Decision made but have 1 more question

[Gradie]

*First(ish) Light!*

Big thumbs up to FLO as the scope was delivered today, much quicker than expected!

Technically it's a birthday present and the birthday is a month away, but tonight it was taken outside to check that everything works in case there were issues. I'm glad to say everything does!

First impressions were great. I already new the size so no surprises there. Set up I'd say it's lighter than I expected, which is great. I was very pleased to see it in the Black Diamond livery (i.e. with the white ring at the front) - usually the Goto is pictured all black and I much prefer this version. The OTA is also labelled with the Schott glass logo, which surprised me as the SW catalogue I had suggested that it was the 150 and up that had Schott glass, not the 127.

Alignment was a breeze - I chose brightest star alignment but it then directed me to a second star. No issues at all and once aligned I told it to find me Saturn and so it did!

I was surprised by how small Saturn appeared, even with the Barlow and 10mm eyepiece, but that's just me not knowing what to expect. Focus wobble was definitely a big issue - I had the tripod almost fully extended and was standing, so this is something I may change.

Even though Saturn was very low in the sky and the sky was still very bright it was a joyous sight. I then decided to look elsewhere and asked the scope to show me Albireo, which it did with ease. Having read about 'splitting doubles' I had visions of them being awfully close together, so I was surprised to see a pair of stars quite clearly separated, one red and one blue (hopefully you'll tell me this was Albireo and not something else)!

I then tried the tour function but didn't have much luck, mainly due to the conditions. To the naked eye I could probably see about five stars when I stared out, and still only about twenty when I packed up, so hardly perfect conditions!

The scope is now packed up awaiting my birthday, or some really clear skies, whichever comes first .

[Hemsy]

Great report Gradie. I'm big time jealous. What about this focus wobble, what can you do about that?

happy early birthday!

Cheers

[Gradie]

Great report Gradie. I'm big time jealous. What about this focus wobble, what can you do about that?

happy early birthday!

Cheers

Well, from what I've read here the best things to do are to keep the tripod extension to a minimum, thus reducing the amount of flex in the legs, and to consider weighting it down somehow - for instance a sandbag (or other heavy object) on the accessory tray. I had the tripod pretty much fully extended and on grass, so not necessarily the most stable platform available. Luckily I have a paved area at the end of the garden which I shall probably use for most sessions.

I've also read that using a peg can reduce the focus wobble - I presume this is because it gives you finer control over the focus knob which is quite small - It's certainly something I'll give a try if my peg fits!

One thing I will definitely be getting, and this probably goes for many scope, is a right angled finder scope. I'm not bothered about a corrected image (left and right being the *right* way round), but I certainly do not want to be crouching at the end of the scope to view through the finder, which would be particularly awkward with the tripod legs not fully extended. Unsurprisingly I'm also being tempted by new eyepieces already, but hopefully I've got the sense to resist until I've got used to the scope as it is!

I'm hoping I can use it some more before my birthday - last night the sky was lovely and clear when I came home, but given that we'd just got back from an Iron Maiden concert I didn't have the energy to even attempt a viewing session!