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@Geoff Lister Hi Geoff, thanks for the all the info in this thread. I am looking for a compact Goto mount as a 'grab and go' unit and there is very little info out there. How are you getting on with the ioptron now? I have Celestron Omni 127mm STC which is 3kg so should be ok on this. just trying to decide between this, the skywatcher GTi and the Skywatcher star discovery mount

Hello, has anyone got experience of the following mounts?? 1. ALTAIR STARWAVE MINI-AZ MOUNT 2. TS-Optics compact AZ travel mount, AZT6 just looking to make a grab and go setup for when I'm away with work. any other suggestions??

I'm not 100% sure but I don't think the DX130 is Bird-Jones arrangement. I think the optics are also better along with the mount and focusser. There is a FB group dedicated to the Starsense range and the images taken with DX130 seem far superior to the LT114/127 btw, it depends where you buy the LT range from, which determines which version you get. Celestron sell the LT127 through dedicated astronomy stores, and the LT114 through camera stores. I can only speak from my experience about the Starsense part of the telescope. Others on here seem to think the starsense is a great component (and I don't disagree with them), but when connected to the LT127 it's relatively pointless. Aside from the 4000+ celestial targets the starsense gives you a list of top targets for that night dependant on location on time. However apart from solar system bodies the list of nebula and galaxies were barely visible in the telescope. It seems the people on here singing the praises of starsense have pulled the starsense bracket off and fixed it to a better scope. It's a shame Celestron don't sell the starsense bracket/App seperately. I can only comment on the starsense as connected to the LT127 scope and I wouldn't recommend it personally.

@Sluke321 as an example, below are two pics of Saturn. The first was with the Starsense Explorer 127. The second was with a Celestron Omni 127 SCT. Both have an aperture of 127mm. The starsense was £200 new. The omni was £250 second hand. As you can see optical difference is night and day. Note: the second image was stacked and processed but honestly the difference is massive with what you see at the eyepiece.

Hi I bought the Explorer 127 telescope as my first scope earlier in the year. I really liked the fact that the phone app guided you to targets, but in all honesty the optics are very poor, so most of the (non-planetary) objects are almost impossible to see. The things that you can see like Saturn and Jupiter, you don't need the app to find. In my honest opinion it is a bit of a gimmick. Plus the tripod and mount are pretty pants. It's really a £100 starter scope with a cool phone mount/App. But since the optics aren't up to actually viewing what it directs you to it's pretty pointless. The DX130 is better and has better optics and mount to make the most of the Starsense, but is obviously more expensive. A lot of people advocate getting a dobsonian telescope which 'optically' gives you the best 'bang for your buck' but you will need to be able to carry and store the telescope in it's complete form, plus you will have to constantly manually track items to keep them in your FOV. Ok for visual astronomy but annoying if you want to try any photography. I quickly sold the starsense explorer and bought a Celestron omni 127. A much better telescope with a solid mount. Good for solar system viewing and basic photography. But since I couldn't easily see Polaris the EQ mount was difficult to align so I upgraded to Celestron 6SE. Great optics and the convenience of a Goto mount. In conclusion...... If you are happy to start with just purely visual astronomy, then the skywatcher dobsonians give good optical value for money. A goto like the celestron 4se are often found second hand around the £3-350 range and are great starter scopes. If you think you might get into photography I'd get a good second hand Eq mount with a MAC or SCT At the end of the day each style of scope has advantages and disadvantages. What works for one person my not work for others, but I would probably avoid the starter scopes on a tripod for less the £200 new. They are built to a specific price point and the poor optics may put you off astronomy. JMO thought clear skies 👍🔭

Hi Sean, I'm pretty sure the outlet at the top of the column is an output not a power in. i'm guessing the outer skin is aluminium but not 100% sure. I'll see if I can get a technical spec from someone at work. I couldn't definitively state what turning forces it can take, but we use them as medical device tables, so there is a table top attached and a device in the range of 35-55Kg on top. The table also has to bear the weight of a person leaning against the device. The table is on 4 castor wheels often on carpet being moved and dragged about so I'm sure they can take reasonable forces and are rated to 140Kg. the top and bottom look like this with four bolts attaching to the base or top HTH

Would anyone be interested in a powered pier column for home observatories? The columns are from medical (ophthalmology) device tables. They are fully working but after customer upgrades the old tables are normally scrapped but I persuaded the supply manager at my company and one of the drivers to rescue some and drop them off at my house (for some beer money) I've just got hold of a couple and should be able to get more on an adhoc basis, but not sure if people are even interested? Each column comes with a switch and a power cable. Max weight limit 1400N/142KG This is UK only. They will need to collected, or I might be able to drop off as I travel a lot with my work. I'm not trying to make any money out of this but I did promise the supply manager and driver a crate of beer so if anyone is interested we can possibly sort something out IMG_5149.MOV

