RT65CB-SWL

@quaoar - question: do you plan on processing them with PIPP, Registax, Deep Sky Stacker, etc? I enjoyed both of them by the way!

+1 ...as above. Maybe a 'rocket' blower may dislodge it and a lens brush. I would not use or trust an aerosol can of compressed air on it as the propellant does/may leave some residue. BTW - nice image!

You think that is a daft size... the 'original' Meade ETX90 / 105 / 125 port is smaller at 34.5mm. My 're-modded' ETX105 'before' and 'after' I added the Baader Planetarium/ETX to SCT adaptor ring.

@vlaiv ...according to the FLO page, https://www.firstlightoptics.com/maksutov/skywatcher-skymax-102-ota.html and lower down, go to 'Related Products'; it says it is compatible.

One of @David Hardie's Celestron T-adaptors. Also collected an SCT off-axis guider, from @astronomer2002 earlier this week. Thank you gentlemen.

Ok @Anthonyexmouth, next sunny day, we're all coming down with our floral garlands, Hawaiian shirts, etc and ukuleles. Can you supply the Mai Tai's?

Same here! ...and I got Radian 6mm within the first six months of release.

I have the 8mm & 15mm, (plus a 13mm smoothside - no longer available). Eye-relief is tight, more so with the 8mm as @alan potts says. Optically and overall it is a good e/p, but the eye-relief lets it down.

Hi @Ags. Below is an single frame image of Mars I took during the opposition in April 2014... ...taken with an Olympus Camedia C2040, handheld over a TeleVue 6mm Radian + neodymium filter and Celestron C6/SCT from a hotel garden near LHR. Depending on how good your eyes are, or monitor is, there is a teeny-weeny bit of visible surface detail, as Mars was a having a dust storm at the time. Please feel free to save and play about with the image to enhance it.

Anything that has T e l e V u e on it! Seriously, what is your budget? I have the TeleVue 6mm Radian and 3-6mm Nagler Zoom, (images below). TeleVue stopped making the Radian's a few years back, but they do show up secondhand from time to time. The nearest equivalents to the Radian at the time of writing if you are addicted by the 'Green & Black pill' is the DeLite 7mm or 5mm. TeleVue do 6mm in other eyepiece designs too. left... 6mm Radian. centre... 3-6mm zoom @3mm. right... 3-6mm zoom @6mm. The AFOV for the e/p's mentioned is: Radian 60deg - Nagler zoom 50deg - DeLite 62deg. Other brands and designs are also available.

Hi Martyn and welcome to SGL. You could get a red cycle light to preserve your night vision, when looking at a star atlas/chart. Even the 'cheapies' from Poundland, .99p Store, etc., will do.

Below is an single frame image of Mars I took during the opposition in April 2014... ...taken with an Olympus Camedia C2040, handheld over a TeleVue 6mm Radian + neodymium filter and Celestron C6/SCT from a hotel garden near LHR. The diameter of Mars with the Nagler 3-6mm zoom was almost the same, except the AFOV was a bit narrower, and at 3mm not much improvement of visible features, as Mars was having dust storm at the time.

Hi @JulietPapa and welcome to SGL.

I was just typing this, when @John beat me to the finishing post, and mention the TeleVue Ranger. The image above showing my TeleVue Ranger, equipped with a Lunt solar wedge for white-light viewing of the Sun.

Hi Cary and welcome to SGL.

Hi @Corne de Klerk and welcome to SGL. Just remember that the higher the magnification of the eyepiece, (i.e. lower number), or different eyepiece design used, the faster the object will travel across the field of view, e.g. using a Plossl (50deg} & Nagler (82deg), of the same focal length. Below is an image of my TeleVue 13mm's... left... Plossl - 50deg centre... Nagler/Type 1 - 82deg right... Nagler/Type 6 - 82deg ...shows how much the Nagler design has changed/evolved over the years.

UKAB&S... same as the one I was referring too.

