Stu1smartcookie

the ST102 was one of my first scopes ... at the time i wasn't really into astronomy and i barely used it ... i wish i had it now ! the focuser is weak , are they interchangeable to a dual speed ? I looked at an Omegon ...i saw a vlog on YouTube where a guy was using it with an AZ-Gti.

Space , that looks a lovely scope .. i like the idea of 100mm or even a 120 as i think Skywatcher do a 120mm .. i looked at the bresser 102/460(again) as its supposed to have ED glass the last time i saw it was when it was white ... now sold in a rather fetching black ... also the old fav 72ED from skywatcher which i have used before but i like the extra apperture that a 102 would bring Alan , yes a nice little scope indeed..

I am using a Celestron Omni XLT 127 at present , its a superb little scope .. but i want a widefield refractor ... i really dont want to pay too much and i am prepared to go down the route of an achromat rather than an Apo ,despite CA being an obvious pain . I like the idea of a small refractor just to stick on an alt-Az mount . To be honest its going to be used to view DSO's where possible rather than planets as the 127 does very well already . Any thoughts are welcome and its also nice to know what other people use . Stu

Sorry to read your post , but, i do share your frustration. The worst thing for me is to read all the lovely blogs and see those fantastic vlogs from the States etc where they have lovely clear skies ( not all the time of course but you know where i am coming from) . In fact,we,in Britain must be some of the most dedicated to our hobby as we are constantly battling against the elements ...even in the summer ! I too went through a phase where i literally couldn't get outside to pursue our fav pastime and its really depressing . I tend to watch YouTube reviews and to read astronomy books ( sometimes even rereading them ) to learn more about the night sky . It doesn't make up for not being able to observe but it at least keeps the astronomy fire burning . We are having a particularly wet Autumn season this year ( just when Mars is at its best ) . Hopefully the weather will settle down soon and we will all be able to enjoy our wonderful sky ... and i hope it comes soon enough to change your mind about giving up .

Thats what i wanted to read . Now i feel relaxed . Looking forward to aligning my polar scope at the weekend . And then new motors on Tuesday .

thanks Neil, although im still taking onboard what Peter wrote ... i will be taking the mount with me to the store to make sure everything fits lol

Thanks Matt .... i have just ordered a set of the skywatcher ones and the supplier has agreed to keep them for me until next week when i can go to their shop . In fact they were really accommodating and as its not too far from me its a bonus .

no probs Matt .. i was in touch with the widescreen centre which is only a few miles from where i work and they reckon the eq3-2 motors are the same as the celestron ones . But i'm not sure .

what did you order ... i have tried to locate the official celestron ones but to no avail .

And there was me thinking that most of these things would be compatible . zzz

yes there is a hole ... the mounts are very similar ... but , Peter has just shot me down in flames with his comment.

Hi ... having just bought a cg4 i am struggling to buy either celestron or the equivalent skywatcher eq3-2 motors to drive the mount ( all down to this crazy pandemic ) Just wonering whether the Celestron 93514 AstroMaster/PowerSeeker Motor Drive .... would be able to be used as a workaround until the correct ones become available ? Any thoughts are welcome Stu

Absolutely , Alan ... especially in the UK's unpredictable weather .. which seems to change by the hour .

Hi Alan ,... had the Eq5 ... i only got the cg4 because it came with the scope and i haven't got another mount at the moment . I luckily have a dew shield Dave ... i am mainly visual but will take the occasional snap of a passing planet or the moon . I really don't have the patience for image processing as i have tried that previously . The image below is my limited success lol

Thank you for the suggestions guys ... i must admit , i am leaning towards getting an alt az goto set up rather than this mount . Don't get me wrong , i used it for the first time last night and it was absolutely brilliant but with the motor drives costing what they do and the expense of a polar scope i may be tempted to sell the mount . I will certainly be keeping the scope that i bought with it though , which produced some very fine results last night ( a very Dewy night) . I Just think that for my light polluted garden i need a quick fire pick up and place anywhere mount that can take small scopes (up to 5kgs ) .

