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I have infact booked an eye exam this week, so I guess I might get some answers there. Ive had a (nagging) idea in my mind for some weeks now that since I am going to continue to use a small refractor quite a bit going forward, that I might as well "upgrade" from my 72mm f6 to a 80mm f7. That would drop the exit pupil from 6.67 to 5.71, which might make the problem go away.

Useful info, thanks! Haven't had an eye exam in years. The 32mm plossl (EP: 5.33) does not give the same problem, so perhaps a 35/68 og 28/82 might be a better fit, for a slightly smaller FOV.

No eyeglasses. This is the only 40mm eyepiece I own. I did try several other eyepieces, the widest beeing a 32mm plossl, but no other eyepieces showed the same problem. Astigmatism is suppose to make things blurry isn't it? These artefacts where in fact rather sharp.

72mm f6 refractor. It was sufficiently cooled. The artefacts where present around all medium bright stars, all across the field. Focusing changed to a certain degree the pattern of the artefacts, but never removed them. It did not look like any aberrations I have ever seen before, or any one of those in the link. It sort of looked like the attached picture (but all in white light, not red, orange and black).

Thank you for this excellent review. I bought the eyepice because of it. I am having a problem with it though: even on medium bright stars, there are some irregular artifacts around them. It almost look like there are tiny solar flares around the stars. Focusing is very hard because of this. Did you experience something similar? If not I think I have to return it.

It is stored in a shed outside, and the temperature was stable for the 90 min I was outside, so I don't think that was the issue. There were some dew, put I used a dewshield. I guess that towards the end it could have become a problem, but I didn't really notice any.

7. september, 2022: Langhus, Norway (60°N, 11°E) – Bortle 6 - seeing and transparency: Pickering 8/Magnitude 4.3 Equipement: C6 and 72 mm doublet, Az-gti, 32mm Plossl, Baader mark IV zoom, Tele Vue 3-6mm zoom I took my dusty C6 for a spin last night. It hasn’t been used in years, and I have moved house several times since then, so I guessed the collimation would be way off, so that was the first order of business. In-focus was good, while out-focus was slightly off. Is that normal, that one is okay, but not the other? I tweak it for a little bit but seem unable to get both perfect. I stop when both are decent. Unfortunately, my AZ-GTI is not in a good mood this evening. Perhaps it is because I am used to using a small frac with a great fov, but I seem to not be able to find any of the double stars in Ursa Major that I have planned to look at. Perhaps it needs a firmware update, I haven’t done that in a while. I give up and starts slewing to targets I already know. Jupiter doesn’t look very good. Two bands are clearly visible, but it looks rather soft. Sort of washed out. Bad seeing perhaps? I slew to Polaris to make an estimation. I struggle with the focus a bit, not being used to the crude adjustments. I seen to be unable to get it just right. Pickering 4-5 perhaps? I move on to the double double, but I am unable to make the split. The view is messy and horrible. Collimation perhaps? And bad seeing and a crude focuser as well? I give up and decides to pack up. I decide to give the small refractor a few minutes before I go though. Boom. Instant split. Pinpoint round stars. Fainter than in the C6 of course, but everything just looks better. Seeing is actually rather good. I retire, satisfied with the evening after all. I’m not blaming the C6 here. It most likely was user error. Either the collimation, or poor focusing. Or both. But I love me some fracs, that’s for sure.

I have the same information about components in my v6, but there seems to something that doesn't add up. This is how it looks to me: But the B component is listed as 0.8" away, while it is 14.4" away, like in this picture from Sky and Telescope:

