Ricochet

Does the finder come to focus with that diagonal? If so which one is it?

That is both shocking and unsurprising at the same time.

According to legend Axioms were manufactured by JOC until they decided to sell under their own brand (Explore Scientific). Someone at Celestron didn't like that and the Luminos appeared as a replacement.

The advertisement photographs show it with an extension fitted. Only the hexagonal parts of the focuser are "compulsory", anything with a circular cross section can be removed. You have to unscrew the 2" clamp (which has a grub screw) and screw the extension to the draw tube rather than just fitting it into the clamp though. You're looking for a piece like this:

It should do without the extension on the focuser. Watch out for it hidden in the packaging as you'll need it if you ever want to use it for visual. Also, I would avoid using anything with an undercut in the 2" eyepiece clamp. They probably do. I lost count of the number of us who bought ex display 24mm ES68s.

What are the advantages of this new mount over an az-gti? I see automatic solar finding and presumably more accurate tracking but is there anything else? I also notice that it has also lost a kg of payload capacity in comparison.

Unfortunately, that is the tripod for the "365 Astronomy AZ5", which is a different mount to the "Skywatcher AZ5". The compatibility of that tripod with the Skywatcher EQ3, EQ5 and Skytee suggests it has an M10 bolt while the Skywatcher AZ5 uses a 3/8" thread. Unless it is supplied with adaptors you may need to make some modifications to fit a 3/8" bolt through it in place of the M10.

Stanley Tstack! I'll have to have a look and see if they're any cheaper than the DeWalt version. The drawer units in particular look useful as they would still be accessible while at the bottom of the stack.

No. It uses a spherical mirror and a cheap corrector in the focuser resulting in poor image quality. I would avoid it.

The new Skywatcher mounts look pretty portable. For £200 you can get: Skyhawk 1145ps on AZEQ Avant (but you would probably only ever want to use a reflector in AZ mode). 130ps on AZ Pronto Or if you can increase your budget for a better mount: 130ps on AZ5

How about a 25mm Starguider? OK, it's not a TV or Vixen eyepiece but the AFoV will be 10° up on your Plossl and it's in the right weight range (182g according to TS). Plus at £40 (Skies the Limit sale) I'm guessing you could probably afford to keep the LVW for other scopes rather than selling to finance a Panoptic.

I've never been so grateful to a Plossl .

I use a Meade 2x TeleXtender with mine and after flocking the section between the two lens groups to get rid of reflections I don't think it degrades the image. The stack height isn't too bad either. The TeleXtender adds ~60mm but the shorter XW's are taller so it works out at ~40mm additional height. Besides, £50-£75 on a TeleXtender vs £300-£500 on a pair of shorter eyepieces is a considerable saving.

Perhaps to fit the m43 thread? The recess and thread height look pretty similar to me.

I think that depends on how you define what matches. I read it that for the purposes of this thread a matched set is defined as one containing only eyepieces from a single manufacturer or even a single eyepiece range. I don't think yours fit into that although they do match in terms of quality and providing a cohesive set of focal lengths.

For the sake of your bank balance I hope the weather clears up soon.

I think it says something that it took a second look to notice there was a Tak in the middle.... and a third look to notice there was text above listing the scopes.

What is impressive is not only the level of mismatching, but that you have as many eyepieces in that collection that you've never used as I have eyepieces in my case... and that includes a pair for binoviewing .

Have you measured and marked the point directly opposite the focuser and then used a sight tube or laser to confirm the focuser is pointing at it? Also I would definitely use a cheshire/sight tube to centre the secondary mirror, a simple collimation cap is probably not accurate enough. Unfortunately, I do not have one of these focusers to know what the different screws are all for.

The only thing you might be missing is the age of the original set of posts in this thread. The attachment must have been deleted at some point.

Congratulations on the new eyepieces. I look forward to your thoughts on the views with the Orion once you get a decent chance to use it. I'm not sure about that eyecup though .

How have you got on recharging those silica gel packs? I bought a couple to try in my cases but the claim that they can easily be recharged in a microwave was quickly disproved.

That isn't right, I can I only imagine that the telescope isn't quite extending all the way for that to happen. As for the telescope being or not being "right" it is probably impossible to tell without looking through it. Trying to find a local astronomy group to get a second opinion is probably your best bet, but I suspect it's probably fine.

If your conservatory is in the sun then the scope could get relatively hot and need longer to cool. I would be inclined to leave it outside at about 45° with the caps off to cool rather than just by the door. With regards to contrast on DSOs you might find there is an advantage to be found by adding a shroud over the open central section. Likewise flocking the inside of the tube and baffling the mirror edge can help control stray light. For planets you might want to invest in a barlow to use with the zoom. You can probably go down to about 5mm if the conditions allow but you are currently limited to 8mm. The extra magnification will make the planets larger although they will never be massive in any scope. Generally you will find it best to observe celestial objects when they are highest in the sky and when the moon is below the horizon. You should also aim to observe over vegetation rather than houses or other structures that will hold onto heat and release it throughout the night.

While you're stripping and flocking make yourself a baffle to block the edge of your mirror. I mounted mine on top of the mirror clips but others have simply laid theirs on the mirror under the clips. Make sure there is a gap between the edge of the baffle and the inside of the tube. Here's a picture of my oversized proof of concept test baffle: