Stu1smartcookie

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

I need a tracking mount , mainly for my 180 Mak . I only do visual but of course want to tak a few nice images of the Moon and Planets . The question is ... What Mount to get ? I have a couple of options , ( 3 in fact) An AVX , a skywatcher AZ-EQ5 and the Ioptron AZ- Pro . Cost suggests the AVX but its a bit noisy ( i have neighbours with small kids ) My personal preference is the ioptron but i loathe having to buy the Lite Roc Tripod for £274 to mount it on ( unless anyone can suggest a way i can use my stella lyra wooden tripod ) The az-eq5 looks a good as it does bothe Eq and alt az and can handle both my 8" newt and the 180 mak . Any thoughts ? Stu

My advice to the op is "go for it" I, like @Elp have had great views of planets in small scopes , small but sharp. I used an evostar 72 ed . More importantly , do what you want in this hobby , nobody should judge you .

I actually maentioned this topic in one of my posts as i am usually a right eye viewer . But when i tried my left eye it actually made the image brighter . But getting used to observing with the left eye is very difficult . Maybe bino viewers is a good idea ?

Finally clear in Cambridgeshire.. but I got the scope out a bit late . The moon looks fantastic though . Stars not so as the scope is not properly cooled . Having said that , Uranus is about 11 o’clock from Jupiter .. about half way to the plaides , and is showing its distinctive colour . Just good to get outside after what seems like weeks of cloud and rain .

Plus 1 for the above ... i have just bought a 180 Mak and already i am seeing DSO's that i thought i wouldnt see due to the "experts" narrow viewpoint ( pun absolutely intended ) .

I think once you have a diagonal and an EP and an RDF or some other type of finder you will be getting to the upper limits but the good thing is , the c6 is quite short so it should be ok

Hi , The C6 scope is a real winner as is the Starsense , The only weak link is the mount .... But , the C6 Is a light scope and i'm sure it will be a great set up .

Out last night for about an hour with the 8”newt but the highlight for me was spotting the beehive cluster in cancer . Lovely . I’ve never seen it before without optics so I was delighted to spot it . Obviously points the scope to it but really needed a really wide eyepiece to fully appreciate it . Ended up looking through the 8x50 finder scope which really showed it off Forward to tonight : Just set the Mak outside to cool but caught a glimpse of the crescent moon . Predictably a bit low on contrast as it was still light , around 4:30 . Tonight will be Jupiter and Uranus . And a bit of Orion ..I think it’s due to be clear until 9pm . Got to take these moments when we can .

I agree with you … let’s take sport as an example here … if you play football you are a footballer … you may play full time for a club in the national league but you are still a footballer.. if you play in the premier league you are still a footballer. The difference is just doing the same thing but at different levels . Astronomer encompasses all levels , although the word ameteur usually means you are not getting paid it also lends itself to being a hobby .

I bought and quite quickly sold the seestar . For the first few nights it was aweinspiring ... amazing ,"look at what i can see ". But i didnt see it , did i ? A camera saw it and was able to give me an image on my phone in seconds . Still very impressive of course and something i should have embraced as i dont have the patience to sit teasing details out from Photoshop or the like . I found it all a rather soul less experience in the end . Having said that , putting a camera on a star tracker and manually pointing at an object you hope is going to be in the FOV ,painfully trying to get the iso right and more importantly the focus ,and then back to the computer to process the image , trying to get the colour scheme right to concur with photos from others . NOT FOR ME . I do have a dwarf 2 scope but it rarely gets an outing . My astronomy is built on visual , call me old fashioned , call me what you like come to think about it lol. The above is not a rant , but a personal experience that i went through to end up with the way i embrace the hobby . So , back on track ... if you like a bit more of a challenge , and a greater choice of targets because the Seestars has issues with framing . If you like heavily processing your images , sometimes for hours on end and if you like a bit of G&G Visual , you've already made the right choice . If you think you want to just level the scope turn on the Seestar/Dwarf etc and let it callibrate , press your phone or tablet a few times and then sit back in the warm watching , i must admit , magical photo build up in front of your eyes without too much input , there is NOTHING wrong in that at all . I reckon you made the right choice when you bought your gear . Just my opinion of course .

Cue Carry On Spaceman movie .

Ok so lets look at both terms Stargazer ... a media favourite word ... conjurs up a person open mouthed looking up in awe . I can see the headline " stargazers in for a treat as Meteors set to light up the sky " ... i hate it ! Ameteur Astronomer ... a nerdy term for some but a term that implies seriousness and gives our hobby credability . ... I love it !

A walk in Ely this evening , the clouds parted just enough to see some stars

nice one Laurance ... something i am looking at as well

I recognise that scope ... its certainly found a wonderful home

Just to add to this thread , I used to use a counterweight even in Alt-Az mode with the GTi , and also i have used a "z" bracket which i bought from TS optics . This enabled the scope to sit above the mount and i had a counterweight on the other end giving perfect balance . There is cause for concern if you add too much weight , especially on such a mount as the AZ-GTi , however .

No need to feel like that ( although understandable in the circumstances ) , i'm sure the seller is very happy that you will get the use from the camera