23. August 2022: Langhus, Norway (60°N, 11°E) – Bortle 6 - Seeing and transparency: Pickering 6-8/Magnitude 4.3 Equipment: 72mm doublet, Az-gti, 32mm Plossl, Baader mark IV zoom, Tele Vue 3-6mm zoom This was my first noteworthy session in years. I’ve decided to keep things simple going forward; just a bit of double star observing right by my house. The weather was nice and cool at 15° C, and the conditions were surprisingly good. This was the first session at my new house, and I found a decent spot about 100m away, which gave a nice view from north through east all the way to south. Since the planets where up, I started out with Mars, Jupiter, Neptune, and Saturn. A glorious beginning. I then moved on to the doubles. Mizar (SAO 28738) Mag: 2.23, 3.95, Sep: 14”, PA: 153° Started out with a pretty one. I’m rusty, so I didn’t record at what magnification I got the split, but the view was delightful in everything from the 32 mm Plossl (13x) to the full range of the Baader zoom (up to 54x). it is annoying that quite a few doubles are missing in SkySafari. Mizars companion is a noteworthy star with a magnitude of almost 4, but still it doesn’t show up. Sad. Almach (SAO 37734) Mag: 2.17, 5.02, Sep: 9.4”, PA: 63° Ah, Almach. Such a splendid sight. It’s a K3 star, with a color index of +1.39 (orange), but it looks mostly yellow to me, with a hint of orange. The other component is a B8V, and its pale white. Can’t remember the split here either. Not a lot going on around it, even with the 32mm and it’s 3,7° FOV. 59 Andromedae (SAO 55330) Mag: 6.1, 6.7, Sep: 16.6”, PA: 36° A little to the south this nice pair is found. Quite sure I split this at 21x? Both white to my eyes. SAO 73956 - Mag: 8.3, 8.6, Sep: 33.2”, PA: 224° For some reason these two appears to be closer than 33.2”, but perhaps it is because they are fainter than the rest I viewed this evening. They are listed as yellow, but mostly appear white. While the 32mm is in, I see a couple of stars due north who look like they could be a double. After checking SkySafari they are identified as SAO 53820 and SAO 53821: not a double. While looking at them I again discovery two new stars due north looking like a double, so I slew to them as well: SAO 53825 and SAO 53827. They are not a double, but SAO 53827 has a close companion on it’s own! At sep 1.8” it should be possible in my scope, but I can’t get it. Conditions might be slightly worsening. SAO 53825 appears yellow (registered as orange-red), while the other one is white. It’s always nice to deviate from the “script” and just enjoy what the skies gives you! I wrap it up, satisfied with the first proper sessions in ages.

My last recorded visual session was back in September 2020. I had some photo sessions in the 20/21 season, and I remember a very short visual session around Christmas 2021 (but I never even bothered to record it). That’s it these last seasons. The problem is time. The lack of time. I don’t have enough of it. I stumbled into this hobby several years ago with a cheap 70/500 achromat. I had a blast. As most of you have experienced, when the bug bites, your wallet gets lighter. I purchased a 70 mm doublet, a 102 mm doublet, a handful of maks, a C6, a selection of eyepieces and mounts, a few cameras and lenses, and I had my eyes on a 300 mm dob and a HEQ5. I was ready to go all in. Then life happened. A child, a new (more time demanding) job, a house. And suddenly there were no more time left for astronomy. Something had to change. During this spring and summer I have sold of quite a bit of equipment. And more is on the way out. I have decided to keep the following: My 72/432 f6 doublet Az-gti mount Leofoto 363c tripod 2x barlow, 32 mm Plossl, Baader zoom and Televue zoom 90 degrees erecting prism Headlamp Moon filter A small tripod chair And that’s it. (That’s a lie. I’m keeping the 40mm steel tripod because it is such a great bang for the buck, and the C6 that I purchased used for next to nothing, and my modified twilight 1 mount head and the Nikon D5600 just in case. But it will all gather dust for a while, until life isn’t so time-demanding). My targets will be the moon and double stars. They both are forgiving objects and can excite even with the smallest equipment and meager conditions. No need to hunt down darker skies, I’ll just observe outside my house. I have an excellent moon map with over 300 named features, and the Cambridge double star atlas (2. Ed) with 2500 listed double stars. I think I’ll have enough to do. The little frac can be brought out in no time, and I might squeeze in 20-30 min sessions here and there. I am looking forward to this new, more relaxed approach to the hobby. I had my first proper session last night, and I had a blast. It was no more than an hour, but it was enough. I am back on the horse again! Figured I’d just share these words just in case there are more people out there having equipment gathering dust for some reason and need a little push to get back at it again. Here’s a few pictures of my very portable setup:

That was fast. Thanks alot!

