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Stu1smartcookie

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Everything posted by Stu1smartcookie

  1. Wouldn't that metal shed be a heat conductor , John ... although it does look a but shadey there .
  2. Can I just remind everyone that the op is buying a scope primarily for his daughter . She is 4 ! Let's think about that . Using high magnification may not be the best option here. A 4 year old will want to touch the scope , and that causes vibrations which in turn causes frustration which in turn wanes interest . So talking about 100x magnification on an st80 is or could be a bit of a disaster in THIS particular case . Far better to have a solid mounted scope that is useable at a reasonable magnification to look at bright objects that the child can actually see with their own eyes without the scope to start with .
  3. Firstly , welcome . I don't have kids but i can guess that a 4 year old would want to see something bright and big in the eyepiece . I therefore may not recommend the ST80 which is essentially a wide field scope that would show just very small points of light . ( the moon would look ok ) Therefore why not buy a heritage 130 or 150 dobsonian . These are really popular starter scopes , because they , especially the 150 have great light gathering and will show the likes of Jupiter , saturn and of course our moon in good detail . But most of all , those objects will appear bright . Stu
  4. I refer to my previous answer ... a 200mm Dobsonian .
  5. You will use an optical finder or a Telrad to locate objects . Larger Apperture will enable you to see further into space and to see more objects as you will increase light gathering , but you will also increase any imperfections ie light pollution . If you have dark , clear skies you may be overwhelmed by sheer volume of stars which actually make it difficult to pick out the targets ( not a bad problem to have in my book lol ). As for the scopes mentioned to go with the AZ-Gti , both are very capable , the skymax 127 is a very powerful scope that will excel on planets and the moon and brighter DSO's .. for some people , thats all they need especially as both scopes will not show false colour. I suggest though that you seek out a YouTube channel from Ed Ting, and Astrobackyard , by Trevor Jones ( hes mainly into photography but did a nice piece on visual astronomy ) .. who both champion the 200mm Dobsonian as being the best starter scope . In the end it comes down to , Price , Location , and viewing preferences . If these didnt matter we would ALL have the biggest and best scopes money can buy .
  6. Hi ... i have the Evo 72ED and at this point only use it for visual ... in my opinion ( which will be a bit biased ) the views of stars and planets are tack sharp with very no CA , even on the brightest objects Planets whilst being sharp are obviously small , but i find i can boost magnification to close to maximum on planets and get very good views . Of course this scope excels at widefield ... i actually use mine as a finder for my long F11 frac on the SkyTee mount , and it works a treat . Look , its not a cheap scope and as others have commented , you just get the scope ( and case ) . So you do have to weigh up the costs , but , as in most things in life you do get what you pay for , but , there are bargains to be had ( buying used ) . One thing you can be sure of , if you buy a used scope from people on this site you can almost guarantee that the equipment has been well looked after , and the seller nearly always points out even the slightes defect , ie paint chips Stu
  7. toilet humour ! 🤣 er , literally ... i can almost hear Kenneth Williams or Sid James at this point
  8. Be careful when you pull the pin , er , that is a hand grenade isnt it 😀 Great Eyepiece .
  9. Its reading posts like this that actually make me grateful to live where i do , and having a small garden , in bortle 5 with a nasty street light for company . So , next time i feel like moaning about light pollution i will remember this post and the trials of living in a city . I know its not much of a comfort but at least the planets and moon are visible from LP areas . Hope you find a suitable solution . Stu
  10. Hi And welcome , I briefly owned a 180 Mak , so i have limited knowledge of it but as John writes the cool down time on both the Mak and the C8 will be considerable against a classical cassegrain as there is no corrector plate on the cc8 . Also i believe the primary mirror is "fixed " on the Classical Cass , so no image shift when adjusting focus , and the collimation holds . Having said that , i do have a soft spot for the Mak 180 ( wish i had never sold mine ) , its a beast of scope . I don't think you will be diesapointed if you choose it .
  11. Hi , I honestly don't know the Meade scope but I have owned an st80 .. its a great little scope that you will use for scanning the skies, and viewing the Moon just like you would with a decent pair of binoculars. You might want to consider a 90mm frac ,from SVbony which is nice and compact and is supplied with a dual speed focuser.. its about 80 pounds more than the st80 but when you consider the extra aperture, focuser and the nice aluminium case it comes in is worth considering. Also it will open up more viewing options. Planets will appear larger for one Just my opinion of course I'm sure you will get many others in here. Stu
  12. Doubles are niche ???? Not sure I agree . I think most people look at doubles and indeed they are very much a main part of our interest . As for the 102 mak , well, many people including me will agree with your points but will also champion that scope as a very capable instrument that does what it does very well . At the end of the day, any scope will only perform if the sky and light pollution allows. Did you not know that Maks have a narrow field of view when you bought it? What you see as a weakness is also their massive strength. Honestly no malice in my post, just another opinion
  13. Hi Stu , its the 1.75 ( EQ5) that came with the mount . I am happy with the tripod to be fair , but by having the extension it means i could use the tripod without extending the legs too far of course
  14. I think in my case the clearance issue comes into play, Jeremy . With the tripod fully extended i can see an issue with the scope maybe hitting the tripod , the extension albeit only 16" is the main reason for , possibly buying it .
  15. Hi And welcome to SGL The starsense is a great bit of kit , allowing you to find your way in the night sky ... its new(ish ) tech and to be honest is a great start into astronomy Nothing wrong with the Heritage Dob though ... the thing that puzzles me is the price difference between the two . If i am right ( seldom) then the 6" cass and the starsense mount combination runs to nearly £700 and the heritage is around £250 !! thats a monumental difference . In fact you could pick up the Heritage GTi for less than 400 pounds and then get a 3/8" steel tripod to mount it on for another £130 . You would have a fully computerised mount . Just my thoughts . Stu
  16. Hi @Franklin, I was hoping that someone would enthuse about the 16" extension ...and you and John have done that , its a bit pricey ( what isn't ?) but as long as the stability and strength is there . I think for the very reason that , as the admittedly decent EQ5 tripod , can be used at its strongest with only minimal extension is of course a huge plus . The only worry i had was introducing another connection to the mount/tripod and the said connection being the weak link . Fortunately you have dispelled that . Many thanks to all Looks like more money will be spent lol
  17. Maybe , you are right ...having just thought about it , if anything , they add an extra element which actually makes the mount less sturdy
  18. Hi , I used the SkyTee mount for the first time last night . After lining up both of my scopes on the same target i had an admittedly short session of brilliant viewing , Using the 72ED essentially as a finder and the 102 Starwave as my main viewing scope the whole thing worked flawlessly . I had to have the tripod extended fully to use the long frac when viewing near the zenith . So onto a question , I notice that Skywatcher offer a small but chunky extension tube which would give me the option of not extending the tripod fully . Is that the best option? Everything seemed very solid last night but of course if the extension is considered a useful upgrade i would prefer to use it . ( It is an expensive option though ) So , what do you guys think of these extension tubes ... are they a good fit for the SkyTee ? Is it worth buying ? Do they still offer good stability ? KR Stu
  19. I think the hole is there Vlaiv but sometimes the thread is missing
  20. Hi Dougie , heard this before about the AZ-Gti and yes you should have it replaced if you can. Did you buy it from one of the major scope retailers in the UK ? . Quality control seems to be an issue , although i have owned a few of these and never had the problem . Stu
  21. Unfortunately only 1 available at present , might have to go the ADM route , I certainly want another clamp for the other side of the SkyTee ... ( then i can justify another scope 😀)
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