Olli

41 minutes ago, badhex said:

Very cool. Glad we could help! I look forward to a first light report 🙂

Re the bag (Thinktank Airport Essentials), again I can highly recommend. It's quite pricey but it's been absolutely worth every penny (same as the scope really!). The two leftmost items in microfibre bags are the AZ-GTi mount itself and a 2" diagonal, so you can actually fit everything you need except a tripod all in the one bag. For travelling I also bought a small carbon fibre tripod which is pretty sturdy for the size and can be strapped to the side. (n.b. not the one in the photo I originally sent, that's the standard AZ-GTi tripod but still pretty portable). 

Makes for a great little travel setup!

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 . 

1 hour ago, AdeKing said:

I currently have an older ZS70 and used to own the ZS66 that Ags now owns. 

They are excellent scopes, the ZS70 is my most used scope mainly due to its portability and rapid setup capability on an AZGTi mount.

I use mine mostly for WL Solar but frequently leave it set up after my solar session if it looks like a clear night is going to happen.

I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Ade

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.

6 hours ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

Congrats on your purchase . Its a great set up .

 

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!

8 hours ago, badhex said:

Here you go: wrote this observing report plus a bit on the travel kit setup not long after I first got it. Couple of pics below as well. 

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!

7 minutes ago, Elp said:

Not what you're looking at but I've got a Z61, it's such a versatile scope. It was my first serious astro purchase after buying a cheapish Newtonian which didn't work, and a cheap Skywatcher Capricorn which gave me decent views and experience with an eq1 mount which lead me onto more serious things. With it I've viewed Jupiter which was super sharp, Saturn which was hard to believe what I was seeing (a small dot surrounded by a ring), imaged both as well as the moon and sun (with Baader and Seymour film and a quark) and moved onto a fully autoguided lightweight travel AP rig imaging nebulae from my backyard. The focuser is excellent, and the scope is so small. It's so useful I don't think I'll ever sell it even with scopes such as the Red/Spacecat on the market I prefer the 61. I'm sure the larger aperture WO scopes will be even better as larger apertures give brighter views (plus more light gathering for imaging).

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?

7 minutes ago, badhex said:

I am a visual only observer; I have a ZS73 and I genuinely cannot think of anything bad to say about it. Maybe that the built in temperature gauge is a bit pointless? 

Optically punches well above its weight, brilliant, crisp widefield views and surprisingly good for planetary despite the relatively short focal length. The build quality is fantastic with a lot of small but important finishing touches that set it apart from some others. 

The small form factor also means it is very portable and doesn't require a giant mount to keep it steady. I've taken it on holiday to Italy several times, various domestic holidays (I live in Germany), the UK and even island hopping round Greece to Bortle 3 skies. 

I'll see if I can dig out my first light and post here for you!

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 ?

3 minutes ago, Ags said:

I have a Zenithstar 66, and under dark skies it shows many DSOs exceptionally well. For example, i was recently viewing M47 and M46 in the same field, or the Leo Triplet. Of course a very low powers it frames a big object like the Pleiades or M31 with enough surrounding sky for context. It has also given very enjoyable planetary and lunar views, and lots of solar fun with a Herschel Wedge. It is also a nice size for a daytime spotting scope. Did I mention is shows off some of the birghter double stars really well? A ZS73 would be similar I expect.

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!

11 minutes ago, Shimrod said:

There is quite a big discussion on this mount and it's use for astrophotography here: 

It should give you all the answers you need.

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?

1 hour ago, OK Apricot said:

Absolutely! Once I manged to get my head together and carry out a good alignment, the gotos are spot on and the tracking very reasonable. Seems just as robust as the AZ5 in my experience and its smaller so more portable. Obviously you'd need power and connectivity (handset or mobile app). 

Check out the AZ GTi owners thread in the mounts discussion forum, loads of info and help to be had there - helped me massively. 

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. 

3 hours ago, Ricochet said:

You already have a 130ps? Does that get use and if it does what are you looking for in the new scope that the 130ps doesn't give you? 

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

23 minutes ago, OK Apricot said:

I got mine with an AZ5, very sturdy and smooth on the controls, you won't have any issues. I went to the AZ GTi for the Goto. 

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!

24 minutes ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

Hi,

If the ariel is on a roof close to your proximity you wont get focus. You should try to focus on something 100-200mtrs away ideally.

Regards

 

Baz

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.

4 minutes ago, IB20 said:

Did you accidentally lock the focus with that central screw at the base?

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.