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Ok, straight to the topic, I have a budget of 150$, which could buy me a Zhumell Z114 table top dobsonian, but I don't know if it has international shipping charges, I asked it on a discord server, and they said that it most likely has shipping charges, so now I am looking at the Zhumell Z100 table top dobsonian, which costs around 99$, and hopefully the shipping chrges are/below of 50$, but here are my main concerns: 1. If it somehow gets out of collimation, there is no way of adjusting it (Because it has a fixed primary) 2. I don't know if it is a upgrade to my 70mm f/10 refractor (But it will give wider field of view, which is good, because I am buying it for DSO's) 3. Some people say that it is a barlowed Newtonian which is not good And here are the obvious reasons to buy it: 1. It has eyepieces which give wide-field views. 2. It has a parabolic mirror, which is good So, what should I do? I am also open to other suggestions which are under 150$. Also allow me to kindly decline the offer to buy a bigger scope/save more money and buy a bigger scope.

Hi All, First post in SGL 😀 I only got my first telescope at the start of the year (SW Star Quest 102R) and have been upgrading my kit since then. Current setup is StarQuest 102R F4.9, with ST102 tube rings, Modded Canon 550D, Baader Semi APO 2" filter, StellaMira Field Flattener, AZ GTI in EQ mode, Astro Essentials 30mm f4 guide scope with ASI 120MM mini, Pegasus Astro Pocket Power Box Advance, and NINA running the show. Since I added guiding I am using 5 min subs ( I haven't tried any higher so don't know how much I can actually go) and am quite happy apart from the CA on the OTA which the Baader filter has reduced quite a lot. Latest Pic attached is 3hours 25 min in total with 5 min subs. So as the title says I am looking at my options for upgrading to some ED glass. I will more than likely be looking to purchase second hand and I am in no rush for purchasing, I'd rather wait for the right one to come along. I have narrowed my options down to 3 OTAs and am looking for some feedback in peoples experiences with them, or if there is an OTA that I may not have considered. SW Evostar 80ED (Why is it so much heavier than the others at 4.1KG) StellaMira 80mm ED Starwave 80ED-R Main reasons for these 3 is I like the focal length (around 500), the weight for the AZ GTI (closer to 3 KG the better). Many thanks in anticipation

Hi Guys! My first post :) I’ve decided to take the plunge and begin the hobby..or addiction of Astrophotography! About 8 years ago I purchased a 2nd hand EQ6-pro, I’ve only ever really used it for visual through a 6 inch Newtonian. All I could see was grey fuzz or the moon!lol so I got bored and put it away in a cupboard! For a few years now I’ve been taking wide field Astro photos using my DSLR and 14/24mm prime lenses which has given me the bug again! I want to start taking images of galaxies and nebulae and all that good stuff which I simply can’t get with with my wide lenses. My plan was to get a small refractor like a WO Z61 or Z73, field flattener and mount my 6D DSLR to it, Plus use a small auto guiding package. Run everything off a laptop My question really is...is my mount up to imaging? Things have come on a long way in mount technology I guess since I last looked at buying one so I’m wondering, imaging wise if I’m best selling on the old EQ6 pro and buying something more up to date? OR If my old mount is able to work and work well is there anything I can do to it to improve it?..Strip and Regrease ...Belt Mod...?? ive never had it apart before, nor do I really know how it was used before I bought it so it might need a good going over it might not...is there any way to tell for potential issues? Im happy to do any work myself I’m pretty handy with mechanics looking for advice really wether to stick with this mount or look for something new. if new, max budget is around £800 any advice greatly appreciated :) Ant

I have a nexstar 6se and I love it. I've only had it about a year and it's my first proper telescope. Every opportunity I'm out in the garden both looking through it and attaching my dslr to the back for fainter objects. I'm noticing I'm getting movement in the longer exposure photos and after a bit of googling I think it's the mount. So I'm looking to upgrade. I'm thinking something a little future proof but I'm not made of money so decent, reliable, cheaper end but good enough for astrophotography and with the possibility I might continue to add bits and pieces. What do I need and how much am I looking? Help thanks in advance.

