MrFreeze

'Kit' is only worth what people are prepared to pay for it. Like it or not there are people bidding at (and beyond) the prices being asked. If you have evidence that eBay is 'bent as a nine bob note' I suggest you contact the police fraud squad. David

People suggesting 70% of (unavailable) new price should take a reality check and look on eBay to see the ridiculous prices scopes are going for nowadays. Older secondhand blue tube Skywatcher telescopes are fetching considerably more than the few brand new ones still available ! (I always did prefer the look of them myself). Not saying it's right, but that's the way the world is, not the way we would like it to be. Until stock levels return to something approaching normality I'm afraid we are stuck with this situation. David

I think this might work - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33000127040.html . IF it really is a 43mm thread. It doesn't specify whether it is 42x0.75 or 42x1 at the other end either, and the threaded section isn't that long, so won't take too much weight. David

Short tube refractor ? Is this an Evostar 90/660 then ? The standard Evostar 90 will definitely reach focus. If you are having trouble with filters on your eyepiece preventing the eyepiece seating fully, this sounds like you have a restriction in your diagonal. Some diagonals have a restriction ring on the eyepiece port, some others don't - unfortunately it's difficult to tell unless you can get hold of one to check it. Not the sort of thing companies advertise. David

Yes indeed - Aliexpress (The Outdoor Movement Store to be precise) They've sold out of most of their ES eyepieces at the moment unfortunately. It is my largest eyepiece by quite some margin, and I'm not sure about rubber eyecups - I prefer a solid one you can rest your face against. Was stupidly thinking I could get to try it out last night as it was clear when I got home from work - no chance. Could only see about 3 stars by 9:30 ! David

Just screw it onto the back of the existing component (and remove the thumbscrews) - it will work fine. Never had a problem reaching focus with that arrangement, and we used our Evostar 90 like that for years. (I just went up into the loft to check - it's in storage up there now) David

I wasn't sure about the eyepiece - I have seen conflicting opinions about it. Some recon that stray light control is very poor, but supposedly it has the greatest FOV available in a 1.25" eyepiece. I was made an offer I couldn't refuse by a Chinese distributor, so went for it. David

This should help : www.aliexpress.com/item/32800166770.html. A Svbony M42x0.75 to 1.25" adaptor - fits all Skywatcher 1.25" focusers and has a compression ring to avoid marking your eyepieces. David

Postie has been busy. That's a cover for my new tablet by the way, with the book to get it free postage! As recommended by Scousespacecadet to fit in the pocket - crumbs he must have small pockets - it fits easily in a shirt pocket! It will be interesting to try the ES against the Starguider I got recently - if we ever get clear skies. (OK I know it was clear last Thursday, but I was so tired from work I fell asleep on the sofa after dinner) David

I can't focus on the cross hairs of a short cheshire at all, with or without spectacles. Annoying as I overpaid for one from a UK company (not FLO) who advertised it as 'with instructions', and then provided it without instructions. When I queried this I was told this was the new 'improved' version. They did then go on to provide some pdf instructions in an email. Replaced it with a cheapo chinese long cheshire, and had no problems at all with that. David

Nah - that's a big bottle. I've got much smaller pots of paint than that - stupidly expensive as well ! David

Happy birthday to me! (OK it's a day late) David

If you get the free "app" 'Celestron Sky Portal' on your mobile phone it has a lot of information in the descriptions including the myths behind the constellation names. Also many good pictures of planets etc which may entertain your child for hours. If your phone has a compass even better, as it can then show you what you are looking at and guide you to interesting targets. David

Nope - there is no constrictor ring in there. I have a 45 degree diagonal with one and they are a pain as they can prevent you from rotating an eyepiece with polarising filter fitted. David

The Svbony diagonal is real, not at all 'too good to be true'. It's not a 'cheap Chinese knock off' at all. You WILL get full after sales support, at least as good as any UK dealer. I have been dealing with Svbony for years (far longer than FLO) and have had nothing but excellent service. Even got given a pre-production sample of their SV225 camera for evaluation - not had that from dealers in this country! Heres a picture of my diagonal, and it is brilliant. David

The Svbony one is excellent - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32881221402.html . Supposedly a dielectric mirror, metal body, with a compression ring to avoid marking your eyepiece barrels. At £20.50 (+VAT) it's a bargain, and they give excellent service (normally about 8 days delivery time - beware it's Chinese new year this weekend, so deliveries may be delayed a week or two ! ) David

