baggywrinkle

Thanks for that guide...great information and great results too.

....My only excuse is that it appeared in an Aussie online news site today......

http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/space/meet-the-family-doctor-selling-land-claims-on-mars-to-prevent-the-militarisation-of-space/news-story/32677f2426b25e3fbc0e4e3d6640d855

http://mars.sale/

Not sure if this will fly.....

Its taken me a lot of time and trying to get there but I am happy with these two for the obsy and my Mak 127 and AA70ED for grab and go.

I have been playing around with an F5 200mm SW reflector but for some reason I do not get on with it too well. The EP/focuser is never in the right place when on an EQ mount. I have to keep rotating the barrel of the OTA so I can see and use a foot stool to get me to EP height at times.

9 hours ago, Telescope40 said:

Hi. Any full verdict on how the Altair 152 might stack up against  a C9.25 as mentioned. 

 

thanks.  John 

I have both the AA152 and the 9.25SCT, I also once had the Bresser 152 which I sold on to buy the AA152. I went for the AA152 as it was a faster scope and a shorter tube length. But it still kicks in at 11Kgs with nothing added. The 6'' objective is a massive bit of glass and it has to be sat well back on the saddle to balance.

It produces some lovely views and is sharp across 80-85% of the field.. The 10:1 focuser is a beaut and it does not run out when a DSLR is attached. I use it mainly for wide fields with both 2'' and 1.25'' ep's.

The whole of the focuser end can be rotated and only requires a small amount of refocus afterwards.

It is a lovely combination with many of my ep's and reasonably forgiving. I only notice a very small amount of CA with very bright larger objects.

My 9.25SCT is my workhorse as it is easy to mount and balance on the EQ6 I have installed in my obsy. I use it for Lunar and Planetary and with a 0.63 reducer for DSO. I did add a Featherlight 10:1 focuser to replace the stock one supplied and that has made a big difference.

I am really looking forward to the Autumn & Winter nights with these two.

Fingers & toes crossed for a clear night.

Mine is a 9x9.

Housing this...I also have an AA 152 ED to go on it. Finishing off the tiling.

I also went out and bought one of those kettle drum BBQ covers from B&Q as a dust cover. £5 works well! I also upgraded the mount to an EQ6 from and AVX. The AVX is a great mount but payload limited.

Very nice. I wished I had ordered mine with the offset rails towards the south, but that would have also allowed a street lamp (even though shielded) to intrude

On ‎03‎/‎08‎/‎2016 at 22:34, Neil27 said:

Thanks Gina, already on it and thanks for the advice.

Ordered mine of Amazon, make a huge difference when I drop and ep!

I order a ZWO colour camera off 365 Astro as their website showed they had one in stock. I was later informed that they had 3 orders for this at the same time and stock would be available by the 25th

I called today and was told to wait another week as they had a delivery but not of these cameras. I then checked the website and they still showed one as stock when I had just been told they had none.

This to me is misleading and very annoying. I would expect suppliers to keep their websites up to date especially if they know they have no stock.

I was offered a discount on a USB3 version but that is not what I wanted as I had a tight budget and the USB2 would work well enough for me.

Welcome to SGL, the 200P and EQ5 get good reviews on here.

My Mak sleeps in the conservatory....keeps pretty cool in there this time of year.

I have the SW Mak 127 on the goto mount. It is an excellent wee scope, good views and great for exactly what you are looking for.

Though the mount is a tad lightweight a mass placed in the EP tray make it more stable. It is easy to set up.

The only downside are the poor quality ep's and star diagonal. Below two images (not the highest quality) taken with the Mak 127...

Thats a nice review.

I had an 102 and was quite pleased with it. I did buy a fringe killer filter which helped on Lunar and planetary.

If you look at most Skywatcher reviews the 10mm stock EP always seems to be the one that gets criticised.

I mod'd the focuser on mine for a 10:1 type from Telescope Service in Germany. It worked well but I had to add an extra spacer as there was not quite enough backward focus with a DSLR.

A very valuable report.

Will be starting my pier excations when I get back from New Zealand.

What pier are you going to use?

Sorry I don't know the source of other chemical anchors but have you tried any 'Scre Fix' shops?

Welcome to SGL...

Not always satellites, often can be space junk....and there is lots of that.

When I was a youngster in the 60's it was a major event to see a satellite in transit....today....two a penny.

But the ISS is impressive.

Just bought an Altair Astro Starwave 70ED kit from Tring Astro...arrived promptly but minus the rdf..sorted within the day and that RDF arrived today.

Excellent serive from a great team...nice shop too if you are in the area.

Basically you are restricted to afocal photography, so s special bracket is needed. With afocal work you also tend to get more vignetting of the image.  It is OK for lunar and planetary but widefield needs a lot of cropping.

I must admit, I use the Baader more than theCcelestron becuase of the overall better field of view, 68 Deg at 8mm and 50 Deg at 24mm, plus the range of extras and adpaters is very very good.

I am going to buy some of the fixed shorter focal length ep's for planetary work.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/user/baader_hyperion_imaging.pdf Shows the ways the ep's can be used.

I have both the Celestron and Baader zoom. Both are good visually.

I have tested the Baader for afocal photography connected to my Canin 650D. At 24mm it is a bit soft from 50% out, at 8mm it is soft from about 70% out.

I must test the Celestron. I have two zooms as I was given the Celestron.

I have used a monopod and pistol grip (off Amazon) for my 15x70's. It works well, But to use it I sit back in a camping chair with the monopod braced into the ground between my legs. It is pretty steady. I also have a tripod but getting high angles is a problem.

Welcome to SGL..invest in a copy of Turn Left At Orion. This will give you a good idea of what targets DSO's, double stars, clusters etc are reachable with your 130SLT.

Nice work Nick.

If I think I might be off in the car early morning then I pack the car the night before. Around my way this is OK as it is pretty safe and my grab and go kit can be hidden in the boot.

Simpley excellent