joe aguiar

ok yes i remnember that it was a circular grove into the ep and thats how you focuser the ep. i just remebered that when u said it joejaguar

It could your camera would be looking downward tho or just unscrew the 2 inch diagonal it takes 10 sec and srew on the 1.25 visual back Joejaguar

The more expensive refractors or the goodd triplets can be collimated but to collimate a triplet is probably better for the advanced people or send back to the factory Joejaguar

If those are hygens 1.25" ep I would just upgrade them. They are the cheapest ep back when I worked in a telescope retail real store the dealer cost of those h20 f12.5 and sr4mm 1.25" were $2.50 and that's Canadian. So UK that's probably $1.75 each ep. So consider how much it took to make it maybe 50 cents. I dont wanna be the bearer of bad news but just get a plossls or super plossls ep that will change the scope much better. Joejaguar

here is a vid of mine, look at it see if this helps u in getting something decent, unlike that link u posted this is much better https://youtu.be/ozPVjDfP_UE

that image can be close to what u may see BUT see how fast the planet was moving in the fov. that tells me it must of been 200x min to maybe 250x power. it depends on your sky conditions, this is huge part also what ep u r using what latitude Saturn is at also plays a huge part the Phillipines is on the southern part and right now Saturn is much much higher then we are from the mid to upper northern latitude iam at 42 north degrees and last year and maybe the next 2 years at least Saturn wont be in a good height in the sky to get the best views from. We in the northern parts wuill have to wait maybe 3 more years for it to be good. then we can hope for good sky conditions, and if we lets our scope cools properly, and if its well collimated and with good ep we can yes get that kinda views but right now are Saturn is gone and its not at a good postion.where the Phillipinrs is joejaguar

this question is almost imposible to say, theres probally no right answer and it ALL has to do is prefrence If you want the largest for the cheapest maybe a 10 to 12 inch dob if u want that on a eq mount for polar alignment and with a drive or manual tracking then maybe the 10" one on a eq6 BUT this is a big scope, the 8" on a heq5 works or eq5 is much more portable but still large if portabililty is number 1 if you live in an apt/condo or hise hi then maybe a 8se is best if you want semi large that can do some imaging then maybe a sct on heg5 the 8 to 10" size I think is best for cost weight and size once u go to the 12" size its starts to get really big and heavy. joejaguar

I would recommend a night watch book plainsphere or theres a map caledd deepsky 600 joejaguar

this is what I have on all my scts telrads or rigels finderscope 2" sct diagonal to use a 56mm 2" ep for the really wide low power large items some people use the focal reducer 6.3 which is ok too dewcap a must for scts, I don't have powered dewcaps I also have a feather touch micro focuser on my 12" sct its kinda expensive but woth it fine focusing is a brease and 100% do you have a 2x barlow much easier to use then some lower power eps since the eye lens rae really small. So a 14mm ep with a 2x barlow is the same as the 7mm ep BUT its will be much easier to use and look through. If you need to buy don't buy a cheap one as it will make the image worse not better. joejaguar

another good scope is the skywatcher 130mm hertigage scope its a mini dob and need to be on a table or stool, its portable tho and its same saize as the meade polairs scope cept its much smaller breaks down to be more compact. The meade eq mount has slow motion controls which is nice at highter powers to re center every 20 to 30 secs as the item keep moving where the mini dob skywatcher one u need to keep bumping it with your hands. both are good scope the SW MUCH more portable and if u have to ship it there that may be better. joejaguar

I sold one to a guy in brazil like 2 to 3 months ago. same issue he had a friend living in the next city over and his friend bought it for him then his mom was gonna go back to brasil to visit so she took it back with her. It was only the ota 127mm reflactor not the complete tripod and all tho. iam not sure thaqt the best scope the finder scope and ep are really bad you will need to upgrade those and that mount is just basic I don't think you will like it at all. I know as that guy its very expensive and with the cost of living there can be hard BUt you can find something decent that comes with decent items. if you cant get it there shipping from the next closest country may be your onlu option tho but at least its only once. meade sells Polaris 130mm on eq2 this so much better its bigger then a 4.5" that's about 30% more light. It also used a much better mirror parabolic rather than spherical mirror and it comes with a decent red dot finder scope and like kellners ep which are waaay beter then the hygens that norm comes with cheaper ep. joejaguar

make sure the front cap is off next in daytime to get used working it, look at a building 400meters or more. Then it may be easier to use it at night. Don't look at the sun with a sun filter. most new people get the eyepices incorrect. they norm think the 4mm should be first then 12 then the 20 BUT its the other way around use the 20 or 25mm first then the 12mm ep. if it cam with a 6mm or 4mm don't even use it as it too much power and u wont see anything. the maker just threw this ep in so it looks good having a lot items. joejaguar

