok thank you all I will pass on your comments . Just a thought but what about the 100ed I believe this now comes with a 0.85 focal reducer included in the price at FLO at just under £800 its more money .. worth it ? Mmm

Which is better for visual use , planets ,DSOs and clusters .

Skywatcher ST120 ... Cheapest

           Or 

Skywatcher 80ed pro .

Any advice I can pass on would be greatfull .

Wow , thanks for all you input , I think I'm swaying towards celestron . Just one question but what is the difference between the 8se and CPC versions . I know one has a duel fork arm but is that it ? 

Does anyone have any advice which SCT to buy . It will be primarily visual use .

Aah ok thank you Alan

Hi all , I'm still looking for a new scope ,I've decided that's a SCT is the way to go however I'm undecided which one to get . I have a budget of about £1500. 

My options are 

Celestron 8se 

     Or 

Meade LX90

Now there is a £400 difference in price so is the Meade LX90 worth the extra ?

Well i was actually looking 200p, but on a mount , ok over my budget maybe but a bit more saving  Christmas not too far 😂. Minimum mount requirements due to the 200p weight ( excluding doing AP)

Which of these is best for visual astronomy. I'm not currently looking at astrophotography  but just thinking ahead . Any advice would be helpful. I have a budget of around £500.

Skywatcher 150pds or skywatcher 80ED.

Thanks Phil

I currently have a skywatcher 130p but feel that it's reached its limits of what I can see .

Considering buying one 

Does any one own a celestron nextstar 6 or 8 SE. Im considerimg one as my next scope .

Phil

I'm looking to upgrade my current set up , which I've had for 7 years now . Skywatcher 130p on a goto alt/az mount .

I'm feeling that I've reached to full potential of this scope . Don't get me wrong I still love it . My main use will be visual and dso's ( astrophotography maybe).

Budget up to £1000 ( a little over at a push) .

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks Phil.

I ordered some EP on Saturday, they were posted on Monday, they arrived on Tuesday very impressed, Also I had a phone call on Tuesday from them because the courier couldent find my house . Over all very impressed and I will buy from them again.