ScouseSpaceCadet

The Startravel 120 I had was enjoyable even for light polluted DSO observing it was comparable with a 150/650mm reflector. The focuser isn't the best, it was too heavy for the AZGTI and just adequate mounted on the AZ5 and steel tripod, so it was sold to try others. I'd never knock this scope though. Wide field under dark skies was amazing. I don't think an eq1b mount would be adequate though. The 102ED has been a great intro to quality refractors. For £500 I have absolutely no complaints. The only shame is it's imho a tad too heavy & long for the AZGTI, however it's a joy to use mounted on a secondhand Celestron AVX and is OK on the AZ5 for those casual sessions.

The 120ST is a nice widefield scope but brighter objects and/or increasing magnification causes chromatic abberation to rear its head. If you have £1000 to spare but also need a substantial mount then the Starwave Ascent 102ED is excellent for £500, leaving you change for a reasonable az mount. If you dropped to the 80mm, it would sit on an AZGTI goto mount and steel tripod nicely all for less than 1k. If you want to splash out on the scope only, then the more expensive 102ED-R is well liked.

Certain bank current accounts carry benefits including Gadget Insurance, which would include astronomy gear. Although the value covered is usually only in the hundreds of pounds. Mine is up to £750 so at least that will cover my 4" frac being dropped or an eyepiece case getting stolen for instance. It's worth checking.

Just put an ornate lamp shade or potted plant on top, she won't notice...

I was using goto and Sky Safari at the time John. Observing Jupiter, looked at Sky Safari, saw the Saturn nebula was close by, hit goto and straight to a new object to me. 😀

For me, the most curious development is the Unistellar Network & associated citizen science projects. I was unaware of this aspect until I clicked on the link. Definitely interesting!

If people are double jabbed, boosted, take sensible precautions and are willing to accept some risk, then it's reasonable to start looking ahead imho. Football stadiums are jam packed each weekend with the maskless great unwashed but infection rates are dropping. A clutch of amateur astronomers hanging around out doors next spring shouldn't impose that much risk, unless one is a Typhoid Mary! 🙄

See my edit. The Altair is very good. Better than the 8mm BST I own imho. Just a bit less fov at 55°.

If you want comfortable eye relief and a wider fov then the BST beats the Series 5000 plossl hand down. No contest. There are other budget alternatives though. I particularly like my Altair Lightwave 9mm.

Great. Those, "What's that about..?" catches definitely add interest. The same happened to me on Sunday night. Planetary observing and noticing the Saturn nebula was a quick hop but low, "What's that then..?". Ooohhh I can see it in the 4" frac despite the 99% moon and the low declination. 👍

The untrained observer (i.e. me🙄) wouldn't notice the blurring and the couple sitting highlighted in the lunar reflection adds atmosphere. Perfect images aren't necessarily the best images anyway. Leave them in. 👍

Good choices. I've had the 8mm BST for a couple of years now. It's just fine. Comfy to use like the rest of the line. It may actually be the best BST. Don't worry about 'juggling eps'. Seeing conditions can change minute to minute so it's not unusual to swap. I have 4,5,6,7,8 and 9mm for that very reason. Wide field is less demanding, so bigger gaps; 12, 16 and 24mm.

It's not a one off. Single shot DSLR images can be super. The dedicated camera is useful for taking close ups of individual features though when stacking video.

Soo... I need to grumble much more and then buy somewhere so small they can't come back. I'm up for that. Thanks both!

Lucky Dean. Child no.1 decided to go to a local uni, live at home attached to his gaming PC and stay a student forever. Child no. 2 first year at college and she thinks we live in a launderette staffed by loaded attendants. 🤬🙄😳. I crave your peace (and a TV 8mm). 👍

An expensive toy for the rich to keep on their patio. I don't think selling the missus' car to pay for one of those would go down well!

Lovely telescope. Did it come with a complimentary deer stalker and monacle? 😉

I did the same focuser mod on a p150i ota I picked up cheap as a customer return. It transformed the telescope. However with the added weight of the hefty focuser and an eyepiece, the balance point was knocked off so the fixed dovetail was removed and tube rings were fitted too. Overall not the cheapest upgrade but a fun project and the scope did work well on the AZGTI and AZ5.

The rating of the AZGTI on any tripod is 5kg max. Preferably less. You will read anecdotes suggesting it can take more but from my own personal experience, less is more. The 9kg rating with a steel tripod relates to the AZ5, and that's over ambitious! I wouldn't go past 6.5 for reasonable performance. To the op, if you really want a 150mm newtonian mounted on goto, the cheapest out of the box option would be to simply sell the Heritage and pick up the Skywatcher Star Discovery P150i.

Good luck with that, but I imagine that tiny old Nexstar mount will be begging for mercy. 😉

There was a similar thread recently on the same subject. Your predicament isn't unusual. Downsizing isn't downgrading. 😀

The dob will give you a great view. Orion really is a bright, spectacular target and easy to find. For those reasons it's probably the most photographed deep sky object too.

Having owned alt az mounted 130mm & 150mm newtonians, an 8" dob, a 120mm f5 achro refractor, a 102mm Maksutov and an EQ(and alt az) mounted 102mm ED refractor I'd have to choose the 102ED & EQ goto mount as my favourite 'do all' combination considering the urban environment I observe in. However, in the future I'll highly likely pick up a 120mm f7.5 apo doublet. Not crackers expensive, easy to mount on my existing kit and that little bit extra light grasp.

Unfortunately work tomorrow prevents me enjoying a longer night. The mount was set up before dusk and the second I could see Polaris, the mount was two star aligned with one calibration star. The gotos were great and tracking good enough for visual. A nice two hours anyway and aided by a UHC filter, watching the Saturn nebula blink, fade and brighten was quite entertaining! 🙄🧐 Dew wasn't too bad, however I imagine another hour would have left the kit glistening. Have a good night those who can stay out longer. 👍

The first clear night for a week and a 99% waxing gibbous moon of course! Still, Jupiter, Saturn, a clutch of doubles and a first - the Saturn Planetary Nebula. A ghostly object indeed! Urban glitter: