Carbon Brush

A good report. That is the great thing about newt reflectors an dob mounts. They are so easy to sort out. Sounds like it was one of those scopes that got used a few times then left for years. Enjoy your bargain.

For good quality prints of any sort, I go to a High Street place like Max Spielman or online services - other brands are available. They have the good quality printers available and they know to get the best from them. I can't justify spending hundreds ££ on a good printer to print a small number annually.

Alternatively - the spiders catch anything else that is in there😁. Something used by intruder alarm people on PIR detectors is a silicone polish, like Mr. Sheen. Other brands are available. Apparently the creepy crawlies don't like the fumes so spin webs elsewhere. Obviously you can't spray mirrors and you don't want the matt black tube made shiny. But a bit of chemical deterrent sprayed on the inside of the end cap before refitting, or brushed on the back of the main mirror every so often has to be worth thinking about.

You have done well with those images. Rather than upgrading the EQ3, I would give thought to a larger mount. But as you already have the onstep awaiting unboxing, why not try it? Nothing to lose. Your star drag can come from all sorts of places. Balancing a biggish newt and big camera is quite involved. Think about doing it for the part of the sky you are imaging, rather than all over. Also a bit of off balance force to take out backlash may help. Apologies if you know this. Bottom line though is you have a 150P 'sail' to catch a light breeze, on a low cost cost undersized mount. Some people strip/adjust mounts to minimse backlash in the drive train. Sorry if this is blunt, but having spent many wasted evenings chasing errors..... If you want to avoid spending on a larger mount, why not look for a low cost refractor? By having the lump of camera on the scope axis, you ease the balancing. In the past I have had 3-5 minutes unguided acceptable images from EQ5 and 200mm F4 to F5 reflectors, with a DSLR. But it took some effort and was not easily repeatable. And only on a still night. However, tens of seconds was usually well within reach. HTH, David.

I saw a selection of their products at the 2023 Practical Astro Show. It all looked very well built and finished to a very high standard. They explained some of the construction to me and it was obvious they want to continue to make a first rate product. I am not in the market at present for any of their products. However, if I need a standard, or custom astro trolley, no prizes for guessing who will get asked.

Good advice from @bosun21. Adding a couple of extra points. As the scope is used, the main mirror may have been moved up the tube. This has the effect of moving eyepiece focus out of the barrel. In other words a longer extension is needed. Or the mirror could be moved back down the tube. If you point the scope in daylight at a distant horizon, rack out the focusser and the image should improve, even if you don't get focus. Then release the eyepiece from the tube slowly pull it away from the scope, while looking through. That will give you a good measure of how much extra focus travel you need. If it is only a couple of millimetres, take a look at the back of the main mirror and see if the push/pull screws have enough travel. If you move the mirror, you are into collimation. But that is quite easy on a simple reflector scope. Especially if someone shows you first time.. I won't offer to help collimate - hundreds of miles round trip🤥. But maybe someone nearer to you? Or a local astro club? These are great scopes and it will give you a lot of pleasure. Keep asking the questions.

I assume it is this one? https://www.firstlightoptics.com/telescopes-in-stock/skywatcher-explorer-130m.html Plastic failures are commonplace on basic tripods. Tripods (and mounts) supplied as part of a kit are often a bit undersized. Replacing can give more stable views at high magnification. Good advice from @inedible_hulk Even if a replacement tripod isn't exactly the right profile to fit your mount, there are ways around it to fill gaps. Big washers, cut up plastic bottle tops, turn up something on a wood lathe, or 3D print an adapter. You are only trying to make a gap filler. Keep asking the questions and enjoy the scope.

Another Samsung galaxy A7 user. Yes photos straight to tablet, and my google drive (somehow even without clouds in the sky). I'm not going to say it has worked very well every day since buying it late 2020 as that is guaranteed to make it fail😁.

A tablet allows you to view images at a decent size and have enough space on the screen for the scope controls. I'm one of those odd people who think a phone is for calls and the occasional picture. It also avoids juggling screens if you get a call mid imaging session😁.

I fitted a motorised garage door opener having sustained a shoulder injury not long before obsy build. Little realising how welcome it would be when I was cold and tired at the end of the session.

First time I did consider a car parked nearby. Today I made sure it was far enough away. No I didn't have a big pack of neodymium magnets in my pocket🤣

Compass calibration. I was probably asked to do this when the scope was unpacked, but don't recall being asked since then until now..... Last night I was asked to calibrate the compass, which I did following the procedure on the tablet screen. The scope was on a flat top wall so rotation was easy. Moved to the first couple of targets without problem. When asking for another target, not moving the scope, I got the compass calibration message again. So I complied and then there were issues locating the target. As I was on limited time, I packed up. Today I planted the scope on the wall again, asked for solar, and was asked for a compass calibration - yet again. There are possibilies here. A daft user. A clever scope that has detected other issues but not bothered to tell me. Or a faulty scope compass. Any thoughts?

That is the best advice. If you go for easy targets, you will go back indoors happy. If you can get some hint of south facing, the evening sky is great right now. Moon, Jupiter and one of my favourites, Orion. Any scope on low magnification will delight you looking around the belt. Not forgetting the Seven Sisters/Pleiades/M45 is well placed. Great in binos. All are easy to locate if you lose patience with goto/tracking - it can be a faff.

