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. 

On 31/03/2021 at 14:15, PeterW said:

Found  usb to 12v jobbie and run the mount on a 2.4A output from a USB phone backup battery. 

PEter

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.

5 hours ago, Gmx76 said:

The Acent Starwave 102 also looks good for it. Going to be while off yet for me to upgrade scope but this also looks to be good and more compatible with my 290C camera. 

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. 

On 16/08/2020 at 08:06, -philip- said:

My first refractor, a bit scared of it at the moment! Altair Ascent 102ED F7, using it on the AZ-GTi for observing (not AP). 

 

 

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?

On 04/08/2020 at 13:53, banjaxed said:

You might be adding to your problem by using rechargeable batteries as they are only 1.2volts instead of 1.5 volts. If I remember rightly the voltage is critical on that mount.

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

No problem at all with the focuser on mine and it holds 2” diagonal and eyepiece or camera with no hint of slippage. 

I can’t work out how to post a link here but if you look at my activity I posted a review recently. I’ve been very pleased with it although I only had a 120 achro to compare it with.  The build quality is excellent and I love the views. It’s a good compromise for widefield with a 2” 40mm eyepiece up to planets and tight double stars with a Barlow and zoom. I think the very popular Sky-Watcher 100ed might be better at some things (and a little more expensive) but the Ascent is a very versatile scope. There is a long thread on the AT 102ed on Cloudy Nights. The company which sponsors the forum buys in and badges up what is believed to be the same scope and its owners seem very enthusiastic about it.

Yes I’ve found it does work too now. In fact if you connect with Sky Safari first it will then open the synscan app. You can use either app to align with. 

I managed to get 8 rechargeable aa batteries and a charger that will take them all for about £20 from amazon. 

I’ll say +1 for a manfrotto carbon fibre. It’s what I’ve used with mine. 

The auxiliary encoder is only needed if you are going to, for instance after using a goto, manually push it to your next target and the mount will remember it’s alignment. You don’t need it and it actually reduces accuracy if you only use the motors. But whatever alignment you use the mount “expects” to start off level and pointing north. Any of the two star alignments work well for me and then it’s accurate enough to place the target near the centre of a low power eyepiece.

Yes you could do a one star alignment, there’s plenty to choose from and then each time you go to an object the mount prompts you to finally centre the star (or whatever) and then your alignment becomes more accurate. If you can, start the mount from level and pointing north, that helps. 

I’ve used both of these and the SynScan mount us relatively flimsy compared with the az Gti. When you are moving to an object or centring using the controls it isn’t as precise. 
 

while not perfect the az Gti is more solid, you can disengage the clutches and manually move it and you can upgrade the  tripod to increase its stability. 

Some spotting scopes like the Celestron regal take 1.25 Astro eyepieces so I’m sure you could attach a camera. 

A decent Ed spotting scope would of course be waterproof if that matters.