Peter77

I have an AVX mount. ANd living on lat 56 degr north means the polarscope is useless unless I don't want to poke my eye out because of the long handle on the bolt (and how the bleep can they sell a mount like this??) So I do this which is good enough for visual. I find out my lat and long position. This for entering locaton in handset. I set my lat adjustment on the mount as exact as possible. Then I adjust with the azimuth knobs until I have polaris fairly close on the finder. Then I do a two star alignment and add one or two calibration stars. This is good enough for visual. If you just do visual, don't over complicate things with a polemaster. Just adjust with the knobs as close as possible and also enter your position with lat/long coordinates and exact time. This makes my mount slew to chosen targets and put them almost always fairly in the middle of the eyepiece. I believe there should be a polar aligh routine in your mount, not sure about the menu location though. The avx has one that is said to be quite good. The option might be visible only after a star alignment routine has been done. Check the manual.

I suppose a regrease is good, if the mount has a few years on its neck. When old, some grease tend to get chunky/hard. Other than that, it is a good and capable mount, so I would see how it performs first, before taking any decisions. I'm that "use what you have and see how it does kind of guy" It might just do very fine. I am also planning to get into the AP-hole. With an 115/800 triplet and an AVX mount, I'm sure I am in for a real blast. Avx is maybe not the best imaging mount, but found it used for good price, so planning to follow my own advice and see how it works first. I'm sure your mount will perform excellent with a little new lube and a small frac on it.

Don't have much answers to your questions, but checked the camera and read some reviews on Amazon. Some mentioned that it took some fiddling to get to work, and some also mentioned, like you that they were able to focus on daytime terrestrial targets, but found it very difficult to focus on moon/planets. While others don't mention this. Not sure if it is related to focal length? Specs/info mention that it is best suited for FL between 4-800 mm. Having not owned a camera like this, I am not sure how this relates, but thought it worth mentioning. Reg. the setup/alignment, something seems to be not right. I've had evenings were just nothing seems to work, wrong stars showing up or scope slewing completely off for alignmentstars. Only to find that I've entered date in wrong format, dd/mm/yy instead of thr correct (but to me, being swedish, not intuitive) mm/dd/yy format. You seem fairly technical and knowledgeable, but mistakes happen to the best of us (it happened to me, haha) so just thought I'd mention this. Again, sorry for not being able to straighten your problems out, but just thought that some input is better than none. Hope you get it to work. It is quite a lightbucket you have

I use this method too. AVX mount, pretty stiff in DEC-axis but a little more fluent in RA-axis. If shooting, I balance with camera etc on, before aligning etc.

Hello. I do not have any answer to your guide problems But this thread came up when searching for the AVX mount here. I bought a used one. Planned to use for imaging. But as it behaves now, not even sure it is possible. For now I have a 115mm F7 triplet apo weighing 6.4kg (plus diagonal and EPs). When observing, when going over 100x and up, an oscillation/vibration starts to be visible. At first I thought it was wind or hard ground that caused some kind of resonance. But today with almost no wind and setup on softer ground, this issue still present itself. Causing problems to come to a satisfying focus because the image wobbles. This happens while tracking. Almost impossible to get a sharp image of stars in high magnification. The problem was not there an earlier day when I just set the mount up and pointed to polaris. No tracking, didnt even turn the mount on. There was also some wind. I removed covers over ra and dec to take a look at drive+wormwheel earlier but they were nicely tight so didn't touch anything. Also relieved tensionring a little for ra axis. But still has some stickyness. Does not move very smoothly. Dec axis is fine though, tips over by itself when just unclutching and touch it with finger. Not sure if this has helped though, maybe a little but just had a short session on Venus today, already hard to focus on. But did think I saw the same vibrations. Will have to have a longer session to evaluate if it did anything at all. I notice the symptoms when both tracking lunar and tracking sidereal. And being new to eq mounts I am not sure which axis is causing the problem. Been checking a few dissasembly pages and post, but havent quite plucked up the courage to go ahead. I am sure the mount could benefit from removal av the hard sticky overabundant factory grease, as well as checking for burrs and some light polishing. I've seen other complaints about this oscillation too. For now I just want to be able to observ with my mount and my new apo And am beginning to regret that I didn't choose another mount. Do anyone know what causes this problem and has any advice where to start? As said, been checking some of this pages about dissasembly but feels that they're not covering every exact step.. so that scares me off a little. I have allen keys, 1.27 to 1.5mm, and from 3 or 4mm up to 10mm. And pliers and sidecutters and lots of torx bits as well as screwbits both crossed and straight ones. So tools are not a problem. But still would appreciate some advice.. Going to order a tube of superlube soon. As a start I will degrease and regrease the drives and wormwheel and see if it does any difference. But I suspect the problem comes from within the axis assemblies themselves.

