badhex

The first of two Primaluce saddle, missing from the previous delivery, now attached. It's a very well made piece of kit.

Are you holding the handset upside down? 😂 Sorry couldn't resist! More sensibly but still maybe a silly question: have you double checked all timezone/position settings? Failing that perform a factory reset (in the manual somewhere) and try again?

Everyone is sort of right but no one has it exactly. It's a massive insulator, but not from a pylon. When I moved to Berlin there was a computer repair shop that had a few large insulators for sale. My partner and I both really wanted to get one as a room decoration (we're both weird like that) so we saved up the asking price of several hundred euros over many months. We even bought a trolley specifically for that purchase, but when we turned up to the shop he refused to sell us any of them, deciding they were too rare and no longer for sale even though we offered more money. Anyway, years later we got friendly with a salvage yard and two (as above) turned up in there one day. The owner yet again did not want to sell them, but we eventually managed to convince him to part with one based on the fact that we had bought three very large, very old and very expensive neon letters (spelling ICH) from them a few months prior, which came from a once famous hotel in Germany (Heinrich Heine Hotel). I do not know the exact place where the insulator came from, only that it was part of the 110kV side of the substation/switching station in a factory in Berlin, and the salvagers had to get in there and remove them by hand themselves prior to demolishing the building. The date on it is 1980 as far as I can tell, there's also a logo which is a bit unclear, as well as the code VIFS110 1980.

I think it's technically an uncommon variant known as a "Dibnah mask" 😂

Time to swallow my pride and admit that my EQ6-R Pro was a purchase I made several years too early (logistically and physically difficult to use regularly). Instead, I got the TS version of the Skytee-2 and Geoptiks adaptor so I can use the tripod at least. I also ordered 2 Primaluce saddles, only one of which was currently in stock and neither of which were sent with this order for reasons unknown - hopefully arriving soon.

It's all those blood moons you keep hearing about. Turns us astronomers into lunatics!

Nobody move or the nebula gets it!

I have the same, it's ludicrously large! I had to purchase a new mount just to use it! What even *is* that?!

True, broadly speaking better quality EPs will keep you happy longer before you feel a need to upgrade. I have the clicklock on my 80ED focuser tube, it's a great piece of kit. The Baader nosepieces are also way better than undercuts. Good stuff!

That's an impressive set for someone who is new to observing! Congrats! Jealous of the Baader diagonal, I keep thinking of upgrading to one but not sure I can justify it at the moment 🙂

I think you might be right - some years back it was reclassified as an asterism perhaps? Not really sure. Still beautiful either way!

Thanks both. 5kg would certainly be a lot more manageable than the 17kg of the EQ6-R pro!

I think a lot of astro gear, in particular the things with glass in them, follow something akin to the law of diminishing returns - or what I like to refer to as the "last 5% rule". Audio equipment also follows this rule. Somewhere in the middle of the quality/cost scale you get a lot of bang for your buck and really see the difference between the low-end and medium to medium-high end, but the differences I think become smaller right at the top five to ten percent. It's not to say that you don't see those differences, in the ultra high end, because you do usually get what you pay for in astro gear - but it is certainly where you'll spend a huge wad of cash chasing what might end up being a pretty marginal increase. It's just then a question of where to draw the line.

I'm really hoping that the Baader you refer to is the 17.5mm Morpheus 😁 I maaay have mentioned (multiple times in multiple threads to anyone who will listen) that it is my favourite eyepiece! If so, you will definitely not be disappointed. The views in your 72ED will be be stunning - almost identical to my ZS73 (I think you have also owned one... or two 😂).

Hello @Stu, reviving an older thread here but any idea what the weight of the mount is without tripod and scopes etc? Also, how do you store it - atop a tripod or do you have a bag/case? For context I am thinking about perhaps purchasing one to cover my shame of buying an eq6-r pro last year which gets little use due to effort, time, weight, and a lack of power in the right places. At least then the tripod will get some use, albeit with an adaptor AFAIK.

I'm certain you got the central star. In fact, I think you also got the other prominent star there as well, to the right and slightly above the central star. I think you'd need to study closely at the eyepiece but it look like it to me. Have added a mirrored and rotated b/w image for comparison.

I would agree with this - first saw Caroline's Rose about a month ago under Bortle 3/2 skies with a 73mm APO (ZS73) and it was really beautiful. Tried again under my Bortle 8/7 skies... pretty unimpressive The extra aperture of the 130 will certainly help though! Fingers crossed.

