Carbon Brush

Yes a 1:3 volume and weight improvement is quite something. Life expectancy is generally far better than lead acid. Don't forget you can't just swap them for lead acid. The charge regime is very different. HTH, David.

The first advice for getting into astrophotography is don't rush. Look around. Read about it. Ask questions. See what others are doing, and what kit they are using. Think about what sort of photography you want to do? What about the computer and software for processing images? Second advice. It is more about the mount than the scope. HTH, David.

If you have found a place to buy a good quality and affordable battery, then please share the information with other SGLers. Sharing information and helping and helping others is what this site is about.

Drat. Listing ended. I missed a bargain! In the past I used to notify ebay about things like this. But they made it such hard work and were not bothered. Now I don't bother. By that I mean I don't bother to look at ebay for anything astro related. But on behalf of those who still risk using ebay for astro kit. Thank you.

Can you give an idea of the case internal size? I think this will help in working out the best approach. I'm having difficulty getting my head around what the size might be as it depends on the level of strip down. I might have an idea...... David.

If we are going to help, it would be a good idea to post a link to the battery selling site. Or preferably the battery manufacturer's web site. I don't see any approvals (CE, UN38, etc) on the image you have posted. There are some really good batteries around - for example Tracer Power, PAG, etc. There are some dangerous products around. Remember the exploding hoverboards a year or two back? HTH, David.

Lithium batteries range from very dodgy devices best thought of as incendiary devices, through to properly built assemblies with the BMS mentioned by @johninderby as well as safety approvals. You are looking at paying a few hundred ££ for 12V 100Ah in LiFePO4. Do you have a particular manufacturer name in mind?

Ref @WaddenskyThank you for the link. Very informative and a good warning. I own various stand alone lasers. Infra red, red, and green. Also a cheap laser engraving machine. Low power scope collimating lasers are fine. As are presentation pointers and laser 'spirit' levels. Assuming they have come from a known manufacturer who will ensure the power is appropriate. For anything else, extreme caution is advised. I have never found the need for a laser pointer on a scope as a finder, for personal use. My £100ish engraving machine (allegedly 1500mW but who knows) happily burns wood, paper, plastics, etc. This is a definite safety glasses on (for the laser wavelength), stop and turn off the laser to check progress, and nobody else in the room. Think of a laser like a gun. They may not harm you while taking precautions. But the projected light (bullet) can harm at a distance. Like a bullet hit, your eyes can be permanently damaged by a single hit.

No harm in keeping the stock finder for the moment. Finder scopes are very much a personal preference. It may be better to see how you go first, then spend. For what its worth I like a RACI finder and a Rigel Quickfinder. Straight through red dot finders differ considerably on quality and usefulness. I hate striaght finders on newton scopes and sold a Telrad that came with a scope. Others will have very different views (no pun intended) on finder choices. Enjoy the experience and keep asking the questions. David.

Another vote here for a 3D printing board. I have made quite a few astro items and posted files. Some have been downloaded by members. Though the threads have got lost in the general posting. It would be really good to have an astro items resource instead of having to sort through all the useless pen holders and everything else on thingiverse and other places.

Hello and welcome to SGL. I know there are at least two members on the site who have compared and used 'equivalent' Skywatcher and Bresser products. From memory one was an 8" dob and the other Skymax 127 - or something like that. However, the bottom line was that they were worth the extra money. I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will be along soon. David.

Some polar scopes have internal markings to help with alignment. I have seen (or used) one with a circle, size to represent the circle of polaris, another with a rough map of bright stars near polaris, with a small circle where you put polaris. HTH, David.

Hello and welcome to SGL. I used to own an ETX90. Now if memory is correct, the RA version does not have goto. Only a 'clock' drive to follow an object after you have set up the tripod in equatorial mode and found the object yourself. From perhaps 2005 (or something around there) onwards, the scopes all had a 'goto' handset. Look at the handset. Does it have just a few buttons? Or a keypad and display. The advanced field tripod is OK. But nothing spectacular. It cannot be easily used on other scopes. Unless there is something really good about the package, I think $200 is probably a bit high. Definitely if it doesn't have the goto handset. In its day, the ETX90 was quite advanced, but things have moved on. I would be tempted to haggle. These are just my thoughts and ideas. Put as much, or as little value on them as you wish. Others may have different thoughts. Keep asking the questions and enjoy the hobby. David.

To fit a brass puck, all you need is a dent in the slab. You aren't trying to drill all the way. They often have hard pebbles included which makes full depth drilling a nightmare.

Of course, the nice thing about binos is that they are easy to transport to a dark site and there is zero setup time.😁

Hi and welcome to SGL. The 8" dob is a very good choice. Unless you have to carry it down 3 flights of stairs, or have a bad back. The reason for this comment is that the best scope is always the one that gets most use. Provided you can handle an 8" dob, it is going to be a scope to keep for years. It will give stunning views and is (almost) as simple as set down, point and look. You can get high magnification for lunar and planetary viewing. It has the light gather to pick up faint objects. A good all rounder. As a shared experience where one of you locates something of interest, then lets the other take a peek, you can't beat it. Astrophotography is financially like tearing up £50 notes for a hobby. Where visual astronomy is only tearing up £10 notes😁 In addition astrophotography can easily become hours of scope/mount setup, running outside to keep an eye on things. In the days following, much computer time editing and stacking and processing. Generally no shared experiences - other than the end picture. OK that is not everyone's take. Some enjoy just taking a few quick 30sec exposures using a DSLR on the scope. Others construct completely automated setups and leave them to remote locations, communicating via the web. I tried semi-serious astrophotography, non automated. Typically leaving an observatory scope doing repeated exposures on one object and keep popping in to check. It was very frustrating when things didn't work out as intended. A whole evening to produce a few fuzzy blobs.😪 Meanwhile in the garden I had another scope that I looked through and enjoyed. If I couldn't find an object, I looked for something else. If cloud came over, I looked in a different part of the sky. Enjoy the journey, David.

