DeanCJ

Unfortunately where I live, Pontefract, with a WF postcode, the RM service is absolutely junk and has been for quite a few years. Last year my 82 year old father was suffering with bowel cancer and 90% of the letters from the hospital would arrive days after his appointments. It became so bad that most of the important correspondence was conducted via the telephone. I believe that RM was fined last year for its poor performance, says it all really. I must say though, our postie is fantastic, its the company, not the people who work for it.

I have read many posts over the last few years, especially on SGL regarding orthoscopic eyepieces. These eyepieces have a small fov and limited eye relief but seem to provide, from what I have read, a very clear, pure, and sharp view. I must admit, I really am tempted to buy one or two just to try them out. There must be a market for this type of eyepiece as FLO have a selection for sale in the ‘made in Japan’ section, and they seem to command a good used price. As well as my collection of SLV’s I also have the older Vixen LV’s in 4,5,6, and 7mm focal lengths. All of these have a 45°fov and if memory serves me a 20mm eye relief, they work well in my f7 refractor and f10 sct. I bought these used quite a few years ago, and the prices today are somewhat higher. I forgot to mention that I also wear glasses but I remove them when I am observing, which can be amusing, or annoying for my wife, especially when I can’t see to find them, or when I have managed to sit on them.

Although not a wide field eyepiece, have you considered the Vixen SLV range? Myself I quite like the 50° view,especially for lunar and planetary. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/vixen-eyepieces/vixen-slv-eyepieces.html Each focal length has a quoted eye relief of 20mm. I have SLV’s from 9 to 25mm and although I have never viewed through a top tier eyepiece I do find that for the price, the SLV’s are very nice, and not too expensive. If you shop around they can be found second hand at a very reasonable price.

Hi HAsun. I do not have the az-eq6 but I do have the az-eq5. My first thought is the handset but I am no expert. Can you connect it to a computer via the Skywatcher supplied lead? perhaps it is firmware related? If you can confirm the handset is at fault a new one will be quite expensive, so I just wanted to suggest a Skywatcher wifi adapter FLO generally have these in stock and are probably half the price. I tend to use one with my az-eq5 and it performs faultlessly. Just an idea. Cheers Dean.

Hi Bloodline and welcome to the forum. My wife and I have a couple of goto mounts, one being the Skymax 127, it’s a cracking little telescope, excellent for lunar and planetary and will show most of the Messier catalogue, not too shabby on double stars either. The main advantage of goto and tracking for us is that we share the eyepiece, if we take a while swapping, or have to nip inside to make a drink, the target will more often than not still be in the eyepiece. My son has a Dob and when we share we have to be quick as I am not very good at relocating the target and nudging to be honest, so if you are planning on sharing your telescope with others, this may be something for you to think about. Cheers Dean.

Signed 645👍

Just like @RobertI has posted above, my wife and I also have an 8”sct and a 4” f7 ed refractor. The refractor with 2” eyepieces provides wonderful wide field views that the sct simply cannot provide. Fainter targets such as M13 are fantastic, in the refractor there is no mistaking what it is, then in the sct the stars are really starting to resolve. It is, for us really great to have two different views of the same target if that makes sense. Our mount is a Skywatcher az-eq5 and when dual mounting in az mode the telescopes are approximately 18”-24” apart when balanced correctly, so we can sit side by side and observe which is nice, although two mounts would provide more freedom, we really like our setup.

£180.00 does seem rather expensive. If you have a smartphone or tablet, have you considered a Synscan wifi adapter? FLO currently have them in stock at £75.00. Obviously you could also purchase a used one. I have both adapter and handset and like them both. The Synscan app is probably quicker to align the mount, and the only thing I personally find awkward is when my fingers are cold there are no chunky buttons on my tablet. The other benefit with the adapter is the ability to use Sky Safari which I find fantastic.

Hi Seoras looking at your first two videos there seems to be a lot of sideways play on the geared shaft. I would suspect that a bearing has perhaps failed, or there is possibly excessive wear to the shaft. If you have a small inspection mirror, such as what a Dentist uses, I would try and look behind the plate with the three cap head Allen screws, you may get a better idea of what is happening. Small bearings are widely available online. Perhaps it would be worth searching YouTube.

Hi Coxy My wife and I have the Altair Starwave version of your scope albeit with fpl 51 glass. We also have a Skywatcher az-eq5 mount. We often use this in alt-az dual saddle configuration, this is rated I believe at 15 kg per side, and pair the refractor with a Celestron 8”sct, the mount handles this size/weight combination easily. We find that 8” really starts to show dso’s well and compliments the refractor very well. we also have a 127 Mak but tend not to use this much as the views are quite similar, on really good nights the Mak will be better on lunar and planetary, but not by much, and on most nights the refractor is better, the Ring Nebula for example, in the Mak l use averted vision more but with the refractor it kind of just pops out without. I think this is where the central obstruction and contrast comes into play. So, if you are thinking about a Mak or sct I would be thinking about 150mm or bigger, bearing in mind, an 8”sct weighs more or less the same as a 150 Mak, but has greater aperture, this was for us a better mounting option. Hope this is helpful.

Try here, I have purchased a few for my Vixen lv’s and they are pretty good. https://nipon-scope.com/product-category/lens-caps/

I have one and use it with my 8” SCT, it is the best diagonal I have used with this telescope. I totally agree with what has already been said above. Occasionally an undercut may snag, and some deep undercuts may not be gripped tightly. I trimmed a few thou off the clamping ring to fix this. I cannot check at the moment, but I believe the nose-piece is not threaded for filters. For the price it really has to be a bargain.👍

Just in case anyone needs any replacement eyepiece end caps, Nipon seem to have restocked. They have various sizes in plastic and rubber. During the 2020 lockdown I purchased two 37x12mm rubber caps to fit my Vixen lv’s and they are perfect, now they are finally back in stock I have just ordered two more. https://nipon-scope.com/product/lens-cap-lens-cover-for-telescopes-binoculars-monocular-eyepieces-barlow-lenses-and-accessories/

I know this is a bit of an old thread now, but the 13mm and 10mm nirvanas are now available in the UK, they are listed on OVL UK website and showing in stock at Harrisons. Prices are in line with the rest of the range. I assume @FLO and other retailers will have them in stock or will have them soon. My wife and I have the 16mm and we use it with a 8” f10 SCT and a 4” f7 ed frac. We find it works very well with these scopes, and will be waiting patiently for reviews of the 13mm as I am considering this focal length for the SCT with M13 in mind.

I have an Altair Astro 102 f7 refractor and have gone down the 2” route. I only have two budget Opticstar eyepieces, a 32mm and 26mm. For some strange reason, I like to observe certain targets, especially open clusters, framed’ in space if that makes sense. The above 2” eyepieces give me wonderful ‘framed’ views of the larger clusters such as the Pleiades, Beehive, and the Double Cluster etc. I guess it’s a personal thing, also as has already been mentioned, when clamped the 2” diagonal does feel really, really solid.