SuburbanMak

I have done very well on the first two, very poorly in the “sell it” phase. Should try that sometIme…

Well it arrived! After checking that everything appeared to be working (ie before invalidating the guarantee…) I set about it with a screwdriver intending to uprate the main clamp with an ADM version - however, as far as I can see this can’t be fitted. The main clamp appears to be a single cast item that is integral with the shaft that runs right through the mount. The second clamp is of a different design using grub screws to grip the central shaft. So I will have to see if FLO will take back the ADM upgraded clamp or there will be one up in the classifieds here soon! I’ve settled then for making the rotation described by @Stu to have both clamps in parallel. I now have ST80 and Mak 127 riding side by side and it looks extremely cool! The mount seems perfectly happy with the load which is well within its stated weight tolerance. I’ve spent some time today checking alignment which is achieved by adjusting the screws on the secondary clamp. By mounting in parallel and not using the supplied L-bracket, I am only able to use one of the adjusters, meaning I can only align for Alt. Looks like in the Az plane, the two scopes are out by about half a degree, which I can live with based on the ST80’s huge 5.25 degree field. They are now perfectly aligned for Alt. Looking forward to seeing how this all performs once these clouds clear! Im sharing a photo below of the new mount alongside the standard AZGTi for size. I note that the Az clutch is still the flimsy thing from the original so will continue to include a Feisol PB70 to make this s nice manual mount without having to fiddle with the Az clutch in the mount which I can leave locked. (Had a brainwave though and have put this under the pillar this time which makes it much easier to access than when it’s right up under the mount base As I had it before).

Well the stuff has arrived and I am feeling MUCH better now To my great relief the ‘bins in particular live up to expectation.

I think any and all purchases, second hand always has some moral superiority- you can tell yourself and others how much you have “saved” over new

Mine has been a very busy postman, bringing me an AZGTiX mount to realise my long held ambition to run the widefield ST80 alongside my Mak 127, a Berlebach Charon observing chair and (incredibly excitingly!) a pair of Canon 10x42 IS Binoculars. All of which pretty much guaranteed a cloudy weekend, sorry about that guys. Fingers crossed for a window tomorrow night however…

You’ve a great combo there! I’ve been using the AZGTi for two years with Mak 127 and always found North Level the most accurate alignment option. I found accuracy improved dramatically when I took proper care around levelling the tripod at the start of set up - if your initial North positioning is close but slightly off then as others have commented the mount’s model will refine as you manually confirm the alignment stars, however if the mount is less than perfectly level, all it’s calculations will be off. Of all my alignment steps I take the longest on initially levelling the tripod and never regret the extra five minutes or so of fiddling! Ditto the advice on finders there too - the Mak’s relatively narrow field can be mitigated with a decent finder, I use both an 8x50 RACI and a Telrad (which looks a bit silly in the 127 but does the trick, with the smaller 102 you might do better with the lower profile Rigel Quickfinder or the supplied RDF, key thing is to add an additional optical finder).

Managed another quick peek at C2022/E3 ZTF) on Friday evening at a local country park whilst waiting for my daughter to complete a Scouts night navigation exercise. Found the comet quite easily, then about two degrees W of Kochab in UMi. Definitely brighter than my obs last weekend and a nice bright spot at the core of a round nebulosity, again reminded of an elongated, unresolved globular. Couldn’t pick out much in the way of a tail this time - didn’t really have time to get fully dark adapted, moon was up, transparency coming and going between skeins of high mist and, toward the end of my session, I was further disturbed by many scouts waving extremely powerful torches about! ST80, Stellalyra 30mm UFF and Baader Hyperion Zoom - best view with the Zoom around 18mm (22x) in a nicely rich field. Was able to share the view with my 13 yo daughter, some of her scout colleagues and leaders - we also looked at the Pleiades and M42 which got the requisite oohs and ahhhs - reckon I might be on the hook for running a session for them to get their astronomy badge soon though

I think that’s the main demographic yes, and upward. I am saving AP as a retirement project as I know it’s a wormhole down which I could happily disappear

Ooh - Tak + TV 101, stop it at once!

