Ricochet

I'm not sure what you mean by the Bresser 5" planetary scope, do you mean the 5" dob? If so, I would recommend one of the 6" options as they are full size dobs that can sit on the ground and don't need to be placed on a table. You will need to also find some sort of height adjustable chair to use with the 6" telescopes, else you will have to spend the whole time stooping down to the focuser. For nebulae, telescope aperture is the second most important trait, after the ability to transport the telescope to a darker site. You won't get more aperture for your money than the 6" dobs you have highlighted, unless FLO have another 8" dob lined up to appear in their black Friday sale.

Having had a look at some of my plates, the screw protruding by 5mm looks to be normal. I've also got the same binocular adaptor and there is an unthreaded section at the bottom of it, so there can only be a couple of mm contact to the screw head. If this has stripped at all it is no wonder that it no longer holds. As you have ordered another adaptor already, I suggest you just wait for that to arrive and see if you have more success. I suspect you will do.

Re-read what @Stu has already said above, he has given you the correct answer. When observing astronomical objects you always turn the focuser to make the image smaller. If you are in focus then you should see a very small disk. If this is not the case then either you need to observe more carefully to notice, or if you have not aligned your finder scope with the telescope you may not be looking at Mars, but a nearby star.

You shouldn't have had to remove the pad from the bottom of the adaptor. How far does the screw protrude from the surface of the monopod head? I can only imagine that it isn't quite long enough.

Yes, unless you have an exceptionally fast telescope in which case adding the powermate could improve correction. Personally I would go for a 10XW instead of buying a powermate to use with just one eyepiece.

I don't think the primary is egg shaped. I think that there is some circular edge obscuring your view of the primary. Try waving your hand around inside the open section of tube to work out which side of the telescope the obstruction is on in reality (or get someone else to if you can't look through the concenter at the same time). Once you know that it might be easier to spot what is clipping the primary. I would also try looking through the focuser with no collimation tool and a Cheshire if you have one to determine if the clipping is still an issue and also to check whether the secondary looks central under the focuser with no took inserted. Possibly your eyepiece clamp is tilting the concenter and so you're adjusting the secondary to the "wrong" position as a consequence.

If you can't get the secondary circular and pointing at the centre of the primary at the same time you need to adjust the spider veins. If the focuser is horizontal then you will have a secondary spider screw on the top of the telescope and one on the bottom. While looking through the Cheshire, tighten the one on the bottom and loosen the one on top so that the secondary moves "down". After adjusting the spider redo secondary collimation. The focuser probably isn't quite square due to the tube not being perfectly round. I thought the astro baby guide used to show how to check this but it isn't there now. As this requires removing the secondary I would just adjust the veins as above.

Search for the item online and find shops that sell the same setup. A general rule of thumb for astronomy equipment is that the second hand value for a pristine setup is 2/3 of the new price. For big, heavy setups that people have to collect you will probably have to drop below this.

When using it at night on celestial targets, remember that in order to focus the telescope you must turn the focuser knob to make the image smaller. When whatever you are looking at is at its smallest, it is properly focused.

Square to the OTA? That wouldn't make the laser precess as far as I know. If they mean that the internal walls of the focuser barrel are not parallel then maybe that could be an issue. Have a look at the inside of the eyepiece clamp in case there is anything obvious that could be messing up the registration of the laser. I would insert a cheshire into the focuser and rotate it whilst looking through it. If the cheshire stays pointed at a single spot you know the fault is with the laser, if it draws the same circle you know there is another cause. I previously had a Hotech laser and had exactly the same problem with it. The cause was the self centring mechanism of the Hotech not self centring or even acting in a consistent way. Both the 1.25" laser and the 1.25"-2" adaptor showed exactly the same fault. Based on my experience, and having read other reports on this forum from people with the same issue, I would suggest you send it back and find a better use for your money. Even if it somehow is your focuser that is at fault, the laser is no use with it, so send the laser back.

Where in the field of view do you see astigmatism? Do you see it in the centre or just as you look towards the edge? If astigmatism from your eye is an issue then you will see it in a star right in the centre of the field. If you see it increasing towards the edge then I think it is likely from the eyepiece, or a combination of the eyepiece plus your eye. In the second scenario a better corrected eyepiece may provide you with better star images across the field. If your budget allows it, the best option would probably be to buy an eyepiece to which you can fit a Televue dioptrix, which would correct the astigmatism from your eye and allow you to continue to observe without glasses. In the short term I would advise trying the 30mm Aero whilst wearing your new glasses to see if the star images are improved.

I use a 10mm XW and 2x focal extender with my dob instead of a 5mm and can see no obvious impact on image quality. The only reason I have at the moment to buy a 5XW is if I decide to get one for my solar scope as it doesn't have enough focuser travel for the XW + focal extender combination.

