Stu1smartcookie

Well , i can only really comment on the 127 Mak ... which i have owned , er , twice ...lol . Its a really nice compact scope that fits very well on the az-gti . And as planets and luna are its forte , it would be a great buy ... especially now when Jupiter and Saturn are so well placed , from here anyway . Stu

Stick to the paths them pleeeeeeeease !!!!!

looks great ... but please cut the grass ... you could trip over in that thick lush green stuff .. i am feeling anxiety with that Tak in mind.

The AZ-Gti is certainly a good , compact mount , agreed . The Mak 127 mm is ok for certain DSO's but has a very narrow field of view (FOV) ... yes the AZ-GTi can be converted to EQ mode but you need to factor in buying a wedge ! I have an 8" sct and its a great scope , but the mount , hmmm , a bit "iffy " although it does the job . The fact remains that the bigger the aperture , the better . But , the 127 and GTi mount is a good package and will serve you well . The choice is yours .

Ok so to put my limited knowledge to some use ... the 127 SW Mak apparently has a slightly less that 127 mm aperture ...so in effect the difference may be more than 1" . Both will give fine planetary views . The corrector plate on the front of the C6 is thinner than the plate on the mak . Both are "Dew Magnets " Larger Aperture invariably is better Maks tend to hold collimation better ( imo) You do get a bit of mirror shift in the mak . Stu

Indeed it is , but , i find it a bit of a pain to use in manual mode , I am looking at maybe another skytee 2 mount , then I can get another long frac to put on the other side lol 👍

Great images 👍 @Ags

Simply the best time of day , early morning at this time of year when it's clear .. I'm a bit annoyed that I didn't make the effort , especially as I planned to do so this weekend . I really need a manual az mount though as I reckon the neighbours would have been annoyed at a motorised mount whirring . Great report , and a reminder that astronomy can be simple and relaxing and rewarding without electronic gadgets .

Nice clear evening , full moon , but Jupiter is giving it's best for me even this early . The four bright moons are in close order to the planet and I spotted a very faint star to the upper left of Europa , when I zoomed in on the sky portal map it's the 9th mag star HD473 , a maybe insignificant spot , but a nice find nontheless. Using a 17mm plossl EP . A few very high clouds about but the planets and moon don't seem to mind . 21:43 .. Ganymede now really close to Jupiter , great sight 21:58, Ganymede occulted by Jupiter . This is the first time I've witnessed a live occultation. A quick look at the moon and then a look at the star Scheat in Pegusus , a real beauty, glowing orange , onto Andromeda , it is the best I've seen it recently but I tend to get more out of other galaxies as far as visual goes , the cigar galaxy never disappoints and that is the case tonight . A look at M2 , not too bright but then again the moon is putting most other things in the shade , a last look at Albireo and it's companion , always a lovely way to end a session . In at 22:30 , and getting warm .. quite chilly out there tonight , but a good evening .

When you've updated the firmware you need to place the scope on the right hand side of the mount in Alt Az mode , not on the left as per the original firmware . Apologies if thats something you've already tried , but it is a common mistake to make Stu

Hi Peter , really nice image ... i didnt even look or notice the outer stars before i read the line above . The image looks really natural and not over processed , nice one .

Last night was as weird as it was unexpected as the skies over cambridgeshire cleared , but the wind was still quite strong . i decided to "give it a go" . The moon looked fantastic and i was able to test the SVBony 9-27 on our near neighbour . All very crisp and clear although the moon is a little low at present . Jupiter was ok although a little "in and out" due to the conditions . Saturn was a little better as it was higher earlier in the evening . As for DSO's , the usual suspects in the EP , M82 and M81 are easy targets that are quite bright , M31 M57 ,M27 . Orion for me is too late but i am able to catch it at 5.30 am , so possibly a nice weekend target , skies permitting .

I think we all assume that using equipment such as an EQ mount is somehow prohibitive and devilishly hard to do for a newcomer to Astronomy . It may look a complicated set up but in reality when it IS set up its a breeze to use . BUT , i for one favour the alt az design of mount for even more simplicity . The Newt on an AZ mount with the EP staying at a good angle is by far the best reason , as suggested by @Ratlet. I know the "Dob Brigade " get a " oh here they go again" reputation , but that design has stood the test of time and its simplicity is its forte , and lets face it , the more people that enter the Astronomy realm ,where the main talking points are what they see rather than how difficult the equipment was to use , the better . If we had our first purchase all over again , what would you or i choose ? For the record , i probably would choose an 8" Dob .

