Greymouser

Unless I am mis remembering things, you can get a goto mount and just use the tracking can't you? I seem to remember doing that with my Evolution mount. I too like the satisfaction of finding the object, but having recently started getting my travel set up together, agree that tracking is a luxury I do not want to do with out! That said I have slo mo controls on my AZ3, with its attached 102 ST, they work fine, but not as good as tracking! On my photo tripod and using my new Celstron C5, it is even more noticeable. I am going to get the AZ GTI mount, which I am reasonably certain you can use it, with or without GOTO and still use the tracking. By the way do not forget to look at the smaller SCT telescopes, they are very good for grab and go!

Hi Scouse, good luck to Ya La. Better luck than the team anyway. ( Unless you are a blue nose! ) ?

Needed Edit and deletion because I can... Mooo! ?

Hi and welcome to the forum. There is no such thing as a stupid question. Goodness knows I have tried often enough to find one in my own head! ?

Hello and welcome to this very useful forum and welcome to your wordiness, its all good! ?

I suspect our outlook is quite similar and yes, definitely a philosophy, rather than a religion. I have not eaten meat for about 30 years, spent much of that time as a vegan, though tried very hard to not be judgemental about other ways. Indeed I have always even prepared and cooked meat etc., even whilst I personally, was on a Vegan diet, for my wife and sons etc. Thing is you have to be careful with a Vegan diet, it is easy to get into very serious health troubles on that diet. Which is part of the reason why I am no longer a Vegan, but now a Pescatarian, who does not have dairy. My morals are really simple, if you are willing to kill the life, you should be able to eat that life, though I would rather be a vegan again, even though I like fishing! ? All ways of life, without exception, have an impact on the environment we live in, often quite detrimental. All I try to do is try to limit the impact I make, where I can. Wasps are in fact fascinating, so are ants and especially Bees. In fact all life is.

Indeed...

Ah but you eat dairy, yes? You are aware of the calf that has given its life for you to eat cheese and milk eh? Never mind the cruelty involved in some branches of the dairy industry... ?

I find myself to be curious, are you then a Vegan? I am not having a go, just being nosy! As for them being wonderful, well yes, like most life forms, they have a purpose, but try telling that to someone whom I used to know, who discovered he was allergic to their sting and got a free trip to A and E! As for liking spiders Gina, again great, just consider yourself lucky you do not live in Australia, where you get the Redback spider, for instance. I was told by someone living in Sydney that one had built a web across his back door, frame edge to frame edge I assume. He did not want to kill it and anyway, he said it would get anyone trying to break in, as they are quite small and difficult to see, if you are at all distracted! The poison is quite bad and there is an antivenom available, but still where else other than Australia would you get someone considering it good to have a guard spider?! He had kids though, so I think his wife made him move it eventually. It did nearly get him though, which is how he discovered it. Back to wasps: I had read about the decoy nest being a good deterrent, they do not like nesting near another nest it seems, however, I once had two queens building nests at the same time in one small shed. I did what JamesF suggests and sealed all entrances and they got the message it seemed.

Hi and welcome to the forum, but you now have me curious as to which forum you used to be on... ( till you finished it off! )

I too have had similar problems with the sky portal app, for me with my Evolution mount, it is just not well thought out imo. Geoff Lister sums it up really well. It is just not an improvement to my mind over a hand controller and is little more than a gimmick. Luckily for me the Evolution mount came with the optional hand controller too and it has without any doubt vastly improved my enjoyment of using my Evolution mount. There is just no comparison. I would suggest you contact whomever sold you the scope/mount, and ask them which hand controller will work with it. You will not regret it. However that said I use the Sky portal app on an Android tablet and just yesterday there was an update to a newer version, ( I presume it was a little later with Apple, ) which they allege means you can tilt the tablet to move the mount, instead of trying to find non tactile buttons on screen. If true it would perhaps be a huge improvement. I may try it out at some time, but as Geoff says, that is not the only problem with the app, so I think I will stick to the hand controller. That is as soon as I can motivate myself to observe at all again. This worry over the app is what is putting me off a little bit, when I am considering getting the Skywatcher version, with a AZ GTI mount. All gimmick. less function? Edit: Incidentally I have read of several Astro Fi users say they have bought a hand controller for it, but they do not mention which controller... I have heard the same of the AZ GTI. EDIT 2: Oops I just noticed the old date of OP of this thread, sorry about that mods...

Hi and welcome to a great forum, which I feel sure will soon come with suggestions regarding a new mount, always assuming you are in fact asking?

Hi there from damp Cheshire! Agree about family and kids getting in the way of a great hobby too! ?

I assume you mean the Nexstar SLT, which weighs in at 18lbs, altogether? The Nexstar Evolution at 35.4 lbs, for the entire kit, is probably a bit much as a backpack scope...?

Apologies about what may be inferred as a blatant bump, but another loose end... However, the six inch Asto Fi is now a reality with Rother Valley Optics offering at £649, though not in stock yet: https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/celestron-astro-fi-6-sct-wifi-telescope.html The five and six inch SLT are also now with a quoted price; £ 549 for the five inch and £ 649 for the six: https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/celestron-nexstar-5-slt-goto-telescope.html https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/celestron-nexstar-6-slt-goto-telescope.html Neither are expected in stock before next month, according to Adam, at RVO, ( fingers crossed, ) which is nice and will give me time to persuade my wife of my need... Now all I need to do is decide which one to go for, or maybe just the OTA? Ah well, there are worse problems to have.

