Stu1smartcookie

5 hours ago, Hadi Jafar said:

Hahaha and that is why deciding it making it a bit difficult. Thank you very much @Stu1smartcookie really appreciate your input do tell if you have more that would be easier for me to decide 😁 

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

3 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Sore point. My lawnmower went in for repairs 4 weeks ago. I just called them again and it’s still not done 👎🏻

Stick to the paths them pleeeeeeeease !!!!!

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

Leofoto Carbon fibre tripod for air travel set-up courtesy of @Second Time Around

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 

5 minutes ago, Astro_Dad said:

Isn’t the Celestron Evolution mount capable of manual use? (unlike the NexStar versions?). 

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 👍

7 hours ago, Ags said:

I was out shooting sequences of Jupiter tonight, but there were a few naked-eye visual treats. Jupiter and the Moon were very close together in the sky, and I saw Mars for the first time this year, much to my surprise. Instantly recognizable and very red - but it was twinkling so I knew seeing in that direction was quite bad. I couldn't resist a couple of quick processes of the data to see if all was ok before going to bed...

I need Mars higher and closer for my C6, but happy to capture a bit of detail already despite the liquid seeing.

Great images  👍  @Ags

1 hour ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

Out at 4am with one target in mind, this season's first observations of Mars. Opting for simplicity (and stealth...), I chose the Altair f7 102 refractor & the AZ5 plonked straight out onto the patio and a comfy rattan chair.

With excellent seeing I managed up to 178x with a Vixen SLV 4mm. The planet displayed a shadow phase in the western limb and hints of Mare Acidalium(?). I wasn't expecting much but nonetheless, considering the current size of Mars in the sky and using a 4" telescope I was happy with those observations for starters. I had a few breaks, sitting back and despite the bright sky enjoyed the naked eye view of Pleiades, Hyades and Orion. Sirius popping out from behind the neighbouring houses topped off the autumnal atmosphere.

At 5.30am the kit was packed up as Mars drifted into a dispersing aircraft contrail... A nice peaceful ninety minutes.

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 .  

20 minutes ago, AstroQ said:

Hi all I've just updated my firmware to the latest version with eq mode as I've just brought the wedge.but now my scope is upside down in alt az mode like it's switched from left to right.

Any help would be greatly appreciated 

Many thanks 

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

12 hours ago, PeterC65 said:

The reducer does turn many of the outer stars into kidney beans but the view of M31 (and M110 and M32) was the best I've ever seen it ..

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 . 

28 minutes ago, Mandy D said:

A nice bright and shiny Vixen style clamp and an RVO x2 2 inch barlow. I already had the nice case to put them in ... Just need some clear skies now to try the barlow on Jupiter or the Moon.

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 . 

56 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

If you do get one then remove the sides to paint the internal sides matt black as they come silver!

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 ! 

58 minutes ago, Paul M said:

A birthday present to pimp my Mak.

The Celestron 127 stock rear fitting and diagonal leave a lot to be desired so these should make it a nicer visual experience. 

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

55 minutes ago, cloudsweeper said:

Yes Paul - I was impressed with this arrangement, in the astro-shed, ready to go.  The 8SE, Dob, and long frac are not grab 'n' go.  The short 102 frac is close, though a little bulky if handled while on the mount.  But the little ED80 Apo is easliy lifted when on the AZ4, so I was observing within a minute or two.  

I had thought about a mount with slow-mo cables, but the AZ4 with its lever arm is really smooth and easy.  The ED80 would only go on it with an L-bracket (to stop the finder going beneath the 'scope), which was very wobbly, so the breakthrough was when I recently found a way to relocate the finder to a better position above the tube.  See pic.....

Doug.

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 . 

1 hour ago, Kon said:

Orion (M42) over the weekend (24/9/22). 8" Dob, manual, Pixel 4a (using Night Sight; iso 2000, exposure 1s), 32mm Celestron Plossl. Siril for stacking 20 frames and Gimp for editing.

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