Stu1smartcookie

Out for what seems like the first time in weeks … the Williams Optics ZS81 sitting on the nexstar mount .. clouds coming and going but the Beehive looking resplendent. Plaides were nice too … colour correction on the scope is great ( first light for this beauty) . Tracking is better and better thanks to the mounts “sync” control . A good evening

A friend of mine has just told me this very sad news regarding Alyn. I , like everyone , am stunned by his passing . Sending thoughts to his family and friends .He will be greatly missed by us all . RIP

Lol it could be the moon, although nobody really knows what it looks like anymore.

I would like to have a Tak in my collection, but i am not sure even a Tak can cut through the incessant rain and cloud. In reality i am quite happy with my three scopes . Different focal lengths and ratios . I might even get to use them one night lol

The unacceptable side of buying used , i think most of us have had shall we say questionable purchases .I really hope you are able to sort everything out .

Shout out to RVO who without drama sorted an issue and sent out a replacement item all within 24 hours . That’s great service from a company that knows how to treat their customers. Together with Widescreen Centre I find both a pleasure to deal with . The key is being actually able to communicate verbally . Emails are all well and good but they often cannot convey the right tone . And often are perceived to be rude . Well done Adam and the crew at RVO .

Sometimes you define a company on how they put things right . The DPD man brought me two items , a polar scope for my AVX and an Aux splitter ! But I ordered a polar scope and an Astro gadget Celestron WiFi module !!! RVO , were quite rightly full of apologies and were going to send the correct item out … As luck would have it , we are travelling to Yorkshire tomorrow!!! So , a trip to RVO is now part of the route .

I dont think you were a tad hasty , Ian ... you outlined perfectly why the EP didnt work for you mate . I second what you have written . What do we say " horses for courses" ?

This EP has been around for some time and generally gets rave reviews , i owned one briefly but , even though i dont wear specs small top lens was a bit prohibitive . I did like the "click stop" though and it seemed really well constructed . Compared to the cost of the TV its a no brainer buy as our sky in the UK doesnt have the best clarity for the majority of time ( no matter how good your optics are , the atmosphere is a bit of a leveller) . At 3mm though through my 180Mak with a Focal length of 2700 ( x900 mag) its shall we say a bit of a no go . 🤣 But SVBony do make great gear and i reckon its a real winner .

Mr DPD brought me my latest aquisition ... An AVX mount , fresh from the FLO warehouse ... still boxed and in the car so no pics , but hey , we know what they look like don't we . Hopefully i can get some nice Moon photos with my 180 Mak . Using a 10mm EP with that Mak on a mount without tracking was akin to seeing a Formula One car race by a small window at 200mph ! UPDATE Unboxing was the usual " what the hell am i going to do with all this packaging " .. Slight issue with the motor cover which tbh is cheap plastic. It was broken where one of the screws fastens it onto the mount , but , as no plastic was missing i was able to glue the offending part and now its fixed . Shouldn't have to do such stuff and it did wind me up but , all's well etc . Of course i tried a few dummy runs and , using sky safari as a reference found that my alignment was very good . One thing that did please me was the sound of the mount whilst slewing . I seem to remember my last mount was quite loud whereas this one seems a fair bit quieter, maybe thats just me imagining it , but i'm happy .

lol... you certainly can tell when the sky is cloudy . Posts like this appear . Have to say i cannot remember a time when i drink anything whilst using the scope , but if i were to then it would be tea . I do have some lovely Georgian wine in the house which i will save for when i am having a very relaxed evening without worrying about incoming clouds or rain .

Many thanks for the above . I am not too confident regarding taking the 180mm apart at present but i think rings are a good idea . As for flocking etc , hmmm i'm a little hesitant but as they say , never say never .

Ok , so , AVX ordered from FLO ... for a delivery ( hopefully) tomorrow .

what size rings are those please

As i have sort of settled on planetary /Luna viewing i think i am going to try BinoViewers (again) . Firstly i think they take the pressure away from using one eye but also , despite a slight brightness limit , i think the overall experience can only be positive . Not for everyone of course .

It seems the AVX gets a lot of love... Payload is good , price is good , and the ability to limit the slew speed .

Thats a great shout ( or whisper if we are talking about reducing noise ) , Many thanks for that .

Well well well , the weather geeks have done it again .. got it wrong of course .. meant to be cloudy all evening but there is enough clear sky and the seeing is absolutely perfect.. in fact I’ve never seen Sirius so still . The moon is the star of the show with plato looking resplendent . A happy Smartcookie just sitting outside . I left my 180 Mak outside for just over an hour before use . It proved to be a winner .

well , thanks to the three of you for your input here ... all valuable advice . From my perspective Cost = AVX EQ + AZ = Az-EQ5 Simple alignment and practicality including inbuilt power = Ioptron Eq doesnt really bother me , i like visual astronomy but i cant get over the fact that the avx is 400 pounds cheaper than the skywatcher . The "silent " running on the ioptron is a real plus point , the last avx i tried briefly was a bit noisy ( but that may have been down to other factors ) . WATCH THIS SPACE guys . Many thanks Stu

i reckon my scopes are a little heavy for it and in the case of the Newt a little "clumsy" . I really do like the Ioptron , everything tells me to buy it but i still keep coming back to the AVX I honestly hate choice 🤣

i reckon its around 8.0 kgs but i also have a 200mm newt that is around the same ( ish)

I think the Hem 15 ids a good bet ... where did you get yours ? Flo have not got them in stock .

Gus , i like the AVX , its also a really good price and is very sturdy

Heather thats really helpful , many thanks ... have to wait for it to ship though , mind you its a real saving

its really only between those three mounts ... the ioptron with the tripod and the az-eq5 are nuch the same price but the AVX is soooo much cheaper