Tyson M

nice processing!

You did a really great job with the wrapping too. This will be a huge boon to your observing now. Congrats.

Beautiful scope!

I am looking forward to your ongoing thoughts with this scope. If I move up in aperture this is my next scope I will buy.

Been enjoying this beauty recently!

Which model AP130EDT is that? The first run or the second run? Primarily, is the focal length f8.35 or F8 on the lens cell?

Here is my latest acquisition. A Celestron Starhopper 12. Mirror was recoated by Normand Fullum not too long ago. It is a very sharp mirror. Major issue was the azimuth control. The roller bearing on the sheet metal offered little to no friction which made controlling the dob hard, and very noisy. I did away with the sheet metal and used 2 pieces are hard cardboard from a box that a vacuum came in. Much better and super smooth. The stock focuser was fine, but I put on a moonlite on it.

You will get outstanding images using FC and lucky imaging with this scope.

I am not an imager, visual only. I prefer to not bring out my computer at all costs. I don't think I have a problem with power but I can easily test that with a multimeter.

Wise choice! My friend absolutely loves his.

^ my observing buddy said the same thing for his EQ8. He does long exposure imaging and ended up selling it for a 10 micron

Hmmmm it seems platesolving is the way to go. I carry out a deep cycle battery which can power the mount and computer so perhaps I should look into this. I will buy a 12.5mm reticle eyepiece to align perfectly. I will end my movements in up and right directions only. If this doesnt work, I will try to learn platesolving. Problem is , in the extremely cold winter, my laptop will not work- battery drains in like 5 mins. I am hoping the first two steps will be sufficient. I also downloaded a new app, polar alignment. This app shows a different hour angle for polaris than the SynscanInit 2.1 app...........unreal! Perhaps this was my issue as well.....

My mount is perfectly level, but no, I wasnt ending my movements to the alignment star in up and right directions

New video on the EQ8-R! Looks like a great mount.

Wow that's crazy expensive.... and I guess the trade option wont work. Thanks for the link. Looks like I am priced out of this market on this one as I am not prepared to go down that low. It appears I can only buy things from people in the UK, as customs, VAT, and excise duty adds too much to the price for trying to sell. Sorry all. Regards