ericleo1

I only paid £140 second hand for a Skywatcher 130 and want to upgrade the eyepieces without breaking the bank. I only do observational astronomy and am keen on looking at doube stars and star clusters. What would you recommend? The StellaLyra 15mm superview looks an option?

2 years on from this post and I have had the same issue. It is clearly a flaw in the design of the mount which is otherwise robust. I extended the length of the spring by inserting a metal pin thereby increasing the tension but the idea that the whole mechanism is dependent on a small spring is the issue. Poor design; a weakness as you should not get any rocking of the OTA on scopes and you do with this set up. [5/01/21] I have tightened the large bolt which compresses the spring and this seems to have 'fixed' it. The movement in declination is pretty restricted but manageable with out any shake.

Forgot to say I prefer Alt-Az mount - I can always search for maksutov + mount - thanks

THanks very much for your advice. I imagine the cost though, will be more than the Skywatcher?

I'm impressed by this book and only want a scope for visual observation which gives the North at the top so I can use the star maps in Turn Left. I dont want to go much beyond £150 and wonder if the Skywatcher Startravel refractor AZ3 (80mm lens) would be okay for double star splitting in an urban area? PS> Ive had scopes in the past but am in my 70s now and would only use a scope now and then.

Excellent pics- I looked at the Sywatcher 130p-DF with a view to buy but what is the cheapest mount you cd use with it? (without going motorised?)