joe aguiar

Seeing dso also depends your u live if your in heavy lp skies probably forget most galaxies. Nebulas may also be hard hard cept for a handful of the bright ones. The mak has a long focal length its mainly made for the planets. The common knowledge is if u really want to see dso serious should start with a min 8 inch scope. Now saying that u can still see some double stars which that scope will do fine on.some bright clusters and some nebulas. There r some bright stuff that your scope wont see or you will be too close cause of it being a long focal length scope.. The mak is a specialized scope mainly for high power close up views Joejaguar

If u mean your alignment stars being off by that and then u have to center it and push ok or align? In that case 7 or 8 degrees is good I have gotten wider 10 to 15 degrees off. I think its normall. The computer is just going off by the time date later and long it's not gonna be closer than that. That's y it needs u to align on 1 2 or 3 stars to get 100% in the ep Joejaguar

well not really cause dew will start to become an issue after the 2 to 3 hr mark with powered dew control. then you are just putting enough hot air norm on maks/ scts for like less then 60 secs to get rid of the dew. you are not heating the entire ota or thicj mirror for me 3 hrs is enough time with just a regular dewcap that by the time dew form IF it does iam almost done for the night. alot times if u have the dewcap thats enough to solve that problem BUT depnds too where you live. If u r in a humid hot place dew will settle faster and thats when those people use the hair dryier. also some scopes cool down fast like 30 min or so (depending on sioze and what kind it is) so if u can get 3 hrs before the dew theres lots time to obseve b4 that happens and call it a night or have to use a hair dryier. joejaguar

the 40mm has a fov of 43 or 44 depending on your ep a 32mm super plossl will have a fov 52 fov, so having the 40 almost doesnt make it worth it to have there are some items like m45 also that you wont see whole thing what u could do sell the 40mm ep or trade it for something like a 32mm 1.25" but 70 degree fov for those large stuff or sell both the 32 and 40mm and just one 32mm ep with a wide fov then u only need that one and not 2 of the same focal length joejaguar

what u need to remember in most images its a very low power shot to fit the whole m31 in the frame, m31 is really big most people dont understand that but since most of us are in lp zones even semi lp zones you dont see the whole thing. Same goes for m42 visial its is bright BUT its only through photos that what u saw visually is 1/10 what the camera got in longer exposures. anyway so m31 is best through short tube scopes where you can get 3 to 5 degree fov. even looking at m31 in a grey zone iam sure iam not seeing the full extend of it cause our eyes just cant collect the light and hold on to the image BUT the camera can capture that low light and build that image over time. so when u see it in a pic thats very low power so even your scope doing 23x power. that seems low and it kinda is BUT a 40mm ep at 1.25" will have a fov of 44 fov so the m110 galaxy may even be at the edge of the ep and u may not be thinking thats it cause your expecting it to be close like the pics are. hope that makes sence to u joejaguar

not much more to add cause u got most of the answer but I think u need lower powers than u have, and lp can also play a big part. Joejaguar

i agree i have both a rigel and telrad both are top rated but if u have small scopes use a rigel if u got a larger one then really both or one of the 2 are good ps iam glad u didnt get too upset on that other post where i said the 5x24 finder was not good if u get the rigel it comes with 2 bases so u can use that one unit on 2 different scopes. larter if u sell that scope take off the rigel base and just use googone to clean the padded tape from the scope and re use it on your new scope and give the oringinal 5x24 finder with the oringinal scope. ps the telrad only comes with 1 base and extra cost $13 so thats a good reason to get the rigel. joejaguar