Hello, Does anyone know if I should upgrade my telescope? I have a Celestron Nextar 127slt and I've been using it for a few years now. I want to see more detail on Jupiter, Saturn and Mars. Does anyone have any suggestions from Celestron? Kind Regards

Hi all, Just a quick question saw a previous post on here for the x-cel eye pieces vs the BST Starguiders was looking at getting a 25 mm and a 10-12mm but would any one reccomend a zoom lens 8-24mm are these any good? If so any particular make I should go for instead of the starguiders or should I just stick to my original plan of getting 2 starguider eyepieces Thanks all

I'm sure this has been asked before so very happy to be redirected. My rig is now over 20kg which is prob the limit of my neq6 (belt modded with wedge). Tracking pretty well (<1" RMS) with the right conditions. Mostly tear down each night but considering a permanent setup in the future. Looking for upgrade options. Eq8, CEM60, something else? Thanks in advance.

Hi all, I've recently purchase a Celestron powerseeker 114eq and really enjoying it so far, my next step was to purchase some new eyepieces was looking to get the BST Starguiders, however I am now wondering if i should purchase a new scope, my options would be skywatcher 130P/ DS 150P / PDS 200P, budget will be around £500 should i go for a GOTO version and save some more? is the GOTO something that can be fitted to the mount at a later date (sorry if a stupid question). Will i see a big difference with these telescopes vs what i have already? Is there diffrent scope you would recommend in the price range? Any help would be appreciated Thanks Harry

Hi SGL, My lovely wife bought me a SW Explorer 130 with the basic RA drive for my 40th birthday 8 years ago, and I've enjoyed using it on and off ever since. I've started getting more into it - it's a great beginner scope, but I'm - like lots of others on this forum - looking at upgrading. One of the things I found tricky with the scope was getting the focus just right at high magnification (I'm sure that's kind of obvious!). It does wobble quite a bit on the EQ2 mount when focusing. I get pretty good - if small - views of Jupiter, Saturn, (the Moon, of course) and have had hints of seeing some DSOs. I bought a 8mm BST Starguider, and it's a great improvement on the standard 10mm that comes with the scope, but if I push the scope by adding the 2x Barlow and the 8mm it's a blur and the focus seems to keep missing the sweet spot. I saw a post elsewhere on this forum by MakTheNight, (looks like they've left now - last post was 2 years ago) who added a Baader Helical Focuser that attached directly to the T-thread on the focusing apparatus on the SW. Link to that post is below. I got one and it is indeed a great improvement on fine tuning - the problem is I can't use it with the Barlow as the helical focuser is about an inch long and the focuser can't move far enough into the scope to focus with the Barlow and any of my eyepieces (the 8mm BST, or the 10 or 25mm standard eyepieces) . Clearly MakTheNight managed to get their setup to work with some specific eyepieces (a Luminos 10mm and 32mm Plossl) and a specific Barlow, so I tried looking up how I could work out what combination of eyepieces and Barlow would work, rather than randomly buying kit and having to return it because it won't work with my scope, but I haven't found anything useful yet. So I thought I'd take the plunge and ask here Can anyone help me figure out how I can calculate what combinations of eyepiece and Barlow would work with this setup? I'm also looking at upgrading the OTA and mount to a 200P and EQ5 at some point, so ideally would have a combination that could work with that too - the focal length and mirror is quite different - 1000mm on the 200P parabolic vs 900mm spherical on the 130. Many thanks! Simon

Hi, this question has probably been done to death here, but can I ask the community to help me decide on a new camera? After struggling with my very glitchy QHY5LIIc camera for a while, as well as having a forced break from astronomy, I have decided to get a new camera. After all the problems I've been having with the QHY, I really don't want to use this manufacturer again. I know lots of people use them quite happily, but once bitten ... I have been looking at the ZWO cameras - OSC, as I haven't the time, clear skies, or patients to do LRGB imaging! I have about £250 to spend, which I may be able to push to £300 if I wait a bit. ? So I've been looking at the ASI224MC, ASI290MC and the ASI178MC cameras. I mainly do planetary/Luna imaging, but I have also dabbled in a bit of DSO and would like to continue with both. I have a C9.25 and a ST80 guide scope. I know these aren't ideal for DSOs but please humour me! I think from the specs/information that the 224 is probably the best option. Although the resolution and QE are the worst of the three, the well depth and read noise are the best and the fps is pretty good too. I don't know if there are better/cheaper cameras using the same chips, such as Altair's range. I just don't want to make the same mistake that I did with the QHY!n Any help/advice you can give will be much appreciated.?

