Louis D

Basically, it would have about the same field correction.

If you're clever, you can make your own version of the AstroStuff RQFS. It's just a Synta/Vixen finder foot (check ebay), a riser of some sort (3D printer or carved wood or plastic or even machined aluminum), a 1.5" or so small bolt with nut, and an original Rigel QuikFinder shoe. I bought one from AS, but they're local to Texas, so not that expensive.

OMG! 😲 I bought a few dozen over a decade ago in various sizes when the big compact fluorescent push came out. I couldn't stand CFs or fit them in some of my fixtures, so I wanted an alternative. LED bulbs don't bother me and do fit in all of my fixtures, so I have a big supply of unused incandescent bulbs in the attic.

I was going to say that heating pads might be another option; although I've never read of anyone using one. My mother used to put one under a bowl with bread dough and covered both with a dish towel to encourage the bread to rise, so it might work with a covered telescope if you can keep the heat trapped.

I just have to ask "Why?". If you want equatorial tracking, put it on an equatorial platform. Do you want to do DSO astrophotography with it? I doubt if the struts are rigid enough for astrophotography. You do realize how heavy an EQ6-R-Pro would be, right? (93 pounds) Why would you want to haul all that extra weight out just to observe?

Spider vane apodizers.

Regular 1.25" right angle prisms have a 63mm to 67mm optical path length. I would think an Amici prism might add a bit to that. It certainly won't be any shorter. You might be able to make a straight through finder, but I have my doubts about a RACI finder.

Home brewed special:

My refractor night-time finder setups: RACI/GLP/QuikFinder RACI/SkEye/QuikFinder On my Dob, the Telrad sits on its own base due to its sheer size/bulk.

You can pick up a Neodymium filter for cheap these days as one of the cheap moon & skyglow filters out there on ebay or other sites. They are basically the same as the more expensive ones, but with a tad less transmission. That way, you could see for yourself if they enhance any objects. You would just need to make sure you're getting a low profile one. I just noticed a bunch of them are high profile now that won't fit in your filter wheel:

Here's a CN review from 17 years ago. From reading multiple experienced users' reactions to it, it is similar in performance to the 38mm Orion Q70 in performance. There's astigmatism and field curvature at f/6 starting around 60% out. By f/8, it improves to 80% out. By f/10, many folks are completely satisfied with the views. Thus, it's another notch below the Lacerta ED which gives you about another 10% to 15% corrected field at each level. Given that the WO's price in Europe is comparable to the Lacerta, I don't really see a reason to go for the WO. However, in the US, the WO is considerably cheaper than the Lacerta because we have to individually import the Lacerta.

From my Lacerta ED 40mm write-up: Here's my test image at f/12 in my 127mm Mak, which would be similar to your SCT f-ratio wise: Distortion is quite low across the field as can be seen above and from the center/edge magnification measurements below: Thus, the measured AFOV is nearly equal to the eAFOV calculated from the measured field stop and central focal length.

Why not just get the Lacerta ED 40mm for a lot less money? By all accounts, it's at least as sharp with the same true field of view. I find it nearly as sharp as the Pentax XW 40mm at f/6 with just 3/4ths the weight.

It's $9 cheaper in either the UK or Europe than in the US on the Svbony site. I'm a bit peeved by that.

I use a Manfrotto 058B which has a minimum height of 17.3" and a weight capacity of 26.5 pounds. It is rock solid thanks to the locking leg spreaders.

Considering how etched my cheap glassware looks after repeated trips through the dishwasher, I think I'll take a hard pass on doing that. Before on the left, after on the right.

I think contact cement is the usual go-to glue of choice for foam. Its solvent doesn't melt foam, unlike toluene and xylene in model glue. There are some specialized foam glues which are basically contact cement variants.

@bosun21 is correct. I measured the BSTs from 5mm to 25mm, and they are all very close to 60 degrees as noted below: In the years since I created this table, I've added photographically measured AFOV, and most of the BSTs/Paradigms turned out to be 1 degree wider AFOV via that method. Going up to 66 to 67 degrees AFOV with the APM SZ isn't going to make a huge difference in dwell time for Dob nudging. It's one of the reasons I'm holding off on getting one. If you can find a Meade HD-60 6.5mm, you'll get a 65 degree AFOV with a 64 degree eAFOV due to low edge distortion. It's actually a 6.2mm eyepiece by my measurements, so I'd consider it a 6mm eyepiece for comparison purposes. It's very sharp across the field with no SAEP issues.

You totally beat me to it. Storage units are big business here in the US, as are TV shows like Storage Wars where resellers bid on storage units that have not had their rent paid. They only get to peer into them from the outside and make their best guesses about the value of the contents. The rest of the show is about them finding out what they actually bought, and if they'll make their money back. There are 10 giant storage units within a 2 mile radius of my house. Many of them are climate controlled while others are for RVs (caravans/boats/etc.).

On the other hand, have you seen how narrow some of their roads and streets are? They were laid out centuries or even millennia before cars or trucks were a thing. I don't know if you could even fit your 4x4 truck down some of their lanes.

I'm not a big fan of AliExpress. Their consumer protection policies are abysmal compared to ebay and Amazon.

Try reading this Orion USA collimation manual. It sounds similar to your scope. This CN thread on collimating scopes with fixed primary collimation might be worth a read.

I'm not surprised. I sometimes observe with a 14 pound Newtonian on one side of my DSV-2B with nothing on the other side, and it is just as smooth and stable as it is with an 8 pound scope. Both it and the Rowan mount are made by master craftsmen from top quality materials. I would suspect the AZ100 could easily handle twice that load. It's more similar to the DSV-3 than mine.

Besides Celestron Ultima Edge, the APM UFF series is also sold as the Meade Series 5000 UHD, Orion Ultra Flat, Sky Rover Ultra Flat Field, Altair Ultraflat, TS-Optics UFF, and Tecnosky Ultra Flat Field. There may be differences in barrel material and undercuts leading to weight differences. All are made by Kunming United Optics (KUO). Choose whichever brand meets your budget, ergonomics, appearance, and weight requirements.

Yes, we do. I would be terrified to drive it at freeway speeds amongst Chevy Suburbans and Ford F-350 pickup trucks, which are very common here in Texas.