russ

Its quite a surprise jumping up to 12" aperture after a smaller scope. I had the Revelation 12" dob which i also bought in the knowledge the coatings had gone. Took the mirror to Orion Optics and had their Hilux coatings applied. It wasn't cheap though. I paid as much for the recoat as the entire scope. It was worth it though. The Veil Nebula with an OIII filter and this scope from a darkish site was amazing. Enjoy the scope, hope you get some clear skies soon.

In fairness the photo does give the impression of only being the motors. Plus your link is for the superior set with the enhanced handset.

The link in the original post did include the handset, it's a complete kit but it's the original handset without the ST4 port.

As with Gus above, I would caution against spending so much on your first scope. I can say this from first hand experience from 4 people I have known through local clubs. The last one spent close to £6K. Used it all 4 times, decided astro wasn't for him after all. Put the lot on Ebay and lost close to £3K in 6 weeks. You can put together something half decent for a fraction of £5K, just to get a taster. Buy used to limit the loses to a minimum. Everyone chops and changes their setup, I don't think anyone has stumbled on the perfect setup first time of asking. So buying used allows you to chop and change with minimal loss. Just a thought.

My nephew has the Skymax 90mm but we haven't used anything lower than 25mm. He uses it purely for the moon and planets. The 25mm is just a finder eyepiece.

The 5mm BST will work beautifully with your scope, not over powering it in the slightest. But we are at the mercy of the atmosphere and sometimes even 130x is not possible. As others have already said, let the scope cool and spend time at the eyepiece. With some decent skies the 5mm BST will work a treat in your scope. Just make sure the scope is well collimated as well. If the collimation is off you'll never get those fine details on the planets, not matter how hard you try.

I was going to suggest that myself bu then couldn't remember if the smaller Skymax had the same thread on the rear or if the rear aperture was a wide as the 127.

Certainly looks impressive. The only other eyepiece offering those specs is the old Speers-Waler zoom with its constant 80deg afov.

The 32mm Plossl will give the widest field possible with the 1.25" focuser on the 102. You can achieve a lower power with a 40mm Plossl but the true field of view will be identical to the 32mm, just at a lower power. Hope that makes sense.

That is a great looking scope for £495. Not much more than i paid for a used ED100. What a bargain. I love my 4" ED Frac. So much less hassle than the SCT i have. And massively easier to get on with compared to the 250P I had last year. That thing on the HEQ5 was a nightmare. Couldn't get to the eyepiece for half the stuff.

I think that is it, they are uncomfortable not knowing what you are doing at that time of the night looking into a tube. Which was all it was for me. Once i knew that was the problem I ignored him too. All sorted. Then we moved and the neightbours were great. Actually came and asked for a look in the scope. And then bought their own.

I know its all hassle. There's always one that has a problem. Hope you get it sorted.

Yes I would, that's a nice image. The C8 has done well.

You could always book time on a remote telescope. You won't be there in person but you will be controlling the telescope and capturing the images yourself. I have never done it but something like this: https://www.itelescope.net/ They have telescopes in the Northern and Southern hemispheres.

We use to have this problem in our old house. The second I setup the scope the neighbour would clock it. Turn on his security lighting. Then shout out the window later that I was keeping them up. I one occasion i wasn't out, I had already quit for the night but left the scope in the garden. And yet he still yelled out at an empty garden, probably thought i was hiding in the shadows. In the end my wife (i know how bad is that) went and spoke with them. She got on with his wife, so it was easier. Turned out he just didn't like the scope being setup, felt uncomfortable. Nothing to do with noise. I even changed the mount as I was convinced it was the "coffee grinder" Celestron mount that was the problem. Definitely worth a chat with the neighbour. I find it hard to believe that the tracking HEQ5 or the DSLR are making that much noise.

Great report John. Sounds like a nice observing session. I've not tried Neptune (or Uranus) in years. Now i'm dying to get out again. Our weather forecast was for thick cloud last night, so never put the scope out. Looked out the window at midnight, crystal clear. Wish i just went out anyway.

Stunning images, really nice processing again. I used to have the M603, such a great scope. The M500 looks to be equally good.

That's a really nice image with some really nice processing. Not heavy handed at all. Really nice.

I have the Celestron C6S, which is basically an identical scope on a different mount. I can safely say the 6" SCT is an amazing little scope. First class optics. Truly great views of moon and planets. Surprisingly good on DSO's as well. It also images well, both DSO and planets. But I have to move the scope onto a different mount to get the best out of it. The SE mount that mine is on, isn't a first choice for imaging. So I have an EQ5 with dual drives as well. The downsides to the 6" SCT is cool down and dew. Sometimes it can be out there for hours and never seem to clear the warm currents. And the dew is an absolute nightmare without active dew heater (the dew shields are 110% useless). What this means is I will tend to reach for the ED100, despite the smaller aperture. It just gets up speed so much faster. And for some reason only the worst dew conditions affect it. But we have owned the C6 for 11 years now and wouldn't part with it. Lots of scopes have come and gone but not the C6.

I had the Astrotech AT66 with the ES Maxvision 24mm 68deg eyepiece. Amazing 4.1deg true field. And with the little Giro mount it was a take anywhere setup. Including sneaking it onto camping holidays when all astro was banned.

That sounds a great session indeed. Just a shame they rise at silly o'clock at the moment. But worth it when you get a good view. A few more weeks and they will rise sufficiently by midnight. Some great spots in the New Forest. A group of us from SGL used to meet at Turf Hill on the North side of the Forest. Not too bad a drive from Southampton. Come off the M27 at J1 (Cadnam) and head out on the Fordingbridge road. Didn't take me long at all from Southampton.

Superb work. Especially like the Jupiter images, really nice.

That is one nice looking watering can. A work of art. And finished in Tele Vue green to boot.

Congrats on your milestone John. I don't think we even had as many as 100 members when you joined.

I have the Takumar 50mm 1.4. Cost peanuts but absolutely love it. So well built, buttery smooth focus and defined clicks on the aperture. Used it for my recent attempts at Neowise. A little blue fringing on the brightest stars.