Northernlight

Hi All, I've been away from imaging for quite a while and i've pretty much forgotten 90% of the processing techniques. I can see there are a lot of older primers, and i know Pixinsight Techniques / processes change on a regular basis with new tools. So wondered if anyone can recommend a up to date PixInsight primer. Cheers, Rich

I'm holding out for a VX10 as I would prefer the F4.8 and the smaller tube of the 10". Will just wait until one comes up

Yeah the focuser does look like the SW crawford focuser. So i would probably replace with the Baader SteelTrack Diamond.

Hi Iain, Thanks for the feedback. I'm trying to figure out if I need to replace the focuser for imaging or if I can get away with the stock one and save a bit of money as the price sharp creeps up when you add all the extras. £819 for scope + £115 for 1/10pv upgrade + £220 for a coma corrector, + £50 for secondary dew heater + £240 for Baader focuser + £35 for focuser base plate + £319 for cats eye collimation kit. So the scope suddenly doubles from £819 to over £1600

Hi Al, Thanks very much, your honest feedback of the scope will be very much appreciated. Out of interest, how long did it take them to build yours ? Cheers, Rich.

Hey Scarp, I'm in Newcastle myself, well outskirts of shiremoor. Which area you from ? Anyway, with regards to the stock focuser, have you tried it with imaging or are you purely visual. How does yours hold focus during a session ? Cheers, Rich.

Sods-law there is someone selling a vx12 on astro buy&sell who lives in my town, but 12" is just too big. 10" is the sweet spot for me.

The guy selling the VX10 is asking for just short of £700 despite him saying the tube is not in best condition. I think I'll pass on that then, despite it apparently having an upgraded focuser.

Joe if you can find someone who will sell me both scopes for £1500 I'll snap their hands off.

My only concern about buying the VX10 would be the customer service if I had a problem with the scope.

Read a few more recent views and looks like the more recent reviews of newer models of the VX10 seem to have better build quality and QC, so think this with the 1/10pv optics could make a good all round scope.

Interested in an Orion Optics VX10 with 1/10pv optics and wanted to get feedback on the build quality and quality of optics from a newer model, I.e. last 2 years, Specifically interested in the quality of the focuser and the primary mirror cell and how it hold collimation. Cheers, Rich.

Ahh back to the drawing board. Maybe if I extend my budget, the TS 130mm triplet for €1899 euros (£1640) might be one option or a 10" newt of some description. Looking at newts the Orion optics 10" VX comes in at £819 and the Skywatcher 10" Quattro is £549 and when I phoned OrionOptics today to ask what the extra £270 gets me over the Quattro, the guy was quite Arsey with me stating that " it's just better". Not helpful at all. So their customer service still appears to be poor. So by the time I spend about £270 on a baader steel track diamond focuser & base plate, £50 on a secondary heater, £230 on a com corrector and £319 on the cats eye collimation kit I'm not far off the cost of the 130mm triplet. Vx 10" (£819 + £270 + £230 + £319 + £50)= £1688 Quattro 10" (£549 + £270 + £230 + £319 + £50) = £1418 Who would think spending money could be so difficult, and no lulu you cant have it for leather goods 😂

By all means crash away with your leather clad insights- just include some astro stuff in their too as i've got an important mission to spend some money that's burning a hole in my pocket.

Lulu, so i'm not sure if you are referring to Ian's Biking Attire or a Kinky fetish, but getting back to the topic at hand........ Joe why do not think the 150Ed would make a good imaging scope ? what were your thoughts on this ? Why do you think it would be a poor choice ? My mount is an EQ8, so will be more than enough to handle the weigh.

Hi StarFlyer, I've heard to many stories about ablut poor Quality control on Orion Optics scopes in particular to the mechanics and even worse view on their customer service, so vowed never to buy one.

I'm looking for a larger aperture. I already have a 102mm Doublet I think i'm leaning towards the 150ED DS PRO, purely from having an easy life and i can easily swap the camera between the 2 without needing to change reducer etc.

Hi All, Firstly, Apologies if this is the wrong section, but after fighting a 8" GSO RC, i've decided that I've had enough and looking for a new scope for 80% imaging and 20% visual. My budget is around £1500 and i dont really want to spend any more than this. So with this in mind, ive thinking about the following 2 options, but i'm open to other idea's. Bother scopes will be pier mounted in my Obs, so cooling is not so much of an issue and weight should be ok as my mount is an EQ8. Option A) - Skywatcher 150 ED DS Pro doublet Pro's - Simple to use, i.e. should have no colimation issues, easier to balance. Great for Narrow band Imaging. Decent Focal Length. Cons - Not the best for imaging Galaxies i'm sure a lot of this can be resolved in post-processing, Long, slower than a newt, smaller aperture than a newt. Option B) - Skywatcher 10" Quattro (Inc Upgraded focuser & Coma Corrector & Cats eye triple kit collimation tools) Pro's - Faster @ F4, Larger aperture Cons - Questionable build Quality, Collimaiton. For simplicity i'm leaning towards the refractor, but not sure how this handles imaging galaxies. I've imaged with my 102mm doublet and the results didn't seem to bad for galaxies as i was able to sort colour balance between the RGB channels. For Narrowband it will be perfect especially when coupled with a reducer. Any other idea's for Imaging scopes around the £1500 mark Cheers, Richard.

I guess the big attraction of friction drives is that they are supposed to be free of backlash, due to the lack of gears. That said 10 micron manage perfectly well using conventional gears / worms. For me, I've always wanted a direct drive mount like the ASA mounts, but sadly ill never afford one 🙂

Henry don't get me wrong, I fully agree with what you are saying. What I don't agree with is when said Manufacturers make claims that they are close to completing development on a product and take people's money and hang onto it for 2 years when the truth / reality is that they were nowhere near close to completing development and were using people's money to essentially develop an idea. I understand and support what jtw is doing as new design drives innovation and healthy competition is good for the consumer, I just don't agree with their method of execution.

This thing has had more changes than Michael Jackson. 3 words - Mesu 200 MkII

I think it's a case of too little to late as I think a lot of people's interest & trust have probably long faded

So is the mount design still configured to use absolute encoders ?

Yeah and the last 12 months before that. All I can say is that people who paid for this mount are incredibly patient. I think JTW has damaged it's reputation a bit due to how long it is taking them to deliver on their promises. It's a shame, as I really want to see this mount do well and succeed, but I just wouldn't trust a company that has given several launch dates and delivered on non of them. I think most people would probably opt to pay more and get the new mesu 200 when it comes out, as Mesu has a reputation for quality, customer service and delivering on his commitments. Sorry Jtw I was rooting for you, but now I give up.

Hi all, Been out of the loop for a few months and just wondered if the jtw Ogem mount was still a mythical beast of legendary tales or if it's actually materialized in the real world and started shipping to anyone ?? Rich.