robhatherton

Refractors: depends if it has dewed up outside already. If not, cap it or it is likely to dew up when you bring it in. If it has already misted over (or frozen up!) you need to leave it uncapped when you bring it in, ideally to an unheated room where it can demist slowly.

If your lens gets condensation on it outside then all of the above is correct. However you said the lens steamed up when you brought the telescope inside. The way to stop that is (apart from don’t bring it inside!) cap all the lenses and put your scope in a bag or case before bringing it in. Everything will warm much more slowly and condensation won’t form.

Goodness, I didn’t know that would have enough power! Mind you I have no problem with AA rechargeables.

I bought rechargeable aa batteries and a charger from Amazon for a total of £25. No problem at all with them.

Is the ra axis the same as the azimuth? Mine is set up in the original alt AZ.

I’ve had no problem with mine: works perfectly with rechargeable aa batteries. The only issue is when using Sky Safari to control it’s the scope is consistently placed to the left of the target.

If there’s no condensation on your lenses and eyepieces when you’re outside you should cap them and case them etc while you’re outside. Bring them into a cool room where they will warm slowly and condensation won’t form. You can always open them up and check in the morning. If ice or condensation have formed outside then leave everything open and again bring into a cool room. Some people swear by a hairdryer!

I’m using SkySafari plus on an iPhone with my AZ Gti. It works but so far I’ve found the goto less accurate than when just using the synscan app. It seems to consistently place the scope to the left of where it should be.

My sky safari says it has created the list but when I look there are no objects in it?

Well the op was only asking about visual use. I wouldnt expect the mount to be sturdy enough for photography although I do intend to have a go with my micro four thirds camera but I won’t be expecting too much! The Sky at Night magazine did comment on the scope’s performance for ap and was quite complimentary but that was with a beefier Mount.

Yes indeed, that’s the one I’ve got and was referring to and it’s fine on this mount. Over in the States on Cloudy Nights the clone is the AT102ED which is very popular there.

I suppose it depends what you mean by “best”. A lot of people on cloudy nights too, use an f7 100ed refractor. It’s at the top of the weight range, slightly above but shorter than a longer focal ratio tube. As long as you upgrade the tripod it’s a very versatile rig, speaking from experience.

Same set up exactly as mine. Not my first refractor, that was a 120 f8.3 achro but I’ve been very pleased with this one and can’t fault it, particularly for the price. A very versatile scope.

I’ll tack on to here because I was about to ask this. I was looking about 11 last night with my f7 102ed and really couldn’t get very clear views of mars. I could see hints of detail in the centre but couldn’t discern any polar cap. Beyond about 100x it was starting to look bloated with no more detail. I don’t think collimation is the problem as stars are pinpoint and doubles split easily and clearly. Was I just looking too early in the evening?

I felt I should add, in case anyone else wants to try this, I’ve had absolutely no problem using rechargeable batteries!