KP82

The stock tripod for Skywatcher EQ mounts comes as part of the package. I don't remember any retailers in the UK who offer these mounts as mount head only (ie. no tripod included).

You're absolutely right. My fault I left out the planetary imaging part (being mainly a DSO imager myself I usually default to those).

The most popular step up eyepieces from the stock 25mm/10mm are the BST starguiders: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bst-starguider-eyepieces.html These offer quality views that punch above their price bracket. They also provide ample eye relief (16mm+) and reasonably wide fov (60deg). BTW FLO offer multi-buy discounts with the BST eyepieces and barlows, so you might as well grab the 2x BST shorty barlow instead of the celestron or ES you mentioned. As for focal lengths that suit your Mak, I'd say 25mm, 18mm and 12mm for a 3-piece set with barlow or 25, 15 and 8 without barlow. If you'd like to go for something even higher, you need to let us know your budget so we can advise accordingly. For astrophotography I assume you mean snapshots with your smartphone. Otherwise I'd suggest you will need a different scope for it because your Mak isn't really suitable due to its long focal length and slow focal ratio. You will also need a reliable EQ mount with tracking capability for it.

If the OP has the budget for an ES62 26mm, he might as well go a bit further for ES68 24mm or APM 24mm UFF. The latter two provide max tfov in 1.25" format and better edge performance on a f/5 scope.

Hi James, The 250p GOTO dob is strictly a visual instrument (not counting those snapshots by smartphones) whereas the C9.25/AVX combo can be used for both visual and astrophotography. The C9.25 is more than double the price of the 250p (£2,699 vs £1,199), so your choice will be a question of your intended usage rather than which one is better. In terms of user friendliness of the different GOTO system, I personally find them all about the same. I've got Synscan (skywatcher) and PMC8 (ES) myself, and have tried NexStar (Celestron) with a fellow club member's C11. For visual use I don't like any of them and prefer my own custom solution made of INDI, kstar/ekos and SkySafari 6 Pro.

EQ5 Pro would be the best short term solution for getting GOTO. However if you plan to upgrade the scope also in the near future, my advice would be to save up a bit more and go for HEQ5. EQ5 would struggle with a 200/250 scope.

If you simply want GOTO to help with target searching, keep the 130p and get an EQ5/HEQ5, or even better AZ-EQ5. Newts can be a bit awkward to use for visual on an EQ mount, so if budget allows AZ-EQ5 would be preferred. Moving from 130 to 150 isn't going to give you a massive increase in light grasp. If you want more obvious improvements in your views, a 200 or 250 scope will be a better upgrade. But at that size you will have to either sacrifice GOTO (manual dob) or pay substantially more for a GOTO dob/SCT.

The weight of the 150PDS + finder/guider + eyepiece/camera will exceed the load capacity of the stock iEXOS-100. You will need to upgrade the mount with an ES ST-2/3 tripod, the AZ adjuster for iEXOS-100, extra counterweights and a counterweight extention bar for it to work. And even then I'd only use it for visual. For imaging with 150PDS, HEQ5 is the minimum.

Yes it's generally recommended to use dedicated reducer/flattener for imaging, but there are quite a few universal models (for refractors) under various different brands. For example: TS Optics 3" 0.79x (there is also a cheaper 2" model available): https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/en/info/p6085_TS-Optics-REFRAKTOR-0-79x-3--ED-Reducer-Korrektor-bis-Vollformat.html Stellamira 2" 0.8x: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/reducersflatteners/stellamira-2-0-8x-reducer-field-flattener-with-m48-adapter.html As long as the focal ratio of your scope falls within the supported range, they will work. However you will have to work out the precise optimal backspace yourself through trial/error as most of them only provide a rough guideline. I personally have the TS Optics 2" model for my Altair 80 f/6 triplet. It took me several nights (trial/error then buying combinations of extension tubes with different lengths) to find out the optimal backspace for my cameras (about 61.5mm). Once that was sorted out the results were quite pleasing.

Taken yesterday. 140x 60secs w/ 25 darks, 20 flats & flat darks. Used short exposures to preserve the core.

