joe aguiar

10" is a really nice size for dso (deep sky objects) but its heavier and more bulky will it be fron iside your place to the backyard only? if so then sure get the 10" take the base first then the tube. if u have to carry it to a pary etc then 8" will be max or too much depending how far Joejaguar

you can put motors on a dob BUT I think its very expensive like $500 to $600 cdn to me that's way too much as that's as much as the whole scope. I look at it like an extra or accessory should verey be that much as the main product, it should be like 10%. That's the good news about putting those simple ra drive to a eq1 eq2 or a eq3 its like $50 The difference tho of the 2 will be huge. The 8" will collect a lot more light and if u want to look at the deep sky stuff that's where u need to be to start 8" and up. The dob has no manual controls and high power viewing I find is not the greastest, as pushing and pulling the tube is very easy to over shoot in the ep if you are at highter powers. This too me is really a hard question tho, If you were to just want to get the eq 130 on eq2 I would say that's a good start, but it just cant compete against a 8" scope, so even tho I said dob has some issues I may get that . Just in case u didn't know they sell a 8" f/5 reflector on a eq5 mount its kinda midway and has all the features u need BUT will be heavier. So I am not sure what your limit is If that's too much they sell the 6"f/5 version too on cg4 mount joejaguar

if u do you only have to use the slow motion control on one axis so its worth doing, your polar alignment doesn't have to be perfect. if u have the polar scope just put Polaris dead center of the cross hairs. if u have a eq2 type with no polar scope just point the shaft to Polaris and again its close enough u will manilly use 1 control and the other just a bit only. joejaguar

heres my thoughts I think I rather go with the 90mm refractor, im assuming its f/10? if so colour correction will be good and images will be also good with no central mirror. The 130 sw heritage if not collimated wont get the best views. lately I read most new people just love to touch the collimation of a scope. I think it best un touched. The reflector will give you bit brighter views BUT it wont be huge as its only a 5.1" vs a 3.5". The reflector will lose at least a full inch or bit more compared to a refrector anyway. so really its a 3.5 vs a 4" which wont be that much more light grasp. The reflector mini dob also has some issue ( I did a video on my you tube channel) here is where I think it fals short abit -SW mini dob needs a shroud to block stray light and need a dew cap as the 2nd mirror is out in the open. In the winter like now its not dewy BUT in the summer it will be and will 99% dew up in most countrys, of course I cant say 100% cause it depends on the climate you live in. The mini dob also need a small table which adds to the cost of the whole package or stool, and it need to be solid steady or theres no point and it will have too much vibrations. That base is made of pressure board/ some called it chip board or MDF board, and after few years the elements will start to rot it out, its not real ply wood. Also the cost to me is too much for that scope as I say on my vodeo it costs $299 cdn then plus the shourd + dew cap+ stool or table and its a lot more then the eq version. OK so meade has the Polaris 130mm on eq2 its the same ota less its not as compact BUT its on a eq2 mount which I think should cost more as the steel , alumumium gears, slow motion controls and cog wheels is MUCH harder to make and costs more. Ok sure it may take a brand new person a tad more to learn a eq mount but its not as bad as people think. All I did put the mount down ( I cant see Polaris as I only have a south view from balacony) but I kinda know where it is so just put it in that direction and that it use the slow motion controls vs no controls on the mini dob. The tripod version is also the perfect height for really any teen or adult. and this model cost the same is the SW heritage. BUT OK this thread is not really about the meade vs the sw reflectors BUT I was just letting you know about the costs of the mini dob plus the extras u need to buy then compare to something similar. The refractor will never need collimation a HUGE plus for a brand new person, ypou can also use it for daytime views . Sure this is the best scope for that BUT if that's not really your thing and will only do it few times and you have this scope just try it and use it for that.Again everything applies here with the eq mount being being height, having slow motion controls and you can add a clock drive later. It may not be rock solid on a eq2 but u can still see detail very good. Just put the planet in the outer edge let it drift slowly to the center and let it settle down and just look at the image. So bascially I would get the 90mm refractor over the SW heritage BUT altho theres what I call short falls in the heritage its still a good scope BUT it should have been cheaper like $249 cdn not $299 or they should add a shroud and dewcap for the $299 price. Joejaguar

Nether those, they are too big for a eq5 mount for. Visual could be ok but not ap /imaging with eq5 should be 130 reflector or 80mm ed refractor joejaguar