Just packed up for the night , begrudgingly due to work tomorrow, but a good evening . Jupiter at its best for me tonight with more detail than that I’ve seen recently , Saturn was fine but the Cassini was barely visible and only in rare moments .M57 , 31 , 81 and 82 . Onto a few doubles which didn’t disappoint . I used the Celestron 8-24 zoom throughout the evening . To be honest the best magnification I could use for the planets was the 12mm setting which gave me around 170 x , in the 8SE . Anyway , a good evening of visual .

For the price the RVO Barlow is superb

Hi @Bettyboop just a thought , if the device you are using to connect via wifi has other wifi connections that are constantly trying to connect it will play havoc with the wifi connection to your mount ... thats what i had an issue with . Now i use an ipad specifically for the mount and it stays connected . I suppose this supports Dave's theory above .

Having bought both these zoom EPs this week i though i would give a quick comparison as to where they sit in the EP food chain . So , firstly its more or less like for like , both EPs covering the same (ish) focal lengths . BUILD QUALITY Both are constructed well and give a pleasing weight , not too heavy but substantial enough , contructed from metal . The SVBony feels a bit more premium , almost baader like with its twist up eye cup and nice rubber grip around the centre . That rubber grip is needed though because out of the two the Celestron has by far the easier to operate zoom mechanism . Sometimes one ends up twisting the whole EP in the case of the SVB which is a bit unerving . The celestron is much smoother , but i did find the lack of a twist up eye cup a bit of a disapointment . One good feature of the celestron though is that it has a thread on the top of the EP below the rubber Eye guard that can connect to a T-ring , enabling direct camera use . So i will give the SVB the edge when it comes to build quality CONTRAST ,SHARPNESS AND BRIGHTNESS Well we are not going to get the brightest views whilst using a zoom EP but i did find both EPs gave bright enough views , sharpness was ok but of course its not only down to the EP but to other conditions as well . When looking at Jupiter i found the best views were actually near the lower powers of the eye pieces , with very clear views . I changed the mirror diagonal for a prism and views of the planet were better in both EPs . I think this area produces a tie ... i couldnt distinguish a difference between the two . EYE RELIEF AND VIEWING ANGLE Eye relief was good on both EPs but we are talking 40 - 60 degrees here of viewing angle . But thats ok, as you wont be buying zoom EPs to cover really low powered wide angle views of the likes of the Plaides etc . Once again equal results from both THE ALBIREO TEST I used Albireo and its companion to see if one eyepiece gave better colour correction . in the event both EPs gave really nice views with the colours of the stars being well pronounced . Nice Equal AS GOOD AS THE BAADER ZOOM? Hmmm , there is the saying that you get what you pay for and i find this to be the case here , but these EPs do the job . The FOV is the big difference between them and the Baader . I can say that the Baader would be a zoom EP that you want to use everynight , and would come close to replacing set focal length EPs , whereas the SVB and Celestron would be definitely suplimentary EPs . Nothing wrong in that of course as they are 2.5 x cheaper and have their place in your collection RESULT This is difficult , i really wanted to find a definitive winner here but i cant ... Maybe the SVB takes it with its "premium " feel but in essence both EPs do the job and will give satisfactory viewing if the conditions allow . Lets just say , they are good reasonably priced alternatives .

Good advice

This little Baader reducer arrived safely and very speedily today , many thanks @vernmid. Well packed and in “as new” condition.

The Amazon man brought 2 EPs … today was the turn of the Celestron 8-24 … yesterday the SVBony 9-27 arrived … tonight will be a comparison a duel to decide the king of budget (ish) zooms .. and it’s going to be mainly clear here tonight , which does help of course . winner takes all !

I was looking at one of these diagonals myself ... Looks nice

Hi a Prism diagonal is better suited to longer focal length scopes , such as your Mak ... Have a look at a YouTube video by BD Observatory . He discusses this in detail A mirror diagonal is better suited to shorter focal lengths Stu

lovely , the AZ4 is a really nice sturdy mount , wish i never sold mine ... hmmm , better look on FLO , RVO etc etc.. i feel a purchase coming on !

Set up the scope at around 9pm after a passing shower and hoped to get a good view of Jupiter and Saturn . It looked really clear out there but in essence it was terrible . I was trying out a new zoom EP from SVBony ( 9-27) but the images were really soft . Saturn in particular was , as people have already commented, “mushy” .. it almost looked out of focus ! Jupiter gave a bit more but only the main bands were visible , I did get my first glimpse of the GRS however it was not the clearest and overall the seeing conditions spoilt the session . Managed a better view of M31 though . I think I need to invest in a quality prism diagonal rather than mirror diagonal I use . out early this morning and caught Orion and Mars and Antares … along with the plaides . These were all with the eye rather than the scope but somehow all the more pleasing for it .

So many times we see photos with the core overblown , its a difficult target , your image is really well managed . Nice one