Greymouser

That looks very top heavy. You are a braver man than me.

Pretty much why I like my C5. It is not just the extra aperture either, or so I feel, the view seems cleaner somehow, if that makes any sense. Though I am realising that my C5 is a very good example of one of its type, as I prefer it to my C9.25 too!

A genuine question, because I am obviously missing something. ( Visual only! ) A little background: I have three refractors, one a very old 50mm F10; a Skywatcher 102ST and a new Skywatcher 80ED. I like them and had the 80ED out for only the second time last week, which went OK, except for CA! I was not expecting it to be so noticeable. I did consider the scope to be little better than my 102ST, so thought it would be good to see them side by side. I did just that tonight and OK, my memory is obviously faulty, the ED80 is much better than the 102 ST. However, it is just no where near as good as my little C5 SCT, in any way, to my perception. I know the ED80 is not exactly top of the range, but thought it was not all that shabby, by reputation. My intention was to use it for white light solar with my wedge, as well as to get an idea just how good these scope were, as I have been considering the higher rep 120ED, which is just a little bit more expensive. Now I know it will still be good for the wedge, but I now think I will be avoiding the 120ED, invest the money on improvements for my SCTs, such as a better mount and or focuser. Maybe even consider more investment in the direction of a classic Cassegrain of one sort or another. The thing is though, that a refractor just looks like a telescope should, if you know what I mean? I am not even considering how the two sorts compare to reflectors either! ( I do have a 150mm/705 Skywatcher however, which I may give another spin too... ) In a major way, I am not bothered by my mind wandering over which type is best, I am lucky that there are so many options at a reasonable price and it is fun to experiment, to try and find that forever scope. Some people seem to get there, but I know I am far away from that. Maybe I should just cut out all the middle men and try to get a Tak? ( But should that be a Mewlon? )

I can't think of no way to do what you want without a large amount of effort, or a large amount of money, sorry. A filed drain as suggested by Carastro would be an ideal part of the solution, but would probably not be enough on its own, after all farmers have been using that method for millennia. Better still would be doing as the Romans did: Just get your local school to help as a learning exercise!

Hi there and yes commendable for a first attempt, better than anything I ever produced!

It sort of makes me sad, all this need for so many satellites, but what is the alternative? I cannot see one without a major change in human nature and the desire to have what the neighbour has. These launches always impress me though, just see how far humanity has come, in such a short time!

You see this is what I meant, you imagers show such resolve and a " just get on with it " spirit that is very impressive. I bet It hasn't put you off one bit either has it? Just keep calm and carry on eh?

Oh that reminded me of something I read here about the Evoulution mount and problems with wi fi. Here is the thread: https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/269052-celestron-evolution-8-wifi-causing-skyportal-to-crash-switched-to-access-point-mode/ I don't know if that link will work, so here is the OP from that thread : from @wellsi Worth a try maybe, just substitute skyportal with skywatcher version in there?

I have had similar troubles with mine, ( others too, but have not done the EQ update, ) temperamental at best and to be honest I wish I had not got it. I am on my second one, the first just would not work well for me at all, this second one has been OK so far, but still temperamental. There have been lots of people with similar issues, which leads me and others to believe that Skywatcher quality control is poor with this mount. It is a shame, as the idea behind this mount is excellent, I just so want it to work as they intended. The only bright point with this purchase has been the excellent customer service from @FLO I keep threatening to have another proper session testing it out, to try and get to the bottom of making it work properly, but just have not had the time. Certainly I will have to do so before the warranty runs out... Edit: By the way, sorry I could not help, but if you find any solutions to this mounts problem, please flag them up big and loud here.

I would appreciate that. I have looked at it several times, but at that price I have always considered it to be too good to be true...

Hello and welcome to SGL. Life does sometimes get in the way doesn't it though?

That looks good to me, but as I am no imager, perhaps take my opinion with a pinch of salt. Two questions occurs: Which DSLR are you using there? Which nebula is it? I have threatened several times to take a step onto the 'dark side, ' but have always feared that a step usually turns into several hundred, or more. if the experience of many on here are to be believed... Edit: Welcome to the forum by the way!

I cannot add much, other than that I love my C5, probably my favourite at the moment and if you decide to go for a C6, Then I will point you in the direction of Grovers where the C6 is the same price as the C5 at £ 499. ( Though doesn't FLO do a price match? ) https://grovers.biz/optics/optical-tube-assemblies/7509-celestron-nexstar-evolution-6-ota.html I would also agree with dweller 25, the classical cass shows promise, but I have yet to decide, as the focuser is indeed poor and I did get some dew on the secondary with my first outing with it, we will see. I also have a 150mm F5 reflector, but it has not been used for years, so may have to go very soon, it is just not as good, or easy to use as the C5. I can imagine @FLO hating me for pointing out a cheaper C6 now as well, ah well...

Signed, but also perhaps a letter to Ms. Lucas too. How to contact her.

Couldn't agree more, I just wish I was better organised; had more time and better sleep then I would have a better go at things than I presently do. Perhaps I need to make some changes...

Thank you for a good and inspiring report. Looks like you like getting the most from every spare moment, very organised.

I would have suggested the Heritage virtuoso would be better for a beginner, with no need to fiddle with collimation, smaller too. More expensive maybe, especially if made into a proper goto, but still: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/heritage/skywatcher-heritage-90-virtuoso.html There are loads of website though, not least Nasa and Hubble. https://hubblesite.org/images/gallery https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/multimedia/index.html

Hopefully you will be right, whenever the weather plays ball again. Unfortunately, events could overtake me and at the moment I am regretting buying this, even before properly evaluating it, as I think I need to trim my flock down, quite drastically maybe. We will see.