The Dob not overly popular here either - it’s referred to by the family as the “FLT” (the “F” is for Fairly I’m assuming).

This really is turning into a confessional!

There’s probably a market for them on here. I did see a Televue baseball cap once…

@Captain Scarlet that sounds like an incredible instrument & I look forward to reading about your adventures with it. I absolutely understand your point on the nausea, but my experience has been that it fades quickly to be replaced with the conviction that you’ve made a wise long term decision. Eventually the best kit, for whatever activity, pays for itself over and over.

Very perceptive - and it’s working

Define need... I sense that this thread could become useful therapy for us all For a little while a few years ago, I was a classic car owner, it was appalling - every time this thing went to the garage for something routine there was a huge bill that was critical to keeping it on the road. For another comparison, I'm all for a game of Texas scramble once or twice a year but I have friends who pay a whole Tak per year for golf club membership then have to pay green fees to play, not to mention new bats, trousers etc (whatever they call them) - I think a sense of proportion is important for assuaging our guilt.

There can be no "losses' in an experiential journey...

Superbly detailed report thank you!

Ah, now don't get me started on guitars, I have reached a comfortable critical mass in that department (for the time being).

This is already making me feel better, thank you.

Or just an impressive level of guilt

Save yourself, don't do it! In the spirit of confession I find myself encouraging my wife to buy things so that we can achieve some kind of moral equivalence over the year, it works for both of us. Although that would be A LOT of pencils...

I am lucky enough to work in a field where from time to time I benefit from an annual bonus and this year, having made sure the family coffers were suitably refreshed, I have been able to annex funds to move my astro hobby/obsession along a little. Today I hit "buy" on an AZGTiX mount to allow widefield and high mag viewing of the same object, a Berlebach Charon observing chair and, most splurgy of all, a pair of Canon 10x42 IS Binoculars. I've fancied a pair of IS bin's for ages and had planned to get the (significantly cheaper) 12x36's, but some strange urge transported me at the point of purchase not to compromise and having literally put them in and out of the basket twice, I bought the top of the range option. (If I'm truly confessing my biggest worry is that this binocular choice will result in 'Scope dissatisfaction and I'll end up having to upgrade across the board - but I think that ship has already sailed.) I am both horrified and elated. I'm sharing this here as I'm hopeful that I am not alone in this weird mixture of guilt and excitement and if there's anywhere where I'm likely to find solace in kindred spirits it's among this august group. Also it strikes me that there may be a need for a kind of "astro-'fess-hole" for folk in a similar moral mini-quandry down the track, a safe space where we can post-rationalise extravagant purchase decisions in the pursuit of a hobby that sees friends and family utterly fascinated for 30 seconds or so & then quickly glaze over right where we get into our stride... Please make me feel better by sharing your agonising astro-purchase decisions and guilty pleasures, there's safety in numbers after all! ["fesshole" is not an original idea, its the IP of one of my favourite Twitter feeds @Fesshole, not for the delicate of disposition but often extremely funny.]

Just hit "buy" with our friends at @FLO on the AZGTiX + an ADM uprated clamp (only the one as I can see the Az alignment screws are integral to the SW original puck, so will have to live with that side to get everything facing the same way!). Very exciting! As a satisfied AZGTi user I have wanted to mount my 2in modified ST80 widefield next to the Mak 127 for the last 18 months, now its just a question of waiting on that postman, some nerve-wracking DIY and then of course, the weather... Will put first impressions on here when it arrives.

I use a great big 130l Eagle Creek wheeled duffel bag, but then I put the tripod in there too. Scope and mount would fit in a much smaller standard walkers rucsack of about 40l+ I'd say. I saved the moulded foam end packaging that came with the telescope and cut up an old sleep mat to give a protective "jacket" for the tube so it all stays nice and safe. On Astrobuysell, I haven't shopped on there much but its moderated I believe and typically astro-types keep their gear in good condition and are honest about condition. The rate this thread is growing, you'll get access to the SGL classifieds soon (25 posts I believe) & I have made quite a few happy & safe purchases from members on here

Same here over 2 years and lots of trips in the backpack.