Stu1smartcookie

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

Hi Martin The mount is the same for both scopes ... in fact the 8" SCOPE (IMO ) is a bit big for the mount . I think the 6" is just right . The issue i found with the Nexstar seies is the fact that they are overpriced . The mount can only be moved electronically , whereas the evolution series mount can be moved manually . Stu

What’s the F ratio of that 🛒 Ian great set up mate. Good to chat with you yesterday too Stu

As a follow up to my first set up using the 180 Mak I centred on Jupiter first last night . The views were “almost”the best I have seen of the planet , only the views in a 12”dob were better . One thing I discovered is that I usually observe with my right eye , last night I used my left eye and the image was noticeably brighter , although it felt awkward . I soon got used to it . I decided that last night I would only use one EP(26mm ) which gave me around 95x mag… I put in the 2.5 x power mate but if I’m honest it was too much for last night . Sometimes the seeing was good , other times not . I looked at a few of the favourite stars . Aldeberan ,Bettleguese , Rigel . I did a star test to check collimation and was happy to see everything was ok . I used the new dual speed focuser , brought from FLO and I have to say it’s much more precise than using the original focuser for fine focussing .Weight is no issue on the sabre mount and the focuser actually helps with balancing due to the very heavy corrector plate on the scope . Switched to the Orion nebular which was getting a bit washed out by the moon but of course it’s still a wonderful sight . The “wings” showing up particularly well. I packed up reasonably early due to the cold . The scope took about 45 minutes to dry out . I have today been given a long dew strap to use with the Mak instead of the old celestron c8 one which is obviously a tad to large . All in all a very positive evening allowing a gentle start with the Mak. Need a tracking mount though. Stu

Set up complete … first light of the Monster Mak with the dual speed focuser . Just using an 1 1/4 diagonal tonight as I intend to use the TV power mate . Cooling the scope will take about an hour I’m sure , just time to have some food and then get settled in a chair looking at Jupiter and possibly Uranus . ( no carry on humour please ) before the moon makes an appearance. For once I’m glad of the new house directly behind my garden as it blocks the moon for a couple of hours . But I will welcome seeing it in the Mak later . Looks like the only clear night of the coming week IF you believe the weather “experts” Stu

This is my next project Ian , as I don’t have a tracking mount . At present I am using the sabre mount which is brilliant for visual and holds both the 200 newt and the Mak . I need a quiet mount . The AVX I had was far too noisy and would have disturbed the neighbours kids especially on those late summer evenings . I also want something light in weight . My mate has an AM5 and I was looking at the AM3 , maybe the option equivalent? .. a bit too expensive at present so I thought about an EQ5 with motors as I am not into AP . I have the staresense unit so I can manually slew to the target and then start tracking .Anyway enough to ponder Stu

Absolutely, this scope isn’t aimed at beginners so just lower the price and let us choose the accessories.

Enough of this snow talk ! ( although I do prefer it to rain … hey, I’m talking about it now zzz) Anyway back to business. The parcel butchers that are DHL or as they will now be known as DropHideLose your parcel ! Slung my new scope off the van as witnessed by a colleague , but luckily everything survived, including my new 180 Maksutov from FLO . Already tried it out in the moon , which is all but full . And I was indoors , the views were predictably brilliant . However , a couple of gripes … why do we still get the 2” visual back without a compression ring ? Why include the two pathetic EPs ( you know the ones you get with an st80, and why do we have to suffer the cheapo 2”diagonal which seems to be thrown together using a couple of pieces of old iron? sort it out Sky-Watcher ! especially as the scope looks so beautiful