I never use those screes i just remove them joejaguar

Normally it’s easier to do that from A dob to an EQ mount because you just have to add two rings in a vixen bar and that’s it however you’re trying to do it backwards which means you need the round bearings and then you have to mount it on the OTA where is balance perfect and then you have to build yourself a base so I definitely think it’s harder this way did the reverse joejaguar

You can try the sky watcher the Eq5 you could also try to HEQ5 you could try the meade Lxd 85 and yes the AVX will work as well The AVX is Celestron’s version or newer version of the EQ five joejaguar

I have the lxd75 and did a review vs the lxd 70 on video but i haven’t nt put it out yet. I might in next few weeks tho but i did take out the goto motor and Drives and hand control and just made it manual mount with with motors on both axis go to it’s just becoming sometimes more trouble than it’s worth joejaguar

Ya 55came out bit ealier than 75 it could have been the first year the 55 got not great reviews and they beefed up the mounts and produced the 75 which is not rock soild but better and good for visual if u can just get the 75 version joejaguar

Since the se 6 is only 7 lbs and only 12 inches long u could use a cg5 goto or a avx goto mount joejaguar

Yep the lxd75 is kinda heavy duty eq5mount in fact it still has the 2inch thick tripod legs where the lxd55 is kinda like a eq4.5 type mount but uses the thin aluminium legs that eq3 has but also those Schmidt newts are f4 but with the corrector on it behaves like a f5 reflector but it’s bit smaller for portability joejaguar

Sounds like u still need a extender or do u know if they moved main mirror up 2 inches for imaging? If so can you move the mirror back down 2 inches? joejaguar

I would prefer a 8” with 150x power vs 80mm at 150x i don’t live in uk but I guess I can give u my experience the 80 will be maxed out almost where the 8” won’t be also u will see more dimmer detail overal to or if it’s manilly for the sun moon and planets and double stars a 4 to 5 inch top end apo refractor will also be great cristal views joejaguar

Also blowing up the image the light is spread over a larger area so it gets less clear just up the power till this happens then back down about for as large as u can get but still clear joejaguar

To me I don’t think those are that bad most of them or plossl ep sets or super Plossl Ep sets so if you have any eps that are worse off that come with those starter telescopes I don’t think it’s too bad of a deal you’ll probably use at least four of those the moon filter in the Barlow yeah you might not need all the planetary filters but for the price of maybe buying two regular or 3 pieces you’re getting a whole package which I think is OK of course there are better ep out there but if this is your first upgrade and u have the Huygens Keller’s or super ep then this set is a big improvement joejaguar

Just rinse in the sink with warm soapy water but just add one drop of soap and then rinse it with distilled water then let it dry joejaguar

OK so I would say get to the rigel finder right away because not having zero finders and just a low power a piece is still going to be hard to find stuff so with the rigel you don’t not have to buy a straight through or right angle finder but you need something. The tripod I thought that was coming with the sky watcher should be a ready 1.75 inch thick so I’m just not sure why you need to order a second one. Unless you were just talking about getting the half pier to raise it but of course that will add more weight A cg4 mount is supposed to handle about 15 pounds so your William optics 126 I think it’s already about 20 pounds and that’s without the finderscope and diagonal and Eps. so I think that’s gonna be a little too heavy for the CG4 my set up is about 16 to 17pounds and it’s a pretty much the limit so I think if you get that scope with the accessories it will be a little bit too much. you probably could do it but it’s probably not gonna be so stable so with that scope I think you would need the EQ5 if you got a lighter telescope then you probably could do the CG4 As per the eyepieces it’s just you know 100° field of view becomes fairly expensive yes ES is a cheaper brand but also your telescope is not a narrow field of view and it’s I would say medium field of view. I don’t think you’re also need a wide field of view Ep with a medium format scope. Maybe some thing like a 60° to 68° will be wide fov ok u decide Some of those lower end Ep that are ultra wide or ultra super wide yes you get the wide fields but might not be as sharp as something a little less so you’re paying for basically the widest true fov that you can get but doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to be the sharpest though Again that’s just me you might feel different