I live outside a small village, 2km out in the forest area. There are ca 2000ppl living in the village, so rather small. Nearest large city is 30km due south. Skies here gets quite dark and I have unobstructed view for a large portion of it with just some trees blocking in north and east. The bands of the milky way are clearly visible. So, things could have been worse for sure

Found this one which was almost perfect, but just a little short. OTA length with retracted dewshield is 71cm. The TS case is 77 long (exterior). The interior of this on amazon box is exactly 71cm which gives no room for padding on the short sides.. Might be helpful for someone else though so I'll add the link: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00N3055KE/ref=pd_aw_sbs_60_1/260-5921035-6101561?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00N3055KE&pd_rd_r=dbe67958-c01c-410a-8b51-cebf394b9f0d&pd_rd_w=eiuko&pd_rd_wg=D43dq&pf_rd_p=ecf0cb80-06b1-4598-85b1-6d77c4f95871&pf_rd_r=SKPYPZMYC1G4V6E47TNY&psc=1&refRID=SKPYPZMYC1G4V6E47TNY

Hello. Beginning to feel the need to organize a little. Want some storage for the TS optics 115mm triplet apo. Been looking at this: https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p9122_TS-Optics-Alu-Transport-case-for-refraktors-up-to-115-mm-aperture.html And it is okay, but it is exactly the same cheap foam insert that the scope came delivered in, just in a fancy case instead of cardboard box. Was thinking maybe I could find a case where I could store the scope + all the eyepieces and atleast the diagonal and maybe a little other stuff as well. The case in the link is 77 x 24,5 x 23 cm (L x W x H). My ideal case would be roughly the same length and height but just deeper. Considering the scope dimensions, it would be ideal if the case is not too high (lying down) so that the scope "rattles around" as little as possible when the case is moved around. And then I could just build the interior with foam inserts. Been looking on amazon.de for candidates, but not managed to find any thats long enough or just that perfect. And most of the ads do not specify measurements in the headline Might end up bying the case from TS anyway, xnd a separate smaller for accessories. Probably the easiest, but would be nice to have most of it in one case. More elegant Ideal measurements would be something like 80x45x25. Before giving up, do you have any suggestions? I could try and make my own.. but it wouldn't be that pretty.. //P

Just wanted an excuse to admire and touch it again 😂 Oh I see now that you probably meant the toy car under the mount, haha, forgive me for being slow. So used to have kids toys laying around that I barely even notice them anymore 😛

Played around a little during daytime today, tried out eyepieces + camera afocal mode. Couldn't resist to take a picture There is something beatiful with a refractor all setup in daylight. Much more photogenic than during the time they normally come to life. //P

Very nice looking setup

Also not a hardcase, but maybe the square shape is better https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p10142_Geoptik-Carrying-Bag-for-11--SC-EHD-and-10--RC-ACF-Telescopes---OTAs.html //P

How do you feel about this one? Compatible measurewise with the C11 https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p7263_TS-Optics-padded-transport-bag-for-telescope-tubes-up-to-79-cm-length---35-cm-OD.html Edit: Oh, sorry. Should have read better. You said hardcase, I see that now. Might still be an option though if nothing else turns up. //Peter

I see. I was afraid to wait too long as they might not be available for that price for very long. I cannot stress enough, that if you go ahead, I think you won't regret it The 115mm is also quite capable for visual of you want to enjoy it that way too. Weighing only 6.5kg it is not that hefty either, requiring only a mid sized mount. Not sure what mount you have today? The focuser on the scope is very good too. Seems very rigid and capable of handling loads. I did the startest with a diagonal in and there were no errors on the diffraction rings, for whatever that is worth. I'm sure there are other good scopes as well, and this being the first apo I own, I of course don't have that much experience. I can only see what I have in front of me and gather that it is some good [removed word] Can't beat the value for the price. It is not a fpl53 howewer, "only" fpl51, but seems to be very well corrected. //Peter

I second the recommendation regarding the 115mm triplet apo from TS Optics, the one reduced in price. I did a quite thorough review with lots of pics over at "Member equipment reviews". Have a look there and see what you think. The scope is high class. I added some eyepiece projection shots as well. Bought it for dual purpose as both visual and later on when I've gathered some more gear, also for AP. But it is a very good scope for the money. €999 for an apo with that aperture is hard to beat unless you go secondhand I think. Have a look also at Astrobin for shots taken with the scope. That's what I did before I decided. Also: Even though it is reduced in price, it has full warranty. That's what finally made me click the buy button. I did not regret it. /Peter

TS Optics 115mm triplet apo. Really like the scope Edit: Added pic of mounted scope.