Hi, Can anyone recommend a dark site in South devon? Somewhere I can park up in safety and get good views and dark skies? I'm working in Kingsbridge tomorrow and staying over tonight, so thought I might see if I can get some dark skies in. I was looking anywhere from Dartmoor to the south coast area. Thanks

Welcome to SGL 👋

I've got the same problem. I have a street lamp right outside the front of my house, and there is another around the corner shining into my back garden. I contacted the council, and they fitted light shields with 2 weeks!! result I hear you say.....but the shields are quite small. The one at the front of my house maybe cuts down the light by about 20%, so pretty useless. The one round the corner is actually on the opposite side of the street shining towards my garden. As the light shield is on the pole it is shielding the house behind the lamp, but actually focussing more light into my garden.......DOH!!! i was looking to put up a DIY shield in my back garden to block off the worst of it. My idea is to use two tubular poles, one slightly small diameter than the other that will fit inside. When i want to put the shield up I extend the inner pole up and peg it in place with some pre-drilled holes kinda like a garden umbrella

Thanks everyone. luckily my astrozap heated dew shield arrived today. It came with EP heater and HitecAstro controller, so I will fit that and try the insulated Foil sheet as well. i was just very keen to make the most of Mars opposition this month but the last two clear nights were somewhat spoiled by dew problems for those running tge HitechAstro controller, what are you using to power it?

Hi, I've got a Celestron XLT Omni SCT the last couple of sessions have been ruined by dew. I've got an astrozap heated dew shield on the way, but I read somewhere about insulating Maks/SCTs. Has anyone got any tips on what material to use and the best way to do it? thanks

Thanks. My DSLR does't do video, but looking to get a new one, so will give that a try

Thanks for the info. Probably won't bother then if I can't capture the whole moon

Hi I'm still a relative newbie, so this maybe an obvious question to some i have na F10, 5" SCT with focal length of 1250 mm. I have 5/8/12/25mm EP's and a 2x focal extender. I've had lots of fun looking at planets/moon and also taking a few pics with my phone. i recently bought an ZWO ASI290 to try and capture some better planetary pics, but when I turned it on the Moon I soon realised I could only see about 1/3 of the moon in the frame. so I assume that due to the long focal length of the STC, that I need a focal reducer to capture the moon? what sized focal reducer do I need to capture the whole moon, and are any specifically recommended?? thanks steve

I'm a relative astronomy beginner and just bought a 2nd hand ASI290. I found the ZWO software difficult. But Sharpcap worked fairly well. only my second time using it last night, I managed to get a pleasing capture of Mars

For anyone that has one of these zoom eyepieces, can you still fit a mobile phone adaptor to take pics? to adjust zoom, do you twist the body or twist the top part? thanks

I've had an LT127az. There are two versions of Starsense explorer....The LT and the DX. The LT version uses a bird-jones design so is inferior to the DX and more difficult to collimate from what I understand. I just upgraded to an Omni 127 XLT, which has the same aperture as the LT127az but the image quality is way better which made me realise how limited the LT127az optics are. As for the starsense, it looks like it could be good, but light pollution by my house meant it was very limited. If you are really keen on the starsense then get a DX model. In my opinion if your budget won't stretch to the DX model I'd get a starwatcher 130/150

Hi, firstly I'm still a noob with all this so apologies in advance for the dumb questions. I just purchased a Celestron Omni XLT 127, which I think comes with a CG4 mount. As far as I can tell this is the same as EQ3-2 mount. I was under the impression that it would need a Polar scope fitting. when I looked at getting a polar scope online I saw this type of thing Below is a pic of where the polar scope should be, but it already has a part fitted with circular graticule etched on, so I'm a little confused about what I need to fit? if anyone can point me in the righr direction I'd appreciate it. thanks steve

Wow, amazing pic

It was crappy weather anyhooo, but thanks for the info. I'm sure I'll be up there again soon.

Hi, I'm travelling up to glossop area tomorrow for work and staying over night. Can anyone recommend a good observation point on that side of the peak district to do some stargazing?? Somewhere i can park up and possibly get the telescope out. Thanks

Great thanks for the recomendation 👍

Thanks for the recommendations. my girls have watched some Maddie & Gregg, but I wasn't aware of the 'space week' I'll check them out. i've shown them the moon, and I got them up to see Neowise, but it's still a late at this time of year for stargazing.

Hi, would anyone recommend any good books for 7 year olds about space, astronomy and science etc. just looking to interest and inspire them in general about space and astronomy. thanks