Hi all , i currently have an old pair of 7x50 Chinon binoculars and I’m looking to up grade them, I’ve been looking around and have found some 15x70 binos which look good value. How much of a difference will I notice with these is it a big difference? If you could recommend me some binos in this price range (<£100) I’d be much appreciated. As I don’t really have a clue what to look for in binos. Mainly used for star gazing of course Thanks for the help

Hello all! My father lives in Istanbul and he has the Gskyer AZ70700 Refractor Telescope. He has been really enjoying it as you can see from the photos I've uploaded in the Amazon review I've left for this item (Btw, I've just realized that this review is now the most helpful/liked review on this item which is cool): https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R35LBDSUABUUAU/ My father is OBSESSED with looking at the moon's craters and he had this telescope for almost a year now and he probably never skipped a day at looking at the moon as long as the moon was visible. I've made the post below on this forum before asking for suggestions on what upgraded equipments I should buy for his telescope: And after the suggestions and more research, I've bought these items: 1) Celestron 8-24mm Zoom Eyepiece (1.25") 2) Celestron 90° Star Diagonal (1.25") 3) SVBONY 1.25" Barlow Lens 2x Multi Coated T Adapter 4) Orion 05598 1.25-Inch 25 Percent Transmission Moon Filter (Black) Now basically, my father's only wish in this life is to be able to zoom at the moon more and see the craters of the moon more clearly while being zoomed more. Right now, when he uses the 2x Adapter with 8mm eyepiece, things get blurry but he keeps trying to zoom more some nights and tells me that he is hoping one day it won't look as blurry on that amount of zoom I showed him a youtube video of the moon's craters zoomed in with a better telescope once and he was basically shocked and almost didn't believe me that that was possible with better telescopes though I am not sure how bigger/better/expensive those telescopes would be. Now my father had an open heart surgery recently but he is OK now and I really want him to experience using a better telescope while he can and me being a good son, I want to buy him a better telescope now as I have a bit extra money to spend. I bought the telescope he is using now for 130$ (btw, this telescope had 5 star average reviews on Amazon at the time of my purchase which is why I bought it but I wish I knew about this forum before and asked you guys before buying that one although my father still loved the telescope a lot so I don't have many regrets about it). I was wondering if there are better budget telescopes that are around 180-300$ that can be at least a bit better than his current telescope when looking at the moon's craters while being zoomed more with better/clearer visuals. Btw, because of the light pollution in Istanbul Turkey, only the Moon, Saturn and some big stars are visible in the sky but my father only cares about the Moon craters anyway. It's also important for me that the telescope I'll buy will support 1.25" eyepiece that my father has. After I've read many Top 10 articles online, the Celestron PowerSeeker 127EQ seems like a good budget option for me and I hear that because it has 1000 mm Focal Length, it's a good option for looking at the moon? I wouldn't know much about that thought which is why I wanted to get you guy's opinion on this. I've also seen that this telescope is being sold in Turkish websites (such as n11, hepsiburada, gittigidiyor etc.) which would mean I wouldn't pay anything for shipment to Istanbul and that he would have the option to return it in 14 days with a full refund if he doesn't like it. However, if you guys think that this telescope wouldn't really differ much from the telescope he has now when it comes to looking at moon's craters zoomed in, or that there are better telescopes than this 127EQ that is not too much more expensive than 127EQ but better at looking at moon's craters zoomed in and still beginner/mid-level friendly when it comes to looking at the moon, then please let me know! I'd really appreciate any input on this before I make my purchase. Thank you in advance!