Thanks Dave ... thats a real help . With the way things are i reckon a couple of weeks is a bargain . Have to say , comparing those with the skywatcher , they seem very similar .

Hi , i have just acquired a celestron omni xlt127 together with a cg4 mount . I have already purchased a polar scope which will arrive tomorrow , but i also wish to do some basic tracking with the mount . I have received mixed views on whether this is possible as the original motors made by celestron are in very short supply or not even made any more ! I was under the impression though that the CG4 is equivalent to the skywatcher EQ3-2 . If that is the case will the motor drive kit for that mount work with the CG4? Surely these motors must work as they are only doing the job of mechanically operating the slow motion controls . The only problem i can see from looking at the CG4 mount is that there is no hole to screw the fixing bracket to . Any thoughts welcome Kind regards Stuart

yes i see ... and its a point well made , Louis . Iam pretty glad i asked for advice on here regarding this scope .

Thanks for the reply ... as i am mostly visual , the photography is just an interesting sideline that i will use . I won't ask about polar alignment as there are YouTube vids out there that can help . I agree with you about ease of set up ... i used to get bogged down setting up my HEQ5 pro and EQ5 mounts only to see clouds rolling in and observation time cut to a few minutes .

But , does it stop "rotation" if you use the wedge when taking photos ?

Hi Geoff ... thanks for the reply , well , the wedge is on this mount , but celestron actually sell them for their larger scopes as an extra . It certainly isn't the main factor for buying the scope , but , it must have its use ... i really don't want another german eq mount . I live in Herts , just 6 miles from stansted airport and the LP is a pain .. i like the idea of travelling to a darker site , so portability is key . Also i have been made aware that these scopes hold collimation well. I have owned dobs that needed collimating everytime i used them and i got obsessed with it ( i spent 2 hours tweaking mirrors one rainy afternoon lol) . I want visual astronomy , and the chance to take a few pics of planets (mainly) .

Good evening to you all . Firstly , i'm so glad this site exists ... i've been talking to my wife endlessly about astro equipment over the last few months and she's all telescoped out ! i have changed direction again and now want to buy a nexstar 5 . I have never owned an SCT before so i just wanted to know if anyone on here had any advice or first hand experience of these scopes . i am choosing the 5 because it has a built in wedge... does that change the mount into a EQ? Also it seems a portable scope that can be set up in a few minutes. Also i think it should give decent views . I did dabble with a skywatcher 127 Mak ... is there a lot of difference between the Mak and the nexstar ? Also , how quickly would one of these scopes cool down ... it will be stored in the house so the temperature difference will be considerable in the winter months . regards , Stu

Thank you guys

Hi , I had a problem when i put a cheshire into my focusser and the cross hairs were way off to the left instead of being central ...in the end i worked it out that by screwing the centre screw anti clockwise on the secondary moved the mirror to the front thus centering the cross hairs .. i was pretty chuffed with myself at that point but i have noticed that when moving the focusser in and out its very "sloppy " and it slips very easily .. its ok when tightening the locking screw so its still perfectly usable but its annoying me no end . Question : How do i tighten it , if indeed i can ? Thanks in advance for advice .. oh its a 200p Dob , by the way .

Surely , the whole point is that whilst a 16" + dob is fantastic , the thrill of teasing out detail on the likes of jupiter and mars , and the delight in seeing the cass div (Saturn ) through a 4" refractor or a 127 mak , or even a 130mm dob actually gives as much satisfaction. I've had some of my best views through a 127 Mak , at the same time been a bit disapointed when looking through a 180 mak. Its not even a money thing ! I'm sure if we all could calculate and accumulate how much money we have spent on this hobby over the years we could buy the biggest light bucket available . There are many reasons why a lot of us "settle" on smaller scopes . I think aperture fever is something most of us go through , and still dream about . Its important to never be envious of people who buy and use bigger scopes . After all , if you are going to be envious , you will always be looking at the Hubble and thinking ...if only ! lol just seen John's post (above)... seems like hes got all bases covered there .