Greymouser

Thought I would have a quick little session, with a super light tripod, but only using the ball head thing that came with it.

Again with torch on, but not a lot better pic...

Like the new scope I think, very, very lightweight, but not very stable and the ball head is completely inadequate, so will have to try again with a better mount. Maybe just lose the ball head and try an alternative. I think buying that tripod was a mistake and not a very cheap one at that... ( Three legged thing/ Corey. )

The scope seems to be very sharp and very little/no CA, again a steadier mount will allow better judgement. Ah well, even a very short sesion is better than none at all.

I was a little nervous using these considering recent reviews, which was reinforced after phone calls going unanswered, but the e mail was answered very fast. I ordered the scope on Thursday lunch time, it arrived Friday early afternoon! Can you ask for more? All seems to be in order, just got to test it out when I can avoid the mossies!

I would say highly reccomended.

My second packages arrived and I took a few photo's in the almost darkness:

Double boxed, but could have done with a bit more packing. 

Looking good, despite the poor photo's. Lovely tiny thing too, much more compact than the Skywatcher ED80, wish I had got this in the first place. I also do not really understasnd the report that came with it, other than to think that 0.956 strehl is half decent. (  Even though there are better examples out there, I am happy.  ) I also like the little diagonal that I got in the same package, it goes well. Time to sell the ED80 before the local lockdown kicks in?

I should go out and give it a try out, but in the short time I took to take the photo's, I got bitten about half a dozen times! Are mossies a legit reason/excuse to not observe?

( Course, the glass of wine; glass of Woods rum and a couple of episodes of Battlestar Galactica have nothing to do with it... )

Just got this delivered, the first parcel of the day:

Nothing to do with astro photography at all, not tempted to go there. It's not even astro modified... Just a few local shots... Anyone know of a good guide for beginners like me, other than the one in the photography part of the forum here? It was second hand so no manual included, even though in as new condition. 

23 hours ago, Lockie said:

 so after a quick discussion with Grant at FLO I bought one to review. I will mainly be testing it out in the the little obsy I'm currently building. 

I'm actually hopeful after seeing some further software videos for Explore Star and the PMC8 goto system. If everything goes positively it will be a great alternative to the very well rooted HEQ5, but I guess we'll see

Indeed, on paper it seems like a viable alternative to the HEQ5m cheaper and more available too! I await your review, with anticipation.

On 30/08/2020 at 08:51, Lockie said:

Bump. Anyone with experience? 

I am sure you have already seen, it but there was a review in The Sky at Night magazine. There are also several reviews on You Tube, such as this.

I too have been looking at this, but do wonder if it is too good to be true...

After reading @Mark Daniels thread from just over a year ago, about using the Evoguide 50 with a diagonal, my interest was increased. I have been intrigued by this little scope and recently got one, not primarily to use visually, but as a guide scope, in the near future, as I dip my toes into AP. However now I have it I thought, why not, lets have a play! Terrestrially only for now.

Out came the diagonal, cheap end of a 2x barlow inserted: Lo and behold a good image! Yeh!  Tried with an erecting prism and success too!  ( In fact a clearer image in the prism, which I will have to think on... )

The thing that now occurs is how do I work out magnification? I have no idea what increase the barlow end will give in the end of the diagonal. Clearly the magnification is different in the erecting prism too, because I presume of the different length?

Can someone please  explain to me how to work it all out?

I was using a cheap Celestron diagonal; a cheap Skywatcher prism and a cheap 2x barlow, with a 16 mm eyepiece. The focal length of the EVO is 242 mm.

Any guidance is greatly appreciated, as I am clearly a little dim when it comes to working out magnification, as I always assumed just the basics, without looking deeper. After all if the view is pleasing, why bother?

I am however starting to consider this little scope will have multiple uses...

I have a C 9.25 too and no way would I consider doing that myself. It would be down the road the Crewe and Orion Optics to have it professionally seen to!