Alright folks. Hope you are doing well tonight. I am super-happy Just finished tinkering a little with the AVX mount today hoping to be able to get rid of the oscillations. Relieved tensionring a little in dec axis. But even though I relieved it so much, that I could grab the saddle and rack it around a bit, and then fastened back to where it was stable, dec-axis still has some of stiction/stiffness. Ra-axis was fine though so I didn't touch it. When loosening the brake-screw, I could just touch it with the finger and it fell over by itself. But atleast now it is somewhat easier to balance the scope. Anyways, now over to the really fun part. By surprise, it turned out to be a clear night, with some clouds threatening in the far east. So I thought it was time for the one thing I have been dreading - the star-test. After that, I reckoned, will I know: Is the optics really good, or is there something wrong with it. Levelled the mount but didn't bother to attach powercords and powertank. Set the scope up and zoned in on polaris. Since I didn't want to break my neck, I had a 2" diagonal in. I've read that for best result, you should insert the eyepiece right in to the 2" or 1.25" receptacle, but thought it was worth a try. Worked my way down from 25 via 9mm, to be able to keep the target centered, and finally down to 4mm. All plossls. And then I racked the focus. At first there was just a yellow/orange fuzzy large ball. But suddenly, there they were. Perfect concentric rings without a hint of disturbances. I almost fell backwards. Never seen diffraction rings before. They were not exactly the same inside focus as outside of focus. Maybe I just imagined, but they seemed to be a little more defined inside of focus, than outside of. I let the star wander a little over the small field, but the rings still looked good. No ovality or elongation in any direction. Perfectly symmetrical. So it feels really good right now. First time with an APO, and it's instant jackpot. I was afraid to get a bad example because of the low price, but all those fears are gone. I think this scope is really high class, especially for the stupid low price of €999 that I paid. A little final rating 1-5 where 5 is good and 1 is, well I think you get it Teleskop-Express ease of use, overall shopping experience and deliverytime: I would rate this at a 6. All was perfect but I simply wouldn't have believed that, when I ordered on the 27:th of dec, a Friday, the scope would arrive in Sweden on Monday the 30:th. But it did. Incredible. TS Optics 115mm triplet apo fit an finish, overall quality impression: There is nothing about it that bothers me. All good and well made. A clear 5. Optical performance: A 5 here also. Everything is well aligned. No CA that I can percieve at least. No astigmatism. Good for at least 251x magnification (haven't tried to go higher yet but playing with the thought of barlowing a 5mm and see what happens) This is really good for only €999. I seriously recommend it! Have a good evening everybody! //Peter

Sorry to hear that, but nice to hear that you don't let it get in the way lf your passion, and try to do the best you can out of it!

Hi, Okay. Yes I've heard about the backlash problem. Guess I'll have to deal with that when it's time to start imaging. Sorry about your living situation. Mine is completely different for which I am thankful. Having unobstructed views almost to 10 degree above horizon in southeast to soutwest direction, west direction is blocked somewhat of the house or trees depending if I set up behind or in front of the house. North is somewhat worse though giving clear view only to 50 degr above horizon, as well as directly east. Skies here are fantastic to, living in the north part of Skåne which is in the south of Sweden. Skåne in general is very bad LP-wise, but there are some areas on the countryside which gets very dark. Can clearly see the bands of the milky way, and s few deepsky objects are visible to the naked eye. Hope I will never have to move. Really enjoy the scope. Just hope that the vibration problems can be minimized, to be able to take full advantages of the optics.

It sounds cool with a spectrometer i store my astrogear in a secondary building on our yard, which is not heated. So it is basically outside temp in there. It has concrete floor though, so it is lagging just a little with the variations compared to outside, but it is very minor. It's nice not to have to wait a long while to be able to use the gear. Interesting that you have the AVX too. Are you experiencing any problems with it with this refractor? BR Peter

Actually I felt it varies from eyepiece to eyepiece. The 38mm 2inch TS Optics showed none, while the 25mm plossl showed some more. Actually I thought field curvature was only seen on a photo without field flattener, because of the flat sensor. Don't know if this helps, but hope so. I'm just an amature that's not super advanced in my knowledge, but I wanted a fine instrument anyway Probably nothing compared to a TAK or TEC, but I don't want to pay that kind of money.

