cajen2

The scope certainly likes Morpheus EPs - great synergy.

We'll see. I'd be very surprised if they weren't excellent: that 2" WO di-electric diagonal is a doozy!

To be honest, I was too busy messing around with the mount and app and didn't try either of my 2" EPs. I'll let you know next time, promise!

Ah, but it's the GTiX, which has 1 kg more weight capacity on one side, and 10kg for two sides, so it should handle 5.2kg (weight of everything) quite easily. Stop press: we actually got a couple of hours clear tonight! 🍾😆 The Starfield was immense: great contrast and pinpoint images. I spent a lot of time just getting used to the go-to and slewing around from one target to another. Any problems with pointing were down to my inexperience with this type of mount - general ignorance! I can report that the GTiX handled the scope quite cheerfully, with no sign or sound of straining at all. The Berlebach was very good at dampening vibrations even at quite high mags.

Maybe tonight? Who knows...

Sorry, still no clear skies to test it all out properly. I'll post a fuller report as soon as I get a clear night!

Odd that I normally wear varifocals which I obviously have to take off when observing but I think my dominant eye astigmatism has got worse, so I've just been to the optician's to order some simple glasses just to correct the problem (I can't wear contacts). So clearly every post I've ever made on the quality of optics has now to be taken with a pinch of salt! 😛

So we're both bringing new scopes to AC. Guaranteed cloud for all four days, then!

All your fault then!

We should start a "Bring and buy" stall at events like Astrocamp.

Think you'll be lucky. The forecast is not looking good. I'm setting my expectations low to avoid disappointment: maybe some quick views between clouds....

It's a good man that you are, Neil!

They keep saying "We'll be learning a lot from this!" Like not building rockets that explode? 😛

Hi and a warm welcome to the Lounge.I hope you (and your son!) have fun with your scopes.

Glad you had a successful first light with the new scope. I can imagine lifting a 12" dob on and off the EQ platform would be rather taxing....💪

Well, the rig had a (sort of) first light last night. The sky looked quite clear but transparency was awful - there must have been high haze. I practised using the go-to and slewing with the app controls. I found the go-to would only take me in the general direction of a target because I hadn't aligned it north enough or levelled it properly. Doing all that in the dark was too much of a PITA (mental note - do it all while it's still light in future). I found Mars, centred it with the app and hit Point and Track, which seemed to work quite well. Apologies to any go-to experts out there who might be getting annoyed with me, but this is my first frac, first tripod and first go-to, so I'm just practising ATM. I've always been a dob man. I can report that the mount didn't seem to care that the load was approaching its maximum (scope fully loaded: 5.2 kg) and didn't seem to make any unwarranted noises or be under any strain, slewing smoothly. I had the tripod only halfway extended as I sit to observe, so vibration was minimal.

Having just bought one of these, I notice that there are numerous differences between it and the standard GTi, apart from the obvious dual-scope capability. Perhaps other owners would like to describe their experiences, give tips, etc on this thread. One important difference for anyone looking to replace the frankly awful saddles and clamps is that you can't substitute an ADM GTi clamp: the fittings are different, as I learned to my cost. @FLO doesn't know if a dedicated fitting from ADM will be available any time soon. I'm using mine only with a single scope at the moment, taking advantage of its 1kg extra weight capacity to hold my Starfield 102. I'll post on here how it goes long term - it's been too cloudy to test it properly. Any other owners with comments or tips?

"Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space." Douglas Adams.

As you say...true (despite the double negative! 🤣).

Additional: the ADM clamp wouldn't fit (after spending some time working out how the SW clamp comes off!). I think it's maybe because the ADM was designed to fit the AZ GTi, not the GTiX. I assumed they'd be the same. I've emailed @FLO for advice but I think it'll have to be a return. Sigh....

Just a couple of things for my new AZ GTiX mount: A Lynx Astro cable for power station / mount and an ADM dovetail clamp. I nearly dropped the OTA yesterday because of the mount's supplied clamp, so I'm told this will help. All I have to do now is work out how to install it - no instructions, of course. 😡

I have an old second-hand 3 Pro. I bought an adaptor for it but it doesn't fit very well so I gave up. Like the AP mode, though!

Warning: astronomy can harm your health!

Don't know if I'll need a CW bar. I'll see how it goes.on the L-bracket first. I've already worked out that the bracket will need to be at the same height as the centre of the scope, otherwise it'll get unbalanced in alt as it rotates. The pointing accuracy is unknown as yet. Hopefully tonight will be clear enough.

Let's hope so. Even better if it lasts over the weekend - I'm off to the Astrocamp star party in Wales.