seven_legs

Ken from Orion Optics US has a great youtube video on the 8" and i think the 6" CC which is branded Orion but its Stellayra. I bet i watched the 8" video about 10 times.😄 You are alot more skill than i am, i think. Watching videos, i get the impression the secondary looks rock solid.

For months i was tearing my hair out,(if i had any🤣) trying to decided which scope to get the 8" stellalyra CC or the Skymax 180. I love the look and build of the stellalyra CC. I wanted a scope for doubles, planets and lunar viewing and both stellalyra and the Skymax are great at that. Both scope have the pro's and con's but i ended up with the Skymax, which will complement my Starwave 152mm F5.9 V3 Red Tube refractor. As Mr Spock mentioned about collimation put me off the 8" CC. Anyway look forward to more reports about your 6"cc, seems a real nice scope.

I would just get used of the scope first. You might find you are OK with the focuser. With hold spending until you know what you need.

This is good advice.

thanks for that, i was thinking about the Baader ASTF: AstroSolar Telescope Filter OD 5.0, i think 200mm OD Filter would be the right size, not sure. great image by the way.

With all the Solar activity going off at the moment it has got me interested in to viewing the sun. So, would my skymax 180 pro + front white light solar be a good combination or not a good one? cheers

Some nices views there

lovely, i do like a nice widefield image

just recieved my new Skymax 180 pro this morning and this scope was on Skywatcher leaflet.

Anyone?

Does skysafari 7 work with the Ioptron AZ Pro mount? Would be using it with a Android devices. Thanks

I'm surprised there not more images of Double Stars in the forum. Or I'm i not looking right

To be honest i mainly used my 31mm Tele Vue Nagler 82º Eyepieces type 5 eyepiece which gives about 59x mag. But that yielded great detail on many objects. It was a shame that, at the time of my ownerships most planets were not in view. The only time was when mars was at oppostion,( i think.) i got one chance to see it low down, of course there was a massive dust storm that covered the planet. Even then the planets disc seem large in the field of view. As for the straps, you may be right, i don't know.

I had Explore Scientific Ultra Light 16" Dobsonian Telescope Gen II awhile back, its a great scope with lots of pros and cons. the primary mirror box i could carry myself easily, but it is easier with two. The Pros: The easiest and quickest telecope i have ever collimated. The scope can be set-up in about 10 minutes at most. The Views are amazing, I found the balance of the scope was fine and the scope movement was smooth. The Cons: I did not like how the primary seemed to be held in by straps. If you tried to stand the main box on its side you could hear the mirror move. The mirror is like a grass and dirt magnet even when using a lightshroud. The primary mirror cannot be removed from the box for cleaning, or i could not see a way of doing it due to the straps. So i would clean the mirror within the main box itself, which was not a big deal really but i would of prefered to be able to take out. My main gripe was the upper secondary assembly holding the secondary mirror is an open design and the scope lightshoud does not cover it. So i used flocking to fill the gaps which work very well. I got the idea from a youtube video. Conclusion: Great scope, the cons are minor niggles. If you are good with your hands then this scope could be a modders dream. Of course there are better designed scopes out there but might cost more. The only reason i got rid of the scope was because i lost my job during Covid and had to sell for finanical reasons. hope that helps

Oops, sorry lol, Like I said, I've never had experience of these scopes

The rak and pinion focuser seems a bit cheap. But I've never had a Tel Vue scope so I may be wrong.

+1

looking at the 200pds, (which looks a nice scope.) on FLO it weighs 8.8kgs so its light enough to handle. Anyway look forward to your first light and thoughts.

I thought SCT or CC was better on planets than Newt of the same size because of the longer Focal lenght, F10 to F15.

I like watching the s@n monthly YouTube video on what's happening in night sky in the upcoming month, On the s@n program, I think the best bit is with Pete Lawrence.

I don't get why we having such problems going back to the moon with modern technology, when we landed people on the moon for the first time 50 odd years ago. the moon conspiracy folks must all be going wild

My first scope was the 40mm Tasco on a wobbly table top tripod legs, have fond memories of that scope with my best friend. Always remember Patrick Moore always saying that you need a minimum of a 3" refractor. As a kid in the early 80's there was no way my parents could afford that lol

Regretted selling my ST 120 refractor, a few years back.

I have found that I get a quick reply from Ian