KP82

I used to own 25, 12, 5 and 3.2 BSTs. The 12mm was definitely the best of the bunch, very crispy views. The others were fine eps also, better than stocks but not quite on par with the more expensive equivalents. I had the problem with ghosting on bright targets using the 5mm (very prominent when looking at Mars or Jupiter), not sure if it was just my particular sample. The 3.2 on your 130p newt will yield 203x mag which would be useful for the moon and planets only under very good seeing condition.

Polar alignment is completely separate from everything else. I think you probably got it confused with the star alignment that helps the onboard computer to build the star map. When you switch on your mount, it already assumes the RA axis is pointing towards the NCP/SCP.

Universal Flattener like this one https://www.firstlightoptics.com/reducersflatteners/hotech-sca-field-flattener.html, can be used with a wide range of refractors between f/5 and f/8 (sometimes even f/9). TS Optics and Sharpstar also make one. So you can combine it with any 70 - 80mm refractors you like. The main problem with this kind of setup is that you will have to work out the correct spacing between the flattener and the camera through trial and error yourself.

TS Optics were also selling the rebadged 94EDPH. If you include those, the number of reviews will be more. But yes I wouldn't say there are *many* reviews.

I've got the APM 107 which is a rebadged Sharpstar and is now discontinued. Overall the quality is very good, definitely up there with the best Chinese APOs. The only negative comments I've read so far are about the 61EDPH II on CN. The 76 and 94 have got good reviews. I haven't seen many user reports on their big 140 dual EDs. Which one are you thinking of buying?

I've had my iEXOS-100 for about 10 months now. It's actually pretty well made for its price tag. The PMC8 system offers the possibility to control the mount via WiFi both direct or through ASCOM, but WiFi is never a hard requirement. It works fine just like any other mount with a usb cable (iEXOS-100 has the serial-to-usb controller built in) and a pc for imaging. The latest firmware upgrade provides more customisations. I use mine mainly for visual. I've got all the upgrades mentioned above. It carries my 107 triplet, 50mm finder and the eyepieces in my sig without any issues. I control it with my phone through Sky Safari connected to a rpi4 running astroberry and some custom scripts (the scripts are for plate solving). I've also tried to image with it and my 72EDF.

True. Poly-strehl is far more useful than just the figure from the red. But I'm fine with 532nm green. I suppose not even the premium brands want to show their 450nm blue test results when everyone else are doing the test in red.

All those zygo test certificates I've seen online from companies like TS Optics, WO, Altair, etc. never indicate the wavelength that was chosen for the test. So I thought there was an industrial standard wavelength which everyone sticks to. Looks like this is not the case then.

Wide field eyepieces can also be useful for high mag planetary use. On a manual mount it reduces the need to constantly nudge the scope to keep track of the target. As for GOTO mount unless the GOTO is pinpoint accurate, there is a higher chance that the target will land in the field of view of a wider field eyepiece reducing the need for manual correction or swapping for longer FL eyepieces just to locate the target.

Have you had a look at ES iEXOS-100 PMC8? With its default configuration it's a lot cheaper than the EQM35, but also much less stable (similar to a star adventurer but with DEC axis). However once you add the optional upgrade: ST2 or 3 tripod, Fine AZ adjuster, better saddle and additional counterweights, the mount matches or possibly exceeds the specs of EQM35. The cost will also then be in the same ballpark. According to the ES staff at ESPMC-Eight Groups the iEXOS-100 uses the same stepper motors and belt driven worm gears as the bigger EXOS2 and with the necessary upgrades could carry an imaging payload of about 9.8kg.

When a supplier gets furious about bad reviews from genuine customers, and demands them removed or threatens with legal actions rather than working with the customers to resolve the issues, personally that's more than enough for me to stay clear.

Star hopping with larger scopes is going to be quite difficult under Bortle 5/6 skies due to their relatively narrower fov. The views of DSOs in a 14" dob are still far from what you see in astro images. The larger aperture does yield more details on the planets theoretically but here in the UK we're often limited by seeing rather than the aperture once we go beyond 8" - 10". I agree with all the previous comments that you'd be better off with a 8 - 10" dob initially plus a few decent eyepieces. Keep the majority of your fund later for an imaging setup if you decide to venture into ap (this is the true rabbit hole for your money).

Maybe you could wrap a big pack of silica gel desiccant to the mount underneath the cover to reduce the risk of condensation? Then un-tighten the base of the cover for ventilation and dry the silica gel during sunny days. Honestly I wouldn't leave my gear outside unless I've got a shed obsy with a dehumidifier.

Out of these 3 refractors you listed I'd go for the SW 80ED with the matching flattener. It's very popular as the first scope into ap so should you run into any issues helps could be easily found. Your Sony a6000 should be fine. It's a mirrorless so make sure you check its flange distance and get the right extension tubes for the spacing. An astro-modded Canon 550D or 600D would be a good alternative. The removal of the LPF#1 filter would really help with emission type nebulae and again massive userbase for support if needed.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/tripods/sightron-japan-carbon-fiber-tripod.html Another premium tripod that might fit your needs.

