Roysten

Hi @Portech7, thanks for the response, it's good to know that the protrusion is there and that you've had a good experience with it!

Hi Everyone, I have a question relating to the Sky-Watcher steel tripod linked by Portech7 at the top of this thread. The original aluminium tripod of the EQ3 has a metal protrusion at the top of the tripod that the mount slots into, which provides azimuth left-right movement with the two knobs either side of the EQ3 mount. Looking at the pictures of the steel tripod I can't see the same type of protrusion, is this the case and if so does that mean that this tripod is not compatible with that left-right motion? Is another items needed for this? I hope this makes sense, I can provide annotated pics if needed to better explain what I mean. Thanks

Am enjoying following this thread, some great pics being posted! Got some new kit and got out for the first time in weeks last night. A single sub of everyone's favourite - Orion at 15 seconds with contrast as only post-processing. Rough and ready but a nice demo of what the kit can do. +1 for the EQ3 mount for DSOs

Hi guys, it looks like it's going to be a clear night for awhile tonight so hoping to get out and try the polar alignment tool! I know the best solution will be a guide scope or 0.5 reducer but for tonight do people thing that a FOV of 0.69 (0.85 diagonal ) will be ok for the alignment?

Ah I see, thanks for the correction.

Great thread! Is good to hear people's experiences as they get the new eps. I had noticed with the standard eps that came with my scope that refocussing was required everytime I make a change. I just assumed that this was normal but it sounds like how much you have to do this is a useful little metric for determining the quality of an ep? I have a 10 and 25mm that came with my SW 150P and a 4mm that came with my Celestron Travel 70. The quality difference between them is quite obvious and I know thanks to Warthog's ep post that 4mm+2x Barlow is a bit much for my scope. Thanks to this thread though I'm thinking that a 8mm BST Explorer plus my Barlow may help get some good viewing.

A great thread! Some great advice that it looks like has helped hundreds of people since started back in 2009! Thankyou Warthog, I hope your health continues to improve improves. I've read several pages of this but nowhere near all so I'll apologise now if this has been asked and answered before. I've got a SW Explorer with it's standard 10 and 25mm EP plus 2x Barlow. I'm thinking of getting a new eyepiece in the coming months in the 7-8mm range based on the advice of the first page. I've read that upgrading the scope is often a better options than spending >£100 on a new eyepiece And also that a plossl is a good bet for a beginners reflector like mine. Therefore what is an appropriate type, reasonable price and make for a 7-8mm eyepiece for that quality of scope? Thanks.