Knighty2112

A Skytee2 should cope nicely with your scopes, and give you better control. I picked up a great 2nd hand one up the other weekend like new. I’ve gone back to a Skytee2 (sold the previous one earlier on this year) from a Sabre mount, mostly as I miss the slow mo control on the mount. Currently using my Skywatcher 10” newt on the mount with either one of my 2 ‘fracs (short and long). The AZ-100 John mentions looks great, but comes at quite a price it seems once it gets released after John’s testing is done.

Looks nice. Great idea to keep the slow mo cables inline with the scope as it moves. However, at nearly £800 it’ll have to be at the very bottom of my list for potential mount upgrades for now.

Nice shot of that elusive object. Well done!

Only seen it once many years back on an exceptionally good night. 

Excellent sketch. Well done!  

Just set up my camping tarp to block out the worst street lamp in my front garden, and forecast saying going to be clearing later on, so plan on sticking the 10” newt out on the Skytee2 to cool down after about 9pm or so. Fingers crossed it actually clears up! 🤞🏻

‘Fraid I’ll have to stick with the old eyes for now, unless my 6 lottery numbers come up of course!  

Also, be realistic in what you expect to see with any scope you finally decide. You won’t see Hubble like vistas of any DS0s etc through any scope no matter how much money you spend. Like others have said also yes the larger the light gathering power of any scope is the better you will see things (as long as the scope is collimated Ok), but if the scope becomes a pain to drag out every time and set up and use, then most likely it’ll end up getting left in a corner of the room gathering dust, so before you go big I’d start off with something smaller and easier to manage. Something like this(or similar), would certainly give you a good quality scope that was managable and easy to move around, and easy to use in either goto mode, and with the freedom find technology allow you to move the scope manually around too when scanning the skies. Others who have owned this scope or mount might like to add their thoughts as I’ve not owned this particular scope and mount, but a similar sized one on another goto mount which worked very well.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/maksutov/sky-watcher-skymax-127-az-gti.html

Ah, the million dollar question! First things first; would help to know a rough budget as there is a bewildering choice from low, mid and high range to chose from!  

And guess what? Cloudy over here! <groan!> ☹️

I’ve just acquired a great quality second hand 10” Newtonian and get great views with that even from my LP polluted gardens, so I can imagine what the extra 4” will show you. Enjoy! 👍🏻

New Primaluce Losmandy dovetail and Maxi Dovetail Plus clamp to fully secure my 10” Newt onto my Skytee2 mount. Feels much more stable and secure now over the original Vixen dovetail it came with. Although it does feel weird spending more money on the securing equipment than I spent on the old scope from Pitbull on here? 🤔🤔🤔

M31 of course in Andromeda. Normally looks pretty good in binos. Also, try the clusters (M36, M37 & M38) in Auriga. If dark enough you should be able to nab these as small fuzzies.

289P shows up in Skysafari too, but at mag 10.

Nice work Nick. I was out briefly last night for an hour, but only looked at a few things. You had quite a haul it seems. Well done!  

Ah, I hope the speakers are strong if they are going to blast out some Hawkwind!  

I’m terrible at quizes, so I’ll just prop the bar up and watch all those great minds ticking over searching for the right answer!  

Wasn’t planning to go this year, but what the heck. Just booked for 4 nights from Friday till I leave on Tuesday. Also booked for the grub for all nights as it saves messing about in the tent!

Hopefully the weather will play ball, but I’ll pack me wellies just in case!

Nice views. Out of curiosity which night vision monocular do you use?

Good find. Looks like it would make a great bino mount perhaps, or for light OTA.  

Binoculars or a light grab and go scope and mount come in handy for times when there might only be a limited time before clouds roll in. Last night I managed a brief look at Jupiter and Saturn from my back garden before clouds fully rolled in. If planning any trip then if possible keep options open for those small chances when views between breaks in clouds occurs by using binos or smaller scopes etc.

Yeah, we had heavy rain and thunder here too in Hull Earlier on. That loud it woke me up from a smooze. Glad I’m not in a tent. Hope you didn’t get too much water intake! 

If the choice is between the two options listed only then the 80ed will give sharper views due to the ED glass, so that would be my choice between the two. The ST120 is OK if your budget is tight.

24 minutes ago, paulastro said:

Last night Tropical Storm Humberton arrived with heavy rain and very windy.  Still continuing as I write this in the tent.  It should ease up this evening with some clear patches later.  Then clear patches for the next few days with rain at times.  If it does clear to any degree the sky should be very transparent 😁.Managed some nice solar views with a friend's solar scope yesterday.

Hope you do get some clear skies. Fingers crossed for you all! 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

Weather for this year looks pretty crud though alas!  

 Nice shots. Well done! Fail to see why this is not ‘real imaging’ though? Just as pleasing to look at and enjoy as something like the Veil etc.