jjohnson3803

The norm here (US) seems to be 60-70% of the current new price. That's assuming the gear is good quality, in good condition, etc. Some older kit commands a higher price because it's hard to find. One thing that can really alter the asking price is who pays shipping - buyer or seller? For example, I sold a tripod that would have cost $20 to ship by weight. But because the box was long, it raised the shipping cost to $50. Some sellers are offering to split shipping with the buyer instead of one or other paying for all of it.

I have an ST50, ST80, ST120, and a 102ED. The 102 is a thing of beauty, but gets little use b/c of its bulk. The 120 is somewhat less bulky, but the 80 is what gets used almost every time I'm out - at home or away. I'm truly torn about selling the 102 and 120. On the one hand, I really dislike the thought of getting rid of good scopes, but what good are they if they just sit in the cabinet? I'm thinking a 70ED or 80ED would be enough for my casual lunar observing and the ST80 can handle the rest. I live in way too much light pollution to be a galaxy hunter anyway. ☹️

There is allegedly a Stellarvue M2C mount head on a FedEx truck somewhere between me and the local FedEx terminal as I type this. With luck it will be here before the end of the day.

Visit the loo, I suspect.

yr.no has been pretty accurate for me here in the US - better than forecasts from the US National Weather Service actually. The details tab on the forecast table page(s) shows total % cloud cover as well as high, low, and medium cloud.

My Innorel RT90C has a little brother (don't remember model off the top of my head) which is lower price and has gotten good reviews for small scopes. I wanted a Berlebach Report, but it was OOS / backordered / "more coming soon". C'est la vie in the astro world right now.

Update - I took out my 102ED this morning for some lunar observing and while the image was spectacular, the mount / tripod combo are really too jittery for my tastes. It was rather cold and maybe that had some effect, and maybe it was partly due to sticky grease in the focuser, but I have to seriously consider a different mount (Stellarvue M2C?) or using lighter scopes. FWIW.

It looks like the SW AZ4 is rated at about 14 pounds capacity. That means your 150 is going to be pretty close to the limit. Generally, running close to the load limit gives less than satisfactory results. Of course, there can be exceptions and I have no hands-on experience with the AZ4, just the AZ5.

Innorel RT90C. I much prefer the form factor of the 90C and its size when collapsed compared to my Frotto 475B, but my 102ED still seems to be too much for the Zero and 90C. Damping time is better, but it's still longer than I had hoped. I'm fighting the feeling that it's time to sell my ST120 and 102ED and get a fast 80ED. Maybe light, solid, and aperture just don't go together.

I really like that section. But being across the pond, issues usually arrived too late to use it much, so I dropped my subscription.

Boeing should be able to screw things up. Oh well...

I keep hearing about the Clarke books, so I downloaded a PDF for a quick look, thanks. Although the LP map map says I live in a B7-8, her Bortle examples indicate I'm in a B9. Yikes! 😲

My ST80 is my most used scope (I'm visual only). I did put a Crayford on it - cost more than the scope did. 😁

Just received a carbon fiber tripod to try my Zero on. It wasn't doing as well as I had hoped with my 102ED on a Manfrotto aluminum pod. Hopefully the CF will have shorter damping times. It's more compact for easier transport at least.

Beer?

They're both fabulous pix. I lean just a smidge toward the reduction.

Signs of the Apocalypse - I just had two weeks straight of clear nights. A cold front / rain came through last night though.

For a temporary solution or if you decide to go without a dovetail, you could hold the OTA on the bracket with extra large hose clamps. Rings were out of stock when I bought my ST120, so I used hose clamps to hold it on a Vixen rail. They worked well and cost under $10 for two clamps. I'm not sure what the largest diameter clamps are though.

I've always known / seen it as an owl with outstretched wings. Some look at it in the opposite orientation and see a Klingon battlecruiser - the owl "eyes" become twin engines flaring.

😄 I've used SS for several years and just recently started playing with Galaxy View. It's a great feature.

Interesting. My AZ5 has performed as expected for the past couple of years. I also have a ScopeTech Zero and I'm not sure it was worth the price. It's good, but seems to have some idosyncracies like many mounts. But it could just be my Manfrotto 475B tripod. Might try an Innorel RT90C just to see... 😉

I have a Zero and was considering adding a Castor II, but a few people commented that their Castors had a habit of letting scopes crash into tripod legs. Maybe just a matter of watching the az tension carefully, but it makes me somewhat hesitant to go with a Castor. YMMV.

I've seen one train go over and it was very impressive. I do smartphone widefield photography (if at all), so they're not a tremendous irritant (yet), but usually see about 6-8 zip through my FOV during an observing session.

I mean in re: supporting your pad / notebook / paper. Hold a pad, use an easel of some kind or ???

One other note is that one can use only two legs of a tripod, in essence a bipod, that gives me a little more stability than a monopod. Just leave one leg of the tripod unextended. YMMV.