Couldn't agree more. The cost per use ends up being negligible for something you use every time you observe - weather permitting of course! I also have the BCO at both 10mm and 6mm - absolute bargain EPs. The only thing that can be a bit tough is the eye relief, but that's true of any ortho - regardless they are fantastic EPs for planetary.

One more vote here for the BSTs Stu. I have the 5mm and 3.2mm (although the 3.2mm gets way less use). Primary use case is good quality but lightweight for travel kit and not breaking the bank - they do very well on all three counts. Strongly considering picking up a few more in the range. Aaaalll of that said though..... I will give 100 votes to the Morpheus range, in particular the 17.5mm which is my favourite eyepiece of all time. It is in constant use and I wouldn't observe without it. Bit more on the pricey side but I genuinely cannot see you regretting the purchase, and it seems that they should work very well at all F ratios up to about F4 (according to many SGL experts). Can't remember if I've seen you post in the Morpheus thread but it's worth reading for more details on specific FLs. I also recently purchased the 4.5mm although I have not had much time with it yet. I wanted a high power, good quality EP for my ZS73 when not travelling, for which it works very well. Crystal clear views of Jupiter last week at around 96x.

This weekend I had a brief session with the above mentioned setup - Travelscope 70, the 18mm Meade UWA and for comparison, a 17.5mm Morpheus and 25mm Celestron Plossl. I put everything on a TS AZT6 and TS carbon fibre tripod, and everything packs up into two small bags - the tripod bag plus another, almost identical to the tripod bag but around 10cm shorter. Setup is very quick. Maybe ten minutes to get everything in place. Can easily be picked up and moved around with one hand. Despite being such a small scope I think it still needed ~30 mins to cool before it settled out. First I had a sweep around with the Celestron plossl. It's not a bad EP all told, something I can't put my finger on that I quite like about it - maybe that it's so compact and does have a rather larger eyelens for its size. That said, having been primarily observing with my ZS73 and often either 2" or widefield EPs like the Morpheus, it did feel a little restrictive. Still, ~3.1deg. TFOV is not bad for a comparatively tiny 25mm Plossl. UWA next. Since deshrouding, the first thing I noticed is that eye positioning is a bit tricky with no eyecup, and stray local LP not really helping the experience. Once I'd managed to get settled, and cupped the EP with my hands, the ~3.7deg view is not bad, much more immersive than the 25mm Plossl and more sky to boot. I believe that this is pretty much the largest TFOV I can get out of this scope without vignetting, and I spent most of the time with the double cluster as a comparison piece. At first* I could only really notice the field lens 'fogging' round the edges of the view which presents as lower contrast. Not the best vies ever, but certainly copeable and perhaps would be much less noticeable under darker skies than my usual Bortle 7/8. Last I switched in the Morpheus and it's immediately clear it is a far superior eyepiece. 3.3deg TFOV but all the nicer for the much larger eyelens, sharper, contrasty views and comfortable eye position. Of course I knew all this already, but on direct side-by-side comparison you really see the difference - for example the eye lens on the UWA feels reaaalllly small. I switched back and forth a few times and unfortunately as well as the aforementioned differences, the fogging/contrast is noticeably worse in the UWA. Overall, I do think it could work as a cheap and cheerful, very compact and lightweight kit and I like the idea of the UWA having another lease of life as per the post title - but I worry that I when I'm at the eyepiece I would just be wishing that brought the Morpheus with me instead!

Yes I've seen the same general advice in threads too, that's the main reason I was confident agreeing with your thoughts. It seems strange that this is not really made clear by Skywatcher.

Great to hear you solved it!

Amazing stuff! Looking great. A couple of thoughts that spring to mind for the longer term. If l you wanted a dovetail that is a (closer) colour match, one of the William Optics gold anodised dovetails might work - plus they have a long slot over one half instead of set holes at specific distances so no drilling would be required. They don't have the raised edges though so you might have to shim it somehow. I do quite like the black and brass though! Re finder mounting - rather than have to drill the tube, perhaps you could find a very thin/lightweight tube ring with standard bolt holes, onto which you can mount any finder shoe you like.

I would guess that the low voltage is your issue. I have read multiple reports suggesting that really anything below 11.5v-12v can cause problems under load - e.g. when batteries have partially discharged and the voltage drops. If you are using AC, you may want to look into a power adaptor that gives you a steady 12v even under load. I have also read that some people use power adaptors which provide ~13-14v to account for voltage drop but I'm not totally sure what the actual Skywatcher recommendation is, so you might want to wait for others to chip in as well.

Thanks Don. I've heard of this technique before in another context I think. I suspect the Aero ED is aluminium but it might be worth investigating as an option.