RT65CB-SWL

+1… my ETX105 survived a fall of 30-36” inches. The only thing that was damaged was two of the three mounting points and a crack of the ABS plastic housing on the rear end at the rear port which became next to useless with any ETX to SCT adapter and accessories attached. It now looks like this… And the thing that saved the rest of the the OTA from any serious damage was that it fell on 2” of grass/lawn.

Not sure! The OTA does look the same size to mine. I think @Ags has this setup. If she has, then I am sure she will add a comment.

Hi @ThomasMark90 and welcome to SGL. Sorry on the of your loss of your grand-father. As other SGL’ers have said, it is an C6/SCT with XLT coatings. I have one myself. [images below]. A few things to invest in to get it up and running… a sturdy mount [either alt-az or EQ] and tripod/pillar. 1.25” or 2” 90deg. star diagonal. Personally I would choose a 2” one with an SCT fitting... my one is attached to the ETX105... downside is they do make the OTA rear-end heavy. a low, medium, high power eyepiece… around 28-32mm for the low power. or a low power eyepiece and Zoom eyepiece. Here I would choose the Baader Planetarium 8-24mm, as it can be used as either 1.25” or 2” if you do not fancy swapping fixed length eyepieces. a dew shield… this is a must have. Any catadioptric telescope is a dew-magnet. should you wish to attach a camera, then a f:6.3 field flattener/focal reducer [aka FF/FR]. a full aperture solar filter for solar viewing… these can be ready made or DIY with solar safety film, stout cardboard and self-adhesive tape. an optional accessory would be a ’crayford’ focuser, as shown attached on my C6… again the only downside is they do make the OTA rear-end heavy. get one or two short 1/4”-20 machine screws, (I think mine are 16mm long), and screw them to the ends of the dovetail bar… should the OTA slip, it will stop OTA crashing to the ground. Once you have a mount, tripod and dew shield and is outside ready to start viewing, allow it to to acclimatise to the outside temperature. I give mine 30-60 minutes. I notice in your image that it has been fitted with a set of ‘Bob’s Knobs’… these will make collimating the ‘scope easy now or later.

+1 above. 58deg with my Radian’s is 'nice'... 82deg with my Nagler's is 'awesome'... 50deg with the 3-6mm zoom is 'wow!'

Hi @Herb H and welcome to SGL. Sorry to read about your C70 Mini Mak. The C70 Mini-Mak [I would think] is targeted at bird watchers, wildlife and other outdoor/terrestrial/maritime pursuits. Not sure whether they can be collimated. If it is really bad, then I would be inclined to contact Amazon and Celestron for assistance.

I used to have the same setup [minus the extender] 😜… then later part-exchanged the tripod for the Manfrotto PROB and a pistol/trigger grip 😉 for my 7x50’s & 20x80’s and Nikon DSLR’s 📷

Hi again @danny linguini. Below is a list of what is use on a smartphone and/or tablet... SkySafari* .….…… iOS and Android OS SkEye ……………… Android OS Star Atlas ………… iOS Star Charts ……… iOS and .PDF format... Discovering Doubles All-Sky edition** Discovering Double Stars ll** Discovering Deep Sky Objects** * the iOS version includes ‘augmented reality‘ [AR] ** written by SGL’er @Ags and available via... https://discovering-astronomy.eu

PING… oop’s advert alert! 🤑💰💵

Hi @Kobayashi Maru and welcome to SGL. Another +1 for the 80ED. Think of a ‘scope as a bucket. The bigger the bucket the more it will contain... and in ‘scope terms that means more photons.

Hi @danny linguini and welcome to SGL. I have three ‘scopes in total... four if you include a WW1 sighting telescope. All three are mounted on a variety of manual alt-az mounts [the mount shown below is a Tele-Optic Giro]… ...and the WW1 sighting telescope…

If I get the the correct answer, do I get to keep it? 🤣 I am being serious now... Looking at the second image, I think it is a diffraction grating that fits over the eyepiece? 🤔... I have seen the item somewhere, but cannot remember when and/or where and that is so damn frustrating! 😬

Hi @ankwste and welcome to SGL. Wow! Those images are awesome.

I would! ...I would not! ... See what Jeff Bezos and/or his company have to say! - I had purchased the adapter (as shown in in my earlier reply) as a package of two or two [one of each type which was ordered] last year from Amazon and it took the best part of half-an-hour on the phone to get though to a human-being, after pressing ‘1 for Yes’... ‘2 for No’... etc., return and refund, etc. I found a pack of five on AliExpress and ordered them... and were cheaper... including P&P from China 🇨🇳 - they were delivered a lot faster too!

