Alan64

17 minutes ago, Louis D said:

Ideally, wouldn't you want the finder scope directly opposite the altitude pivot point (the side facing the camera)?  Where it is in the image will make it turn turtle once the altitude gets high enough, unless you crank down on the friction knob.

That's simply a mock-up, and per Tiny Clanger's description.  Later, they then referred to this image of their own kit...

I have no idea, as I don't have that kit, nor a 9x50 RACI.  Does that look better?  

Your Sky-Watcher 130mm f/7 Newtonian, and with a spherical primary-mirror, has the exact same front cowling and rear primary-cell as my Celestron 127mm f/8 "Bird Jones"...

The primary-cell of our reflectors is quite and rather convoluted.  It's not as simply constructed as others.  If you remove these screws on the side round, the nuts on the inner side will fall off within the interior of the tube...

You'd have a very difficult time getting those nuts back in place.  Do not remove those.  Our reflectors are built like tanks, and are actually, seemingly constructed like one in addition.

You have no other option but to do this...

...and to remove three of the six screws, the ones screwed all the way down, and indicated in green within the following image.  You don't have to remove the locking screws which stand out a bit...

It just so happens that the three to be removed are the ones that are used to adjust the collimation, unfortunately.  They pass through the black, rubber grommets, indicated in red, which poorly act as springs, for tensioning.   You should remove only the mirror's staging platform, not the mirror-cell's frame, in that.

Whilst you have it apart, you can replace those black, rubber grommets with metal-springs.  The springs would make collimation O so much easier, you've no idea...

Within this thread, I have described and illustrated the aforementioned, and more besides, much more...

The aluminum for the gap-filler is currently, "Out for Delivery, Expected Delivery by 3:45pm".
 

I'm...so...ex...ci...ted.  

In any event, get a quality diagonal, as the one included with the telescope or kit is just that, a freebie, something thrown in to get one started.  The kit-diagonal is most likely a mirror.

18 hours ago, galaxy-gazer said:

So…going forward would you recommend me changing the diagonal? if yes then prism or dielectric? and what assortment of EPs would you recommend? The only one I own is a celestron 32mm plossl, apart from the stock ones which came with the scope.

thanks

sam

Mirrors, by their very nature, scatter light, more so than a clear lens.  This is an example of light-scattering...

A Maksutov already has two mirrors within its optical train, therefore I would suggest a quality star-prism diagonal. 

Incidentally, it may be prudent to get a 32mm Plossl in addition, and to complement the finder in the hunting of objects.  It would also serve as your lowest power and for the widest view of the sky.  You'll have a right cracking shot at encompassing the galaxy in Andromeda, a satisfying bit of it anyway, this fall/winter...

12 hours ago, Tiny Clanger said:

There is nowhere to securely mount a finder shoe on the extending part of the heritage 'scopes , my 9x50 RACI with a vixen shoe is as close to the top of the solid tube as I could get , which is only a little way from the balance point, so the weight is not a great factor .

If the finder-scope is placed directly over the fulcrum, then there might be no balancing issues whatsoever.

Where have you drilled the holes for the shoe?

10 minutes ago, NorfolkGazer said:

After reading this I've just pre-ordered the 4th Edition of the Backyard Astronomers Guide, cheers all.

No doubt it has come a long way, updated, since my copy from the early 1990s; 1992 if I'm not mistaken.

I've never heard of or seen a 7x30 optical-finder, but there's a first time for everything.  Perhaps it was a typo, a 6x30 instead.

This is an 8x50 finder, albeit a straight-through, and fitted onto a 127mm reflector...

It attaches via a Vixen-type finder-shoe, or base, like this one that I installed for that 8x50, and for that reflector...

Then, a 9x50 RACI is like a small, fast refractor; a bit hefty for its size.  Would it not throw the telescope off balance?  A weight may need to be added to the solid rear of the telescope to compensate. 

I love a challenge, including this one.

I assume you have this kit...

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

The mount... https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0080/7095/5123/files/azgti_manual_v102.pdf

The Maksutov... https://inter-static.skywatcher.com/upfiles/en_download_caty01316546582.pdf

You need an adaptor, an interface...

https://www.modernastronomy.com/product-category/accessories/adapters/

You'll be able to cover the gamut with the 80mm achromat and the 90mm Maksutov; low powers to high, and for practically every object in the night sky, albeit limited only by the apertures of each.

I know that you'll have an Amici/erect-image diagonal, but I don't if you'll have a proper star-diagonal.  If not, you can get one of those easily, and for use at night.  The Amici/erect-image is primarily if not exclusively for use during the day; birds in trees, ships at sea, that sort of thing.

This is the difference between an Amici, and a Star...

Note the apertures of each.  The word "star" says it all.  You can use an Amici at night, and some do, so that an object's position matches that as shown on their star charts and maps, but in the end a Star is the ideal for nightly observations.

