badhex

Loving all the Skymax 102 chat, the first scope that I bought. Annoyingly it's in storage in the UK but I do love that scope and can see it would pair perfectly with the AZ-GTi. I bought a C5 at the end of 2020 for the conjunction and it works pretty well with the AZ-GTi but I have only used it a few times since. Hoping to get some good Mars action this year!

Lovely image Ags. Was this the whole image or stitched/panels?

Would certainly agree with you here. I have a Skywatcher 80ED and once you add diagonal, EP etc. It gets up to nearly 5kg and although I tested it a couple of times, I never really felt comfortable using it with the AZ-GTi and tripod. I definitely wouldn't want to use the 102ED on there. The primary use case for my AZ-GTi is either a WO ZS73 or a C5, both of which work very well in AZ mode and are under the weight limit by at least a kilo.

That twin ion-cannon setup really looks fantastic @Stu !

Thanks! Less worried about COVID (already had it once and fully boosted plus I work fully remote), more worried about missing a clear night! Looks like it might be clear again tonight too! I've always got this thread to cheer me up though 🙂

Great to see how this thread has really taken off @AstroNebulee! Some great discussions and advice from owners old and new 🙂

First clear night in a couple of weeks last night and I'm struck down with suspected COVID! 😭😭😭

It's a shame I'm based in Germany and not the UK, I have a SW 80ED languishing!

Welcome back @Stu1smartcookie 🥳 Nice to hear you're back in the AZ-GTi gang. Fingers crossed for clear skies!

I have a C5 and have been meaning to either move the spotting scope or switch to right hand firmware. Then again, I don't use the C5 that often and never really the spotting scope anyway thanks to the AZ-GTi goto!

Great to read that you're up and running! Fingers crossed for some clear skies!

Thanks John. I know you can get EP dew heater bands but always thought it would be a bit of a faff having to swap the bands every time you change EPs. I'll try the slightly-warm case approach!

Honestly, maybe I'm a total fool but I have always assumed that one would want all optical equipment to be cooled, including EPs - so I've always done that! And I have in the winter months often been plagued by EP fogging from eye warmth, but mostly only in the early part of the session. I had assumed my eyes dispersed their annoying warm air after a while of being in out in the cold. Looks like I might need to change my methods!

Hello all, Does anyone with a Starfield 102 equivalent have a handle setup on their tube rings? I have a padded soft case for mine (TS-Optics version) and I think it would really help with packing/unpacking and other general "handling" of the scope during setup. I'd prefer one attached to both rings but can't seem to find one the right length (just shy of 200mm) and don't really want to replace the whole dovetail as well. The Stellamira one from Flo could work, but not sure whether it fits the rings and wondered if anyone else has any experience or alternatives to share?

Exactly! Although I guess you'd be without a mount for a few days if it does go wrong. TBH I think we are probably overly cautious anyway - many people have managed to successfully update via WiFi so hopefully it will be fine.

Thanks Lee! Look forward to getting out again myself so I can write one 🙂Nothing but total cloud cover here for a while 😭

Ah, for clarity this is not a WiFi dongle - it's just for connecting mounts that don't already support USB to a laptop or other device via a cable. Essentially the same electronics as an FTDI cable, but just in dongle format and therefore requiring an additional USB2 cable. For a bit more info, see one of the posts from the first page of this thread - an in depth webcast direct from Skywatcher about the AZ-GTi, really interesting and well worth watching.

RE the mount AZ aligning procedure, this is essentially the same as what I do and I don't really have any issues. I always use North-level alignment, and find that the first couple of alignment targets might be a bit out but generally once aligned with those two it is almost completely accurate, and accuracy only improves over the next couple of targets. This might be really obvious but: as I understand it, because the mount always asks you to do a small manual adjustment and also to use the UP and RIGHT buttons to compensate for backlash, the mount should be more accurate with every target so this is expected behaviour.

Do you have a USB2 A-B cable, like the one below you get with most printers? If so, you can get the official skywatcher dongle from FLO for £24, and use it with the USB2 cable to control or update your mount. According to skywatcher, it will also fix a bricked mount from a failed update. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-mount-accessories/sky-watcher-synscan-usb-adapter.html For about £10 more you can get an FTDI cable which is essentially the whole package, and should behave the same, but I had tons of USB cables already so went for the skywatcher dongle.

Thanks @wookie1965 that's very kind. Hope you manage to get back out there soon!

I would also heartily recommend "Discovering double stars" by @Ags I've only really started getting into doubles myself recently so it's great to have a hardcopy designed for use in the field. https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/381220-book-project-discovering-double-stars/

Quick note on the imperial hex bolt - although the imperial bit /Allen key is obviously the correct answer, in a pinch you can also use a T30 Torx bit if you have one. The bolts are not fitted so tightly that you need to apply so much force, plus you're unlikely to need to repeatedly fasten/unfasten the bolts anyway.

Great news! Glad they're sending a replacement, saves any fretting about warranties etc.

All this imaging/EEVA chat is tempting me to do some myself!

Really happy to hear you managed to get out and under the stars! Looking forward to seeing the results 😊