Trikeflyer

Was the steel track focuser easy to fit without any fettling? Steve

Yes the focuser is the key to great viewing I think. Might have to consider the upgrade to the steel track as well based on what you are saying. Mmmm thanks John, this scope is now firmly on my radar. I’d have to sell the Equinox 120 to fund it but that could happen when all the madness is over. Thanks Steve

Now I want one of those TS classic cassegrain scopes John. They seem like great lunar / planetary scopes. How do they do on globular clusters and planetary nebulae? Is collimating easy? I might consider selling my 120 equinox if they are as good as you say! I like the fact that there is no image shift as well. Are there any downsides?? Steve

I’m pretty sure sky safari allows you to produce and sort an observing list by magnitude. Steve

You can find some bargains on the used market and if your budget is limited, you might get more bang for buck. I have no affiliation to this link and it may not even be still available, but it’s an example of what you can get used. https://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=158446 Steve

Welcome to the hobby. Great start on the moon. Views of planets are greatly influenced by how high in the sky they are. In the UK at the moment, Jupiter and Saturn are pretty low down meaning you have a lot of atmosphere to look through and this generally spoils the levels of detail you can see. They are going to be low for a few years here so, yes you will be able to see them but perhaps not in great detail. The scope you have should perform well in the 100x mag range - using the 10mm supplied eyepiece and this should allow you to see the gas giant planets but as I say due to their position, you may not get stunning views like you have of the moon. That said, best way to find out is to have a look. Good luck and enjoy. Steve

Well I wish my ‘long’ sketches were as good as your quick ones. Great work and thanks for sharing. I enjoyed reading about the DZ as well. Look forward to hearing and seeing more. Steve

Probably best to measure them to check. You are right, they don’t look centred but it’s tricky to judge with camera angles etc. Either use a ruler or draw a circle on some card, that’s the same diameter as the end of the tube where the wires are mounted and with the centre marked on the card, check if it lines up with where the wires cross. Steve

I have the Es 24 82. It’s good but not amazing. The optics are nice and I enjoy the wide field, but it’s very heavy and quite bulky. I wear glasses when observing and the eye relief is tight because the eyepiece lens is a little recessed into the barrel so I find I’m always right up against the rubber eyecup when observing. This may not be a problem for you, but I just point it out. If I had the money and was starting again, knowing what I know now, I probably wouldnt buy this eyepiece again. I haven’t used any of the green and blacks so can’t really comment on them. Steve

Thanks Ade, yes I use this mount with a 120 equinox which I think weighs about 9kg+ with all the paraphernalia - weight for this scope is not a problem. With this scope I do need the ioptron pier extension otherwise the scope would hit the tripod on initial mount auto alignment. I have actually used it with an 8 inch revelation newt that all up weighs about 13kg and it is ok apart from taking time to get the balance point right and the slight vibration when adjusting focus which does settle pretty quickly but is annoying it works pretty well. Steve

Glad you got to see it. It was the first for me too. Sadly I won’t be around to see the next Venus transit and I missed the last one as i5 was way before my Astro hobby started. Thanks for posting the pic.

I have an Altair starwave 80mm Ed and that has 53 glass - it cost more than the 102 above so I think yes this must be 51 glass. Here is the 53 glass version https://www.altairastro.com/Starwave-102ED-FPL53-Refractor.html Steve

Sorry to hear about your experience with the mount Ade. Mine has been pretty good so far so I may have been lucky. I had the whole Ioptron set up including the tripod so maybe mine just fitted together well because it was all Ioptron kit. The sky safari 6 working is because the firmware is the last but one on your mount - mine worked fine with sf6 until I upgraded the firmware to the latest. So if you want to continue with sf6 don’t upgrade the firmware. The new firmware is fine with sf5. I must admit if I had seen the Rowan mount pre buying the Ioptron, I might have held out for one - they do look well put together even the prototype. Like everyone I’m waiting to hear more from the tests being carried out. That said, my ioptron mount has performed well except for the sf6 hiccup so I can’t say I’m unhappy with it. It pretty much hits the target every time once it’s aligned and it tracks pretty well too. Like others have said, I’m sure FLO will either fix or exchange it for you and hopefully soon. Steve

