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The SW man on CN said the 150 will be only in standard ED PRO trim . This pre-owned 80 Equinox was sold by ENS, so at least its from a reputable dealer i.e. who will take returns. Optics look clean. Focuser fine. Retractable hood a bit loose in travel but no trouble otherwise. Came with the RDF. Most of my travel is surface, so weight not an issue, but I may paint the case or put it in a larger darker one.

Looks a good mount & tripod combo. What I need is a suitable mount, black preferably, for stealth stargazing.

The (rotatable) focuser might have to be detatched & packed separately & a lighter carrier needed. I have not weighed the whole OTA yet. But at the price not complaining. In its case I estimate 1/2 cwt with diagonal & a couple of eps.

New arrival. Heavier baby than expected. The Equinox family is complete, photo to follow.

More photos of Candy the CanDL later

I know @iPeacehas an AZ8 mount. The height of kit shown is 4 feet max. I would need to go to 6 feet min so another 5 x $100 height spacers in addition. €1775 + shipping. A lot of Skytees for that money! ? @JohnTeleskop Express have AZ8s reduced currently.

I like the "manhole cover" except its colour. Soft covers should be kevlar for Taks ?

Waiting for my 80 Equinox.....

Hmm. I like the TG cover for its greater depth. Also would be extra protection for the whole hood when carrying. Where can you buy one, as my FC would appreciate it ☺?

Found this thread linked from CN(!). I have an 80 Equinox (the baby ) to complete my family of 120, 100 & now the 80 for travel. So need a back pack for it, RACI & star 1.25 diagonals, semi-apo filter, a barlow, zoom & finder ep. Which leaves a stable enough mount & tripod. Would a SW Pronto be good enough, & what tripod to go with it then?

About right for that heavy tube ring

Following the plentiful advice, I mount my 120 Equinox on the side, on its own clamp, on its own head. It has the counterweight bar in line to balance the whole kaboodle. Big wide weight. A ST80 usually on the top acting as a finder. The other head is for DL Tak (on top, adequately counterweighted now) &/or 100 Equinox on the side or my C8, as the mood takes me. Usually though only one scope & an 80mm finder. My Tak is too expensive to risk taking to strange places, that's what 100 Equinox is for, or an ST.

Going by images alone what floats my boat most I think are prominences. Spots are black blobs. Surface detail is fascinating just to realise what it is, but prominences are drama! So given the expense of equipment, I personally would go for what gives the best visual prominence results, and enjoy what quality that gives to other features. Given the above, any recommendations?

They might be made by the same company but quality can be more upmarket. Celestron's CGEM II looks similar to a SW EQ6 variant (AZ EQ6 is tempting for the AZ Alt ability but both need to be checked physically before buying).

No more SW mounts! It is great heavy duty for heavy kit, but I am not impressed by the mechanics, particuarly how sensitive the slo mo tensions, grub screws, & other smaller bits are to work. If my Tak does take a fall, the 4 rings would protect its tube, hopefully absorb some shock. Photo below shows the holes each ring has on both top & bottom which allow stacking if wanted, useful for finders or even an eyepiece rack. Skytees do allow a Losmandy clamp to be fitted to either top or side, which I have noticed is almost exclusive to it. None of the T shape mounts seem to provide that option. Skytees also have threaded holes for 2 8mm bolts as well as 6mm on both pucks.

I would have been happy with 3, but they only sell in pairs..... Apart from better anchoring, more choice for mounting finders etc using a pair of rings at front & back. The Tak does not have a finder shoe as my SW fracs do each. Primaluce rings on (their) Losmandy bars attach with 2 or 3 bolts, much more secure than single bolt Vixen. Losmandy being broader gives support to the whole ring base and therefore also supports the whole weight of an OTA too.

Primaluce 95mm. Red yes but not bright but mid. I understand scope armour well!

Poor thing looks smothered in that clamp. ?

Although Celestron & SW are not like for like all the way through, are Celestron mounts & drives as well as scopes better quality than the SW versions? How does Celestron GOTO compare with SW?

? C'mon Stu, how could you forget who you sold such a great frac to?

That would be a great finder!

Cheap ones have fixed eps.

Would an optical path corrector as used for bino viewers 1.5x suffice to reach focus?

But you do for wheels & tyres I hope!

Periodic checks on all nuts, bolts, screws is part of running maintenance. For all things.