scitmon

I normally get around 0.7 rms while guiding after only using the polar scope of the az-eq6 for alignment, and I'm by no means experienced in this department. I use an app to tell me where to posistion polaris on the scope. Not sure what that would translate to for exposures unguided though.

This fills me with dread as well. Does doing this effect collimation?

Ah so there is some DIY involved... was hoping to avoid that.

Thats reassuring! I like the handle, may I ask where you got that? Also, did you do anything with the holes left behind by the original bar?

I'm currently looking into ways of mounting my dew controller/minipc plate onto my SW Skymax 180 for planetary imaging. I currently use it on my DSO imaging rig, mounting on a second dove tail bar, but I can't do this on my Skymax because it only has one dovetail bar, which is screwed onto the tube. My current thinking is to replace this dovetail with tube rings which will allow me to add a second dovetail bar. The only place I can find rings that come even close to the 219mm tube diameter (outside of custom made expensive ones) are https://www.orionoptics.co.uk/ACCESSORIES/tuberingsa.html#rolled My questions are: - Does anyone have experience with these rings? Is it possible to screw the standard SW dovetail bar to them? - If so, would I need to fill the holes left behind by the screwed on bar? Other suggestions are welcome

sold

Provisionally sold

I am selling my Skywatcher AZ GOTO Mount, along with a 5m Lynx Astro cable and Power Adapter. All original accessories and packaging are included. I would like £120 + postage costs. Collection from Leyland, Lancashire also available.

Astrophotgraphy can quickly become an expensive hobby, you should do it right the first time when it comes to your purchase choices. I agree with above that the HEQ5 mount is a minimum and normally goes well with a small short focal length refractor or a small to medium sized Reflector. The nexstars are more suited to small bright objects like planets. If your budget is really tight, perhaps you should consider using just your dslr camera with something like https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-star-adventurer/skywatcher-star-adventurer-astronomy-bundle.html

For what its worth, here is my current setup:

It's worth checking if you have "Windows 10 N"? With my experience as I mentioned above, the problem was with this version of Windows. It's an EU version of Windows 10 that I think is different because of the EU competition laws about things that are installed by default. My solution was to switch to a normal version of Windows 10. It was very wierd and frustrating.

Well first of all I think you have made the common 'newbie' mistake of buying a cheap telescope that you find in department stores and the like. While it maybe a ok telescope for looking at the moon for example, you may find the tripod its mounted on frustrating to use and the eye pieces it comes with are not very good. Before looking into buying accesories such as eyepieces etc I would consider replaceing your telescope with something from a dedicated retailer... for example: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes.html

Having just bought the Skymax 180 myself, I'll join!

I've had Windows Updates break my Camera in the past too, although for me it was with my Canon DSLR. Windows updates can be rolled back if you want to test this theory.

Hi Alan, looks like I might be doing this mod much sooner than I thought because I just purchased a Skymax 180! Is there some kind of guide on how to do this and what kind of SSD's it will take?