I will have ago at answering. Although I own and use a C6, one of my other ‘scopes is the ETX105. Both are about the same focal length. C6 = 1500mm @f:10 / ETX105 = 1470mm @f:14 above: my C6 and ETX105 I found that planet discs are slightly bigger and I can see a few more of Saturn’s moons with the C6 then with the ETX105. If you decide you want to go down the planetary-imaging rabbit-hole, then I think the C6 would be the better option, (not with a f:6.3 FF/FR* and you will need a Barlow lens or PowerMate for capturing planets). As far as I am aware, a dedicated/commercial FF/FR* for Maksutov telescopes does not exist. (edited: Mon17Oct2022). For ease of transport then the ETX105 is a winner IMHO. It can be packed in a padded backpack/rucksack, along with a few e/p’s and accessories. Also, it is airline friendly, (depending on the airline carry-on baggage policy). The C6 is bulky and when packed/stored in a storage case or padded bag. It can take up of a lot space. Dedicated cases cost almost the same price as the OTA. By the time you have included a mount and tripod you have got quite a load to haul from A to Z. above: my ETX105 in ‘grab & go’ mode. BTW... @Hadi Jafar welcome to SGL. * FF/FR = field flattener/focal reducer.

Was the trigger/pistol grip part of a bundle ? - you may be able to keep it and still use it with a monopod and all you would need is some of these... Other types and designs are also available in single or multiple quantity.

I have and use a TeleVue 8mm Plossl & Radian with my ETX105. Of the two, I prefer the view with Radian than the Plossl. I think the BST’s are 60deg. FOV, where as the Radian’s are 58deg. One thing you may find... is a ‘black-spot’. It happens to me when I place my 6mm Radian into the ETX. I only notice it if the eye is not centred over the e/p. BTW - I answered this as the Radian is the closest e/p in my collection to the BST.

I have a series 4000 / 8.8mm UWA ‘smoothie’ and it is damn good!

Hi @Llew & family and welcome to SGL. Good advice by fellow SGL’ers. For more info on the ‘scopes mentioned, then this is a good read... https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes.html if you have not already.

Such an amazing sight when you view one of the Jovian moons going behind or in front of Jupiter’s disc at the eyepiece. Many years ago all four were eclipsed, then one by one they started to reappear. It was surreal moment of viewing for a few minutes, only Jupiter’s vast disc beforehand and nothing either side, apart from a few faint stars.

Hi @Astro_hobbie and welcome to SGL. What you said is so true. Every type of solar filter needs to double and triple checked before each and every use. If in doubt, don’t use it... bin it!

Hi @silkels and welcome to SGL. As per @Steve Ward says, check the locking screw or screws under the focuser, assuming it is a ‘crayford’. There are usually two. Some are grub screws, some are thumbscrews or maybe one of each. I have attached this guide... Adjusting the Skywatcher Focuser.pdf Below is an image of my ‘crayford’ focuser and its 1.25” adaptor [shown on right] that I use with my C6/SCT or ‘re-modded’ ETX105. As you can see, mine has two thumbscrews.

The ETX drives are notoriously poor. Luckily when I ‘won’ mine, (also from eBay and the 105), it was just the OTA. The OTA can be removed from the forks, but it does take time and patience. Then if you wish, you can attach a dovetail bar underneath the ABS plastic. If you do, don’t over tighten, otherwise the threaded retaining fixings will become loose. It happened to me! Then accident. A cheap dovetail [a short white-metal alloy] snapped when I was attaching it to the saddle of a mount and it fell on a grass lawn. The only damage was two of the three mounting points snapped and a long crack on the plastic. Collimation was unaffected. Below are are few images of my ‘re-modded’ ETX105... and the ETX to SCT adaptor and SCT 1.25” visual back... At the time of posting, the dovetail bar is secured to the OTA by a pair of ‘padded’ Jubilee/hose rings as shown below. I am planning on removing them and replacing with a pair of rubber lined Munsen/pipe rings. BTW - this is my ‘grab & go’ setup. It is normally mounted on my TeleOptic Giro or AOK-AYO mount. For all things ETX related, then I recommend this site... http://www.weasner.com/etx/menu.html PS... apologies in advance if you have seen my images elsewhere on SGL.

I forgot to mention that I use either my TeleVue Ranger and/or ‘re-modded’ ETX105 or Celestron C6/SCT and TeleVue Plossl’s, Radian’s or the 3-6mm zoom.

I find the neodymium filter gives a subtle pale to light blue tint when viewing Jupiter. Do you ?

Hi @Ovenpaa and welcome to SGL.