I had that scope in the late 90s the was called a lx6 premiere, it was also a 10 inch. On another post I wrote my drive base stopped tracking in ra but everything else worked. Like I could use the hand control and move it in ra and dec BUT it wounded track automatic anymore. Meade fixed it I had my dealer take care sending back and forth so in sure they also charged for their part. Total bill was like $550 back then few years later when I up graded it to meade 14 lx200 GPS uhtc I only got 1200 for the 10 inch lx6 scope. So maybe repairing the drive base was not worth spending that much. Could u deform the ota and put it on EQ mount then sell the base fork arms and tripod for someone who wants parts etc Joejaguar

i would say only downfall from that is if the window is not big or huge your viewing area wont be that big to see alot things tho but if it works then do it, also by u turning off heat and ac that helps iam not sure alot others who live in a house may like it but again if it works for u then great joejaguar

i have obsevered in -25c in winter. and doesnt happen much how long wre you outside for? also as guy above asked how long is the dewcap? it should be 8" long if not get an aftermarket one like kendrick dewcap thats best kind with the felt linned inside. oh ya it wont harn your scope just bring in inside as the night is dne for u and let it dry. joejaguar

on another note I have once read that bortle zone and what u can see and it seems wrong and that's y I don't use it and prfer the colour charts better. for instance in the red zone it was m31 can be seen with your eyes and that's wrong I cant even see that in a yellow or maybe a green zone. m31 is HUUUGE so its light is spread out. and I think it also says somewhere where you can her m13 which I have never also seen it yet my eyes is 15/20 based on the last eye test. to the ones that don't know what that is 20/20 is average 15/20 is a lot better then 20/20 anyway it don't matter if u like the bortle zone compared to the coloured zones its fine it just seems wrong the first times I read it and I stick to the colour zones seems easier and since it doesn't say what u should and shouldn't see I think that may be better as there can be 1000's people each having different eye conditions and sky conds that's will effect bortle zones. joejaguar

that link doesn't really say what zone it compares to the coloured zones but that's ok ill figure it out now so 9 should be a white 8 a red 7 a orange 6-yellow 5-green?? so your a green zone? if so that's great. I have said in many other posts that in a green zone is where the really fun sky starts begins. iam on a computer now so now I can see your sig its a 4.5" scope. ok its not huge but since I think your in a decent sky conditions I think you can see a lot. the number one thing even if your in the white or red zones or in any colour zone is to get away from any light sources like streetlights, house lights, portch or garage lights, by doing this you can have your eyes get dark adpted and you can and will see more. Most of my life iam in a white zone which is the worst zone, but I also have been to just about every zone and observed from all zones cept the black zone. only issue u may have is your scope being 4.5" has a focal length of 1000x mm fl which means it has that barlow in the focuser so views may be softer, also it will be hard to get low power views if those large extended objects. joejagur

guess I cant help u much I use zero power. I have also never owned a power tank or powered items. to me its too much trouble and more items to carry outside. I have only used the c rechargeable battiers on my 12 meade lx90 and I have had it least 12 years and never ran out of power, same for both my se mount I have never run outta power off battiers. for my dual axis drive mount it powered by 4d's battiers which again is enough. power tanks to me is heavy is another item to carry outside and in and keep that powered. to me I rather have an extension cord so I guess I cant be much help to u as iam on the other side of the fence. joejaguar

So first for ap putting a 10 inch even on a eq6 wont work, u probably need eq8. Also for ap like guy above says u can do with a 80mm apo as the camera and mount are more important and camera does most of the work. I dont think it's a good trade for the fact then u only got a 4.7 refractor which wont go near anywhere that 10 dob goes for Depp sky. I think u will regret it later. I think u need a 2nd scope on eq mount. Keep the 10 inch for dso then get a nice apo for crisp clear views in the 130mm range. If it were me I may upgrade the 10 to 12 inch dob theres a good difference going to the 12 inch size and after this size its gets too big and bulky for most people, and get a meade 6000 130mm apo then the eq6 for visual and ap Joejaguar

