RT65CB-SWL

I use Kenable or Lindy for my audio/video cables... or via EXpro if buying from well known auction/warehouse sites.

A UHC and/or OIII filter certainly make the fine details of nebulae and DSO's 'jump out'. For planetary views, I use a Neodymium or a variable polarising filter.

Had a nice 'white light' visual session of forty minutes when I got home from work this afternoon and showed my neighbour that lives below me.

Hi @Giles_B and welcome to SGL. I find that using a UHC and/or OIII do improve viewing for DSO's. That said, I also use a Neodymium, (my 'Swiss-Army' knife filter), is my most used filter and I live in Bortle 6 skies.

I never get fed up using my 20+ year-old TeleVue Ranger. Small, compact, light, aircraft carry-on friendly and with the bonus of mounting on a camera/photo tripod with a lightweight alt/az head.

I don't think I have enough experience, but I will reply/contribute lanyway... Many SGL'ers are TeleVue fans, myself included... as per the two Nagler's in my signature [image below], I have a few others which are listed below... Nagler 3-6mm zoom Radain 6mm Plossl 15, 13 & 8mm My 'one-to-many' TeleVue 13mm e/p's... left: 13mm 'smoothside' Plossl centre: 13mm Nagler Type 1 right: 13mm Nagler Type 6 I have not used or owned any Explore Scientic e/p's... so no comment... ...but I do like their boxes. I prefer to use a variable polarising filter. I tend to prefer the Exploure Scientic UHC over their CLS and their OIII is good for visual in my opinion if you are on a budget. Another contender is the Baader Plantetarium Neodymium. This is my 'Swiss-Army' knife filter for most of the time.

Fantastic image @HoneyBadger-231 I have difficulty holding my phone over the e/p for three seconds [and I am not physically impaired]... but for thirty seconds... wow!

Hi @900SL and welcome to SGL.

Hi @PigzMightFly and welcome to SGL. Don't forget to purchase a dew shield... They are a must have accessory for any catadioptric 'scope. BTW - the image is my 're-modded' ETX105 [with dew shield].

Hi @HoneyBadger-231 and welcome to SGL. You are not alone, as I too have and use a 7-21mm zoom e/p. Many tend to opt for an 8-24mm zoom e/p... especially the Baader Hyperion III or IV... https://www.firstlightoptics.com/baader-planetarium/baader-hyperion-zoom-eyepiece.html For high power views, I use the TeleVue 3-6mm Nagler zoom.

I know many do complain and moan about the undercut on e/p's. But it is not only TeleVue that have them... I have them on my Circle-T 12.5 & 6mm Ortho's too. There is no escape from them. Same here too!

Hi @Theoldseadog78 and welcome to SGL.

I know they exist and I was trying to add a little humour... but at £1500GBP and limited to 300 pieces worldwide... they may as well be 'mythical'.

Maybe 'T7' was the top secret pre-production codename for this... ...the 'mythical' Apollo 11.

Hi @BobInYorkshire and welcome to SGL. I may not be the best qualified to give the best advice, but depends on what you wish to observe. For DSO’s then wide field. I have two TeleVue Nagler’s [as per my signature] images below. They give 82deg. AFOV. They are expensive, but the views are worth it. I find this SkyWatcher 28mm is good value… and is actually quite good compared to some budget e/p’s that are supplied with some ‘scopes. I used to be anti-zoom e/p. I own a 7-21mm which was sent in error from an overseas astro-outlet. It was to much hassle to send it back for a replacement 8-24mm… so I decided to keep it. It does me for those ‘grab & go’ sessions or when I travel with a few fixed length e/p’s and minimum weight in a backpack/rucksack and with a small Maksutov, a photography tripod & ball head and/or small manual alt-az mount.

I remember several years ago, [upon hearing an article on my local radio station], viewing Jupiter, the four Galilean moons were eclipsed. Then one by one they started to emerge. One of the highlights of my observing I will never forget... [apart from the date].

Having read some 'negative' reviews on other astronomy forums about some of the castings being too rustic and threads being stripped by over enthusiastic tightening by the end user, these are what I use... an AOKswiss AYO ll [left] and a Tele-Optic Giro GR-DX ll [right].

Hi @zcjp and welcome to SGL. I agree with all the above comments by fellow SGL'ers... If you enjoy other outdoor pursuits then go with the Mak., as the image will appear right way up... though left/right will be reversed when a 90deg. star diagonal is used in the optical path/train. Some of them will even attach to a camera/video tripod. Below is an image of my 're-modded' ETX105 on a Manfrotto tripod and small manual alt-az mount. As previously mentioned, a dew shield is a must have accessory for many catadioptric 'scopes.

Yes - I should have explained that one!

Hi @Lazolaz and welcome to SGL. Many EQ mounts will only turn so far and have limited movement before they fully lock. Have you 'unlocked' the shorter one? (i.e. the short bolt one that is on the right of the flexi-DEC shaft).

Hi @CKP_82 and @SlimLine… welcome to SGL.

Hi @Steve Reed. I think the Supatrak will be at its maximum payload with the 127. BTW… have you got a dew shield? - being a catadioptric ‘scope, they are notorious dew magnets. Below is my ETX105 on small manual alt-az mount on a photography tripod… and a bit of overkill with one of these… is added to the photography tripod.

Agreed... I too am lo-tech. A few manual/un-driven alt-az mounts, a few 'scopes and e/p's and I enjoy doing it. It gives you the freedom from the IT highway. At the present time, I cannot bother about the hassle of polar-alignment and getting pin sharp images, etc. If I see something interesting I may attach a camera, (2x DSLR's, 2x digital compact, 1x smartphone), and press the shutter release. Then I sort the 'wheat from the chaff'... If I get a nice image, it's a bonus and a keeper. If not it ends up within the computer recycle bin/trash until I click/press the delete button/key.

Hi @centroid / Dave and welcome from me too!

That is a nice looking 'scope. The red highlights look stunning too!