The David Hinds site also says the weight of the Astro Fi OTA is 4.8 lbs: https://celestron.uk.com/productinfo.php/telescopes/astro_fi_series/astro_fi_6_sct/4221 If you scroll down you will see it there too. Flo do not give the separate weight of the OTA, just say the total weight is 6.7 KG, which is still a very light weight setup. Perhaps FLO also doubt the alleged weight of the OTA separately? I suspect you are right Michael and I am reminded of something my Grandma always advised: " If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is... " ? I have never seen a telescope described as " vapourware. " But hey ho, there you go. As I have already stated, it does seem way to good to be true. However I doubt it is fiction, just the advanced warning/advertisement, for what on the face of it are attractive setups. I find it hard to believe, ( though not imposible, ) that Flo; Rother Valley Optics and David Hinds are all telling fibs. Especially considering this on the Celestron website, which also seems to state the Asto Fi 6" OTA, will in fact weigh 4.8 lbs. https://www.celestron.com/products/astro-fi-6-schmidt-cassegrain-telescope I am not trying to argue with anyone, I just want clarification, is that asking too much? Edit: It is odd though that Celestron say the Astro Fi 5 weighs 6.8 lbs, which is in fact heavier than the ordinary C5! They also say the Fi 5 setup is heavier than the Fi 6 Maybe got the two specifications the wrong way around. ( I suspect that Celestron need to employ a better proof reader... )

Yes, I think I will now be getting a 6 lb C5, though one of those versions is half a pound heavier... I too found it difficult to believe too Peter, especially considering the Astro Fi six inch version is in fact less than half the weight of the C6 version OTA. 4.8 lbs compare to the expected 10 lbs. Rother Valley say there is no difference at all in the optics, which to be honest is hard to understand. The Asto Fi six inch version is in fact lighter than the C5 spotting scope! I am baffled as to their logic. ( Celestron's ? )

As no one here can or wants to answer my question, I pursued it with Rother Valley Optics, which is perhaps where I should have gone in the first place. ( I just preferred to rely on the experience/independence, of those on this forum, never mind that the beginner section seemed a logical place for my question. ) Anyway, just to tie up a loose end and to make sure anyone who wonders about this in the future, who comes across this thread, finds an answer: Rother Valley say there is no difference in the optics, at all, but in their words: " In lightweight systems such as the SLT and Astro Fi etc, they may have changed the build design or quality to reduce the overall weight of the systems. " I am not sure this reassures me, other than to avoid the lighter OTA, just in case... ? ( Please forgive the bump and combine the two posts if it seems appropriate. ? )

I have been looking to get a compact travel scope for a while and seem to be settled on a 5" SCT from Celestron weighing 6lbs. However I then noticed That the 6" SCT only weighs in a four pounds more, tempting. https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/celestron-c6-xlt-optical-tube-assembly.html Thing is that not all versions of the 6" appear to be the same weight. The SE and upcoming SLT versions both weigh in at ( OTA only, ) 8lbs: https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/celestron-nexstar-6-slt-goto-telescope.html Then there is the upcoming Astro Fi version which claims it is going to weigh in at ( OTA only, ) 4.8lbs! https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/celestron-astro-fi-6-sct-wifi-telescope.html I had assumed that each 6 inch SCT , from the same manufacturer would be essentially the same OTA, with just a different paint job, but according to the above links, the Astro Fi version, has an OTA less than half the weight of the C6! What is going on? Can anyone explain? Is it just a typing error, somewhere along the line? If so it is not just Rother Valley which has the error. Because in other sizes, there is little difference in weight of the different versions, I think half a pound or so. Can anyone explain to stupid me please? I mean if the Astro Fi 6" is going to be lighter than the C5, it's a no brainer, eh? ?

I received my second order from this wonderful company on Friday. Again very well packaged and quickly delivered by DPD, the best courier too imo. I do like the sticker: " May contain clouds ", brought a grin to my face that did, does every time I see it as it is now on the box that contains my OTA. In fact I would say FLO are missing a trick there, I would pay good money for this kind of humorous sticker, they should produce and sell more varieties! ? All contact with the company has been very prompt and very good. Not so much with the second order which was very straight forward, but the first required some back and forth e mails, between me and the firm. I would say that other suppliers could learn a thing or two from this company, not mentioning names or anything... If there is a choice I will be using this company in the future, before any other, because of that excellent customer service. Thank you FLO, keep up the good work. ?

My shopping list gets bigger and bigger... ?

Could you tell me which click lock you went to exactly. In fact could you break down to a real easy level, ( for someone quite stupid, like myself, ) exactly what you did please.

I was under the impression that they were only a 50 degree FOV, is my assumption wrong?

You are not the first to suggest this and I had in fact been considering that, but for two reasons, it could be a possibility. The cost would be considerable, to put it mildly and any field flattening correction would then be lost, unless you can then buy another correcter for the two inch visual back? I wish I could afford it though, especially the top of the range eyepieces! ??

I will check again, without the full moon! It wouldn't surprise me though...?