ScouseSpaceCadet

I looked again, there is just one washer missing, causing the clutch to slip. Very odd. I've not removed the washers and the rubber o-ring is still in place... A manufacturing fault I just hadn't noticed before... 🙄 I've ordered washers from Ebay...

Fantastic, well done! 🤳

I've rechecked Orbitrack since posting and have convinced myself on this occasion, the light wasn't aliens or a secret Illuminati high altitude spy drone. Likely a very bright Starlink if I have my timings right...

Have a 'like' for honesty.. 😀 One more thing late last night while observing I watched a very bright yellowish non blinking light to my west move from roughly north to south before dimming and disappearing. Very much like a good bright west - east ISS pass but the wrong direction and yellow (I'm colour blind so it could've been green or orange!) I immediately checked Orbitrack and Flightradar 24 but nothing showed up on that trajectory...

The 102ED & AZ5 went out at 7pm tonight. The sky was slightly milky but I enjoyed good views of Jupiter up to 150x. I came in after an hour and went out again at 10pm. The sky improved consistently until I decided to thaw out and prepare for bed at 1130pm. The latter half of the evening I observed the same targets as last night to be honest, just with the scope rather than the binoculars. The Auriga clusters, m31, m42, m45, Hyades, Uranus, and finally my best observations of Mars this season. Seeing improved so much Mars albedo features and shading were very distinct at 187x with the Vixen SLV 4mm. It's quite chilly out... 🥶

Thanks for this write up Paul and all the other positive comments. I'm very tempted to dip my toe back into the dob world!

Seeing late last night was as perfect as it gets here but sadly on a work night I daren't stay out late, because I specialise in sleeping through alarms! So no kit set up for me, just the 10x50s at around 2330 for thirty minutes and really nice views (considering the location) of all the usual brighter targets... Hyades, Pleiades, M42, M31, the Auriga clusters, a very steady pink Martian disk, a faint, greenish Uranus and so forth. Unfortunately I'm not striking today as well as next Tuesday, so I could have had a nice sleep in. Last night was definitely worth the full goto equatorial kit! 🙄

Since adding the ADM clamp a while ago I have noticed alt axis droop with heavier eyepieces. Recently after removing the altitude clutch then comparing the mount side by side with another, we noticed a washer and rubber o-ring are missing!!! They haven't fell out so the mount must have been manufactured like that and I only noticed a problem after a tinker... 🙄 I'm essentially an engineering incompetent... So does anyone know what size washer I need? Thanks. Below is what the mount should look like. With the missing parts being pointed to!

I managed an hour on Mars. The only issue being the wrong hour! Not so many albedo features or the poles visible. After consulting a map I felt better the telescope wasn't broken... 😆 Terra Sirenum stood out quite well. A frosty Altair 102ED mounted on Wobbly Bob.

I've no idea what it does or how it does it but it looks like a fantastic bit of kit!

The pin you speak of aids equatorial mount users. Equatorial mounts have two horizontal bolts that sit either side of the pin. Once the mount is polar aligned the bolts are tightened, locking the polar north alignment.

Welcome to SGL. You're in good company - there's loads of "Wools" here. 😉😀 The 200p is a good choice. Getting yourself to a local club is a good first step too. Enjoy your new hobby. 👍

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-mount-accessories/astro-essentials-3-8-photo-adapter-for-heq5-az5-tripod.html Email FLO to check the above is suitable.

A Skymax 127... Grab 'n Go... Celestron AVX planetary shennanigans: Solar eclipse observing: Lunar is crisp. The AZGTi Point & Track is excellent: Heavy eyepiece or camera? No problems with a replacement Astro Essentials 2" visual back and Baader 1.25" adapter.

Thanks for the reply. I'm seriously considering selling the old AZGTi to fund one of these. The extra one side 1kg payload limit over the previous version should make a big difference... I wonder if this one will comfortably hold a 4" f7 refractor? I know others used the old AZGTI with theirs but I wasn't convinced!

My modest offering. A Skywatcher P150i with the fixed dovetail plate removed, added black Orion tube rings, added a very nice TS Optics single speed focuser, 8x50 raci with a matching black clamp and Bob's knobs for easy collimation. After all the effort and expense it was sold and I'm still trying to remember why!

Having previously used an L-bracket mounted 102mm Maksutov on the vanilla AZGTI, I'm not convinced this is a stable set up free from obtrusive vibration. How are the vibes when you touch the scope or refocus?

Last week I took advantage of an Ebay sale and Evri finally delivered two days over schedule, this new Svbony SV190 10mm 60° UFF eyepiece.

Yes the extra few millimetres are worth it, while the p150i Star Discovery mount in the longer term is less versatile than the AZGTI, it should provide a more stable platform. If you are comfortable getting to grips with technology and don't mind spending the extra then using goto and having the benefit of tracking are for me at least, plusses. Disclaimer: I've owned both those telescopes and the AZGTi but not the Star Discovery mount.

Jeremy you may have opened a can of worms. Please Dave don't start posting pics of yourself draped across your latest dob in suspenders, clutching a cigarette holder in one hand & in the other a Martini with a lemon twist.

A good clutch of targets Robert. 👍 Often with me lately is, when there's a clear spell later in the evening during the working week, I dread breaking the kit down rather than setting up. That's when the binoculars come out to play. Either the 10x50s or 15x70s on a monopod. At home the binoculars are nowhere near as useful compared to a rural location but they satisfy an itch and I find the still of the night to be quite a calming experience.

The first clear sky here for a week or so is forecast for tonight between midnight and 4am... While also being the coldest night this season. Typical. I'm sure this never happens in a Saturday! 🙄

I've owned a 12mm BST for approx 3 yrs that has saw action in several scopes from f5 130mm &150mm newtonians, a 120mm achro, an 8" dob, a couple of Maks and an f7 102ED refractor. For the money you can't go wrong and x2 barlowing for 108x with your scope should be fine too.

All true Stu. The slight increase in mag and smaller exit pupil of the 1.25" 24mm helps to darken the background sky and improve contrast. On one occasion I managed to get to dark skies with a Vixen NLVW 30mm lanthanum & a ST120 that really showed how good those f5 achros are for widefield. Stunning views. With the f7 frac not so useful though night to night in a city and at Astrocamp this year the 24mm 65° UFF more than satisfied the astro itch. The best widefield view of M31, M110 and M32 I've had. Almost like an unprocessed photo image!

I have owned a couple of nice 2" 30mm eps but decided to keep things a little simpler and a bit lighter so now exclusively use a 1.25" diagonal and eps. I don't feel I've lost anything by doing so. As I spend most of my observing time in an urban environment, that slight extra fov over a 1.25" 24mm 65° eyepiece doesn't really make a significant difference to the observing experience using a 4" refractor.