After thinking about it since around the time I joined this forum (6 months ago or so), this week I've placed an order for a new 8" Orion telescope! This will be my first upgrade in something like 20 years of having a 60mm Celestron. Although I've used it enough to learn the basics of observing, like setting up, the constellations, tracking with an alt/azimuth mount, etc., honestly the most spectacular thing I've seen out of it was M22 after I bought Plössl lenses earlier this year. That was a holdover while I looked for a better telescope I'd be happy with. It doubled the number of stars I could count from about 15-20 to 30-40, but I still have trouble seeing or finding much of anything, and what I do find is dull (in luminosity). So now I can't wait to see what improvement there will be in more than tripling the aperture! Since I live in a suburban area and despite trying really hard haven't found a huge number of celestial objects, I also bought the intelliscope version, which should be greatly helpful in getting started here. Much preferred to using a cell phone that blinds me even on the lowest brightness setting. I'll report back with some first impressions when it arrives!

Hi all I am at an "astronomical junction" in which I could really do with some valued advice from fellow astronomers. I have been having sleepless nights for a while now stressing backwards and forwards about what astronomical move to make next. My current set up is as follows: HEQ5 with a Skywatcher 80ED PRO Imaging through DSLR / Celestron Next Image planetary imager DSLR / Camera tripod for wide filed (non tracking) milky way work. I have been happy for a while with this set up, but to be honest, with not having a permanent pier, observatory, it's becoming a bit of a labour of love to drag it all out when we get a clear night, (spend 50 mins setting it up) then the clouds roll in..Grrrrrrr I am city based, so I can just about image some of the more bright DSO which I have been really happy with. My question is now what to do next, as it's becoming more frustrating going though the same motions overtime I want to quickly look at the moon. Here are my thoughts so far: Take a step back from Imaging for a while and focus on a investing in a nice 10" Dob and a great set up eyepieces and fall in love with the visual side of imaging again. Invest in a Skywatcher Star Adventurer for better wide field Milky Way work, and maybe add a small scope to this for bright DSO? Or go the other way: Invest in a 8" Cassergrain and mount this on my HEQ5 mount and focus on planetary / lunar work with a good quality web cam? I have had reflectors before on this mount, and to be honest the size and portability didn't work out to well. Maybe even do some planetary / Lunar imaging through the Dob? Tracking Dob perhaps? Arhhhhhh My dilemma. Is anyone in a similar position out there? or has been? city dwellers who have made a change of astronomical imaging based on their surroundings? time to set up and didn't have a permanent base to observe from? Thanks in advance all Ben

Hello I need your expert advise and opinions please. I currently have a Sky-watcher 114 telescope which has served me well for the few years I've had it, but I've always had trouble with balancing, aligning and generally finding the more difficult things in the night sky. So I feel now is the time to upgrade to a goto telescope as I am keen to take up astrophotography and image and share what I'm seeing. My theory is that if I have a computerised / goto telescope and mount, I would spend less time setting up and more time enjoying the night sky. I have between £400 - £650 to spend I've done some research and I have come up with a few options but also welcome any suggestions you all come up with which I haven't thought of already. Celestron Nexstar 5 SE Computerised Telescope https://www.amazon.co.uk/Celestron-NexStar-SE-Computerised-Telescope/dp/B000GUHOYE/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1479455548&sr=8-5&keywords=celestron+nexstar Sky-Watcher Skymax-127 SynScan Goto Telescope https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sky-Watcher-Skymax-127-SynScan-AZ-Telescope/product-reviews/B00A784RBS Celestron Nexstar 127 SLT MaK Telescope https://www.amazon.co.uk/Celestron-NexStar-127-Mak-Telescope/dp/B0038LX8XE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479455805&sr=8-1&keywords=celestron+nexstar+127 Meade ETX 90 Observer https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01E53GQ78/ref=pd_sbs_421_40?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=4PMZKN1FJBKW0Y2KBV8S Ive chosen various Maksutov-Cassegrain Style scopes as I'm a bit of a short-Bottom and found that when I tried out this type of telescope, it was easier to use rather than what I currently have. I await your wisdom