The Powermate is a telecentric lens and works in a different way than a traditional barlow to achieve the same result. When used with short focal length eyepieces for high mag views, I believe it is indistinguishable from a quality 3-lens barlow. However it is better suited for longer focal length wide fov ones like your 31mm celestron than barlows as it minimises vignetting, edge degradation and eye position movement. ES tele-extender is the same design I believe but much cheaper.

The reason that the TS Optics 80ED is cheaper on the website you listed than their own site is because you were looking at two different models. The cheaper one is a FPL51 doublet (also available under other brands including Altair, AT and Tecnosky) whereas the other is FPL53. According to most reviews I've read so far, the FPL51 should be colour free for visual. So if you've got no plan for imaging in the future, going with the cheaper model can save you substantial amount of money with no obvious loss of quality. That particular model of vixen 80ed is produced in the factory as the SW 80ED I believe. If you want the "made in Japan" vixen, take a look at the SD81S which is quite a bit more expensive. For the mount Scopetech Zero is another good option if you've got the budget for the Porta II, or AZ5 to save even more money.

Slew by hand in the azimuth is very smooth, but could be a bit stiff in the altitude if you leave the clutchers in a position that allows for both slow motion and nudging. If you mainly use your small fracs for widefield sweeping, I'd say loose the altitude clutcher a little further. Just make sure you have the scope well balanced to avoid the nose or the tail hitting the mount/tripod by gravity when you let it go. The zero isn't without any shortcomes. I believe it's designed primarily for 60 - 100mm refractors (most popular type of scopes in Japan I've heard). If you mount a 5 - 6" reflector/cassegrain on it, the azimuth clutcher knob could get in the way when you try to view some targets closer to the horizon.

I've had my zero for about 6 months now. It's very well made (typical japanese quality) and light weight. I use it for my 80 f/6 triplet on a modified ES ST-1 tripod with a pair of ADM slow motion knobs as a quick grab'n'go setup. If cool down isn't factored in, the whole thing is ready for use in less than 5 mins. I also replaced the stock saddle with an ADM one as I prefer something that properly clamps onto the dovetail rather than relying on a single bolt. The zero requires proper balance in the altitude axis if you want to keep the clutcher slightly loose (in the user manual it is advised not to over tighten the clutchers anyway) so that both slow motion and nudging can work at the same time. I used to have an Altair Sabre v2. Despite its very good build quality, smooth bearings and friction clutchers I still couldn't live without slow motion (at high mag), therefore I sold it.

Has the OP considered 80mm f/6 triplet? With the money you pay for the FS-60CB, you could almost grab a 80mm f/6 triplet (e.g. tecnosky). That's 77% increase in aperture. It's still lightweight (~3kg) and its size is definitely in the grab'n'go category. On top of that the triplet offers equal if not better correction as any standard ED/Fluorite doublets. My visual travel setup includes an Altair 80EDT-R + Scopetech Zero + a slightly modded Explore Scientific ST-1 tripod.

My original plan was to have two: one small 3" portable widefield and the other medium size 4 - 5" for some closer up views and planetary. But I've now ended up with three refractors. I'm lazy and don't want to keep swapping between visual and imaging on the 115 so I've decided to keep the 107 for visual leaving the 115 permanently set up with the riccardi reducer. I thought about getting a 6" before but decided not to pursue such a setup because of the amount of effort required to put everything together everytime I want to use it (if I ever get to build my own obs, I might reconsider). A dob is much better suited as my larger aperture scope.

A Tasco #302675 60mm f/15. It was and still is pretty good, definitely not as bad as most people say about department store telescopes. I replaced the plastic 0.965 focuser with an 1.25 one I found on aliexpress. With decent eyepieces the views of planets, open clusters and double stars are indistinguishable from other more expensive long achromats. The mount in its default EQ mode is rubbish but it can be raised to 90deg and used as an alt-az (like AZ-EQ5/6). It's been given to my son along with a RDF, a couple of plossl eyepieces and a diagonal for his school camping trips.

