ScouseSpaceCadet

Eyepieces costing less than £100 I have not replaced over the last few years and don't feel a desperate need to swap. Although after my experience with the Vixen SLV 4mm, replacing the BST 5mm with a Vixen is tempting... All used in f5-f7 refractors and a 102 maksutov: BST 5mm BST 8mm BST 12mm OVL Nirvana ES 7mm OVL Nirvana ES 16mm The Nirvana 7mm is my Mak (realistic) high power eyepiece. Lunar observing at 185x is a treat with that ep and the little Mak. The 16mm is a nice medium power DSO ep. It replaced a BST 15mm.

It is indeed a 'lovely' image however fwiw it's more an example of what excellent processing skills can do!

Ahah. Well spotted. Stu. 😁

Ensure the telescope is level and pointing north before beginning alignment. Also check the time is correct.

The last few posts are a few good examples of how keeping requests to the point work. I think councils on the whole are slowly becoming more aware of light pollution issues now or at least are more receptive to individual residents' requests, so there's less need for the, 'my child's bedroom is lit up like Christmas!' excuses. 🙄

As you mentioned on a thread elsewhere. A Rowan built solid single sided mount with slomo (and potentially encoders) for those who are a stuck with AZ4/5 mounts to upgrade to (or pay a bit more to skip the offerings from Skywatcher et al) would be fantastic... If I'd had that option I would probably not bought a used Celestron AVX for visual.

Yea the processor compatibility list is pants. I'm not spending £100-300 upgrading my perfectly decent for 1080p gaming and every day tasks, overclocked & liquid cooled AMD 1600x cpu just to upgrade to Windows 11. When the B350 gaming mobo/1600 cpu/Nvidia 2060 gfx/16gb 2666mhz ram starts struggling to make 60-75 fps at 1080p I'll make the move.

Have owned the AZ5 for two years and as demonstrated in the previous post, tried several different telescope types on the mount. I'm far from 'picky' otherwise the mount would by now be well gone. Several owners on SGL have reported similar experiences, so I consider it helpful to provide honest feedback so the opening poster can potentially avoid making a poor purchasing choice. There are better mounts out there for those wishing to use a 7.7kg ota plus accessories.

That's exactly the problem, "it's just in the Alt movement". The heavier and longer the scope gets, the more the alt slomo struggles. With a 130PS reflector and Skymax 102 the alt slomo was fine, with a modifiied P150i there is an issue overcome by tightening the the clutch further. The heavier ST120(fully loaded) struggled even more, often requiring a nudge to move in the alt axis. Similarly with the 102mm f7 refractor, although not as much. The mount is obviously best suited to shorter instruments weighing less than 5kg, but does work with decreasing effectiveness with heavier scopes and at longer focal ratios past f6. Reiterating joyninderby's view; focus vibration also takes longer to settle down the heavier the load becomes.

Congrats. In my not so expert opinion, fantastic quality for the price. A few weeks ago I had my best view of Saturn with this scope and a Vixen LV 4mm for 178x, riding on a Celestron AVX mount. A lunar and planetary session was cut short last night by cloud, however I managed a decent view of Jupiter with an easily discernable GRS. Recommended.

You have stated 'used would best', however have not stated a budget. So below are linked some of the lower cost at new price GOTO mounts and telescopes great for 'occasional dabbling', are relatively easy to set up, and won't massively break the bank: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az-gti-wifi/sky-watcher-skymax-127-az-gti.html https://www.firstlightoptics.com/az-goto/sky-watcher-star-discovery-150i.html Add to the cost a small power brick for approx £50, a power cable costing £3-£20 and extra eyepieces (lets say two) £100. Plus a decent book £25. After some practice, set up and aligning to a couple of stars using your mobile phone as a controller would be around 15 minutes. Get confident and start controlling via a third party planetarium phone app.

The forecast says clear. My eyes say no. I've not managed an observing session for weeks so fingers crossed!

Maybe the leak of this chart is a cunning plan by unknown dark forces to sow discontent amongst the better off refractor owning community? Is Mr Yoshida really Trevor Slattery ?!

An ST120 with 50mm RACI finder, 2" diagonal and eyepiece was OK on th AZ5 and steel tripod however I suggest this was at the very limit of realistic useability. I would not dare try a 7.7kg ota. You will have problems with focus wobble and slomos not working correctly. The 102mm f7 refractor does work a bit better on the mount than the ST120 did, but it's not perfect.

Assuming one is wearing an eyepatch yes, as wearing an eyepatch and closing the other eye while moving around could be dangerous. 👍

During the winter I pull my coat hood over my head and the ep. It does the job. Summer I shield any stray light with a baseball cap. Another tip I haven't tried but you may find useful is using an eyepatch to cover the eye you're not using. It's supposed to reduce eye strain. Also if you are observing at home and really need to go indoors, keep your observing eye closed to help preserve your night vision.

Too much information. I was very honest with my council and kept things simple. I stated I am an amateur astronomer, a specific LED lamp approx 20m from my rear fence was shining sideways into my garden causing intrusion and I would they shade it please. (I also included a photo) After two attempts several months apart, one evening I noticed the garden was darker than usual. I looked across the fence and the lamp was shielded. 👍

Great post. I can't imagine giving up this hobby. Being outside with the mount silently tracking an amazing object really does help to put the cranky sods I work with in a mentally sealed box! Astronomy has also given me something extra to look forward to on retirement. If the body holds out for many more years, I'll be happy to be found frozen solid & slumped over the eyepiece when my time comes... 😆

Fantastic vid. 👍

It maybe time to change the tent. Go the extra mile this time though!

Never?! Steve do you have a coven of witches amongst your membership? 🎃

That's a massive step up in kit Duncan! It's brilliant you got that to a dark site. 👍

Nice Stu. 10x50s are great under dark skies. I spotted so much I'd not observed previously the other week while camping, including the Eastern Veil. M31 is simply amazing compared to home. Hopefully this weekend's Shropshire trip isn't totally clouded out!

Yea observer's paradise. At least while the sky isn't cloudy. Well done Dave. When the winter skies darken a bit more and Orion rises, you're in for a treat with the dob and yes without a filter I've noted a green hue too.

My old metal garden chair collapsed on me last week while I was at the eyepiece. It hurt but i jumped up like I was 18 again. Adrenaline combined with embarrassment knocked 35 years off me for ten seconds. It was great until the pain kicked in.