cajen2

I think how bright it'd be would be the least of your problems!

Looks good. On my page it says "unavailable". I have something very similar by SinKeu: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B09MZ736CZ?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title It was on offer at £30 cheaper. I have to say it seems excellent. I've used it to power my AZGTIX mount over several short observations and it's still showing full battery.

Getting to look more like your old Starfield every day.....

Let slip the dogs of war....! 😆

Thank you, Stu. Still won't compare with your new (to you) Tak! I was very dubious about my setup but it works well. There are slight but quickly damped vibrations when focusing at high powers but nothing serious.

Sorry it's not a Tak or Vixen but here's my Starfield 102ED on a SW AZGTiX mount with a Berlebach Report tripod.

Not unless my satnav is seriously out....😉

About 70% clear here, so, optimistic as ever, I dragged the Starfield out....and the chair, power supply, EP case, etc. Left to cool. Focused on Venus to align the finder and.....you guessed it: over came the clouds. All I could see was Venus and then only occasionally. This is the third time running this has happened.

Because it's good advice! 😛😆

Welcome back, LF. Hmmmm, planets and galaxies, easy to use and not too expensive, not heavy and maybe AP later. Well done: you've chosen six virtually mutually exclusive criteria! A scope good on planets is a something like a Mak - light and cheap but not the best on the deep sky stuff because of its smallish field of view. Galaxies, a large dob, which clearly you don't want. Perhaps your best compromises would be: 1. a medium-sized refractor. I have a 102mm ED Starfield on a go-to mount and it's a little gem. With a flattener/reducer it'd make a good AP scope as well, I think, though I don't do snaps so don't take my word for it! 😛 2. a medium-sized SCT of some description. Are there any astro clubs near you that you could join? If you go along to one of their meets, they'd be happy to show you their gear and you could get an idea of what would suit you best.

Arrived from @FLO today: a 2.25x Barlow for my Baader Hyperion zoom. With this, I can have a huge range of mags with just one EP (201 to 30x). It's absolutely tiny: the largest part is a T2 adaptor, which I won't need. It fits to the zoom using its filter thread rather than a screw and thus will fit all my other 1.25" EPs too. The zoom with the Barlow:

I've just taken my scope out to cool as the sky was almost completely clear....yay!😛 Got the observing chair, EP case, power supply, my special astronomy phone and cables all ready to go. I went out to check how it was going and the sky's gone from 1/10th to 10/10ths cloud in half an hour. Now seriously irritated!

Hah! Snap!

I was told that you can't replace the compression ring with a Clicklock as Baader haven't made one that fits. On mine, I just used the 2"-1.25" Clicklock reducer and the compression ring if I wanted to use a 2" EP.

I had the StellaLyra 8" dob and it was a truly excellent scope, giving me great views of so many things. A 10" would have been a waste for me, as my skies are heavily light polluted. What I will say, though most dob owners may disagree, is that a heavy scope and base may influence your decision on, say, a partly cloudy or freezing cold night...."Shall I get the dob out? Nah, it's too cloudy / cold." All because wrestling with it loses its attraction to a terminally lazy person like me. I've now got a little tabletop 6" dob and a 102 refractor, both of which are easy to shift around. I'm not getting any younger, either! 😉😆

I'll probably be using the 12v jack anyway, but it's good to have a choice.

So the band works ok via a USB C connection?

The tripod looks remarkably similar to my Berlebach Report 312....

It actually arrived with a handwritten card to thank me for my order. It may sound cheesy but I like that....👍

Delivery from W & W Astro for my Starfield. Fits a treat!

I also use a Skywatcher 6x30 RACI on my 102 frac. I find it excellent (don't really care if the optics are excellent or not as it's only for spotting targets, though they are actually quite good!).

Wouldn't mind betting the Morph will wipe the floor with the OVL, even though the latter is an extremely good VFM EP.

I have the WO 2 " diagonal too - it's superb and worth hanging on to if you can. I'm lucky in that I can balance my scope with it on very easily, even when I add a Clicklock 2"-1.25" adaptor. The Baader counterweight is 1kg and you have plenty of travel at the top of your dovetail, so it should still be possible to get balance, even with the 2" diagonal.

Would one of these help? https://www.firstlightoptics.com/counterweights/baader-dovetail-bar-levelling-counterweight.html I have one for a different purpose and, though expensive, it's a beautifully engineered bit of kit.

I've just bought a Morph 17.5 - said to be the best in the range - and though it's only had a brief first light, I'm well impressed! 👍