Skymax 127 Goto.

[Funkymoped]

hi everyone.

im sure this question has been asked time and again, and i apologise for that.

my mind is made up. i want a Skymax 127 with a Goto tripod.

from the reviews ive read, the 127 is as good as i will get for the money ive got.

i believe its good for terestrial, moon, planets, and to some extent deep space.

its light, portable, good focal length and, from what ive read, a genuinely good all rounder.

i choose the Goto rather than a regular equatorial mount because i would like to share my viewing with friends and family. my partner has an 8 year old lad whos begining to show interest, so i want something we can share.

my questions are.... is the Skymax 127 as good as ive read ??

are there maintenance issues with this scope ?? (i believe its a sealed, non user friendly scope)

does the colour scheme, black blue or brown alter the internals, power ability ??

and finally... the Goto.

is it heavy duty. does it track as well as i believe i would need for planetary viewing and nebulas ??

also fancy trying my hand at astro photography at some time in the near future...

Ladies and Gentlemen. i know ive asked more questions than is probably the norm, but cash is tight and i would love a good solid set up that i can use. something i can keep for years and know its going to perform time and again.

thanks to everyone that takes time to read my posting.

Funky...

[Trickystar1]

Hi, yes it's a good beginner scope, with the goto make sure you use a lower magnification lens (eye piece) to start with when setting up the goto, something like a 20mm eye piece would do. In the future it would also be wise to invest in a power tank for a more reliable power source as batteries can sometimes cause the tracking to move off. Have fun with your new scope!

[John]

I think the 127mm GOTO maksutov-cassegrain is a great scope for viewing the moon, planets and deep sky objects. It won't deliver extensive wide field views dues to it's slow design and, at the end of the day, it's a 5" aperture scope which will limit the views of deep sky objects - many will be faint smudges of light.

You will need to get some dew prevention gear either in the form of a dew shield of a heated dew band (or both) from the off as these scopes are "dew magnets" having a glass lens right at the top of the tube.

Oh, and expect planets to look smaller than you expect - it's par for the course !.

[Paul Laws]

I got mine last Friday. First light Saturday - M42, Jupiter and the Moon.

Using the 25mm EP supplied, Lunar viewing was outstanding, Jupiter and

3 moons super sharp and M42 just a greenish haze

Not expecting any problems with the Synscan.

Manual tracking was easy with the red, back-lit handset. Only

problem I had was remembering left is right looking through the

EP

Was going to have a crack at Mars tonight but just been out and

it's cats and dogs here.

I'm using a 95Ah leisure battery as a power supply. Snipped off

the lead that was connected to the supplied AA battery box,

fused it with 3A and croc clips to the battery terminals.

I'm a newb so nothing to compare it to but I'm enjoying the

experience. Going to dabble with astrophotography via the

webcam route. LifeCam on the way. All software loaded.

Good luck.

[BazMark]

I can't compare this scope with a scope of larger aperture. However, I went from a 4.5" short tube reflector (SW1145pm), which is a great little scope to the SW127 (5") mak and the difference on the planets and moon was amazing. The views were much clearer and higher mags are possible. The moon is especially breath taking.

Having a focal length of 1500mm compared to the 500mm of the 1145p though, it does have a narrow 'field of view.' This isn't too big a problem but it does mean that some of the larger deep sky objects won't fit in the FOV, even at low mags.

I found the GoTo to track accurately for over half an hour when set up correctly. One thing that gave me a little problem at first was getting the mount level. I was putting in all the details the GoTo was asking for but it still wouldn't 'GoTo' accurately. This turned out to be due to not getting the mount absolutely level. Once I got that sorted there was no problem. I Must say though that once I'd used the GoTo for a while and got to know the skies a bit better I lost interest in the GoTo aspect and I never use it now. I Plan ahead what I would like to see, look up where to find it and go hunt for it using a pair of 10x50s the view finder and the slew controls only.

[Squagnut]

hi everyone.

my questions are....

1) is the Skymax 127 as good as ive read ??

2) are there maintenance issues with this scope ?? (i believe its a sealed, non user friendly scope)

3) does the colour scheme, black blue or brown alter the internals, power ability ??

and finally... the Goto.

4) is it heavy duty. does it track as well as i believe i would need for planetary viewing and nebulas ??

also fancy trying my hand at astro photography at some time in the near future...

1) Very probably. I have one, and it was as good as I'd read. It's still a 5" 'scope, so don't expect miracles, but it's a very well-made item.

2) No. I've not tried to get inside mine, but I've not had any reason to want to.

3) No. The outside colour is purely decorative.

4) If you've levelled the mount and aligned it properly, it'll stick like glue to your target.

Don't expect great results immediately with astrophotography - the AZ mount is unsuitable for long-exposure dSLR shots - but you'll get something worthwhile with a webcam, especially the moon. Learning to use Registax would be an advantage, especially for getting images of planets.

[Funkymoped]

"THANKS EVERYONE"

still not got a scope due to moving house. that is all in hand now though, so things should start looking up!!! it seems for the money, i cant get much better. at the moment im using a 70mm refractor. some nice images but obviously nothing will compare to gazing through a decent scope.

once again, "thank you" to all that passed on their knowledge.

to infintiy... and beyond !