I got the Omni 127XLT, just for the OTA, because they were selling at only £ 29 dearer than just the OTA. I have not used the mount yet, but the tripod is fine, the CG4 is very similar to my EQ3/2, maybe a little larger. I will not comment on the mount, but the OTA is great and is my most used scope. It fits just fine on the AZGTi and on a Horizon 8115 2-Way Heavy Duty Tripod, very lightweight and definitely grab and go!  Highly recommended especially if you can find one new, especially if you can find it at Johninderbys' price. £399 @johninderby ? 

It will be the last scope I sell...

Just recently got a Evoguide 50 from FLO, which took longer than I expected to get dispatched. They said: in stock, one - two days to dispatch normally, but they took five or six working days or so! They were patient with my pestering email though, which is good and it then arrived.

Got to say, that perhaps FLO have made a rod for their own backs here, with such supreme service normally, which makes the occasional slip up stand out. They respond very fast to emails in my experience and just sort things quickly and efficiently. But it comes to something when I think that FLO at their worst, ( though not really bad at all, even then ) are still better than any other supplier, I have used so far.

Thank you.

I got this today, which was nice.

At last, a headtorch which dims properly.

A short while ago, I also got this from FLO. ( of course...)

All part of my plan to move, ( very gradually, ) towards AP. It will allow me to have a play with this interesting little scope too, which to be honest, has intrigued me since I saw it. 

On 28/07/2020 at 17:07, John said:

Here is a strong candidate

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bresser-8850600W9H000-Junior-Linsenteleskop-50-600-AZ-Pink-Telescope/254668357536?hash=item3b4b6abfa0:g:scIAAOSwq3pfIEue

It's OK guys, you can get very similar, but cheaper elsewhere.

So less of a worry that you are buying rubbish?

 It is in stock in the UK too, but not the pink one. Telescope house. 

Really sorry to hear about your loss, it's the worst part about having pets, in fact the only bad part.

Is Omar aware of the loss? I ask because our cat mourned our dog, she wandered around aimlessly for days mewing, looking for her. At least Omar is there to help you.

Superb @johninderby, I wish I had half your skill.

Hello and welcome to SGL and the beginning of your journey.

On 26/06/2020 at 16:27, Highburymark said:

The 9.25 is quite a bit bigger, and as said above, it uses a stronger tripod but same mount.

It does indeed I am afraid. I have the C9.25 Evolution and whilst it copes with the weight just fine, the length is another matter. Some say it is fine, but for me, with the accessories I want to use mean a clash with the mount is quite likely. Great mount; great OTA, just do not really belong together. The arm of the mount could do with being a couple of inches longer in my opinion. Not much in it, but they tried to hard in fixing a C9.25 on this. If I can raise the funds, I will be getting an AZ EQ5 or 6 for it, at some point.

I wish I had got the C8 Edge Evolution instead...

You are considering a Mak, which is understandable, but don't forget the little C5s that are available. A little more expensive, but also lighter and more adaptable when you add in a reducer. Two telescope in one at F6.3 and F10. It easily goes on the AZGTi, is without a doubt grab and go. ( As long as you get a good AZGTi... ) Best of all the C5 can be got from £499 at Grovers.

I got the Omni version and got a very good example of C5. Which with the deal FLO were offering at the time, gave me a CG4 for £20!

Edit: In fact they have the same package I got for £ 499!!! Here.

Hello and welcome to a great forum. Don't rule out a C5 either, similar price to the C6 but even lighter and usable as a spotting scope on a photographic tripod.

8 hours ago, John said:

It sounds to me as if you have already talked yourself out of a Tak so that's the decision made

I suspect you are right, maybe this was just an exercise in confirming an already made decision?

