badhex

I'm in the UK for a bit so lack of customs charges has tempted me to new purchases! WO saddle for fitting to my AZ-GTi (which it turns out might be a challenge), UHC filter to take advantage of darker skies while I'm here, and couldn't resist a couple more BSTs for travel purposes!

All great info and tips from everyone above. A couple of things to add about eyepiece focal lengths and what to buy: There are many different brands and models available offering different optical designs or physical onstruction and therefore different experiences, so it's certainly worth looking at the For Sale section of the forum for second hand purchases, so you can get a feel for what works for you without breaking the bank. The BST Starguider range are also a very good, very reasonably priced step up from standard supplied eyepieces - our sponsor FLO has them for less than £50 each and cheaper if you buy more than one. That said, you don't need to buy a whole set at once, and they needn't be the same brand/line. You could look at just getting one initially, see how you like the eyepiece and then plan to get another focal length later on, either in the same line or a different brand altogether. The 1.4x step up in focal length Ags mentioned works really well - you can also skip every other step (meaning a 1.96x step up or just 2x for ease), which would give a good range to start and you can fill in the blank as you go along. To use almost the same example as Ags, my most used EPs are 4.5mm, 9mm, 17.5mm, 35mm.

Amazing! Really glad you got it all sorted out @Stu1smartcookie

Thanks @Shimrod I was not aware of the Gostargazing site. Funnily enough the first telescope I ever looked through when I was very young was given to my Grandad by Chesterfield Observatory - and my grandad passed it to me about ten years ago 🙂

Hello all, Due to some family related reasons I will be away from Berlin and back in Chesterfield, Derbyshire (specifically Duckmanton) for the next few weeks. As the skies are a reasonable improvement (Bortle 5 instead of ~8) and the reason for my visit is not particularly happy I will be bringing my ZS73 as a welcome distraction, and I wondered if there are any clubs, events or meetups in the area - or indeed if anyone local has regular observing sessions that I might come along to. I will have various sporadic family commitments on and off and would likely need to use public transport but if anyone knows of anything, I would be grateful for any info! Thanks Joe

Great stuff Ags!

If I didn't have one already I'd be straight on that!

Great news! Think of it as an investment. Looking forward to hearing about first light

Maybe @Stu1smartcookie needs the fabled Rowan AZ50 with twiddly things! 😂 🤐

Thanks @Stu this looks great. When I'm back in the house I will have a good look. I have noticed a very small amount of backlash in one of the axes (I forget which) but even with the clutch disengaged it's super stiff. As I'm not currently using counterweights or the top mount point, I'm strongly considering using the CW shaft as a pan well, tilt) handle - grabbing the scope to move it around does not feel right!

Yes - I did strongly consider the Zero when I was looking at AZ5 Vs Skytee as I've read nothing but good things. I reckon it would've worked well with my 80ED though! As @Stu1smartcookie mentioned budgetary constraints I didn't suggest it here though. If the Tak is about the limit I guess an F11 might be too much as well?

Having now used the mount in earnest with my 80ED, I can report that the AZ is basically fine, but the ALT is ridiculously stiff. Even more so when the temperature cooled. I may have to get on the Aeroshell sooner than I thought! Other than that though, very solid and very capable especially on EQ6 tripod. Another question that comes to mind: I have the first saddle on the left side and hoping to attach the second saddle on the right side as opposed to the top. It seems like the tapped holes are not level/in line with the tapped holes on the left. I have seen others use this setup but not sure where to adjust the levelling/altitude of the right end. Does this make sense?

Oh - and I found this image online which might be helpful for your next jaunt http://jthommes.com/Astro/NGC663.htm

Lovely report. I was around Cassiopeia on the same night - it is such a bountiful area. A few new targets to add to the list!

Sage words from Mr @Carbon Brush!

Sorry to hear that you've had to put things on hold - that said, I was a bit worried you might end up not enjoying the experience which is arguably worse, having spent money. Yes - I had also recognised from the various posts we've both chatted on that we seem to be on a similar orbit, which is why I wanted to share my experiences with the AZ-GTi. Of course they are not the exact same mount so they might behave a bit differently and it's not that it was totally unusable or anything, but I'd be kidding myself if I said it was the experience I wanted.

Yeah I guess the Berlebach certainly helps. I think @Stu1smartcookie maybe has the same tripod as me (the Skywatcher black and white metal tripod which comes with the AZ-GTi and others) and I'm sure that added to the vibration and flexing issues. It's not that it was unusable, but I didn't really enjoy the experience. Of course you raise a good point about ease of use - the AZ5 and similar sized mounts like the AZ-GTi are hugely convenient and loads quicker to move anywhere and set up. The Skytee itself is surprisingly light, it's the tripod legs that seem to add all the weight!

