JDF

Two pairs of Helios Stellar II, 10x50 and 15x70's on a tripod or monopod depending on my mood. The 15x70's have been getting much more use than the mak127 of late.

It's been clear here now from 6pm so I had the Skymax 127 out for a half hour to have a look at the Moon, it also let me try out the Skytee mount for the 1st time since it's purchase. Had a look at M42 with it, with a 32mm plossl with the UHC filter and a 10mm without filter, nebulosity showed best at the higher mag without filter. Seeing maybe not great as Trapezium was just about resolving 4 stars at x150. Came in for some food and then back out for an hour with the bins again for a look at M31, not great with the Moon washing most of the sky out but still fun scanning around .

I'll second that trigger grip suggestion, I have mine mounted to the same one and it's well worth the money, the tripod is perfect for this size of bins too.

It stayed clear last night so I had another pop out just after midnight, 15x70's again, Perseus was really opened up in these bins and spent a bit of time there. On moving back into the Orion area I noticed a very red speck of light against the blackness of the background, I had never noticed this before. Only upon reading the Feb issue of BinocularSky this morning did I learn this is R Leporis (Hind's Crimson Star) so another first for me. I have a feeling I'm really going to enjoy owning these bins. Earlier in the evening I had a nice detailed viewing of the crescent moon through them as well. These might actually encourage me to leave the garden and look for darker skies.

Got a nice 30min spell tonight to try out my new 15x70 bins, such an improvement on the 10x50s, all the usual suspects so much brighter and M45 is even more stunning than I thought 😃

I don't think you will need a barlow, get a decent 10 or 9mm and you should be set. I sometimes use a 7mm to give 214x but seeing needs to be really good. In the 18 months i've been using the scope the 7mm has given good views on maybe 3 occasions. You may get different opinions on this but this is my experience with my skies.

Yeah, I use the peg too but it does sometimes ping off into the dark, I have just ordered one of those off ebay so we will see how it goes.

Change the 10mm eyepiece for sure, I use the Baader Classic Ortho 10mm but there are others, a 32mm plossl is also a good bet.

How did you find it worked before you changed the visual back ?

Got another half hour with Bins tonight before cloud came back in, new Amazon basics tripod and trigger head arrived today so got 10x50's mounted up for first time. To be able to spend 15mins just staring at M45 in wide view is something to behold. Mak 127 probably won't be out until the moon is back 🙂 Not sure if anyone else seen this tonight but some meteorite activity for naked eye this evening, one streaked from North to South and the other East to West.

I'll just echo what others have said, I was in the same position Summer 2020 and went for the Skymax on an AZ5 mount, if you can get the goto it will certainly help in locating less obvious targets as it can be tricky at start with the narrow FOV. It's a cracking little scope for Lunar and Planetary viewing.

Hasn't been good here the last few nights but got a half hour tonight with bins during a clear spell. Had a quick look at M31 before cloud took it out of view, sweeping across towards M45 and Hyades I spotted 3 stars in a dead straight line that I don't think I have ever noticed before, checking just now it seems the may be Persei 56A, 55 and V590 Persei, it's odd i've never noticed these before. On down into Hyades and I managed to see the yellow and blue of the Theta Tauris before spending a few minutes in Orion before cloud covered all. Nothing spectacular but nice to get a look up!

Thanks John, do you know if there is a way to get it aligned the same as the other side as it is off by half an inch at moment.

Hi Folks, Setting up the new mount this evening and it looks a really good piece of kit, solid and everything seems to work as it should, only needing one slo mo extension for everything to fall naturally to hand, my question is it seems to have come with the blank end drilled and tapped to fit the second clamp, is this ok to fit metal to metal or do I need some kind of spacer or washer.

😁 There was a link posted recently for some very solid looking ones from China, either those or ADM.

Replacement for AZ5, look out for the recommend me a second scope thread 😀

I could happily pass an hour every night between M45, Hyades and Orion with the 10x50s.

Rubbish here tonight, clouds as thick as a bulls lug.

Yeah, it was weird, last week 4 could be clearly seen with a 32mm plossl in the mak, last night couldn't do it with a 10mm at 150x. Doubles are definitely a work in progress for me 🙂

That is a tidy looking mount, I have ordered a skytee II from FLO today so hopefully have it soon. Thanks for input folks, much appreciated.

Had a go at splitting some doubles in orion after the obligatory bins tour. Rigel gave me no chance at all but managed to split Mintaka and Delta Orionis C quite easily, tried Alnitak but no joy there either. Only 3 of the trapezium stars were clear to see so maybe it's seeing conditions tonight rather than my eyesight causing the difficulty I'm having. Haydes is very quickly becoming my favourite view through the 10x50's, beautiful tonight.

The AZ5 I have is starting to develop dead spots in the slo mo controls which is a bit annoying as the is only a skymax 127 fitted, all roads do seem to lead to the skytee. Thanks

Hi Folks, I'm looking for a replacement for my AZ5 and have looked at a number of alternatives including this from RVO, has anyone had any experience with this one linked below, thoughts also welcome. www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/rvo-heavy-duty-az-mount-head-with-vixen-clamp.html

I really enjoyed reading that, thanks for posting. Gives me something to work on with my own 127.

Way to much cloud here to do anything other than a quick look at the moon, Gassendi and Aristarchus off the list, probably leave the moon now until it's waning. Hopefully get some clear skies over the weekend to look at some doubles.