Stu1smartcookie

Actually the skyhawk , despite the rather naff focuser is a capable little scope, Peter ... check out Martin Pyott's extensive work flo vids on YouTube . Hope the tripod is serving you well mate .

That was a very interesting comparison. @Zermelo. Nice one ! Stu

Might as well chime in with the method i have used ... Cotton Wool Balls in a mild detergent . Spoiler alert ... its sooooo satisfying when you see the mirror sparkiling and the drops of distilled water drying without leaving any residue

Seems a good time to clean it then , Dave.

Dave , how dirty is the mirror ? Lets face it , we've all been a bit paranoid about wanting to clean a scope mirror . I had a scope that had all sorts of mirror issues but it still showed nice bright views and it was almost opaque !!! . I suppose what i am saying is , unless its really impacting on your viewing , leave it alone . Although i honestly can relate to the temptation you feel to clean it .

Must admit i had a 50mm and a 30mm Aero in the past and they worked for me ... the 50mm was a bit of a " look at all the sky in one go" EP ( not quite but you know what i mean ) .I am probably going for the 34mm SVBony Aspheric and will definitely invest in a quality Zoom EP , But Whether that means a Baader , im not sure as i honestly dont think there is a massive difference between the Baader and SVBony zooms . Some , yes , but £150 's worth ... with my er slightly ageing eyes ? Thank you for all the above comments. In summary i would like to look through a really high end EP before i properly decide . I am realistic about cost but EP's are so important ( obviously ) and one can keep making the same mistakes over and over again . Of course EP's are subjective and will suit some whilst others may disagree . The two Nirvanas that i have bought are fine quality and are very good value . Stu

Beautiful shot

Out with the 10" Dob last night . Split the Double Double even though the skies were laced with cloud , settled on the brighter stuff as i was keen to try out my two nirvanas 7mm & 16mm ... both were great but i think the 7mm will shine with planets and lunar . Switched back to the 25mm plossl to see stars appearing as the sky darkened , The Cygnus region is not quite over the house roof yet , another couple of weeks will fix that , but i am looking forward to all sorts of deep sky stuff there . Last nights main star was a rather low Antares , but very crisp in the EP due to some , rather fine collimation . Summer Beehive and a few open clusters that i was too lazy even to look up ! I don't get much observing time at this time of year , maybe a quick 45mins to an hour , but , it keeps the eye in and satifies a quick fix , and whilst i love the summer , i cant wait until darkness falls at a reasonable time in the evening .

Agree 100% wouldn’t be without my Raci

Interesting day for the postman.. a delivery of two nirvana EPs , 16mm and a 7mm . Thanks to Russ . No chance to test them out due to the said postie also delivering clouds zzzz

hmmm red wine , tea and nice cereals ... what statement are you making there , Magnus

Reading who wil be using the scope , a 200mm dobsonian would be the one i would go for . Everyone who uses one has nothing but good things to say about them and they will always have a place on your journey in astronomy . The ease of set up , the light gathering power of the scope ... you can view planets , the moon , Deep sky objects , double stars . Sure , the perfect scope hasn't yest been made , but this comes fairly close . Some caveats to bare in mind ... a 200mm dob isnt small although it really doesnt take up that much room when stored . The scope is not the lightest , but it can be lifted in one unit .Also you are going to need a collimating device , a cheshire or collimating cap would be prefered although just to get you off and running a laser collimator would certainly help ( sometines these have to be collimated ) . Please dont be put off by collimation ... Its a scary word that in reality is little more than a two minute check . Also , if you intend to keep a scope indoors you will need about 30minutes of it being outside to "cool down " to match the outside temperature . More relevent in the winter months .

I like Zooms , the SVBony 8-24 i tried was very good and very reasonable ... SVBony also offer a 34mm Aspheric EP which i will probably buy . The Baader zoom is probably the king of zooms and i tried it out when comparing with the SVBony ... of course the price is way above the SVBony though . Many people have decried the use of Zooms but they are indeed a very enjoyable and practical way of observing . I reckon a wide angle low power , a mid range and a high power , plus a zoom seems like the perfect set up , to me

Steve , there is a WO zs61 up for sale on SGL for good(ish) price but the scope does look in great condition ... the asking price brings it a lot closer to the Evolux .

Ok so the topic as i seem to recall .. ZS61 or Evolux 62 ? I certainly value the WO zs61 as , like @badhex writes ,the quality of Williams Optics is fantastic . A colleague of mine has the Evolux 62 and is very impressed by the quality , also . The Evolux is certainly priced well . Whether the WO ZS61 is £ 150 better is in the eye of the beholder but at least they have the temerity to quote the optic quality ie fl53 glass . I cannot fathom why Skywatcher continue to shy away from stating what glass is used . And for those who may say its unimportant , there are many more who crave the hallowed fl53. Having owned the ZS61 and an evostar 72 ( yes i know its not the Evolux) the difference in quality is marked . Its personal choice of course but , if you have the money , i would go for the ZS61

Nice write up , Andrew . The starsense dob is certainly doing a great job for you .

Nice , John , although the 4mm may be a bit powerful for me with the Mak and the Dob ... the F7 Frac though , hmmm

I would like a 2" EP for low power , 30- 34 mm .

Nice one , Mark ... Looking forward to using the Nirvanas .. i think i need to get a slightly less chunky Barlow ... i bought an 2" ED barlow from RVO and have hardly used it ... its a bit of a weight .

Seems to me that the low power 30mm plus EP's are the problem child , so to speak ... i am hopefully taking a plunge on the Nirvana 7 & 16mm , so that will be medium and high power sorted , just the widefield 25-34 mm to sort out ?

Russ , I keep reading good reports about the Nirvanas . Thanks for the advice . I think they are reasonably priced too

Sorry guys just seen the replies .. I am not going to go for EPs that are high end , because I really don’t have that kind of budget at present .. I would like to have one , 30-34mm one 15mm and then maybe a 9mm I only have plossl’s at the moment .. I have used Baader Hyperion EPs but I have been warned that they are not good for the scope , which is a shame because I really like them .

So this time it was a collection as I reckon the postie would not have got this on his bike … a 10” flex tube dob … after a bit of tidying up this evening the scope looks in fantastic condition .. had to put two extensions on to achieve focus with a 1 1/4” EP ( not sure if that’s normal but it seemed to work on close targets maybe on stars ( when I will see one god only knows due to cloud zzz) I can achieve focus easier ? Anyway I am really pleased with my catch .

Just collected a 10” flex tube dob … I’m sure the question may have been asked previously but what EPs do people recommend with such a scope please? Stu

Fantastic .