Olli

Thanks for the info, looks like a great bag and handy you can attach the tripod like that. I’m heading off to wales in September to hopefully make use of a dark site so I will most likely get this .

I would like to get a chance at solar work seems quite fun. After reading a lot on the scope it seems most people have it on that mount so I’m looking forward to testing it out as it’s my first “go to” mount.

Thank you, I’m sure I’ll write a report once I get to use it.

Think you have all persuaded me to get the scope. Sounds like a great bit of kit. I’ve purchased it with the az gti and should hopefully be here on Saturday! Most expensive Astro purchase I’ve made, nervously excited!

Thank you for finding this for me. Will give it a proper read when I can the set up looks great, may need to get one of those bags eventually too.

That’s a great photo, amazing what the scope is capable of!

Hi Elp, I have been looking at the 61 too it seems like a big favourite around YouTube. It sounds like a great versatile scope. What mount do you use it on out of interest?

Thanks for the detailed response, this kind of sounds like my dream scope haha. The portability sounds great as I will probably be looking to take it away at some point. It’s great that you can still get good planetary views with it too. For diagonals are there any that you would recommend ? And also if I were going to attach it to a mount like the az pronto or gti will I need to buy a special dovetail ?

Hi ags, thanks for the reply that sounds pretty great. My skies are pretty dark so it’s why I’m tempted by a scope like thi. I was thinking if the 81 version but that might be a bit too expensive.

Hi all sorry it’s me again… first of all I just wanted to say thanks for the other post about replacing my dob. I was going to purchase a mak however I’ve unfortunately changed my mind and have to back track again. As I realised it wasn’t what I wanted. I think I’ve realised that what I want from a scope is low powered views which are crisp am but can still see the easier DSOs. So this has made me turn to the William optics zen 73. I understand that this is more of an imaging scope ( which I will also be using it for). But I just wanted to know what the views will be like from the scope? I’m not sure what mount I will be using it on will I need to purchase anything extra, for example a diagonal? Are there any others refractors in this price range that would be better? Apologies for the constant posts but I will be there soon … I hope! clear skies

Thank you everyone for the advice. I’ve gone ahead today and purchased the 127 mak on the az gti mount. Can’t wait to use it on the planets as well as the easier deep sky objects hopefully this will make me get my excitement back for Astronomy again.. Thanks again!

Thank you , that’s quite helpful. I probably should have searched on the site. Thanks though.

Hi all, I am looking at purchasing the az gti mount and have seen that it has a an equatorial mode. I just wanted to see if anyone has any experience using this and if so how good has it been for you? And if it has been used or astrophotography. Any info on this would be appreciated.

Thank you everyone for The advice I think I am going to go with the 127 mak though will read more into it but it looks like the best scope for me. I previously mentioned I had a az5 mount however it seems it’s the az pronto. Would this be sufficient for the mak or will I need to buy a new mount all together?

I appreciate the help, I am definitely leaning towards a 127. Will look at them more in depth. Which brand would you recommend? as there’s a sky watcher as well as a bresser model will have a look in the discussion forum.

Unfortunately this doesn’t get used and will be passed onto a friend who wanted a new OTA.

Would you say it’s worth upgrading to gti? Would be nice to have go to.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Sorry I forgot to mention the mount. With my 130ps I think it has a az5 mount so I’m not sure if that’s useful with the Mak? Before I got the dob I was very tempted by the maks as they do seem like a good choice. For the budge if it’s not too expensive the mount can be separate from the original price. Thanks again.

Hi all, I am unfortunately thinking of replacing my dobsonian as I just find it to awkward and heavy to carry and as a result is putting me off using the telescope and haven’t used it as much as I’d like. I understand that I probably won’t find a better deal than the 200p but I was wondering if you guys had any suggest that might be a good replacement? I’m looking for something that’s a bit more light weight and I can take travelling. though still powerful enough to give good views. I don’t have any particular targets that I enjoy looking at though I can be a bit obsessed with mars/ moon and star clusters. but I do enjoy trying to find the odd nebula and galaxy ( I know this isn’t probably very helpful) my price range is probably £300-350 I currently have a lot of equipment left over from my dob so I am okay on the eyepieces side of things. Hopefully with an easier set up I can find my passion for it again. Any help would be greatly appreciated. many thanks

Hi all, I am in the market for some binoculars and have a budget of around £100-£120. Hoping to find some that are pretty light weight which will only be used for stargazing. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

So I’ve been away from astronomy after having a serious kneed injury and just being busy with general life. Today it was the first time in ages that I wasn’t doing anything and it was a clear night. I didn’t have any targets in mind but I had just bought a Explorer Scientific 68 degree 24mm from FLO and wanted to try it out. At first I was just moving my dob aimlessly around the sky and just enjoying it and I suddenly came across a big circle of light and it was Saturn! I’d only seen it once before but the views were great with the 24mm I could make out the rings quite clearly and the views were very sharp. Then I noticed right next door was was Jupiter ( my favourite planet) and I could see all of its moons and see each band clearly even with the low power and could just make out the red dot. I must’ve spent a good half an hour or so looking at it as I was just blown away. Tried to find Andromeda as it’s one of my favourite galaxy’s to observe but unfortunately no luck. Was a nice short session and good way to get be back into it!

Hi Baz, that was the problem. I had used that Ariel before and seemed to be ok but used the top of a tree and managed to get it in focus. Thanks for the help.

I’ve loosened it up after I posted and it’s moving up and down now but the Ariel still isn’t in focus. Do you think it needs Collimating? I haven’t used it for a long time.

Hi i decided to take my scope out this morning to see if everything is ok with it as I hadn’t used it for over a year. While I was putting in the eyepiece I realised it wasn’t focusing.I have it lined up with an Ariel ( not near the sun) and when I try to get it to focus it simply won’t move. I have tried loosening the focus screw it works until I put the eyepiece in. Photo below is how I have it set up.

Hi I am just wondering if there are any groups based in West Sussex or if there’s any places that hold talks about astronomy. I know star gazers lounge usually holds meet ups but they are unfortunately to far away from me.