I just got these https://www.firstlightoptics.com/opticron-binoculars/opticron-imagic-tga-wp-7x50-binoculars.html For the money they are a good all rounder, light weight, easily hand held. Not bad during the day or at night. I’m very pleased with them. Obviously not 10x50 so if you’ve set your heart on 10x50 they won’t be what you want, that said, if your open to other options, at this price you can’t go wrong. Good luck in the final decision. Steve

+1 for the Ed 120. I have an equinox 120 and it’s nice. I only do visual. Second hand you could get one for the price of a new 80mm if you look out and are not in a rush to get one. steve

You might just need some adjustment on the tensions. There is a thread about this on cloudy nights but let Rob check it out. Glad your impressed. Enjoy SGL

Did you get your AZ Pro mount sorted Ade? Steve

I looked this afternoon in white light and couldn’t see it. Hopefully, it will be visible at some point before the weather breaks. Steve

I want to test if AP is Something to consider investing time and money into. 😂😱🤔 Before I get into image capture and all the financial, emotional and time investment that entails, I thought it’d be a good idea to try processing first to see if I get the same “buzz” that others do. I know that this isn’t full AP and that for true imagers, the capture is part of the experience and fulfilment. That said, it is for me a potentially low cost and interesting way to enter the world of AP. I believe there is a wealth of online raw data from many sources these days? Including NASA! I have no experience of anything AP related whatsoever though so can anyone recommend good raw data sources and secondly, the “simplest” processing software to start with that comes with a free trial and reasonable youtube (or other explanatory) lessons and that would allow me to test out whether AP is something I want to invest time and money into. Thanks Steve

Thanks Ian for taking time to provide such a detailed review. I also have some 15x70’s which I use on a parallelogram mount. Sounds like you are happy with them and now I’m looking forward to giving them a go. I’ll post an update once I’ve given them a good workout. Steve

Just decided to take advantage of these Opticron 7x50 Imagic as FLO have them on offer. Hopefully they’ll do an ok job, I’m not expecting miracles for that money but thought I’d take a punt. Anybody have any feedback on them - good or bad? I’m hoping to get some nice Nikon’s for Xmas but couldn’t turn these down at that price. Steve

Yes I am. There are others on here who are members too and I sure they will reply to this post if they see it. I don’t get along to all the meetings but if you want to come along let me know and I can at least put you in touch with someone who will be there when you come along. We pretty much always get scopes out if the weather permits. We have 2 meetings each month, one mid month for observing and one at the end of the month for a talk and some observing. Hope that helps Steve

Hi and you have Chosen a great all round scope. Regarding accessories 1. 6mm eyepiece - If you can stretch to it, I recommend the vixen slv for lunar and planetary https://www.firstlightoptics.com/vixen-eyepieces/vixen-slv-eyepieces.html It will give you a magnification of 200x which is more than enough and may even be too much. A 3mm will probably be overkill at this stage. If you get a 2x Barlow, then you will be able to turn your 6mm into a 3mm on nights of exceptional seeing. Regarding moon filters, there are many opinions about the value - or not- of an neutral density filter. I have one but never really use it. They are good to cut out light from a full moon but you’ll soon get to know that full moon observing with a scope doesn’t show lots of detail. I Would suggest try viewing without any filters and see how it goes. Although there are many brands of collimators and Cheshire’s, a basic one will do the job pretty well (as per your link above) if you want something slightly “better” then this is the option https://www.firstlightoptics.com/other-collimation-tools/premium-cheshire-collimating-eyepiece.html either will do the job pretty well, the slightly more expensive one has some extra features that are nice butnot essential. Barlows again there is a wide range, like all thinks Astro, the law of dismissing returns applies meaning that you can pay a lot more for little improvements. You could get either of these depending on your budget https://www.firstlightoptics.com/barlows/bst-starguider-2x-short-barlow-lens.html https://www.firstlightoptics.com/barlows/astro-essentials-125-2x-barlow-with-t-thread.html Hope that helps Steve

Here is a scientific paper that might help give you an idea of your pupil size based on age. Might not be perfect but should give you a good idea. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20506961 Steve

Glad you had a good night. Many great targets with some challenges. Certainly feels good when you can bag as many as that in a session after not being out for a few days. As I read your report, it sounded familiar as the targets you listed are many of those I seem to choose. Steve