The usual advices here are to treat visual and imaging as two separate subjects. You said in your original post that you'd start with visual only first and then imaging after about a year. If I were you I wouldn't let something that I'd do later to limit my choice of visual instruments for now. Getting an 80/90mm scope along with a manual alt-az mount for now and then a proper EQ mount (e.g. EQ5 or even better HEQ5) a year later for imaging is the route I'd take. Honestly finding targets that are worth looking with a 80/90mm scope isn't difficult at all with a manual mount.

SW 72ED is a lovely little scope. However it's a bit limited in terms of its aperture like everyone said. I don't know your budget, but if you can stretch to an 80 - 90mm ED doublet, that'll be an even better option. I currently have a 80 triplet and had a 72 and 90 ED doublets before. Honestly their sizes and weights are very similar. They will all happily ride on a modest alt-az mount (e.g. the AZ4/5 and scope tech zero mentioned earlier). As for eyepieces I personally find 24mm 68deg wide enough on my 80EDT. The weight is a lot more manageable making balancing easier.

The G11 is a lot more expensive than the CEM70 on this side of the pond, so most ppl here would probably go for the iOptron. All the gimmicks such as ipolar, wifi, etc. can be achieved with aftermarket solutions at a much lower cost. I think you're on the right track. The mount is the most important part of an astrophotography rig, so getting a quality one is definitely the correct first step. You can start off with planetary/lunar imaging as your C8 is perfect for that. And with a 0.63x reducer it can also be used for DSOs although at 1000mm+ focal length guiding is a must. So I'd say your next step is to get the reducer along with a guiding setup. Your 60D if astro modded is a perfect starter camera, so a camera upgrade can wait unless you want to move to mono quickly.

As said above OAG isn't going to work well in a visual setup. But to answer your original question, yes the functionality of Starsense can easily be replicated with a guide cam, guide scope and astroberry. In fact the homebrew solution can do much better. I've assembled a little device based on my ap experience to do exactly what you want. It's made of the RPi HQ camera, a standard 50mm SW finder, a RPi 4B and astroberry (along with my own python scripts). With this device I can get extremely accurate PA for visual within a few minutes. There is no need for star alignments anymore as plate solving will always place the objects in the eyepiece even at high power, making double star observation a breeze. It can also be used together with SkySafari as a "push-to" guide for manual mounts

Out of those 4 options you've narrowed down so far their visual capabilities can be ranked as follows: Heritage 130 > 72ED > ST102 > ST80 The 130 heritage dob wins simply because of the shear difference in aperture. The ST80 and ST102 short tube refractors are primarily used for wide star fields. Here the ST102 can show slightly more dimmer stars than the 72ED again due to aperture advantage. However both of them being fast achromats lose out to the 72ED when it comes to lunar and planetary performance.

Hi Stephen, welcome to SGL. First of all I agree with Heather's comment that with a budget of £100 - 200, it's pretty much impossible to get anything decent for astrophotography. My advice is going to be similar to the others. That is to focus on visual first. Any decent newtonian reflectors (130mm upwards) aren't going to be backpack portable for hiking, so your choice of refractors or maks is good. As you're a pro photographer, I assume you've already got quite a few decent photo tripods and heads around. So the ST80 or the Skymax 102 suggested in the previous comments are both viable options within your budget. You will need to pick up this: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dovetails-saddles-clamps/astro-essentials-mini-vixen-style-dovetail-clamp.html to use them with your existing photo tripods and heads. If you could stretch your budget a little further, try to get this: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/pro-series/sky-watcher-evostar-72ed-ds-pro-ota.html. This is a refractor with an ED element in its lens, so the chromatic aberration found in achromatic refractors like the ST80 will be greatly reduced. The scope can then be used for astrophotography later on when you're ready to purchase a tracking EQ mount.

Thanks for the link. Just had a quick look through it. The direct INDI support is enough for me to switch as long as it isn't buggy.

I've got Pro 6 on my android. Is there a list of new features in Pro 7 compared to 6? I'd like to go through that first before I decide if the upgrade is worth it when version 7 becomes available in Google Play.