Mr Spock

I tell you what I do with my HEQ6. I adjust it when fully loaded. What I do is unwind the locking bolt put my weight on the counterweight bar; now there is no weight on the adjustment bolt I wind that in until it's over compensated; I then take weight off the bar and unwind the adjustment bolt until it's just above where I want it to be; I then wind in the locking bolt which when tightened moves the mount the last fraction of a millimetre until the axis is aligned. I've had my HEQ6 since they first came out and have had no problems with the adjustment bolt.

Your scope is f6 - 1200 / 200 = 6

I have a pair of Chinon Countryman 7x35. I've had them since the '70s and were quite expensive at the time. They are still better than a lot of the newer binoculars and give a really nice wide field of view.

It's already been mentioned once in this thread, but, none of the images submitted here are eligible for entry. Please read the rules!

Depends on the target for me too. In the C9.25 I generally have: x235 on Jupiter, x294 on the moon and Mars, x392 on doubles. Since I've had this scope Saturn has never been high enough to get more than x107

Sunday night looks clear so the Variable Star workshop is looking good. Everyone welcome You'll get guidance first hand on observing variables using the scope I use. The morning session covers all the practical and science stuff. Do you know how many types of variables there are? Variables help us understand the science of stellar evolution from birth to grave There'll be practical stuff like how to read variable star charts; how to record observations; making magnitude estimates; understanding Julian dates and all the other wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff!

Mankini... That't the most disturbing thing I've heard in a long time

Cats rule the world. We are their amusing play-things

Epic burn - I can feel the heat from here

Birding only. Though they are suprisingly useful for astro.

Excellent printing!

Looking at the prices of equivalent specifications:- Vixen Advanced Polaris: £1896 Skywatcher nearest equivalent EQ5: £545 Skywatcher - better mounts: HEQ5: £776 AZ EQ5: £949 NEQ6 Pro: £999 EQR6 Prp: £1295 AZ-EQ6: £1412 Some serious mounts there for less money. My conclusion is the Vixen is more than THREE TIMES the price of it's nearest equivalent. Unless you have money to burn I can't see why anyone would choose this mount!

Extremely poor value for money. You can get a better mount plus a scope for that money!

Definitely a keeper

Great scope - especially for double stars. You can still get 24.5mm eyepieces and accessories used. Objective is easy to fix as they are air spaced. Take it out of the cell and mark the edges so you know the orientation. The two lenses will then come apart for cleaning

Sounds like you have the same problem I have. It took ages just to get Venus in the field of view let alone get an image.

Great sets of information. All this is really useful

I got this... My first ever snap of venus

Here's a map of Ursa Minor with magnitudes which may help.

I think he's worth more than ten bob...

The Celestron 6" has a rear baffle tube size of 27mm and this will restrict the field of view. Any eyepiece with a field lens of 27mm or greater will vignette on this scope. You may find the 2" diagonal and eyepieces disappointing.

All too good for me

These are all too good for me

I use the Meade 4000 32mm Plössl and it's excellent. Anyone paying an extra £100 over that for a Plössl has been mugged

65° should give just over 4.5° at x14