As @Dr Strange says the scope most used is the best, ( as many others have said too, ) which for me is my superb little C5. What more can a 100 mm Tak give me? ( That is rhetorical I guess!  ) I do have too many scopes though and will sell some. I still have to experiment more with the SW ED 80 and 6" Classical cass, so do not know if they will be kept. But I have not used the C9.25 in ages, so think maybe a reassessment of my needs is in order. 

@dweller25 and @AdeKing, yes it would be very easy to add a SSD to my current rig and whilst it will speed things up, it would not help much with games, the CPU; GPU and the amount of RAM is important here. I would need a new motherboard too, to significantly improve things, so figure a whole new PC makes sense.

Thank you all for your help, you have all helped me to come to some conclusions. I need to think more on what to keep and what to go. Especially with a 6" newt; 102 ST a pair of 20 x 100 binos and maybe the ED80 and C9.25 to go along with the Evolution mount. If I go the whole way, maybe a Tak could be on the cards too!

1 minute ago, DaveS said:

Any reason for going Intel rather than AMD? The latest Ryzen processors are pretty powerful and cheaper than Intel.

I know, but the only time I had a PC fail completely was when I ventured AMD, so prefer sticking to what has been reliable. I cannot remember the cause, but the CPU failed. 

Well, perhaps, partly...

24 minutes ago, John said:

How long does an upgraded PC remain "state of the art" ?. A few months perhaps ?

Well, yes, that is hard to argue with and my heart agrees. However I cannot do without a decent PC, my mind says. I already have some decent scopes, even if not quite Tak quality. Also as I like to play games, some of which can be very demanding, an i9 and 32 gig or Ram is calling, to future proof me for a while. Added to which, can a Tak be justified, with Bortle 6 skies and little chance to travel for the foreseeable? Playing good games is not a weather dependant hobby either!

I have been budgeting for a new PC, which is going to cost a fair bit new. My old one is getting on now only has an i5 cpu and 8g ram, with a 1050ti gpu, so I budgeted a decent amount, which is sat there in the bank, waiting. The old one is only Windows 7, never got around to updating it to Windows 10. Today though, I wondered if I could still get the upgrade free, so dug out an even older PC and gave it a go. The result is that it upgraded, easily and without problem, better yet no demand for monies!

Now I am wondering if I can manage with my i5 PC for a bit longer... I now know I can upgrade to Win 10 for free, it does pretty much everything I need, so maybe a little longer? Of course, this thought is in part motivated by the simple fact that the money sitting there, would cover a Tak scope! Now I find I am in a dilemma. I know this PC is only just managing everything I throw at it, but could do so for a while longer, maybe. I also know the new PC will likely last for the next ten years or so. But a Takahashi...

The other thing is, my first impression of Win 10, is not great. What to do?

( I suspect I  Know the most likely response.  )

I have just got this out of self imposed isolation, after receiving the other day. ( Glad to know I am not the only one doing this! ) Perhaps not the best eyepiece out there, but the 10 mm is very good in my opinion, so I am hoping for similar quality with this one.

Now all I need is the clouds to co operate, and then decide if I can justify a similar sized Morpheus...

This may be a silly question/point, but here we go: Just how good does the quality of the lens affect the image quality at F15? I ask because not so long ago I was tempted to get to get this Celestron 60mm scope and mount, from PC world of all places, for the mount so I could use the counterbalance bar on my AZGTi. I didn't as I found a second hand mount for even less, ( lying forgotten in one of my sheds! ) but I did wonder how usable the scope would be, seeing as it was F15 and made by Celestron, so a reasonable make. Evidently Celestron still make the scope, at least it can be found on their website, but may only be purchasable from the USA. How easy is it to discover the quality of the lens before buying? I must assume a lot of trust is needed.

The scope I got with the mount, from a second hand shop, was awful and I cannot remember its make, but it was unusable. It only cost me £25 though, so no biggie, considering the counterbalance bar could prove very useful. .

£439 seems a lot for a non ED scope, so what makes it special? I have seen no reviews as of yet, but assume the quality must be above the standard.