The Evostar 90 would be my choice. It will handle being transported in the trunk of you car better without needing re-collimation, it is a slow scope so will not need expensive eyepieces to perform well, and it looks like a 'real' telescope - impressive if you can leave it set up at home. It's also about the cheapest of the bunch. I may be slightly biased as I have one, and they are excellent value. Whatever you decide - good luck, and hope you enjoy it. And a warm welcome to SGL. David

The travelscope I think is dwarfed by the BST eyepieces, and will be seriously unbalanced. I have one of these and it gives very pleasing views of the moon. The Celestron OMNI plossl eyepieces are good, light enough for your scope, and quite cheap if bought from Aliexpress. The shorter focal lengths do suffer from poor eye relief and fairly narrow FOV however. For a wider FOV eyepiece with better eye relief you could try these 70 degree SWA ones https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Multicoated-1-25-Eyepiece-8mm-70-SWA-High-Achromatic-for-Astro-Telescope/324447037917. They are much lighter than the BSTs, and I find them to be decent quality. (I have the full set) I have a Zomei Q100 mini tripod for my Travelscope - it will even fit in the same bag/rucksack and is much less wobbly. David

I guess I have an advantage in that I can just use my work gear. Trouble might be if I have to do anything energetic I'll be sweating buckets with temperatures as warm as -6C - temperature at work is normally set to -18C. You need special boots at those temperatures, as normal DMs etc can't cope with it that cold. I had a brand new pair of DMs (much more comfy than work boots) crack in half right across the soles, as they go brittle when it gets that cold. David

Some of them will/must give 10A as the heaters I mentioned are a published design that uses these power bricks. It wouldn't be much of a design if no-one could get it to work. I suspect the quality control (if any) on these is pretty ropey, and it's probably pot luck whether you get one that will handle 10A or not. It could be something as stupid as the trip current being wrongly set, based on typical component values, and component tolerances affecting it. Resistors typically have tolerances of 5% or even 10% - the more accurate the more expensive, and they're probably using the cheapest ones they can get away with. David

The UK has no such limit. Prior to 1st Jan 2021 you were allowed anything from the EU with no further charges. From the rest of the world there was a limit of £15 without incurring VAT or customs duty. Anything between £15 and £135 would be liable for VAT at 20%, and anything over £135 would be liable for VAT and customs duty at a rate dependent on the type of product. Since 1st January 2021 the EU is treated as any other country, there is no VAT free band at all, and anything from China must have the VAT paid on purchase. It has been in the news already that several people have been badly stung for import charges on goods from the EU, that would not have been imposed prior to brexit. David

If that is one of the generic Chinese power supply units, I would be very wary of the current rating. I have one of those for the heaters on a 3D printer, and it can't do anything like 10A. The heaters pull almost exactly 10A, and it trips out in about 12 seconds. I have got some power resistors to make a dummy load to try to determine the actual current rating, but it's one of those things I have not yet got round to. Along with astronomy equipment, round tuits are in short supply during the pandemic. David

Up until 1st Jan 2021 you would get a card from Royal Mail for items over £15, telling you that there was a customs charge which had to be paid before it could be delivered (they would also add on a not insignificant 'handling fee'). It was a bit of a lottery whether your parcel was 'caught' or not - I had several that had to be paid, and mostly the 'handling fee' was vastly more than the VAT. Since then by law UK VAT is paid at point of purchase on any purchase from China under £135 via Aliexpress, Ebay or Amazon. So there should be none of these cards any more. For purchases over £135, VAT and customs duty is payable, which should be collected by Royal Mail as before (along with their 'handling fee'). I have had 3 packages this year from Aliexpress, all VAT paid on purchase, and none of them stopped by Royal Mail/customs. None of them were over £135. David

A cheapo (£4) skyglow filter. It will be interesting to compare with a CLS and an UHC that I already have. Haven't had a chance to use any of them yet! David

Bought loads of stuff on AliExpress. Most (but not all) sellers are genuine and helpfull. There are a few charlatans on there. SVbony and Tianyuanstar are very very good for astro stuff (8 days delivery). Be warned though that VAT is now added to all the prices since Jan 1 (added by Ali when you pay). Not sure if you can get that back if you get a refund. David