I used to own a Startravel 102 - almost a 120😁. The views for the ££ spent were very good. If you want to push the magnification and chromatic aberration bothers you, consider a filter to narrow the wavelengths pased. This is a lower cost solution than a second scope, or an apo scope! If the object is bright (like Jupiter or the moon) consider masking the outside 10mm or 20mm of the objective. A blue Peter paper and tape fix costing pennies. That will help CA. I have used a 127Mak. Yes really good on narrow angle views, like planets or lunar. But longer cool down time. The biggest consideration with any kit scope is whether the stock eyepieces are letting you down. Typically the 25mm EP is OK. the 10mm can be anything from sort of OK to best repurposed as an astro themed salt pot. Keep the hair on🤣

A good guide on a mount for astrophotography is to buy the next size up from that offered in a scope/mount package. Another thought, given your photography background, do you have decent telephoto lenses available? A DSLR with a 200mm or 400mm FL lens on a driven mount may be a good way to get you started. Old fashioned lenses (no auto bells and whistles) unwanted by photographers give very good performance for the ££ spent.

Prompted by length of journey and all that. Do any of us (near enough) pass another SGLer house on the way? This can help with fuel cost in two ways. A tenner in tank is the most obvious. The second and less obvious is that nattering in the car you are tempted to drop speed back a bit as there is something interesting happening in the car. I read somewhere that 10% off the speed can give %20 better fuel consumption.

Well done to Powys. May I suggest a thank you note to them from anyone on SGL who lives nearby. I think showing support to counter those 'frightened of the dark' brigade is important. Maybe a local astro group will start to frequent the area? Unfortunately I live in Nottinghmashire. It is a land of sheep. The sheep being the councillors who follow 'professional' recommendations without engaging their brains. Around 20 years ago they carried out a very expensive survey and concluded switch off was not worthwhile. A few years later they carried out another survey and came to the opposite conclusion. Lights in villages started to be turned off after midnight. Strangely, murders, burglaries, muggings and road accidents did not increase. Everything looked good for council tax, wildlife, astronomy, power station generated pollution and more. Then, following elections, the front door of county Hall changed colour. Suddenly the lights came back on. With every council who darken their skies, it helps to show the remaining energy wasters how they are going into a minority.

Just leave the amazon credit in place and use it to buy anything else. Their credits take years to expire and of course amazon sell everything. I can't stress enough to use an astro retailer. Can you ask amazon customer customer services about problems with the scope? No their robots and overseas call handlers don't have the foggiest which way around to look through a scope.

I thought I had it sorted. Travel to Kettering Stoneleigh, on March 9th 23rd. Checking the venue web site today, this show is not included in the list of upcoming events! I note also there is no lecture programme this time. I have very much enjoyed the previous shows at Kettering. A great atmosphere and a chance to meet folks. Very good lectures - fighting for tickets in fact. I really hope it is well attended by visitors, that is the only way the retailers are going to return. We visitors pay a bit of travel cost and buy a snack at the venue. The retailers pay a huge amount for their spots at the venue. Fingers crossed for an absence of snow, gales and floods.

I had to chuckle about comparing lantern angular speed against the ISS. It brought back memories from a few years ago when the lanterns were popular in this part of the country - at the same time as villains a few miles away were doing things to frequently attract a police helicopter. To the unaided eye it was not easy to distinguish between a lantern and the spotlight on a helicopter. Both had a similar colour and moved in nearly straight lines - at least for a while. The giveaway items were large direction changes, sight of other lights using binos, or the thud thud of a big engine and rotor blades if the wind was favourable.

The general rule among suppliers is that warranty is not transferrable. Bringing in a 2nd owner opens a right can of worms for the 'it was like that from new' type of arguments. From experience I fully understand (and support) FLOs policy. May I give a non astro example? I get involved with some machinery that sometimes gets sold on. Sometimes quite early in the equipment life. Somehow the new owner seems to think he can call on us for free advice on installation, operator training, accuracy issues, etc. This is after buying a machine that may have been un-serviced (well actually neglected) and known problems went unfixed. Then he has DIY installed. When we offer to inspect/service/train/install at a price, we are very unpopular.

Have you measured how far out of the expected location you obtain focus? Have you looked at the primary mirror fixings? Is the mirror way up the screws? Or in a reasonable place? Posting a photo may help other owners of this scope to compare.

There is no such thing as a silly question. You have been an amateur astronomer in the past. The sky is much the same. Telescopes are still made from curved glass and mirrors. It is this new computery imaging enhancing goto stuff that changes by the month and confuses us all! Welcome to SGL. You have joined the most friendly and best informed forum.

I have made 3D printed spacers when faced with this sort of problem. You can print in sections to overcome printer size restrictions. Leave a couple of millimetres to insert thin foam (draught excluder) to avoid scratching tube paint. Or maybe I was just too mean to buy the correct rings?

Thank you Paul for posting. Like you I have only been able get the scope out for a short time. On a very moist night with a rising (almost full) moon. The sort of night you usually stay indoors. However, it found M31 and quickly produced a half decent image. It was invisible to me using binoculars.