AdeKing

I decided not to go that route in the end but I thought they were about £7 each from Jewsons or similar.

Hmmm, probably my 18mm BCO and a 2x or 2.25x Barlow. Not the widest afov, but great for lunar and planets and easy doubles. If the OTA is on a tracking mount Afov is less important. The Baader Mk IV is second place and Morpheus 14mm third.

Hmmm, of the ones I have, it would have to be the midnight blue Celestron XLT102 ED due to being relatively compact and lightweight but big enough to show most of what I'm interested in. If we're talking theoretical, the scope on the bucket list is simply a Tak FC100 with some combination of letters after it as they are so highly regarded and seem to be good all rounders.

Absolutely, marvellous.

I've been contemplating a Todmorden Pier for a while and got the green light from Mrs AdeKing..... But the only place that got approval was the NW corner of the garden. I set up to observe Jupiter from there the other night and its an awful position as the view approaching the meridian is over the Summerhouse which gives off heat like there is no tomorrow, My thought was that I'd observe more because the mount would be permanently set up, but the reality is that the seeing is so bad as to make it a non-starter. But in the words of Baldrick "I have a cunning plan" in that we're extending the patio in front of the Summerhouse so the patio slabs may develop mysterious dents that coincide with the tripod feet and align the North leg north, who'd have thought the slabs would be delivered like that 😉

Thanks Stu, alas no viewing for me tonight as I have to be in London near the Flood Barrier and north of the river by about 08:00. Off to bed for me so I can make a an early start.

Hi Martin, FLO do sell them, I've just found one here, but only for EQ3 & EQ5 mounts apparently: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-mount-accessories/polar-illuminator-for-eq3-2eq5-mounts.html Luted under "Polar Illuminator" rather than "Polarscope Illuminator."

What about something like this. https://www.stellarvue.com/stellarvue-9x50-top-rated-ra-correct-image-finder-scope-matte-black-f050m2/ Or https://www.stellarvue.com/stellarvue-10x60-correct-image-ra-finderscope-matte-black-f060m2/ I have the 50mm version and it reaches focus with most of my eyepieces though there is some vignetting with the wider Afov eyepieces such as my 14mm Morpheus. It's pretty well corrected for about 80% of the field but suffers in the outer 20%. I purchased mine for a similar reason but haven't yet had chance put use it in anger. I got a cheap 50mm finder guider mount with a 1/4" thread on the base which seems to do the job well enough. https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F323724008861

Hi Tony, Welcome to SGL from Poole. You've got a great scope there that'll give you some excellent views. Hopefully we might see you at one of our observing sessions. Enjoy the views, Ade

Thanks Mark, I'm just setting up the 102 f/11 in anticipation as it's as clear as a bell here........ At the moment anyway.

Me too Stu, much as I wanted too it was either too late to finish or too early to start, we're leaving at 6am as it is. The need for sleep won this time. Glad to see that others got some luck though. Ade

I don't recall having any issues when swapping between the mounts. I've flashed the handset with the latest firmware and it just asks if the mount (AZ Gti) is in Alt AZ or EQ mode then onto the normal setup. There are extra alignment options in the menu of the handset such as doing a 1 star align on the Sun which I think disappear when it's plugged into the EQ5, but I'd have to check. If I get chance I'll try it for you at the weekend. Always good to be cautious.

Thanks Glen, it's amazing what a bit of fettling and a lot of patience can achieve. Patience is something I don't have much of but given this result I clearly need to have more of it and more often. 😊

I tried emailing them on an address that FLO supplied me with but have had radio silence. I'll try the email address I used when I contacted them about the bearings I managed to crack. The views are very good and now that the EQ5 is on my Uni 18 the scope is nice and stable.

Sticky number plate strips from Halfords worked well enough on mine. Though I have to confess that I don't know how easily they can be removed as I haven't tried.

I can confirm that the v3 handset also works, though at Stu says both handsets need the SynScan AZ cable and not the normal cable shipped with EQ mounts. The cheaper Skywatcher cable works as well but isn't as nice as the one linked to by Stu. I have used an ED100 on mine but it needed mounting on an HEQ5 tripod and pier extension which somewhat defeated the point of the mount. It is now restricted to a WO ZS66SD a humble ST102 or Lunt LS60DS. Ade

Thanks Glen, I stripped the focuser right down at the weekend, added a bit more silicone grease to the bearings and reassembled. After much gentle tweaking of the grub screws on the focuser body where the spindle emerges from the focuser body I eventually managed to find a setting which holds everything in place and significantly reduced the tight spot on the focuser motion. It's now much nicer to use, but I'm yet to use it in anger. Thanks for the heads up about the bearing and Teflon pad. Both appear to be in excellent condition on mine with no signs of cracks in the bearing housing and the Teflon pad was exactly where it should be. Much happier now though still trying to identify the correct Moonlite flange. Ade

I managed to get a quick view as I left our astro group meeting but had to wait some time for the moon to rise into the gap between the houses to the SE at home. The colour was stunning, even my wife was impressed and commented that it was unusual for the moon to see the moon with a bite taken out of the top. I got some good views through the ZS66 and waited until last contact before heading inside. Thankfully I'm working from home today so the late finish wasn't too bad.

I mostly prefer the handset when using the EQ5 or AZGTi as I prefer to use the tactile buttons on the handset. Like Steve, I also like doubles and am fortunate in the fact that the Synscan handset contains the SAO catalogue, though with a few little quirks. However, when I'm using the Sissy Haas double star book, she uses several different catalogues so I tend to connect a SkyFi unit to the Handset and then use Sky Safari on an old iPhone to find stuff from the other catalogues. Whilst this is not as tidy as the Synscan WiFi module (as the SkyFi is quite large and needs the Skywatcher Serial Cable plugging in to the handset, this method has the advantage that it lets me use either the handset or the phone without having to power down, disconnect and re-align, etc. I saw a post on here (that I can't find now) that recommended using the sticky feet that you find on the bottom of glass drinks coasters and the like to act as markers for the direction buttons on the phone screen to allow you to control direction by touch alone. I believe that @Ross gould is or at least was using this method and found that it made a world of difference. Ade

Very nice tripod, mount and Tak. I agree that the tripod is not nearly steady enough for a telescope and mount, but it works fine with my iOptron SkyGuider and DSLR on it. I actually find the pier extension fine fitted to a heavy duty camera tripod (Manfrotto 057B) with the AZ GTi or SolarQuest mount on it.

Looking good Ross, really glad that you're pleased with it. Ade

I've got an old TAL wooden tripod stored at my folks place. Maybe I'll dig it out to replace the other steel tripod. Not as nicely finished as the Uni18 though.

I had the f/11 EQ5 combo out last night on the Uni 18 and all I can say is Wow. What a difference the Berlebach made, vibrations settled almost instantly after focusing and didn't seem to be anywhere near as large in amplitude if that makes sense. It was like having the scope mounted on a beefier mount. Thanks for the tip @John. Will definitely be using this combo more often.

Problem is that I like the convenience of goto and tracking when I'm sketching which those lively Alt AZ mounts don't give me. Currently saving hard for an iOptron AZ Pro but am not sure it'll cope the the length of the f/11 tube either.