To use your guide camera to align your scope to bright targets like the moon or planets, get this one: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/astro-essentials/astro-essentials-50mm-guidescope-finderscope.html Much cheaper than the ES version and comes with a standard synta style dovetail (should fit in Celestron finder shoe) rather than the ES/Bresser/Meade style. The guidescope rings will allow you to align the view with the main scope.

Personally I'd recommend a 200 - 300mm prime lens over a ST80. The field is going to be a lot flatter and has much less CA with a decent prime lens than the ST80. Also the lens would just work straight out of the box with your camera whereas the ST80 would require additional adapters. The focuser on the ST80 might also not be able to cope with the weight of your DSLR.

Never owned a 7mm Nagler T6, but if its eye relief is anything like the ES82, then the Morpheus a lot more comfortable in this regard. Pentax XW would be equally comfortable, but it's quite a bit more hefty physically than the Morpheus.

I do both visual and ap. I agree with some of the previous comments that the increasing popularity of AP has a lot to do with the affordability and availability of the equipment, the urge to share the experience with others, plus the amount of learning materials available online. I was given my first telescope when I was in Year 10. I very much enjoyed the visual experience for many years despite the fact it was only a cheap 60mm Tasco. I joined the photography club in uni (even learnt about how to develop films and prints although this knowledge is now mostly forgotten) and thought about taking pictures of the night skies. But I was driven away by the high price of the equipment and the complexity of the process. When I came back to the hobby in 2018 after a 10+ year break, I noticed just how affordable it was to start imaging and the large amount of resources available online to learn about it. I do ap only for sharing with friends and family. I've applied some of the knowledge I learnt from imaging to the visual side. I made what I call an "eFinder" with rpi (RPi4 + HQ camera + a GPIO button), a 50mm finder, astroberry and some python scripts. By using SkySafari on my phone to control the eFinder, I'm able to get highly accurate PA within a few minutes without the need of a polarscope, precise GOTO without any prior star alignment and plate-solve assisted Push To when using manual mounts. The RPi isn't powerful enough yet for fast live stacking. Maybe in the near future I'd be able to turn a small 5" screen attached to the back of a rpi into an electronic eyepiece. That's when ap for me would probably start to lose its appealing.

Looking forward to your review. The mono version of the RisingCam IMX571 is almost £1k cheaper than equivalent offerings from ZWO and QHY. That's a massive saving. Even compared the Altair 26M which is basically the same unit, it is still a lot cheaper.

The Orion 115mm triplet is a substantially larger instrument than the 85mm spotting scope you linked, and requires a heavy duty mount & tripod to support it properly. It can collect 83% more light and is more of a dedicated telescope. Wild life observation with it while possible with the right accessories is likely going to be quite cumbersome. A closer alternative would be a 70 - 80mm refractor like this one: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/pro-series/sky-watcher-evostar-72ed-ds-pro-ota.html. You will need an erecting prism or eyepiece to turn it into a spotting scope. The fixed eyepiece of that Vortex spotting scope is going to limit your ability to view planets. If you prefer the ergonomics of a spotting scope, take a look at this one: https://www.apm-telescopes.de/en/binoculars/spotting-scopes/apm-apo-85mm-spotting-scope.html Personally I use my Altair 72EDF for both terrestrial and stargazing when travelling. It rides happily on the Scopetech Mount + photo tripod (or any other lightweight photo heads + tripod). I usually bring two diagonals with me, an erecting one and a normal star one. Combine them with a Baader zoom and a 2.25x barlow allow me to view a variety of targets without overtaxing the limited aperture of the scope.

My 107 triplet is the "go to" scope when I observe planets most of the time. The 8" dob gets used during those moon-less nights when I observe both DSOs and planets.

The default VNC session is the display:0 on RPi as if you've connected it to a HDMI monitor. So no need of a screen mirroring app. When I had disconnection issues with the stellarmate app, the RPi was connected to my home WiFi and based on the monitoring of my UniFi web portal the wifi signal on the RPi didn't drop. So the problem was with the app itself.

To use your webcam as a guide camera, select V4L2 CCD driver in the INDI profile when setting up either stellarmate or astroberry. The stellarmate app also works on phones, so if your tablet is too old and not supported, you can always use your phones. Based on my experience the stellarmate app isn't reliable enough and is very prone to intermittent disconnection. Accessing it through VNC is by far the preferred the option. And if you do go with VNC access, there aren't many differences left between stellarmate and astroberry. Therefore I'd suggest you save $50 and give astroberry a try first. There is a new stellarmate device that will be released soon. It's based on the CM4 (RPi compute module 4) and a Power/IO board. Looks quite promising based on the limited info that can be found on their facebook page. If it turns out to be substantially cheaper than ASIAIR Pro, it would be a winner.

The 72/73 at f/6 is considerably wider than the 80 at f/7.5. The WO ZS73 is also sold under many other brands such as TS Optics, Altair and Tecnosky (AT if you're from the states) at a cheaper price. Personally I've got the Altair version.