Stu1smartcookie

Indeed , Venus for me is only visible during daylight as its far too low at dusk .. i think its fascinating to view it during the daytime .As for Mercury , well done ... i have only seen it once but its surprising how many haven't seen it at all .

6 hours ago, RobertI said:

Very nice report, that’s a great scope and obviously works well on the SkyTee. Nice and clear here too - shame I’m in bed with Covid!! Look forward to hearing more reports. 

Sorry to read that you are unwell Robert . I had a heavy cold (non covid)over Xmas which knocked me for six  so I can guess you must be feeling quite low. Hopefully you will be back outside , freezing with the rest of us in no time . 

6 hours ago, Sunshine said:

and I must add, that is one long frac you have there! 

I just had to have it when I knew it was up for sale , the previous owner took some amazing lunar and planetary photos with it , I hope it will still get the use it deserves as the 200p is a bit of an all rounder . 

For the first time in about 6 weeks we have a clear sky . Not only does it coincide with a moonless night but also the first light of my newly acquired skywatcher 200p with aftermarket dual speed focuser . So I eagerly set up my SkyTee 2 mount and set up my 2 scopes , a 102 altair starwave achromatic frac f11 and my 200p . (Photo attached ) . The frac was really there just to add a bit of counterweight to the newt as I hardly used it tonight . I went out without any plan but quickly set about panning the cygnus region which was getting lower in the west / northwest, cue masses of stars   . The collimation of the scope was tweaked without any collimation tools so I was really surprised and delighted that stars were pinpoint and round . I used a baarder 36mm EP , tonight was going to be a night for scanning . I set the frac up with a 17mm baarder , but it hardly got used . , don't worry , it's day will come . So , my next  target was the plaides .. a favourite for all of us and it didn't disappoint,  Then onto the Hades and an open star cluster that i stumbled on without knowing what it was called! This really was turning into a great evening and with another clear night forecast for tomorrow Orion will certainly be on the viewing menu . With clear skies a precious commodity I was a bit annoyed with myself for not making the most of this evening by not having pre determined targets but tonight was really about getting used to the scope . It works well on the mount and although purists will frown that i am using a fairly heavy scope hanging off the standard saddles , it seemed very stable . The real plus is that being an alt az the focuser remains at  a constant angle , something that wouldn't be the case using an EQ mount . So , to sum up my brief first light of my 200p... a great start and I now have two scopes that compliment each other . All we need now are more clear skies . 

I think a mak is complimented by a wide field scope . As you progress through the hobby you may realise you need more than one scope. As for finding things in the sky , download a program called Stellarium or Sky safari . Free apps that can point you in the right direction for your latitude and longitude . 

The ST102 is a decent Achromat that unfortunately will not be as good viewing bright objects such as planets and the moon , and even the brighter stars . Because of its short focal length the scope will show false colour aroung the outside of bright objects , at higher magnification ... and you will need to up the magnification to get decent views of planets . However it will show deep sky objects but don't expect galaxies to be any more than just grey smudges . The Mak will excel on the Moon , especially ( don't underestimate the joy of viewing the moon , there is loads to see ) . As for planetary well, with Jupiter ( along with the outer planets Neptune and Uranus) are the only planets with anything like a decent viewing angle as saturn is slipping lower and lower, you may have to concentrate on double stars . 

I have owned both scopes and i would say , go for the Mak but thats just my opinion . After all you still have a refractor close at hand ... best of both comes to mind 

38 minutes ago, Dakuwaqa said:

I’m finding choosing the right telescope extremely difficult as at my price range they all come with drawbacks.

There is NO perfect scope which really excels at everything . 

People favour the heritage series 130, and 150mm as they are both portable but offer enough light gathering power to be useful on both planets and DSO's. These are table top dobs but they can be mounted on a sturdy tripod , i believe. 

Not the postman , but me and my wife had a lovely trip  today to collect a 200p Skywatcher from @Captain Magenta

Many thanks Magnus .

The scope is in great condition 

7 hours ago, badhex said:

Hello Stu, 

One thing worth noting is that even if your version has both T ends tapped already, you might find that when you try to attach a saddle, the two sides are not aligned in the Alt axis. The long side of the T (i.e. the white puck) does not have an adjustment wingnut like the very top mount point so requires a little more work to adjust. To be clear, the long side doesn't really have a puck, it's more of an end cap. It has three grub screws around the outside of the cap and loosening these does give you a few degrees of rotation after which I could not rotate it any more. (I have read that you can fully unscrew this for maintenance but you may need a strap wrench to do it.) I've rather crudely annotated your picture for clarity. 

I needed to do two things to get the two sides aligned on mine:

1. The short side of the T with the black puck has three hex bolts separated by 120 degrees securing it to the mount head. I had to remove the saddle, then unscrew these three bolts, then rotate the puck 120 degrees to line up roughly with the tapped holes in the long side end cap, and finally reattach it. 
2. This was still out by a couple of degrees, so I loosened the three small retaining grub screws on the outside of the end cap on the long side and this allowed the end cap to be rotated just enough for the tapped holes to line up with the short side puck.

I hope this makes sense! You may not even need this, presumably this should have been aligned at least roughly already in the factory but perhaps mine slipped through the QC, if there even is any 😂

Oh BTW, I used PrimaLuce Labs saddles which are hideously expensive but extremely well made with dual losmandy/vixen fit and two separate clamps. 

 

 

Thanks for the post , seems a bit of a faff to me lol , but it makes perfect sense . I see that FLO sell ADM clamps for the skytee .I am going to get one of those .

Save I think that's a good solution

Thanks John.  I seem to remember you putting a link on suitable brackets on here before,  but I can't find it , where did you get your please

Thanks guys for the replies.  