No, I am pretty sure it is not, but will check again. I will wait for the sun again to give it a blast of UV, though that wait could be quite a long one... I couldn't see any problem with the optics when I opened it, nor until I shone the bright, very white torch down the end, perhaps a mistake that. I am not bothered about the dust, that is normal with an open OTA, but the possibility of mould made me shiver a little. I will check as soon as I can. @johninderby I agree the dew on the secondary was surprising, but I did check the humidity with my electronic thermometer and it was 95% and 1.7 degrees C, so perhaps not that surprising really. I have read of several having similar problems with Newts too. Easy to solve that one though, with a home made dew shield. The view down your OTA looks very similar to mine. Your comment about the reflectivity, makes me wonder just where different scopes stand on this, because not all comment on it. I mean just where does Celestron SCT, or Skywatcher mirrors stand on it? It is not important, just interesting for comparison. I want this scope to work and fit in with my stable, alongside my C5 at F6.3.

Neither does my new little classical Cassegrain, yet the secondary still dewed up a little, which whilst surprising to me, perhaps it shouldn't have been surprising with 95% humidity.

Well had it out for a little while tonight, battling the Dew and am left with mixed feelings. The second image is tonight outside in the back garden, not the best photo, but there you go. I knew I would be fighting the dew, but thought it would be a good test, which it was, with the primary mirror staying dew free, but the secondary starting to dew up after a while, which whilst disappointing, was to be expected I suppose with 95% humidity. I also had real problems with my eyepieces, so will have to dig out my eyepiece dewstrap, though not for a while for the forecast is awful for ages. I struggled with focus at first, then realised what the spacers were for. Doh! Anyway, it seems to be a good scope, the focuser is half decent, but not as good as the Skywatcher ED80 one, I would say, which is surprising when I consider that many think that is poor. ( Mine is good on my ED80 though. ) I wandered round for a while and settled on M42 in the end, which was nice. Good contrast, but not that good a view of the Trap, certainly I got better with my C5 when last I looked, but the seeing is not good here tonight, imo. At least I could easily see them. Hard to judge night to night, at least for me with my lack of experience and the dew on the eyepieces, so I will have to see them side by side when next the opportunity arrives. The OTA is of a good size and weight, ( they say 5.4 KG, I will weigh soon, ) easy to manage, even for me with my frozen shoulders and a damaged back. It fits very nicely on my Evolution mount, which handles the OTA very well, but balance was not as easy as the C5 is, to achieve. For some reason too, there was more vibration when focusing, which I do not really understand, but I will figure it out and improve it. I do think the focuser needs replacing with a better one though when it can be afforded. Next quality control. As stated on another thread I have read tonight, whose responsibility is it? Manufacturer; retailer or distributor? Perhaps a combination of all three. Well this scope has two combined as it is a TS scope, bought in this case from TS, so there is little excuse for QC faults. The thing is though there is a fault I think. Two in fact, firstly the focuser feels loose and not well made, not surprising maybe considering the price point: 399 Euros. Maybe I will find a way to fettle it, maybe it is what it is and it needs upgrading. Secondly, whilst tonight was only the second time out of its box for me, I see a potential problem with the primary. I saw nothing wrong with it in daylight, seemed clean and fine, but tonight as I was checking for dew closely, ( after I had finished my little session, ) I shone a bright white light down there, which showed me little speckles on it like dust. When I came in I allowed the OTA to settle out, warm up etc, then looked down the end with the bright white torch, which again showed the dust like speckles, which to my mind just should not be there on a brand new scope. Worse still there appears to be a very small ' growth ' like thing ( fungus? ) about 2/3mm across or so. I tried to photograph it, but is does not show up on the photo, so may try again tomorrow. I have a problem, if it was the excellent FLO I bought it from, I would ask for a replacement, but with this coming from Germany, I am somewhat reluctant. Even more so as the companies customer service is unknown to me, how to prove the fault was not caused by me? Never mind that the fault is minor and doesn't seem to affect performance, as well as being easily solved, maybe. Overall I am in two minds about this scope, it is a good design, but to be honest, with my very first impressions, I prefer my C5. Of course this was cheaper than my C5, but it is not as versatile and the quality control is not as good as might have been hoped. The C5 has a corrector plate that dews up fast, but even this scope has a secondary which dews up after a bit, so is not immune to dew. The C5 is also easier to solve the dew problem on. Of course this may have no dew problems most of the time, only being a problem in high humidity. Not sure I will be buying from Germany again. It would have been so much easier if FLO sold classical Cassegrain of course!

Well I have just given up after admitting defeat due to the dew. Added to which clouds are rolling in. According to my thermometer, 1.7 degrees and 95% humidity, but seconds before the eyepiece dewed up beyond use. Think I will have to dig out the eyepiece dewstrap...

He was called Ben and was my mums dog. We took him on after she died in 2006, but things did not go well, I still feel bad about the whole time. He was a good dog, but had issues, his end and the end of my wife's Labrador has constantly put me off having dogs since. I love having a dog around, but the end bit is just too awful to contemplate again.

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Thank you for asking and the good sentiment. Yes all is well and the eye is starting to feel better all ready, so fingers crossed. The other eye went well, without any problems so this should be good too. There is no anaesthetic, other than eye drops, but they are useless, at least there is no recovery time.