wicksee

brilliant advice, thanks vlaiv! i'll look at the Baader filter.

Really good and helpful answers, thanks guys! I think i'll stick with the 102mm OTA then, and look at better mounts (AZ5 looks nice with slo-mo cables). Also need a star diag! I already have a Celestron 8-24mm zoom eyepiece, which is nice as it has a T-thread for eyepiece projection into my DSLR. Am i right in thinking that the short focal length of my scope (660mm) can be compensated for by adding a Barlow (with the penalty of small amount of light loss) ?

Hi guys, i'm new here but have been casually observing for many years using a trusty old Celestron 70AZ. I recently upgraded to a 102AZ (i got for £150, which i think is a good price). i'm delighted with the image quality of the 102, crisp sharp images of Saturn and Jupiter. What i'm not happy with is: crappy mount! same as the 70AZ, has a frustrating droop after you tighten the alt-lock pan-handle, this is my single biggest bug bear! plastic star diagonal - the eyepiece retaining screw has threaded the plastic so no longer retains the eyepiece! focusing is very difficult at higher magnifications, the gearing seems harsh at extreme end of focus, the focusing tube is just clinging on to the OTA body and flops around a bit! i'm thinking of sending it back. but am i being unfair? am i to expect similar problems of any other scope at this price point? would you expect to have to upgrade the diagonal and mount? am i expecting too much? i'd be willing to spend cash to upgrade if i have to, as i think the image quality is really good. (incidentally, the image quality is definitely better than the 70mm but the 70 still puts up a good fight!) TIA for any answers.