badhex

Thanks! I spent a lot of time thinking about the right tripod choice and once I'd finally put everything together, it just felt and looked right 🙂

Do you mean the angle of the legs at the top? If so, they are locked from further outward movement only. If you mean the leg lock for the height, it's locked in both directions.

Thanks, I really hope so too! I love the pared-back styling, it looks great, all of the finishing is super high quality - and most importantly it is absolutely solid as a rock. I'm just trying very hard not to think of the cost!

So this happened 😱

Whoops, duplicate

It may already be too late to save me from myself 😱😱😱

Would love to have seen this - clouds though!

Amazing. Now we need to see your current setup!

Certainly from pictures it does look like the Baader has no such sleeves/baffles (I know it's not really a baffle but unsure how else to describe it) and as we know the measurements for the Baader, I guess we can infer that the ones with an internal sleeve like the Revelation will be narrower. I do not have any calipers to measure internal diameters and get real data - maybe I'll pick up a cheapo one and measure it 🙂

Thanks! It certainly seems like with some others (I have both a Revelation and Skywatcher dialectric) there is often an inner sleeve of a couple of mm, or a baffle of sorts, but it seems a bit tricky to track down clear aperture measurements for comparison.

A question on this if I may: Does the Baader 2“ BBHS Mirror Diagonal have a larger light path /internal diameter than other 2“ diagonals?

This is sort of what I do, a two stage approach. Assuming equipment is not damp already, I'll make sure everything is fastened shut so it doesn't instantly dew over, and leave it inside cases for about an hour in the spare room which is a touch cooler than the rest of the house. Once it's had a bit of time to take the edge off the cold, everything comes out of the cases with caps off overnight.

Thanks Lee! Looking forward to the next session 🙂

Hello Paul I can't say much about the Virtuoso from personal experience, but in general I would say the AZ-GTi might be a more flexible/future proof option, although might take a little bit more time to get set up. Tabletop type mounts like the virtuoso will require a sturdy table or similar in your observing spot, whereas the AZ-GTi is supplied with its own tripod which I think should be okay for the Skymax 127, and can be more easily moved around to different observing spots or upgraded to a sturdier (or smaller) one if required. It also packs down pretty small as standard. I am able to pack my AZ-GTi and a 73mm scope plus eyepieces all into one backpack, with the tripod in a manfrotto tripod bag, which also makes it super portable. You mentioned about using the scope indoors - not totally sure what you mean? If you mean about using it through the windows of a conservatory or similar, in general you won't find this to be very successful as window glass is not good optically and will interfere with your views, amongst other things. There's also pretty healthy support community for the AZ-GTi here on SGL, see link below.

Thanks Stu, appreciated. The ZS73 is a great little scope and pairs extremely well with the AZ-GTi. I'd almost forgotten how fun this combo is, I haven't had either out since November last year as I've been exclusively using the 102ED + Skytee in that time.

Hence my anguish! A report of the X12 variety seems like a logical option but somehow I'm still not quite convinced. I'd really like a Gitzo 5 series but that are ludicrously expensive 😱

Yes, the subject another another thread and some anguish on my part. The Zero is rated at 7kg but the tripod is only good for my ZS73 really - anything bigger and the stability is frankly shash.

Had a little play around this afternoon to see how my sadly underused 80ED fares on the Scopetech mount zero and aluminium SW tripod. Not great not terrible - like the man said. Definitely the tripod at fault, though.

Have been struggling a bit with anxiety, work stress (and an expensive astro purchase which didn't quite go to plan), all of which has made me feel like I couldn't face getting out even when we've had a stretch of clear nights. Last week I decided to forgo the larger scope and get back out with the AZ-GTi and ZS73 to revisit a bunch of targets I've been observing in the 102 F7, allowing me to also compare the experience between the two. Targets included: Uranus Delta Ori Zeta Ori M42 NGC 1980 / Struve 747 37 cluster Satellite cluster (a new one for me) Double cluster Mizar/Alcor ISS naked eye It goes without saying the ZS73 is noticeably less powerful at almost half the light gathering capability, but nonetheless still a great little scope with super sharp contrasty views, and super quick to get set up and cooled down. Nice to change things up and have different experience, and I felt better for getting back out.

Hi wookie, Really glad to read that you've managed to get out again! Hope it's restored your faith 🙂 I've been in a bit of an existential funk myself but have been thinking about Leo targets being the focus of my next session, and reading your great report makes me look forward to getting out again! Thanks!

Great stuff! I look forward to browsing double deep sky objects (DDSOs?) by constellation! 😂 Seriously though I love the Bortle charts. This will help significantly when going from my current location to somewhere with less hideous LP.

Thanks all. I did buy this last year specifically for travelling with a ZS73 and AZT6 or AZ-GTi combo (so quite similar to your setup Ags, although I never personally got on with the AZT6): https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p8276_TS-Optics-C255FMO-Carbon-Tripod---Height-up-to-1560-mm.html It is rated at 12kg and similar to suggestions in this thread I assumed I wanted to approx halve that figure for astronomy purposes, which as fine for the above combo. I struggled to find tripods which packed down to ~40cm in a reasonable price bracket. It's fine; not incredible, but fine for the purpose. I keep the centre column down and don't extend the tripod further than the first or second leg sections, and I added a fabric 'tray' which helps a bit with stability. It definitely wouldn't take anything bigger, but assume it would probably be fine with the Zero + ZS73. Doesn't solve my current problem though! 😂

I tried for the flame in a 4" ED doublet with both OIII and UHC filters and saw... nothing. But then I live in a Bortle 7/8 area so hardly surprising. Hoping to try again from darker skies before Orion disappears.

Thanks for the detailed reply and the link, very helpful. I haven't specifically looked into the 112 but will check out the specs tmw!

Sniffable Berlebachs and lickable objectives? What's next, the relaxing sound of a Feathertouch? 😂