Stu1smartcookie

A great read , Richard ... The summer months can be frustrating , we tend to have a fair bit of cloud to go with our lighter evenings but as mentioned , the Moon and doubles are worthwhile. One things for sure , you are going to be very busy once the nights start drawing in . The cygnus region will be almost overhead at a reasonable time in the next few weeks ... thats a beautiful part of the sky .

So , a mixed bag , but generally the sVbony gear is good . I bought a 32mm 2" Eyepiece and , to be honest its as good as anything i've used before in that range . What i do like is the prices are keen but the quality is better than the prices suggest . People often judge new suppliers against the top quality products available which isn't always fair . Check out their zoom eyepiece on YouTube against a the Baader Zoom and it holds up remarkably well .

Nobody is made to look that way on here . In fact some of the most basic questions are the most pertinent , because we ALL want to ask them . So glad the diagonal suggestion worked ... conversely , i had exactly the same problem you had , last night lol . As @AstroNebulee wrote ... get that extension tube !

Another thread needed, Stu ? , Small AND Cheap ? lol .. Looks great , and as you say , its serving its purpose . Great stuff !

Seems like a plan ......

look forward to some cloudy days Mark ... lol , you know what its like when you buy new gear .. but ,(whisper it) this evening might be ok

Not on par with a lot of expensive gear seen on here but it’s my first step in the world of solar viewing !

From my experience you definitely need to add an extension to the focuser . Why dont you try the camera through a star diagonal , which i assume you already have ... although its not ideal you will see if focus can be achieved as its adding an extension .

Looks great , John .

Yes mate , likewise with you .

lovely image Neil

great advice here ... i second the fact that its not the scope that is the problem . Also these cameras rarely come with any meaningful instructions regarding the lens and the nose piece that is provided .

it certainly helps ... unfortunately i had a change of track and someone bought my scope , although i , being the impetuous type , will probably buy another one in the future .

i think we are all like that

Absolutely , and honestly NO question is a silly question on here . As you probably know already everyone is here to help . Looking at the moon on a laptop is amazing ...plus it gives you chance to show what you are looking at to others .

Good Call ... you can spend absolutely ages studying the moon .

I'm going to sound a bit "agricultural " here but isn't it a case of putting the camera into the focuser and plugging the usb into the laptop , opening sharpcap and then pressing connect . It will invariably be out of focus at that point and you may have to mess with the exposure ( on the panel to the right ) . I use a QHY camera and do the same as i've described to you

Hi , how about starting just looking through your scope . It’s 70mm objective lends itself to wide field views so a 25mm eyepiece will let you see objects like the Beehive cluster , double stars , and of course the moon . The Az-gti is a fantastic bit of kit that , when used correctly will take you to many objects that will be visible in your scope. The camera you have will show the moon in great detail via your pc when connected . I do understand your point though .. although I love watching reviews , it’s easy to get confused . Buy the book “Turn left at Orion”. Most people swear by it . It will help you see the capabilities of your scope . Sometimes reading is better than watching videos .

I hope everything turned out right for you . This is easy to write but , don't beat yourself up over collimation . Honestly ,its easy to get paranoid over it , and that can spoil the hobby. A star test is a really good way to learn if your mirrors are aligned , as was written earlier .

Not my first photo but probably one of my favs . The setting moon this evening was a great target . This photo was taken by my iPhone through an ST120 on a nexstar mount .

Great video . Looks like I know what I will be looking at tomorrow

i second the use of a raci with a small Mak , i started last night with a RDF but soon grew tired of craning my neck, the RACi is a joy to use

Well Chris if you really want to them follow @Stu ‘s advice . Those BST EP’s are meant to be very good for the money . Good luck and welcome to the forum

I would stick with the supplied gear for a time . You said you were just learning so there are a lot of things to learn before even thinking about upgrading . There is a reason those two EPs came with the scope . They are good FOcal Lengths . Sure there will be better EPs down the line but , don’t be in a hurry . Clear skies

Just a note … when I started this thread I didn’t realise how keenly people would be to contribute .. so it’s obviously ignited a passion for small scopes of which I am really happy … keep it up guys … my ST120 sits on my Nexstar mount waiting for a bit of action tonight ! My target is hopefully the ring nebular but I’ve a feeling clouds might roll in before it rises above the house . But , hey , that’s the life we lead .