On a phone I cant see anyone's sig so since u didnt specify I dont know what u have. Also I'm not really sure what the bottle zone 5 is i only go by the colour zone like white red orange etc which I think came out first to my knowledge, so I stuck to that. I'll look later when I get to a comp Joejaguar

well that's hard to say u didn't say if the 6" is an apo or acro short or long tube if its long like a f/8 or 9 what mount will it be on? with tracking or not I have a SW evostar 6'f/8 apo and its not a small scope 6" doesn't sound big BUT for a refractor it is. I also have at least 5 acros in the 6' size. and the meade 152f/9 ED apo refractor, this size you need a good mount and be very dedicated or it wont get used often. For most people I would say 5.1" refractor is enough. A 10" dob tho will show lots deep sky stuff so its kinda hard to say is portabililty an issue? joejaguar

nope I haven't but how much would 120mm solar scope cost? its not only about cost but how often you will use it, many people may only use it once a month that's how often I use mine. I don't think u need a 6" refractor for the sun still. the sun and moon are the same size from our point of view and many people have used tiny scopes like 60 to 70mm acros for both with great results.Like anything sure going bigger will show you more. going from a 30mm pst to a 100pst tho is a huge difference, same as going from the pst to the 60mm solarscope its 2 times the aperture but 4x the tlight collecting by surface area the quark will also need another erf filter for bigger scopes so then the cost again goes up and it has to be powered too for it to work again another item to carry outside and another power tank to buy. Ok if you buy their rechargeable battery back now you need to charge it b4 hand and the hydro to power it isn't free either. I guess we could say that about anything tho don't buy any 4" scope unless its a tak tec televue or astro physics cause the gain from the best quality scope will blow everything else away even if they are scopes made with 53 glass. joejaguar

true stu but for solar viewing u don't need a big scope anyway, most popular size is the 60mm solarscope by either Coronado or lunt is more then fine. joejaguar

hi raph I have only used dewcap or dew shields and never powered dew strips. there are some dewcaps that I think are beter then others the best one in my book is the Kendrick dewcaps, and the reason is they are felt linned and even after 2 to 3 hours it prevented dew from going on my corrector plate. BUT even this after the 3hr mark is when it started BUT for me 3 hours is almost enough. When i took it out and felt the felt it was kind of semi-wet, so i concluded the felt absorbed the dew first into the felt before going forward towards the lens etc. take into account at summer (when dew is the most problem) (in certain countries that's hot and humidy a lot I guess that's kinda different) it only starts getting dark by 930 BUT that's not dark enough to star viewing yet I would start my setup by 1030 or so. By time time 2am hits iam already tired since I wake up at 6am everyday mon to fri. anyway this is enough for me most times. The odd time I may have gone to 3am but probally not more. anyway the Kendrick dewcap being felt linned servered me well. I have tried like celestrons version that's just plastic inside and out without the felt lined and it dews up faster maybe 1.5 to 2 hr mark. so to me the Kendrick is the best cause its felt lined the whole inside, so iam pretty sure if u just make it a dewcap yourself and its just plastic or cardboard it will prlong the dew for awhile before it dews your scope up. try it see how long u get, if its not long enough like an hr to hr and a half then felt line it see how much longer u get from it. also remember the dewcap should be 1.5X times to 2x times longer than your aperture. A lot of maker of scopes make the built in cap too short, so same is for the dewcap. So a 8" scope should have a 12" to 16 inches dewcap min. a 8' dewcap for a 8" scope is NOT long enough. joejaguar hope that helps

well this gave me a laugh

I have read just not long ago someone else who went back down to regular plossls type thing I also just did this last week. I just bought on used market the full set of the radian ep from televue & same week got a used collection (from diferent people) Televue plossl ep that in my signature. I too think somethimes going back to nice plossls is good and they still perform well joejaguar