Ah, and you sold it? Why oh whyyy? 😭 If I weren't such a sucker for astrophoto, I would have taken that instead. More aperture is good. But I feared that my AVX could not handle the load with imaging gear, and that's probably right. The only downside now is the mount, that is inducing continuus vibrations. Gives a sort of oscillating effect on the image when viewing esp. at higher powers. It was not super windy all the time yet the vibration was there all the time. So this makes me believe it is the mount causing this when tracking. Before tearing the mount down and looking for untight gears, I will try a few things: 1: Set up on the lawn and see if any difference 2: Vibration suppression pads 3: Maybe get a more rigid ADM saddle with a matching dovetail thats not so flimsy Also ofc make sure everything is tight. Haven't checked the bolts attaching the dovetail to the OTA. They might be lose. Will also try to retract dewshield a bit to rule out wind. //Peter

Alright, so I've had 2 nights that were clear and I had a chance to try the scope under the stars. Initially I am quite pleased with the performance of the scope. Not so much with the mount though, because it seems to be causing vibrations that gives an image that appear to be affected by atmospheric turbulence. But the symptoms comes already at 100x, and the air was very cold the second night with little moisture. I was set up on our front yard which is compacted gravel, so a very hard surface, not very different from concrete, especially during sub-zero temps. I will try next time to set up om the lawn part of the yard instead, and see if it makes any difference in suspending vibrations. The vibrations also made it hard to focus on stars at high magnifications. But all in all I had very nice views. Yesterday was the longest observing session. Being out from 20.00 to around 00.45. I viewed the Orion nebula starting with low mag around 21x, then increased to 30x. The scope picked up the cloudy details very well, much more so than my 102 slt achro frac. I could see a very dark field in the image that stood out and was way darker than the surrounding darkness. As I went higher, this pitch black which I suppose is dust, grew bigger and bigger. And even at 100x, I could see the cloudy misty soft nebulosity extending in every direction. It was a very nice view and I spent a good 20-30 mins on that target. This was with a moon that was more than half full and drowning the sky in its glare. Could easily discern very tight stars that were very close to eachother. I also visited bodes and cigar galaxy. Had no problems spotting them in the scope at 21 and 30x. But the moonglare destroyed any possibility to see much of the extension of bodes galaxy. Had to use averted vision to see some more. But I think on a dark night, I will see more. Visited also the beautiful doublecluster. My eyes were quite watery from the cold wind that started to pick up, so had a hard time with the stars as they were glaring But did manage to get some fine views of pinpoint stars. I really like the doublecluster, and viewed it in 21x and 30x. I like the sea of stars around the two clusters that almost seems to spiral outwards. Visited some other clusters as well. The hyades amongst others, and I think M67 and a couple of others. Also I spent a good time looking at the moon, before and after viewing deep sky targets (stupid to look at the bright moon before, but I wanted the whole buffe..) I had good views up to 250x, so a little bit past the 50x per inch limit. Some color showed on the lunar limb, but it started already at low mag and did not increase with higher power. And it dissapeared completely when viewing directly on axis. And it came and went as I moved my eye. So this is lateral colors I am seeing. It was more pronounced in wider angle eyepiece I had. I used the following eyepieces last night: TS-optics 2" 70 degree 38mm giving 21x Celestron (plossl design) 1.25" 54ish something degrees 25mm giving 32x BST Starguider 1.25" 60degree 8mm giving 100x BST Starguider 1.25" 60degree 5mm giving 160x BST Starguider 1.25" 60degree 3.2mm 250x and a damn small exit pupil Attaching a singleshot taken with Samsung S7 through 5mm eyepiece at 160x (just holding it at the eyepiece). The image is low detail (uploaded to facebook via phone and then downloaded from there to my computer) but still a pretty nice shot. You can see some of the lateral colors though. I don't like to use moon filters. I like it as it is, unfiltered. But when I came in, I had a glowing green moonghost in the eyes for a while, felt like I had been staring in the headlights of a car Gotta read up on the geography of the moon, it has pretty interesting details. I really like this mountainridge in the center of the picture, extending as a half circle. Mare Imbrium, perhaps? Best regards Peter

Yes, seems to be a good scope. Can't wait to try it under clear skies. First clear night tonight, and it is New Years Eve 🤬

Okay folks, So today I was out in the sunny weather trying to determine if the optics are good and if it is a keeper. I can assure you, it is. It is rated for 230x magnification (4.5" x 50) but it was flawless also at 251x. I could go no further because shortest EP I have is 3.2nm. I could try and barlow but my barlow is crap. There is some colorcast in either side of focus, but it dissapears completely when focus is reached. The pictures were taken through BST starguider 3.2mm eyepiece. Background was a treetop some 100m away, and also the label on our trashcan some 40m away (the best high contrast background I could find) No colors that I can see. Pictures were taken with Samsung S7 through eyepiece. Bonuspic: Son looking through eyepiece at treetop. Sorry about the sunglare.