djpaul

Hi At the moment I have 2 refractor telescopes. A skywatcher 120ed and William optics zenithstar 73. I'm now considering either a skywatcher 250 or 300 flextube dobsonian for deep sky observation. Points I'm interested in are Setup time ? Cooling time? Portability ( transportation in car) And overall quality of the scopes.? Regards Paul

My problem with wearing glasses is not getting much of the fov with my ethos and nagler eyepieces. So for that reason the dioptrx is perfect. However I can see the whole fov wearing glasses with my 32mm and 25mm televue plossls.

You managed to turn it to fit your astigmatism with no issues then. Well done.😁

Looking forward to your report.

I have a pair of Hawke Frontier 8x43 ed bins. They give a nice wide view of about 8.4 degrees. I would recommend them . I think I paid £230 for them. Very good build quality. But I do find the focuser is harder to adjust on very cold nights. Other than that I'm very happy with mine 😁

So sorry to hear about the problems you are having. It sort of puts you off . I had issues with the sky tee and wouldn't buy another one because of the issues I found with its build quality. I was considering the ioptron pro a few weeks back. But I'm holding back and also extremely interested in the Rowan Astronomy mount. BTW at the moment I'm using an EQ5 and have done a modification to use it as an alt az mount. I'm looking to purchase the Rowan Astronomy mount pending field reports from John and Stu.

Seeing Saturn for the first time was one. Finally finding Andromeda was another. Seeing Orion in all its splendor every winter on a crisp clear night.

I've been in this hobby 4 years now. Started with my 120ed but on a manual mount for the first 3 years. Recently bought a William optics zenithstar for a wider field of view and to use if im out camping. And bought my first goto this year . I prefer the use of a standard manual alt /az mount rather than goto.

Great to hear. Looking forward to your report

Binoculars are a great start in astronomy. I have a pair of 8x43 and 15x70 . As said a mono pod would help keep them steady. Or I find leaning against a solid object . Maybe the house or a shed depending where you are looking really helps keep the view steady . For a super wide view of whole constellations the vixen sg 2.1 bins are great.

So it cleared outside john. Really looking forward to the first night field test report. 😁😁😁

Hi John. Well your first impressions sound very promising. I must say it looks like a substantial mount, more than capable to handling anything put on it. Hopping you get clear skies very soon to give a detailed opinion on its capabilities. Paul

Its all part of Johns plan to keep us waiting lol

I prefer visual astronomy personally. I do take the odd single lunar shot but even then I like to get as good an image as I can without spending hours processing. With no image stacking. Saying that I enjoy looking at pictures others have taken. It's just my personal preference

I'm unwrapping the mount and other accessories now and will post some photos and initial reaction ASAP Im eagerly waiting for your initial thoughts John.😁

Update..... i have emailed Anthony at ADM and he has told me that it should have been glued into place with a special thread glue called ( Locktite Stud Lock ) at the saddle end. Which he says was probably not put on during assembly. He has offered to send me some glue so i can solve the issue. A great service

I recently purchased an ADM upgrade puck and saddle for my skywatcher AZ-GTI goto mount. Theres was one thing I noticed wrong straight away. When I unscrew the knob to open the saddle it was popping apart before opening enough to attach my vixen plate. Then I realised the reason was the threaded part was unscrewing from the actual plate ( not from the knob itself.) So I had to removed the threaded part from the knob and manually screw it into the plate as hard as I could . Then reattach the top part of the plate and screw on the knob. It now seems to work okay. But I did noticed the thread doesn't screw very far into the plate. Is that normal.? Would it possibly be a good idea for me to maybe add some strong glue to the thread when I screw it into the saddle? That would at least mean when I loosen the knob I know it's coming apart at the correct place. Paul

If I go it will be Saturday...... it will be my first ....

New adm saddle upgrade for my AZ=GTI mount.

Including myself. 😁

Yes i forgot they made the same tripod with a different fitting. I already had the tripod for my eq5 mount so just needed the adaptor Paul

I also bought my William Optics Zenithstar 73 purely for visual. I use it with a Skywatcher AZ-GTI goto mount set on a Skywatcher eq5 tripod. You will need an adaptor to connect the mount to the tripod. Works perfectly and is very sturdy I will add a picture below Paul

On another note. If you are considering contact lenses beware of the dangers. Speak to your optician about the complications of them. Contacts almost cost me my eyesight a few years ago.

I use a televue dioptrx 1.25 on my eyepieces that have an exit pupil of 1.7mm and higher. Namely my 17mm ethos and 26mm nagler. I did borrow a 1.50 dioptrx off Kerry from this site ( which reminds me I still need to give it back ) I went to my optician and was told I needed 1.25. I bought one and was so impressed I bought another so I don't have to swap them from eyepiece to eyepiece. You have to find the sweet spot when using a dioptrx .but it just takes some getting used to. I also have a televue 32mm plossl but I use it with glasses on as the eye relief is big enough to get the whole fov in.