John , I will transfer the top saddle to the side as my mount is one of the newer models , having said that , you've  got me a bit paranoid about the supplied saddles ! What makes them so inferior ? Also even putting the star wave on one side I guess the most weight will be on the other side where the 200p will be , would you still use the counterweight and bar which can remain under the top clamp to give the star wave side a bit more weight ? 

Hi All 

So I've asked a question about something similar before but I will have two largish scopes to put on this mount as from tomorrow . I intend to place a 200p on one side of the mount , and my starwave 102 on the top with the supplied cw underneath . I think it will work better than mounting the starwave on one side and the 200p on the other . 

Any thoughts on this ? 

Stu

1 hour ago, Gonariu said:

I saw that these days even in the United Kingdom the temperatures have risen to 12º - 15 ° even if the cloud cover has remained, at least you have a milder weather.

It's actually warmer than it was on some days in May and June but it's no good having mild temperatures when it's raining everyday 

The once great BBC put a statistic out this morning that over the past 16 days we have only had 0.2 hours of sunshine in London!!! Yea I know we don't need the sun for night time astronomy , but the clouds have hung around at night too

4 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

My learnings: Everything is a compromise in the end and it’s performance and pleasure of use that count 👍🏻

Whilst I agree with this , it's the  reason I asked the initial questions ie  to ascertain knowledge of the product , especially any negstives . You are so right , Jeremy , the pleasure of use indeed is the main area that counts , but to use , you have to buy , and to buy means commitment and cost . I've certainly made too many rash decisions in the past , and not so distant past in buying astronomy  equipment on a whim only to regret the purchase and of course sell at a loss thereafter.  Knowledge I am gaining on this thread has helped me in my decision of whether to buy the 6" CC . The worst type of reviews I see are the 5* reports ( of which I have undoubtedly been guilty of in the past too) . There have been certain issues, regarding the scope  on this thread that users have highlighted that I would never have even thought about . This is what SGL is all about . Sensible down to earth opinions . 

21 minutes ago, dweller25 said:

Some users have reported that due to the compromised F/12 design these GSO Cassegrains do not work at full aperture

Hmm  the more we delve into things the more we learn. Really interesting regarding the aperture .

11 hours ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

I have been considering a 6" CC for quite some time and I often wondered where/ when the extension tubes should be used. Your Orion link John  answers that question. My other concern was the mount I should use. Currently I have the AZ5 with pillar and metal tripod. I have a feeling that someone commented that the 6" CC was not a good match for the AZ5 - too much shaking at high magnification.

From what I read and from experience I upgraded my mount pretty quickly to a sky Tee 2 as I also had an az5. For the smaller maks and fracs the AZ5 is a really nice mount but having briefly used it with a 4" frac I would say the vibrations would be too annoying when mounting the 6" CC . I remember commenting at the time that there isn't an "inbetween" mount that would bridge the gap between the az5 and skytee . The skyTee is rock solid .

2 hours ago, dweller25 said:

@Stu1smartcookie

Have you seen this thread on CN ?
https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/624303-new-at-6-and-8-classical-cassegrain/

Thanks for the link,  quite a thread. I am a bit confused with this scope as I've seen some who insist that both primary and secondary need to be adjusted when collimation is needed but others say that only the secondary needs tweaking.  Any thoughts on that, anyone, as I thought the primary being fixed wouldn't need adjusting. 

Well , anything that helps collimation is a great asset

John I read that this collimation device isn't good for the 8" StellaLyra .. is it OK for the 6" do you think ? 

The stock focuser will be fine for me ,I'm sure John .. ah yes collimation .. as its got a fixed primary I suppose collimation holds very well. Is it easy to collimate though ?( if it needs to be done ) Also what collimation tool works best for this scope ... Cheshire,  collimation cap or the dreaded laser (starts the collimate the collimater debate lol)

Cool down time is a massive plus for me as It will be my main scope. 

I have the sky tee mount so no problems with weight 

Firstly, I hope everyone had a great Christmas

I am interested in buying the StellaLyra F12 6" CC from FLO  and have read the"blurb" on the website, which is predictively gushing in its suport for this scope.  Now,  I am interested only in visual ,and to be honest with my bortle 6 skies ,mainly interested in viewing double stars , nebulea , planets and our moon . This scope seems to be a perfect fit for these targets .. but , as we all know , nothing is perfect , so please can anyone with experience of this scope share the good ,the bad and the downright frustrating . Opinions will be gratefully received as I have never owned a Classical Cassegrain before.  

TIA

Stu

I'm pretty sure you have done this but just in case you haven't,  is the mount set to the right hemisphere ? From what you describe you seem to have covered most things . 

Apart from some VERY LATE , clear nights a couple of weeks ago the weather has been particularly shocking for astronomy this autumn /early winter . Clear frosty nights seem to be things of the past .. and with low pressure due to be in charge by Christmas , there isn't a lot of reasonable hope for the near future . Apart from the annoyance it also serves as a reminder why , in Britain , we tend to lug everything outside when there is an hour of clear sky . I'm sure we are the most dedicated bunch ! WE DESERVE BETTER .  

8 minutes ago, Knight of Clear Skies said:

I missed a few imaging sessions this Autumn when the actual weather turned out to be far better than either forecast I looked at.

Me too ... , in fact the constant cloud has actually led to me thinking that i would be better off doing something else with my time . Where are the lovely frosty nights ? 

And now  the country is under a high pressure system but its trapped a blanket of cloud underneath that is basically sitting over most of England . Normally High pressure at this time of year produces gloriously clear skies .

Sad isnt it