the only part I don't agree with is taking those positive reviews from amazon buyiers. or any other large big box store. if someone reviewed a scope on here and has been in hobby long time and has several scope then I would rather hear that over 600 5 stars on amazon. 95% of them will be brand new people who have never used or used a scope and don't know whats good better not so good or garbage. people may get a new product and they will give it a 5 stars. the scope looks good and probally is BUT those brand new to the hobby deosnt know what to camper it to to be able to say its 5stars. they just give it that rating based on how it looks out of the box. I made a video on this topic, my editing is not best and I don't rehearse anything and its a 20 min video. I also compare to scope an older model and a new one from amazon. iam not saying all amazon scope are no good but most times its cheaper price and have cheaper items. also a lot times I see crazy prices on amazon I see ethos 21mm ep for sale on amazon for $8616 that's like $1200 in a scope store , also saw 2" TV diagonal $1600 again that's $400 in a store . some price don't make sence. https://youtu.be/G6JFVD-ru5Q

well to me I don't think the quark is cheap and I think it may be better to just buy a solar telescope. ok heres what I mean the quark in can is $1699 plus taxes that's like $1850 in UK that's still about $999 when its on sale. anyway ill talk about cdn money and u guys in Uk since that's most here can just divide by 1.60. ok anyway that's getting close to $1900 cdn and yes as up above was said anything over 80mm aperture u may need a erf filter with the quark or it may get too hot. it also needs to be plugged in to power and you can dial in the control, and as the filter warms up it may give you better views but this takes few minutes and u now need a power source. they sell a portable charger $200. meade's solarscope as an example sells for $1969 ok b4 tax but that's for the whole scope bf10 blocking filter ep case filter etc. I thinks that's a much cheaper price. meade has the coronado111 I know but the 2 version is still fine. even the original Coronado is fine. if that's still too much (which is fine) Coronado and lunt sell smaller 35mm version and 50mm versions much cheaper then the bigger ones. maybe once my channel becomes big daystar will send me a unit to try side by side and I can compare then to my Coronado and do a video on it BUt until I get huge I am too small for them to send me a unit for testing joejaguar

I hear you neil and you don't have to spend a lot tho BUT saying that its sometimes cost a lot more to upgrade everything then just buy on with all thos things added. the scope sometimes costs like 40 to 50 more but you dant have to upgrade the mount eps finderscope etc. if the dealer only sells a pair of slow motion controls then try the used market astro buy and sell UK or flo the dealer on here. Even if you cant find a single control u may be able to get the pair and u have an extra one. the only thing that concerns me tho ( and if anyone agree with me or not say so) being its a long version 4.5" tube on a eq1) putting the clock drive may just vibrate the mount more or atleast continuously and viewing at high power may not be the greatest or if you viewing the planets you want to see the fine detail and you may not see that then. maybe lower power to the medium power? try it without the drive first see how much it vibrates? I got like 6 pairs of those controls maybe 2 pairs are extra that I probally don't need and I keep as extra in case one break or gets lost I would send you one for free but the shipping from Canada will be a lot then u just buying a pair there. joejaguar

ok so if you want wide field views then thers options: skywatcher and others sell a 102f/5 (400mm fl) refracrtor it comes 2" focuser I have put a 55mm meade plossl for some huge views. that's 7 power bascally what binos can do or a finderscope BUT with the light collecting power of a 4" scope tho. you can also get the 120f/5 (600mmfl) same here if you want wide field low power you can use a low power 2" ep BUT you can still use a 32mm 1.25" in both these scope sand it still give a huge fov. if you like the reflector version then there are the 6"f/5 reflectors (750mmfl) as well and then the 8"f/5 BUT even those this is an f/5 version its 1000mmfl I have used that first one 102 f/5 at a grey zone on the American nebula and pelican and without any filters you can clearly see both. The north American was amazing you can see the curvy part of where mexico is and really looks like its name. The pelican also looks like the name and looks perfecty like the photos show. then the helix again was easy too. so if low power wide field is what u want u cant go wrong with either these depends how big u want to go and if u want to deal with mirror aligning on the reflector or just a simple acro verson with no hassles. joejaguar