A note of caution on powering the NUC. I got involved with this for work a couple of years back. Sorry I don't remember the specific model, but I guess a similar consideration needs to be made across the board. When powered on, the internal power supply takes a BIG inrush current. If the battery/powerbank/whatever cannot provide the big inrush without the supply dropping, the NUC may not start. It thinks the supply voltage is too low. This means you need a battery pack with good pulse current capability, or a mains supply with a very large output capacitor. Don't skimp on wire gauge connecting the power supply to the NUC and keep the length as short as possible. Next is the timing of the NUC on/off switch. Again I am working from memory. A short button push powers on. A long button push powers off. In practice the button, or its equivalent circuit, is often done remotely. If you are going to push the button (it is a connector on the NUC) without sight of the NUC actions, take care on the timing. The manufacturers specification gives little information about time limits. Further, the minimum button push time for 'on' varied between models. HTH, David.

A very good cautionary note from @johninderby All scopes and mounts tend to look the same size and weight on the web pages.

I got a new 'blue glass' last year free of charge from Bresser Germany. There are various reports of people successfully cleaning the filters using kitchen/bathroom cleaners. I know it sounds wrong on optical surfaces, but there are quite a few success stories. As Peter Drew pointed out, the sun is just a boring disc right now. I have seen only the odd 'whisker' of prominence this year. In fact I wondered if my scope was working until I read similar reports from others. The really good looking images on SGL seem to have come from lots of stacking and image processing. Not like the 'good old days' when I upraded from white card to a PST, seeing spots every time out. This is a good site to look at before going to the bother setting up your scope... https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/en/solar-activity 89 spot free days in 2020! One day things will change. David.

Besides looking at objects suggested in earlier posts..... The lunar terminator in particular can grab my attention for hours. Really dark sky not necessary. Short exposure time means you can grab images even with a stationary dob. Then preparation for next season..... I assume your dob scope has perfect base and alt bearings. No sticking, or lumpy bits. You are 100% happy with the finder arrangements and don't wish to change anything. You don't think there is any point in flocking the tube. Your viewing locations are perfect. Level, easy access, no mud, etc. Don't need a path laying, etc. There are no nearby specific light sources you want to mask by any means. What I'm getting at is that even if don't observe in summer, there is preparation you can do. The astronomy season never closes. It is just the activites that change. Off now to mow the lawn and wash the car. 😁 David.

Hi Mike and welcome to SGL. Throwing a large amount of money at a 'posh' scope with bells and whistles is not, in my view, a good way forward. Time spent talking to others, looking through their scopes, and looking through your own scope(s) are, in my view far more important. These are the activites that will help you to get the best of any scope. Whether it be £200, or £2K, or £20K. Keep asking the questions. David.

My solution is to use GMT all year round on scope controls and the observatory computer. So much easier than fiddling around with daylight saving. Definite thumbs up for trying mount setting/alignment in daylight. I may know someone who has a friend who couldn't get a CG5 to align at night. March 3rd it worked. Next time out March 10th it didn't. A daylight check March 11th, with tea and biscuits for diagnostics purposes, showed a mount March/October/November mix up! These funny folks in other countries who don't know how to order year month and day. Or is that year/day/month? They cause a lot of bother. HTH. David.

Hi and welcome. Excellent advice from the earlier posts. I don't know if you have tried this already. Spend a bit time in daylight, even indoors, with the scope. Learn about balancing the mount. Find the loose screws and things that are not too well aligned. All new scopes in this sort of price bracket benefit from a little attention before use. In particular make sure the finder is correctly aligned to the main tube. Then when it is dark, you know where things are. You know the scope and mount are correctly set up. That means you can just look and enjoy. If you can't find a particular object, don't worry. Try for something else. Just enjoy what you see. Leave hunting down elusive objects for now. As your skills improve, and you get to know the kit better, you can start to look for more difficult targets. Enjoy the journey, David.

Excellent advice from Gina. If running a single 12V cable I would recommend using at least 2.5mm sq cross section. Copper-wise this is the size of domestic ring main. But use flexible cable. 50/0.25 stranded equipment wire, or something similar. Twin and earth is definitely not flexible. Alternatively run multiple 1mm sq cables, keeping mount and dew heaters separated. Plan for the future. When I built my observatory in 2007 scopes had much less associated electronics than they do today. USB or wired network to a mount was almost unheard of. A few spare cables in your duct cost very little and it is easier to thread them through now, rather than later. I fully agree with 50mm pipework. I fitted 40mm waste pipe and it is looking busy now. If you are having to buy fittings, etc, why not just buy a length of 50mm smooth bore flexible conduit? This avoids the lips associated with joints, making it easier to pull cables through, and avoids risk of joint leakage. HTH, David.

As NGC1502 said, degraded and mucky mirrors often still work remarkably well. Dismantling, cleaning and re-assembly on a simple newtonian scope is an excellent learning experience. Then one day when you dismantle a big expensive scope, you have an idea of what you are getting into. My last mirror clean was on a very neglected (not by me) 10" reflector. I wondered if the mirror was damaged beyond hope. It took a long time to soak off the bugs, dust and everything else. But at the end it is still a really good mirror. HTH, David.