just in case is the dust cap off? and the open tube is pointed outward right? if that correct yes try it on a distant building etc. with everything we have that auto focus a lot people are not used to manual focusing as that's a lost art. joejaguar

there arte a lot good barlows out there I have a Televue 2.5 barlow meade 5000 2x barlow meade had a 4000 triplet 140 barlow u can sometimes find them used ES has some goos barlows just don't get the cheap ones you norm can tell by the price point if you are looking on line joejaguar

the etx 90 is a good scope for what it is. I agree with the guy above its probally similar to a 80mm clear refractor once u minus the etx90 CO. the difference is the etx is almost f14 so its focal length and ratio is much longer and using the same ep in both the power is almost double that of the refractor. so if you want a high power small scope that may be right for you but there may be some larger low power items you wont see . your other question about camera is you screw it to where your ep is in the pic then your ep goes on that top ep hole. IT has a switch that u can open the view from the backside or the top side which is really handy. the only real issue with that scope is the focuser knod is pretty small and almost bumps the diagonal joejaguar

ops for got to memtion ya the skywatcher hand controller wont work with this mount they make it to only fit their own equipment. BUT I do like the lxd75 mount its a pretty decent mount. joejaguar

buy recharchable battiers that what I have done with 12"lx90/8se/6se/lxd75/lxd85 I have never bought or used a power tank and I have NEVER run outta power either. good rechargeable battiers are not cheap I paid $20 for 2 3500ma but they probally last 5 to 10 years before getting weak. joejaguar

you will see venus it may look like a half moon phase or quarter moon phase depending where its at with its orbit. It will be decent big it wont be a star. you will easily see it as a sphere/ as a planet BUT with no features. Saturn and Jupiter are very very easy in a 4.5" scope ps the 4.5" size is made for the serious beginner. irs a very good start there are much worse, once you upgrade the eps that came with it it will make that scope twice as good. looking at regular stars no matter what size scope u have and no matter what power you use still looks the same, unless its double or triplet stars then do it thay are nice to look at. ps do you have a good book and maps? a good book is night watch which has a ton of info for anyone in the hobby BUT it also has 20 charts of things to look for and where to find them for the beginner. Togther with a plainsphere or a phone app I guess is all you need joejaguar

forget about the erecting image the makers of these scope just throw a lot items to make the scope look like it has a lot acessiors BUT most those items are low quality stuff. AS the other guy above said its to look at daytime stuff altho most people who want to do that don't get reflecting scopes anyway. The other reason the 20mm ep may be ok but not with the barlow cause those eps and barlow again are of the lowest quality being its a 20mm I have a very good felling its a h20 or also called a hygens which are not graet. The 20 will be ok if it came with a 12.5H that's so/so but the 4mmsr is just trash forget about that one. you may want to get a decent plossl or super plossl and maybe a decent 2x doublet barlow for better views BUT fior now u can keep using the 20 and 12.5 if that's what they came from. Also take into consideration those eps have a field of view( how much space u see threw it) of like 22 to 25 degrees. A plossl will give twice that of 50 degree noty to mention it will be much much better quality, and a super plossl will be 52 degree fov. joejaguar

yes the rigel once u align it is MUCH easier to use to find items. You will know perfect where your are pointing to where a 6x30 regular finder will blow up the image and if you have 10 stars in the finderscope which one is the one you want? which can be a pain in the beginning. You wont have this issue with the rigel where you point it is where you are looking at. joejaguar