Well, there are some well-documented issues with the thick factory applied grease which I'm sorry to say mine is not without, but the mount itself is super solid, especially for the size/weight. I bought mine primarily because I have an 80ED which sees no use because the AZ-GTi cannot really cope with it even when well balanced. Conversely, the ZS73 is only about 0.75kg lighter but the difference in how the mount handles it is huge, I suspect due to the compact size of the ZS73. I fear you might have similar issues with the AZ5. I have read a lot of posts talking through the real world performance of the AZ5 as I was thinking of buying one for the 80ED, and there are quite a few suggesting that for longer fracs such as yours, it may not be up to the task. I believe the AZ5 is rated at about 5kg load but once you add accessories, plus the length of the tube you might see some issues, especially at higher powers which I assume you'll be using. As @vlaiv said above there is definitely a gap between say the AZ5 and the Skytee in terms of weight class.

No, I know - sorry for being a pain Stu! I was lucky that I already had the EQ6 tripod. Fingers crossed you manage to get something figured out.

So I am a brand-new-as-of-this-week Skytee owner... and I have to give a plus one for it. I don't have a frac that long but can see that the sturdiness of this mount would be great for the scope you are suggesting.

I guess it makes sense that you might want a heavier duty fitting as mounts increase in size and weight, but it's pretty odd to go the other way. Very confusing.

Thanks John! Very helpful. So the issue is with the CWs rather than the shaft. Whyyyyy then does the EQ6 have smaller diameter holes than for lower rated mounts?! Surely it would make sense even if only for interoperability.🤯 Read nothing but good feedback about eh Aeroshell so will definitely give that a go one day when I'm feeling brave. Thanks Alan, yes, have read plenty of posts etc. to that effect. I believe it's OVL in the UK, TS over here in Germany and I believe there's even an Omegon branded version knocking about. As above though, it seems that the issue lies more with the EQ6 inexplicably having smaller bore CWs than the other heavy scopes, rather than the shaft of the Skytee being too big. At the moment, it's not a major issue as the scope going on the left side is only about 5kg fully loaded with accessories so will be fine for now. I guess I either need a counterweight bar with the right size bore and threads or perhaps a thread adaptor to fit an EQ6 shaft which has smaller threads than the Skytee.

Hello all, Having just got my hands on a Skytee 2 (or the TS version at least) I have a couple of questions that have arisen. 1. Mount bag/storage: I can't leave it assembled at all times so will need a bag or case of some kind. What does everyone else use? Geoptik and TS have some padded bags around 35cm square which might work but would probably need additional foam inserts. 2. Counterweights shaft: supposedly the shaft should allow large Skywatcher CWs to be used, however the shaft is about 2-3mm too large to use CWs from my EQ6-R pro. This strikes me as odd, given that the EQ6 is ostensibly the second most heavy duty offering from Skywatcher. I checked the thread size and shaft diameter on the SW shaft and they are both smaller than the thread/shaft diameter on the Skytee. Whate does everyone else do here? 3. The infamous grease: obviously this is a well known issue. The AZ axis is okay but the ALT axis is very stiff - at some point I will strip the mount and apply Aeroshell 33 but for now are there any tips to help de-stiffen the movement?

Hello all, I've recently purchased one of the above adaptors so I can use a Skytee-2 on the tripod from an EQ6-R pro. The small issue I found was that the locator pin cannot be screwed all the way into the adaptor. Normally this is by design - there is a thin nut of the threaded part of the locator pin so you can screw it in until it is aligned correctly, then use the nut to tighten it against the tripod. On the adaptor, there are two issues using this nut - first, the recess is a bit too deep and narrow to get a spanner in to tighten it. Second, the nut overhangs and stops the mount sitting in the recess properly - at least with my skytee. I presumably can't be the first person to encounter this issue so I'm interested to hear what other have done. As it's not load bearing, I've temporarily fixed this by using a couple of cable ties as a narrow washer/spacer so I can tighten the pin to a state where it is both aligned and not loose. That said I'd like a more permanent solution. I'm thinking maybe split rings so there's both give in how much I can turn it and allow alignment, but also a bit of tension so it doesn't rattle around? Maybe several very narrow washers might also work? Any ideas appreciated!

Yeah that is weird. Has it always done this?