Hi, I have been searching all over for this info, but I haven't found anything. How long are the arm on the AZ5, and how wide is the head? I have a Twilight 1 mount, which I know is a bit heavier, but I also suspect it is both longer and wider as well. It does not quite fit on my carbon fiber grab and go tripod, it is simply to "cluncky". I am hoping that the AZ5 overall is a smaller package, and might fit better. I have attached a photo to illustrate what I want the measurements of.

It's very subjective what our ambitions are. And a beginners budget does not always match his or her ambitions. And vice versa. Instead of making recommendations based on budget, perhaps it would be a good idea to make a post with some examples of what different kinds of equipment might produece. Example A) Unmodded DSLR with a kit lens and static tripod. B ) DSLR and a prime lens, on a alt-az tracking mount, C ) modded DSLR with small refractor on a star adventurer/sky guider. D )HEQ5 and so on and so forth.

Just a quick update, the tripod is in fact not as robust as the standard skywatcher alu tripod (that comes with the AZ3 for instance), it is much more light weight. I haven't done any tests yet, but I think the 3 kg weight limit is not just because of the head, I don't think the tripod can take any more either.

It is fairly subjective what "too prone to vibrations" really is. With a goto mount you dont need to touch anything all the time either, which helps. That beeing said, unless super-portability is really important for you, for me a solid 1.75 inch steel tripod is a no-brainer even on these 5 kg weight limit mount heads. It just makes everything so much better. They are cheap and not that heavy either. You can upgrade your scope as much as you want, and have really high quality eyepieces, but if your mount doesn't perform, it really doesnt matter.

The difference between 130mm and 150mm aren't that great, especially on faint fuzzies. Atleast not to my eyes. It seems to me that you first of all is on the market for a goto mount? Perhaps a better idea would be to skip these combo options, and just purchase a mount? You can get the AZ-GTI mount head alone for £249 and a solid 1,75 inch steel tripod for @129 at FLO. That would beat all the mount/tripod combos you listed, and save you a few £. Something like the Astro fi combo gives you a better bang for your buck on the other hand.. Just some random thoughts while I enjoy my morning coffe.

I can see Mizar B in SkySafari Pro on mobile, so I guess the In-App purchase atleast has some value.

Sky Safari/Stellarium does have quite a few holes in their star database. I have purchased the GAIA Extension Database to Sky Safari that add an additional 90 million stars, but I still encounter stars that arent shown. I only see 1 star when I look up STF1695, just like you.

I sent an email to First Light Optics, and (of course) they answered 20 min later: "The aluminium tripod is similar to the one used on larger Skywatcher mounts and is a fair bit sturdier and more robust than the previous tripod that's right. So it will be more stable and better suited to heavier payloads". So now you know!

The Skywatcher AZ pronto mount used to be bundled with a black lightweight tripod, but it now seens you can purchase different bundles where the tripod has changed to one in aluminium. At first glance, the new one looks more sturdy. Has anyone tried these and know the difference?

That makes sense, but as long as you choose objects wisely (low to the east or west) and keep each of your exposures short enough, field rotation during a frame will be small enough not to matter, but the field rotation will make sure that your first frame is significantly different than the last?

I might have misunderstood something, but isnt the point of dithering to avoid that the same spot on the sensor lines up with the same spot on the object on all subframes? If that is correct, field rotation should take care of that on an alt-az mount?

It truly is. I always travel with it, and I have everything I need in small backpack, + the tripod. One trip out to the car, and one trip out to the site. Setting up, leveling and lining up is done in a few minutes as you say. Love it. And the az-gti is surprisingly precise. Ive managed 60 sec exposures (unguidet) without trailing. Next season I’ll try to push it even further.

Good to know! I also have a 600D with a 72mm refractor on the Az-gti, and has just gotten my hands on a reducer/flattener, and can’t wait to try i out. Im really surprised how well such a setup works out!

Is it a reducer/flattener you have there? How is it working out for you?