I think u need a good book like night watch and a planisphere. The book has 20 pages of maps with 100 to 200 objects to look for as a beginner. AND thwe biggest issue is the finderscope, u really should upgrade it to the rigel or telrad. I know when I started it was same issue. a regular 6x30 finder is just not good enough it makes the stars brighter sure but which one is the one your looking for to star hop? since now there 10 stars in the finderscope. A telrad or rigel lets you know where you are and what star your on. the other isse with goto that I have seen over the last 20 years since they became popular is brand new people think they do everything for you BUT it doesn't. ok so first a goto will probally be 2x the cost of the same size manual scope. Like all things computers or electronics it will lose value as it gets oputdated or a new verson comes out. If they goto computer or electronics die its probally gone and you need to buy a new one , sometimes it can be repaired BUT other times the repair can be half to as much as the whole thing. Then you need a power source which is another expence and u got to remember to keep that charge not to memtion another item to carry outside/in. If you forget to charge it or if it dies most gotos cant move manually. Some can on one axis some cant etc. Next biggest issue tho is I see TONS of post (and I do mean tons since the 2000's) of people who bought goto thinking it will do everything. If you cant find atleast 20 of the brightest stars by your self how will you find it with the gotos?? You have to input time date year time zone, some scopes the city, sometimes lat or long too depending what scope and goto u have, not to memtion some level and align to north. then by that info it will slew to where it thinks a bright star should be, most people think it will be in the ep and it wont. it may even be up to 5 degree to 15 degress off. So if you don't know your stars how will you know. Don't belivie me try reading different post from different headings and you will see how many I have seen. Ok then off to the 2nd star AND if you did all that correct then it becomes easy and the item will be in the ep fov. iam not saying goto are bad I have 3 or 4 BUT for brand new people most think u just plug it in and it finds you what you want AND it doesn't work that way. your best bet is to get a better finderscope as I mentioned and a good map and book with a 8" scope you should see a lot BUT you have to learn the sky too. I find bumping the dob every 20 secs a pain in the high powers but that's another story however if u also come to this part later on you can put that scope on a eq5 mounts where you can use manual slow motion controls. joejaguar

U can buy the 8se mount and tripod used maybe on can wide astro buy sell for like $300 in UK maybe thsts 200. They have a UK site too U could even get it cheaper if u just get the mount without the tripod since yours should be fine. I would guess 150 UK. Of course u may have to wait till u see one for sale or post a wanted add for it. U can then sell your mount for parts maybe get 50 to 60 uk for it since the hand controller may be sought after or keep that in case u need the parts later. Joejaguar

I agree they may look the same but they r not The 4/5se mount is abit smaller mount than the 6/8se mount Joejaguar

omni plossl are fine for your scope some plossl eps can cost $20 more then a generic plossl cause the base models may only be coated then a better model can be multi coated then the best ones are fully multi coated eps. super plossl are norm 52 degree fov where most plossl are 50 degree fov. Yes only 2 degree fov difference. The super pl may have an eye cup and a rubber mid barrel to grip the ep easier with gloves etc. so these can be why you may see some pl eps from others that are like $20 difference the very cheapest ones tho maybe plastic so watch out for those and dont even buy those BUT the omni ones are the reg plossl 50 degree fov and i belivie multi coated so for you should be fine in a 4.5" reflector. joejaguar

there can be several reasons from that size iam guessing its a reflector 3" diamter maybe f/8? is that correct? also they have to align the finderscope to the main scope and in the daytime is good then in the night time on any star u can get the alignment a bit better .Ok so in the daytime find a faraway hydro pole/chimmeny/ or street light and look at the tip or a corner. it can be 400 or 500 meteres away doesnt have to be kms away. Get the image in the scope it may take a min then slowly get the finderscope as close to the image as the main scope. ALSO only use the low power ep like a 25mm ep or whatever they got with it. in the night then use the finderscope to look at a star and put that star in the middle of the mainscope view then again ajust the finderscope so both views have that star in the middle of the ep . ok next alot people get the ep wrong. first u use the highest number first which is the lowest power (most think its the other way around). put the object in the middle of the view and focus untill it clear. lets say you got a 25mm ep a 12.5 mm ep and a 6mm ep ( iam guessing but this will let you know tho)Then use the next ep 12mm then the 6mm ep. Ok now the hightest power ep if its a 6mm or a 4mm ep ( i dont know cause u need to tell what they have etc maybe even few pics) may be too high of power so u may not be able to use it and if it comes with a bralow and erect image ep dont even use them. The manufacture give alot these items with many starter scope so the telescope looks like it comes with alot items BUT they are normall low quailty items that are no good. so im thinking only the lowest power and the medium power is the only ones you can use. normally in this size too hopfully its not 0.965" size ep (normally its Hygens ep) if it has a H20/H12.5/H4 or SR 4mm these are no good at all, if so you will be very limited on what you can do or use on that scope. BUT if its 1/25" focuser and 1.25" ep thats better BUT alot times they still gives Hugens ep in theis size. Its better then the 0.965 ones BUT just by a little bit. On the good side its much easier to replace these eps cause you dont have to change the focuser or diagonal. These low quailty ep have a field of view (fov) of 20 degree to max 25 degrees. where a good plossl will have a 50 degree fov and of course be a better ep too.in these entry level scope most comes with cheap accessiors which have to be upgraded in order to see anything except the moon . so try those things first and if you can ask them to take few pics of the scope and the eps and send them to u and then post it here so we can see whats going on to help you better joejaguar