For attaching a dovetail bar, I am sure it is possible. It may or not need any packing for a snug fit. I replied to similar answer a few months ago and was told that there were some blanking plugs somewhere on the OTA, though I cannot remember whether it was a Meade or Celestron SCT. You could ask https://sctelescopes.com/ and get an estimate if it involves a bit drilling etc., and get it serviced whilst you are at it. A bit of a 'tough one', but I am sure someone would buy the LX90/LX200 fork mount. I would place an advert in the For Sale section or UKAB&S and take it from there.

Hi @Cliff Guy and welcome to SGL. I will do my best, so hear goes... If it has a red dot finder [RDF] or finderscope, either needs to be aligned with the main tube [OTA] i.e. find a target a long way away, (about 1mile/1.5kms), during the daytime hours. Something like a TV mast, wind turbine, electricty pylon, telephone pole, etc., with the main tube centre it in the lowest power eyepiece [e/p] to begin with, then insert a higher power until that appears centre too, and you are happy that everything is centred --> then centre the RDF or finderscope with what you have in e/p and tighten up any adjustment screws. If you only have a finderscope, don't worry if the views are updside down. This is perfectly normal for astronomical telescopes. Once setup and ready to observe and has been brought outside from a warm enviroment, allow the OTA to acclimatise to the surrounding air. This can take thirty minutes or longer. Remember to remove the end cap and dust plug at the visual back end, i.e. where the e/p goes - useful tip #1: if possible point this end up as it will help cool the OTA - remember heat rises. If you have a dewshield this can be put on whilst waiting for the OTA to cool down If you have 'goto', this needs to be setup to your nearest town or city. Set the date I think is in the MM.DD.YYYY format, (not to au-fait with it, as I do not have this facility). When done set the time, then you can proceed to do a two or three star alignment. Again, whilst waiting for the OTA to cool, find some stars make suitable two/three star targets. Focussing does take a few turns of the focus wheel/knob to acheive focus. Depending where you store can be also important. If inside the home, you may need to reassemble again, (I know, damn annoying), remember to leave everything out to dry naturally and end caps etc removed and not near sources of heat, also the front end pointing down. That way, any condensation on corrector plate cannot seep inside the tube. useful tip #2: rotate the focusser wheel/knob to move the primary mirror up/down the baffle tube all the way to evenly distribute the grease/lubricant a few times before first use. useful tip #3: keep the OTA face up during hot weather when not in use. That way, any grease/lubricant on the baffle tube drips that would otherwise fall onto the corrector plate or secondary mirror can be avoided. Hope this makes some kind of sense. Image below of two of three 'scopes I use. Clear skies, Philip.

Good point! Since my local authority has retro-fitted or erected new streetlights in my area to LED ones over the last two years, I do find they are brighter, (though above them is darker). I did make a [non-astro] complaint to the lighting officer to say I was getting overspill and was told after 00:30am they will be 40% dimmer until about 05:00am.

Montes Apennius is one of my favourite lunar sites. Below is a single image, I took several years ago using my Meade ETX105, (before the 're-mod') using the afocal projection method. Below is a list of other equipment used... Meade 20mm Plossl Beacon Hill Telescopes eyepiece projection unit Klee 2.8X Barlow lens Olympus 2.1 MegaPixel digital compact camera, (set to 'manual' mode), and a 32MB or 64MB Smartmedia card. Tele-Optic Giro I could only shoot as a .JPEG / .JPG as I did not have enough space on the card for a .TIFF at the time.

Nice banding, and excellent hexagon capture.

I leave mine off... put on the dew-shield, remove the plug/end cap from the visual back... have a look through binoculars or vape and wait!

Hi @Js303 and welcome to SGL. Though I do not own a 'Dob', you cannot go wrong with one. Place on a level[ish] surface... 'point & go!' or 'grab & go!'

Personally I think astrophotography is a steep-learning curve. I am purely a visual amatuer that gets a buzz of excitement seeing something viewed with my own eyes. I have only seen one solar eclipse to date and no form of media, film, video, CCD, CMOS, etc., can ever record with what I saw on Wednesday 11th August 1999 with my [then, 38 year old] eyes. I do appreciate the time and effort by SGL imagers, (and those on other astronomy forums), do help and acheive, to show a wider audience that do not own a telescope the birth, life, death, beauty and destruction in nature of something so near, yet so far away.