GTom

Yes they do. Just above your post yesterday indicated that it's probably made of gold/365astronomy not much heaper either. Not my first choice...

New ones yes. The gold tubes and also the early black ones come with the odd 66.5mm thread. Mine has this thread and apparently the baffle tube is thinner than 30mm inside (the hole at the end of the OTA is 30mm though)

I am right on this project, "blessed" with the M66.5 connector as well. I see two options: going with the £££ MAK to SCT adapter or adding a helical focuser with a 2" nosepiece to the stock visual back. As I already got two helical focusers, I'll definitely try those first, even motorize them.

I am hoping to test my first bino with a Skymax 150 in a few weeks (afraid clear weather will be mailed much later than the binoviewer). Still in doubt though regarding its usefulness: #1: In Cyclops I can use a top tier Ethos 10, or similar fat Eyepiece. Many of these simply don't fit in a BV. #2: Got it, that details from each eye are processed by the brain, that MIGHT give you more details than just using one of the EP's USED IN THE BV. Got two problems with that: first is straight #1, unless you populate the BV with £££ Panoptic EP's. Second is, that with a BV you introduce a plethora of new glass-air surfaces, even a GPC in most cases. #3: I was worried about how the 30mm ID baffle tube cuts my FoV, now I can worry about a 20mm prism aperture.... #4: Is everything working fine on an average, off the shelf BV? Does it need to be collimated? If yes, how often?? #5: How much light am I effectively loosing, because it is captured by the "second" eye, but the eye+brain complex, just as about everything in the world not 100% efficient? #6: any light lost due to polarization? I also have a prism diagonal...

1800mm is for either the 1.25" diagonal, or even just the tip of the visual back. Based on a fellow forumer's measurements, the FL with a BV on a regular 2" mirror diagonal will be well above 2meters. However, I am still not completely sold on the idea of a binoviewer. Some (but not everybody!) are raving about the details revealed of the kit compared to cyclops - I am not so sure though, because the price of the average BV+two Plössl will buy you a top tier (Ethos, etc) EP with no GPC + prism set in the way.

Couldn't resist a £98 double-discount Svbony sv225 price tag from Amazon. It holds the scope fine, vibrations are there when you touch the ALT fine adjustment but don't last long. The Giro WR could work too but needs a counterweight and no fine adjustments.

I am thinking on adding a binoviewer (first an entry model WO) to my Skymax 150 MAK. I was wondering, with the specific backfocus situation on that scope (IDK when it starts loosing aperture...), what sort of FoVs are realistic? E.g. a pair of 32mm Plössls doable? Does the WO binoviewer need a GPC on the MAK? Reason I am asking because would like to give it a spin for terrestrial viewing. Currently my largest FoV solution is a single 30mm noname wide EP (claims 80 degrees, it is indeed nice big FoV), does well on the scope. I have a Baader SCT prism diagonal (35mm clear aperture), that helps a little bit for backfocus management.

I guess you figured in the meantime 😅. I am picking up a 3mm black neoprene sheet later this week. Probably covering the entire scope for insulation as well.

News: eventually decided for one of the UK retailers (Pro Astronomy), way faster shipping this way just in case the weather shows any mercy next week...

Great many thanks for the reference re focal length/backfocus! I expected similar figures, but data specific to the Skymax 150 is nowhere to be found on the internet, I was prepared to measure the thing myself. Currently working out an ideal Eyepiece collection and trying to figure how much unvignetted FOV I can expect. Proper camera adapters are coming for my nikon Z6 camera, that's certainly big enough to see the vignetting (being realistic, I don't expect more than the central 30-40% of the full frame to be useful). That image circle will define my "wide FOV"/large exit pupil eyepiece.

I don't wear glasses yet, but willing to share the view with glass wearers, so valid point, have to look at the (actually useable) ER values too. The 20mm XWA is on the heavy side, almost a kg. The Founder is quoted 554g here, far more travel friendly IMHO...

Yes, I am afraid this will be a 9467th reflectix thread, or likely evolve to one. Task is the following: I want to turn my new toy 6" mak to a reasonably rugged travel unit, that takes smaller bumps well. This part of the job is easy, just copy the lenscoat concept used for super telephoto lenses with a thicker, soft neoprene material. Something like this one, instead of a single 6mm layer, do 2x3mm all around (back cell too). I'd leave either one or both layers longer on the corrector lens-end to serve as dew shield. I was wondering, would such a coat serve well for insulation as well as reflectix? Reflectix doesn't have as good mechanical properties as neoprene when it comes to shock protection.

Wondering if it makes sense to replace my Hyperion 21 to a Marwel 20mm piece. I'd use it in two scopes, a Skymax 150 for medium-range magnification and in the 90/600 APO for low mag wide field work.

