BrianHes

Hi Ross. Happy birthday. I have the same scope. I see you have the t ring adaptor and Barlow. If you have the Barlow that screws into the adaptor, you should be able to get a good focus on the camera. I haven’t tried photographing stars yet, at least not clusters, but have had some success with lunar. As others have said, the standard mount can wobble, so you need to make sure everything is balanced after fitting the camera. make sure everything is tight and shorten the legs as far as possible. That will give you the best chance of success. I have the motor but have never got it to work properly/at all, so it is gathering dust. It isn’t needed for planetary/lunar photography, exposures are quite short. I find best results by using the self timer. It cuts down the wobble caused by the mirror flipping up. Hope you enjoy the scope. Happy viewing

Hi Alex i currently have this scope. I was a newcomer to astronomy and didn’t want to spend too much money but wanted a usable scope which would let me dip my toe and see what I could see. I bought it with the motor. I thought, like you, that it would help find my targets. I found out when I read the instructions that it wasn’t what it was for. As has been mentioned, it is used to track an object automatically once you have found it. However that does need you to polar align properly and accurately, which isn’t something I have mastered yet. So far it hasnt been much of a problem and I have been able to keep track quite easily manually. Many people don’t like the red dot finder. I haven’t used anything else, so have nothing to compare it to, but I find it easy enough to use. If I can se an object, stars or planets, I can find it. I use Sky Portal (free) and Sky Safari (paid for) to find things. Once I know where I am looking, I use the pointer to locate, and the slow controls to centralise. I have been able to view Saturn and Jupiter, and will check out Mars when it clears my house. I have split some double stars etc. Stuff like that is really satisfying. the supplied eyepieces (20mm and 10mm) are serviceable but not much more. I have upgraded and the quality is much better, so the views are much clearer, even when conditions are not the best. as some have said, the mount does suffer from wobble, which can make it quite tough to get smaller objects properly focussed, which can be quite frustrating. I have tried lots of things to improve it, but with limited success. Some have said that the scope is quite large for the mount, which makes sense. If you get the focus right though, the first time you see Saturn’s rings, you are hooked and want more. to sum up. I think it is a good scope and a good way to enter the hobby. You will be able to see some impressive sights - although don’t expect them to look like the images you see in the media. It will be much smaller and less detailed. It does however have limitations, some of which are quite irritating. Before deciding to jump, look at other scopes within your budget. Read reviews and get opinions. If you do want the facility to be taken to the object, you need some sort of GoTo mount and a bigger budget. That is the route I am about to take hope that helps

Having now had a good play with my Astromaster, tightening everything that looks like can be tightened, and weighting the tripod, I am left with 1 obvious source of movement. The screw which controls the RA slow control. I can’t see any obvious way of reducing play. Has anyone got any prior experience?

The lens cap, which covers the end of the tube when not in use, has a cap which can be removed giving a small aperture. Is that that is for? Always wondered. I have tried looking through the telescope with it like that. Image seems unaffected apart from being darker. Must give it a proper go

I’m with Dave in this. Assuming you have lined the mount up correctly with the alignment marks, if it doesn’t fit, it sounds like they’ve sent the wrong mount. I have the same scope as you. I bought this mount https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000237C9M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 it fits with no problems. I added this barlow https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00009X3UV/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I can hang my EOS6d off it with no problems. Looks a bit precarious, but it’s all solid i was able to take this with it.

Hi Nick. I have a similar set up. Astromaster 130. I get the same problem. I have improved it a bit by lowering the height of the tripod. It has made it more stable. Unfortunately, I can’t go lower because of fences and trees around me. Patience in focusing helps. Move it a bit, let it settle and then go again it helps, but not ideal. hope you find a solution

The FLO website actually says, in the description, that they are sometimes branded Astroessentials.

Hi all. Light polluted London based newbie here. Bought an Astromaster 130 during COVID lockdown, after spending weeks watching satellites passing over. Been watching the skies on clear nights since. Been checking out Saturn & Jupiter. Wow. Can’t wait for other planets coming into view. Trying to work out how to take photos with my DSLR. Fell into this site by accident. Got lots of tips already. Cheers all.