I'm not the op, but having looked at my focuser I don't think that is a chip where the focuser has come off, it's where the grub screws hit when you tighten them. In the last photo there is another mark about 120° from the one on the underside. The proportions are just slightly off for the screws to sit properly in the groove and allow rotation. Perhaps it is a design/production fault with this model focuser or the adaptor.

I don't think this is the case. I've just had a play with mine and I can't find any tension level where the focuser can rotate and be securely held. If I slacken the screws to rotate the focuser it can fall off. Does anyone have one of these focusers where the focuser both rotates and is held securely simultaneously?

I would not count on this. It is surprisingly difficult to find the sun and due to the nature of H-alpha, if you don't find the sun you will see nothing at all, well almost. In a double stacked scope there is a reflection of the sun that will appear blurry and out of focus. Adjusting the tuner on the double stack will shift this reflection around (and hopefully out of) the FoV. If you see only blackness (and there are no clouds), you're not looking at the sun. If the image you see is only blurry you may be looking at the reflection from the double stack. In this instance it is probably easiest to start in single stack mode so that you know that you are definitely looking at the real image of the sun.

Thanks, John. Sounds like it might be worth me getting one then to keep with the scope.

Absolutely. If you don't already have a copy of Making Every Photon Count, I would suggest you get a copy to read through before you order your astrophotography set up.

For £100 it looks like good value and well worth considering, however, I am not sure if it will be possible to tripod mount this without some DIY solution. I don't see anything about the bottom of the mount being threaded for a tripod, as is the case with the slightly smaller Skywatcher Heritage 100p, and the tube clamp looks like it attaches straight to the mount. It might be possible to remove the clamp and bolt it to a dovetail, but I don't know how easy this would be. Additionally, as it is a manual mount the telescope will require regular nudges to counter the earth's rotation. You should consider whether your 5 year old will be able to cope with that. If not, the Skywatcher Heritage Virtuoso 114 is a very similar motorised option (if you can find one in stock).

How does the Hyperflex perform in regards to reflections, ghosting and scatter? I've wondered about getting one for h-alpha but wonder if that might push it a bit too far.

Sorry about that! I guess the best description is that the "hole" in the eye cup must have got wider or rounded over at the top so that it doesn't grip the eyepiece cap at all.

How much did that cost you? Having used my XWs during the day and exposed them to the sun, there is no correlation between the size of the cap and the eye guard.

I've recently (ish) ordered a Baader maxbright 2 as I believe it should offer better views than the cheaper options on the market and I am a big fan of Clicklock eyepiece holders which should ensure all eyepieces are properly held and centred, which is vital for merging the images from each eyepiece. You will have to measure the amount of in focus your telescope has and compare it to the table in the max bright manual to work out which, if any, gpcs will allow you to focus. With other binoviewers it may be a case of trial and error with different barlows to find a solution that can be focused. A tool for ensuring the mirrors in your telescope are correctly aligned. With a telescope as fast as yours, this is a crucial tool for getting good views. A waste of money. Atmospheric conditions in the UK will very rarely allow such a high power to be used.

There is a nut and bolt going through the bottom of your mount that connects the rocker box to the base board. It sounds like this is too tight. Try loosening it a little. You will have to do this by trial and error, and adjust so that you get the right amount of friction. Some people add washers cut from milk bottle washers (search the forum for this, there must be threads going into detail about it) or even add a lazy susan to replace the central bolt. If it is the altitude bearing that are tight, the handle protruding from the bearing adjusts the tension on skywatcher dobsonians. A 6mm eyepiece in your telescope will be about optimum under UK skies (sometimes it will actually be too much) and so adding a barlow may not help that much and just scrub detail. It's actually a bit of an optical illusion that makes planets look even smaller when you look through an eyepiece with one eye. Finding a binoviewer and barlow/gpc that can be focused in your scope will allow you to use two eyes and make the planets seem bigger, as well as being more relaxing and allowing you to take in more detail. With regards to detail, collimation is very important in an f5 scope. I would recommend that a Cheshire is your next purchase if you don't already have one and that you spend some time reading through collimation guides and then follow one from start to finish. You probably won't get it right first time, but with practice you will get better and it will become easier.

Absolutely. I upgraded mine with both the double stack filter and the feathertouch focuser and having used them I consider both essential. It isn't essential to buy the feathertouch focuser, but it is to get rid of the awful helical one supplied with the scope. All of the fiddling with the pressure tuner to find the optimum view turned out to be focuser sag issues, these days I don't have to touch the tuners.

Do you know the situation with regards to distribution of Baader products?