Hi I have joined to see if anyone can give me some advice/feedback In January 2016 I bought the following telescope for my husband which has given fantastic views of the moon and also some of the moons of Jupiter (I think it was Jupiter). He now wants something more powerful to view more planets. He doesn't wish to take photographs simply to view. Current set up: Sky-watcher Evo star 120 Magnification (with optics supplied): 40x and 100x Objective lens diameter 120 mm 1000 mm refracting telescope Ocular lens included (1.25 inch): 10 mm and 25 mm 6 x 30 finder scope dual fit 1.25 inch / 2 inch focusing optics 1.25 inch / 31.7 mm star diagonal Multi coated lens Any advice/ assistance would be very much appreciated as it is his birthday in a few days, and it would be the ideal present. Thank you Mazza

Hello everyone! I have a Celestron Astromaster 70az. I've been on winter break recently and have got the opportunity to utilize it in the evenings and early mornings. I used it this morning around 4-5 am IST to spot Jupiter, and boy was I overcome by excitement. Since I acquired this scope from my cousins', it's been rather untouched. Perhaps the alignment/collimation is off but I only see a distant white speck. It could be the shortcomings of my telescope but I would rather have you guys correct my understanding on this as I am a novice to astronomy. My main inner debate was whether I should look for extra accessories or purchase a more powerful scope good enough for planetary observation. (Sidenote: I have a 20mm and a 10mm scope that came with this box). Now, I live in the middle of Mumbai which is a bustling city. I realize light pollution and other pollution also factor in greatly. I would like to hear more experienced people out before making hasty decisions. Thank you, -H

I've been thinking about upgrading my SW 127 Mak for a long time now and have been looking into going for a used Celestron C8 recently. My main interest is in imaging DSOs for which I use a SW 150pds with an Atik 314L+ on a HEQ5 mount. However all too often the only clear nights are during full (or nearly full) moons and on these occasions I like to image the moon or the planets. This is why I bought the 127 mak to try and improve on what the 150pds gives me when imaging lunar/planetary. I use my guide camera a ZWO ASI120mm to capture video for this type of imaging. On a few evenings I've compared both my scopes for lunar and planetary and while the mak gives better results on Jupiter there's very little in it when it comes to lunar imaging. On the Mak I can't use a barlow for lunar as it gives a ghost image (like the mysterons circle) but the 150pds performs quite well barlowed when lunar imaging. In essence the difference between the two scopes isn't enough to warrant owning the 127mak. So my question is will there be a significant improvement if I upgrade from a SW 127 mak to a C8 for lunar and planetary imaging? I know I'll gain about 35% in focal length and I'm hoping I'll be able to use a barlow to increase that. I'm also hoping the extra aperture will make a big difference. There's also the added bonus of using the C8 with a reducer to image the smaller DSOs like M57 if I ever get my guiding good enough. I guess I'd just like some confirmation that a C8 is the right scope before I take the plunge.

Upgraded my astro pc to a SSD drive ,fairly simple process ,cloned drive with easeus to do software ,so copied everything on old hdd to new ssd , straight forward to do once new drive cloned simply took out old drive replaced with new ,i will install old drive into a caddy and take out dvd drive later on once im happy everything working ok ,but what a difference no waiting it`s instant im sure capturing data will be smoother with the qhy5-11 ssd cost £45 from mymemory,an integral 240GB, my old hdd is 1TB so plenty of storage now ,and caddy for dvd drive was a tenner from amazon ,definetley an upgrade worth doing .

Hi again everyone im back asking for yet more advice haha I just got my first dslr camera (canon 1200D) and was looking at a second telescope for astro imaging but after taking a quick snap with my 200P skywatcher dob I realized something that if i get a second telescope my 200P will probably gather a lot of dust. Now I need to rethink if it is better/cheaper to upgrade my current telescopes mount rather than buying a second one just for imaging. so here are my questions 1: Will it be cheaper to upgrade my dob to a goto 2: Is it easy to upgrade to a trackable mount for my scope 3: If so which mount is best for my telescope there is probably a lot I have missed asking about as im a total noob with imaging so if you think there is something I should know but have not asked your probably right and I would appreciate being told about it

I have been offered a 8 inch skywatcher telescope and EQ5 pro goto mount for £500, in good nick with a couple of extras leads and such. This is a upgrade from my Skywatcher 150p and EQ3-2 mount but just wanted to ask if this is a good price thanks in advance.