7 minutes ago, Starslayer said:

Thanks all . The rant that was never intended is over.  I completely understand eqs now and how I can best 'use' mine with the scope as mentioned. Just visual for me . North is noted on a leg and the mount is locked to that with latitude dialled in ok.  That is all I really need. Very quick lock on Polaris and off we go.  Loosen the thumb screws and slew as I feel necessary ( although I did see something about going anti clockwise whenever doing that.  )  Not really difficult and nothing to be scared about.  Not sure about adding a motor. How accurate are they speed wise? 

It's a simple clock-drive.  It may have quartz within its control-board, or not...

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-mount-accessories/ra-economy-motor-drive-for-eq1.html

Not, I think, as it has a variable-speed control, a slim stem, just under the power-light, which allows you to fine-tune the speed.  I have one, too, but I've yet to use it.

Recap...

Again, before attaching a motor-drive...

...the RA worm-shaft, to which the drive attaches, must spin freely with the fingers, without binding, and whilst it rotates the RA-axis...

It should be able to rotate the axis all the way round, one revolution, without binding and stopping at all...

Else, the motor-drive can strain, overheat and become damaged.  It must be able to easily drive the axis in its revolutions, as smooth as freshly-churned butter, with no binding.

You won't see the axis rotating with the motor-drive attached and powered on, no, as it takes 24 hours for the motor to rotate the axis only once round, and just as Polaris rotates once round the NCP.  Whilst so doing, the motor-drive causes the Earth to stand still, and thereby an object in the field-of-view of an eyepiece to remain motionless, centred within.  With the wee motor whirring away, you can go inside, have a bite to eat, watch telesvision, and when you return the object will still be in the centre of the view.

Equatorial mounts are good for that sort of thing, to observe an object for a long span of time.  Not to simply glance at an object, but to study it, to discern and note its details, to sketch the object even; or these days, to photograph it.

A 114mm f/4.4 Newtonian is nigh the reflective equivalent of an 80mm f/5 achromat, and therefore the Newtonian would be the same, albeit false-colour free, but redundant nonetheless.

I would go with the 90mm Maksutov instead...

Yea, the heyday is over.  The Jubilees were used round that time.

These, and what I call my "Whitechapel" Jubilees...

But only if one might dare to travel there, and then.  Silent witnesses they are, and to an unspeakable horror. <heavy breathing ensues>

Then, later, we have this...

...and wondrous in its own right.

11 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Yes not an official moto although the public think it is.

“While the Postal Service has no official motto, the popular belief that it does is a tribute to America's postal workers. The words above, thought to be the motto, are chiseled in gray granite over the entrance to the New York City Post Office on 8th Avenue and come from Book 8, Paragraph 98, of The Persian Wars by Herodotus. During the wars between the Greeks and Persians (500-449 B.C.), the Persians operated a system of mounted postal couriers who served with great fidelity.”

Fidelity is apparently elusive, fleeting.

Then, my stamps do take me somewhere; to another place, and back in time...

14 minutes ago, reezeh said:

You do know that old saying don't you:

Philately gets you nowhere! 

One of the reasons that this stamp came into being...

...is because living, breathing people were actually being mailed; not enclosed within an envelope or other, of course.  The franking was more like a bus ticket.

5 minutes ago, johninderby said:

I wonder if anyone in the US post office nowadays remembers their motto. 🤔

“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”

I wish that was their official motto, but it never has been.  That saying was applied to the postal service by an outside party.

5 minutes ago, reezeh said:

Perhaps they're in cahoots with FLO's round sticker labels.

I tell ya it's a conspiracy!

No conspiracy, of course not; it's simply that the U.S. Postal Service is a mere shadow, a tattered remnant, of its former self.  Ahhh, how I yearn for the good ole days...

https://i.imgur.com/P3Egzod.jpg

https://www.avalon-instruments.com/support/13-troubleshooting/104-polar-alignment-using-the-new-skywatcher-polar-scope

"The new Skywatcher Polarscope only has the Octans constellation on it."

No, not true.

That was very good of Astromania to correct their error, but now I've ruined the chances of others, elsewhere, getting one with the newer reticle, and for a song, a dance...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXCwlO2jnYU

I've replied to Astromania, to thank them, but also to urge them to replace the part boxes or trays on the factory-floors overseas that, collectively, contain perhaps a staggering surplus of the older reticles.

A 3mm gap, still...

I'm still waiting on the extra 0.040" aluminum to arrive.  As I type, USPS states, "In Transit, Arriving Late".  That was to be expected, whilst watching its progress otherwise up to that point.

No, there will be no glamour shots or a photo-shoot, outdoors, with this and that telescope taking their turn upon the carousel, and until all is completed.