To me doesn’t look too good it looks like it has a film on it Since the mirror is already out of the telescope you might as well just clean it now and then put it back in joejaguar

this was my 2nd part but I lost internet connection TV diagonal is expensive I just use an Antares 99% die-electric and works well for me but if u want better name that ok too the best finders are rigel or telrad some people use those along with the regular one u mention for the dimmer dso, what I do is use alower power ep like the meade 4000 SWA 68 degree fov 32mm ep that's like a wide power view in the ep and with your scope it should be ok simce its not a narrow field of view I probally woundt buy the es 100 fov ep maybe buy 60 to 68 fov ep and save some money BUT if you like those ep that's ok too depends what u want. In a way your scope is not narrow its a medium focal ratio at f/7.7? so its already semi wide then to me adding a again wide fov ep its not for me but u decide. the TS tripod y are u buying this? the eq5 comes with a 1.75" steel tripod or is that mount tripod smaller? like the older models? I probally would pass on it if its 1.75" BUT if its the 1.5" or smaller I would buy a 2" steel tripod. joe

as you can see theres lots different opinions even from experienced people in the hobby as there is no one way to do anything I know thingo is gonna to carry the scope mount etc down the stairs I think to the park and that's why hes thinking the regular manual eq5 mount and not anything bigger the wood tripod is a good option altho I don't like the kind that cant raise up or down or the other kind that has bolts where u unbolt each leg raise it and then reset each bolt on each leg.It just takes too long to do. The wooden tripod probally does dampen better then steel legs or the alum kind however I have found the steel legs to be fine over all. Years ago I built my own tripod legs from 2x2 for the main legs and then 1x2 for the outer legs thast raise or lower. Altho I made that one with the bolt method said above and it was soild, wasn't expensive but in the end and after awhile I didn't like the un-bolting and re-bolting. Thingo what I fear tho with this set-up is its still pretty heavy and since you have to carry it outside then to the park, I fear u may do it for awhile, but it will start to wear you down after awhile. And for quick sessions it wont be worth it. I think u need something lighter. I think the WO 126 is just too heavy a scope and then the extra 12 lbs counter weight along with the 1st weight and the tripod and mount that just too much. I think you should consider a lighter scope. I know my tak 102 tsa s with my large format focuser 2.5" ota with rings diagonal is about 17 lbs which is very heavy for a 4" scope. I use the cg4 mount as a light weight scope like you to carry downstairs to the park next door. Mind you this mount is smaller then the eq5, and I have 2 smaller weight 2x 8lbs not 2x 11 lbs. So this setup is lighter and carrying it all down the elevator out the doors etc is very heavy after 100ft the apt I had before this one I was facing north so then I had (don't anymore) meade lx70 acro 4.7F/8 on the lx70. This mount is a eq5 but I only needed 1 weight I think I may have used the 8 lbs instead the larger 11lbs and the ota of the 120mmf/8 was lightish maybe 9 lbs max. this was an ok setup to carry for this type of thing I also had a wagon that I bought to take everything down in (of course scope needs to be in 2 or 3 parts) thingo another thing u should look at is for imaging you don't need a large scope like trever has in the astroback yard channel (BTW I haven't meet him but he only lives 1 hour from me ) maybe one day we both do a video together.The camera does 90% of the work so a lot people use a 80mm ed apo on a heq5 which will work fine. For visual tho u may need something largish but portable and light weight Joejaguar

Very nice joejaguar

Just noticed this is an old thread Joejaguar

Whoever told u that was incorrect as John says u need I would say least 2 more eps maybe even 3 A 32mm ep for lower power a d easier to locate items I'm thinking the 24 altho that's not a common number may need to be replaced but if u can send a pic Then something like a 12mm to 14mm for medium power u cant just go from low to max powers. Then a higher power like a 10mm to 6mm ep maybe even a 2x Barlow Using a moon filter will cut down on venus's glare and of course use it on moon Dont bother with bars for now it's too far wait till it gets bigger. Jupiter and Saturn are pretty much gone so u gotta wait till fall Once u get better and few more ep and a Barlow then u will see things better Also a decent ep would be a plossls or super plossls which are fine for that scope and dont cost alot joejaguar

I think there too much teck in this hobby now U dont need a planisphere just use a phone. 99% of every scope is goto. There is almost no more or at least very few none goto mounts now. There is wifi in scopes, they can be moved by laptop wifi etc Now theres apps to polar align u dont even have to see Polaris Theres apps to tell us when it's clear no need to ho outside and look U dont even need to look in the ep just sleep a d when u wake up the inage is on the screen I think we r losing the art of looking, polar aligning, tracking, finding or star hoping, the mount scope does all that now To me the nature relaxing part of astronomy is already gone Joejaguar