The very practical part of the astrograph configuration is that you can just forget about ALL the flattener/reducer backspacing voodoo. You can just stick a camera on the narrower end of the scope and be ready to fly. OK, might need filters, might need a tilt adjuster but not necessarily. Beginning to understand, why the redcats are so popular even being quite a bit more expensive than the Gran Turismo's.

If you can store your scopeware in a cool place AND add insulation to slow down quick temp variations, then you're mostly sorted. Still, would be happy to hear from Skymax 180 and C11 owners about their tactics!

Yeah, processing fee is unknown until you actually see it, VAT is clear.

Yeah, they forgot the discount on the planetary version. Costs 319USD plus VAT imported, that's a good £80 less than the uk shop. Easy rule of thumb just replace the USD sign in front of the import price with £ and you get a rough estimate for final cost incl vat+ customs processing fee.

Thinking abut adding a dual-use planetary / travel DSO camera to my gear and noticed the steep price difference between Player One's year-end offering on the manufacturer's website vs UK prices of basically any IMX585 cameras. I was wondering, has anyone ordered anything directly from them, how was the experience? I got import parcels before trough Royal mail, how are the other couriers (DHL, UPS, FedEx, TNT are the ones they're using)? The SVBony IMX585 camera is on sale at Amazon, but honestly I am less inclined to go with them... To my knowledge, the Uranus has the best heat transfer amongst the IMX585 planetary cameras, supposedly better than the ZWO.

I have an old Berlebach report and a Bexin ST-402C (can't see the type anymore, TC40 clone with bowl top), both should be up to the task in theory. I suspect some work will be needed around the tripod connection, i.e. adding locking grubscrews to the mounting plate and I'll see if I can do anything with the mount joints to reduce vibrations.

Ookay, another twist: Amazon has some real discount on the SV225, ended up at £98 with free shipping and free returns: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Svbony-Alt-Azimuth-Adjustable-Accessories-Observation/dp/B0CMGXXNC3 (20% voucher plus 10% promo code turned up). Still skeptical, but that's a fair price in case I want something for my c5 or return.

Ok, problem temporarily solved, figured that my old Pentax Giro WR (sry, link in German) is specified to 10kg/22lbs payload if counterweight added. I have used this with a heavy & long Sigma 150-600S (heavier edition, approx 3.1kg/8lbs) telephoto +DSLR and a 2.8/300 telephoto on the other arm, didn't know its limit. Will be testing when the new ota arrives, obviously first with a thick mattress underneath

The Chinese would still be a little cheaper. However, after watching THIS, showing terrible wobble in all directions under a 4" Tak, I am not sure if I want to go with this design at all. A 1800mm FL MAK will need more stability than that... Edit: figured that my old Pentax Giro WR (sry, link in German) is specified to 10kg/22lbs payload if counterweight added. I have used this with a heavy & long Sigma 150-600S (heavier edition, approx 3.1kg/8lbs) telephoto +DSLR and a 2.8/300 telephoto on the other arm, didn't know its limit. Will be testing when the new ota arrives, obviously first with a thick mattress underneath

The general rule if you spend over a certain amount (in the UK about £130ish) is that your courier company / post processes your parcel for customs, and issues you a bill on VAT and some processing charge. You can get lucky and for some reason the system doesn't charge you, but be prepared to add this cost. Below the threshold ebay/aliexpress is taking care of VAT payment, this saves you the processing fee. Recent years I made one such order, a carbon tripod from Ali: Ali price was about £140 and Royal Mail charged me a total of £42(!) which is IMHO more than it should be, but my time is worth more than a potential £10 for 3 hours of phoning various agencies and people. A tip: make sure the customs declaration from the seller side is done in your country's currency (I made a mistake here, I bought in $, because ali is charging about 5% conversion if you're paying in £, as a result the customs label contained a price in USD, likely the tax man just took 1:1 face value for his VAT calculation...)

Have you had a chance to test it under the sky? I am looking for a lightweight AZ mount, that could save me from buying a heavy and/or expensive bit form my Skymax 150 (will be around 8kg with all bells and whistles). Skytee is super-heavy (5.5kg), just as the ioptron AZ PRO (latter is expensive too). I have a solid carbon tripod, likely better than the stock SVBony unit. Have you ordered directly from SVBony? I can't get a civilized offers in the country, all retailers are quoting around double price tags and more. Thinking about importing it: https://www.svbony.com/sv225-alt-azimuth-telescope-mount/

OFF-topic: you can (and if you keep your gear outside you should) bag the setup as airtight as possible and put a kg or two dry silica, that'll keep humidity at bay. The shed itself needs ventilation though to avoid overheating in Summer.