Sky Max 102

[Bino Pete]

Hi, 

can I fit this - http://www.firstlightoptics.com/maksutov/skywatcher-skymax-102-ota.html on my heavy duty horizon 8115 tripod?

1) Will it physically fit on the tripod (do I need any other accessories)?

2) Would the views be steady enough if I didn't extend the height of the tripod etc?

Thanks

[nightfisher]

Im pretty sure you can, if you email Alfian on here i think he did the same, they are a nice little grab an go mak, i had one a few years back and ended up selling it and regretting it

[PaulB]

Sure can.

I have the same Mak and use it for grab and go with a modest tripod.

The Sky Mak 102 is incredibly light. I use it in conjunction with a Baader Witty one.

[Cornelius Varley]

It should be possible to do this. The smaller skywatcher maks have a standard 1/4" tripod threaded hole in their dovetail bar.

[Alfian]

Hi Pete, the 102Mak will go on a fairly heavy duty photo tripod, as per attached photos. The Tripod shown is the one now advertised as a Ravelli complete with Trigger grip ball head, which is something of a bargain. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ravelli-APGL4-Professional-Tripod-Adjustable/dp/B003SQEAY0/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1454850331&sr=1-1&keywords=ravelli+tripod

I don't know how the Horizon 8115 compares with this. The ball head shown is this:  http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008H3XZ22?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

As you can see the Mak is stable even at the Zenith position even with the 9x50 RACI attached. However, (there always seems to be a BUT)  although this works as a useful very portable grab n' go, it has its limitations. Given that the Mak,  tends to give a narrow field of view (a 32mm Plossl gives about 40x and 1.3 degrees) to track an object is a manual process and not especially smooth. A proper astro mount with slomo controls works better for a "proper" session. I've found the 102 Mak goes quite well on the mini-dob mount that the Heritage 130 is mounted on, but that probably does not help you.

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[happy-kat]

Seeing that makes me think that a pan head like on the link would improve the nudging of a photo head based mount. Then the ball head is just doing az and the pan head does alt.

Link here

[Bino Pete]

Thanks for all the input.

If I wanted to upgrade the eyepieces that come with this scope. 

Can you recommend makes and sizes please. I will probably be buying 2 eyepieces and I wear glasses if that helps.

I mainly want to view the moon and planets (on a side note what can I expect Saturn to look like through this scope?).

Thanks

[Alfian]

54 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

Seeing that makes me think that a pan head like on the link would improve the nudging of a photo head based mount. Then the ball head is just doing az and the pan head does alt.

Link here

Yes, that would work and I had thought about it, but other things have tended to take over, as they do.

Pete, I bought the 102 Mak pretty much for lunar work for which it is brilliant (imo). I tend not to push magnification so much and find the views through a 9mm (144) is plenty and 15mm and 12mm are very nice. I've never had the Kind of views of Saturn I would have liked, but most of this is down to a combination of bad timing, poor skies etc. Jupiters cloud belts  and moons are a good sight though.

Interestingly, Paul describes the 102 Mak as "incredibly light" whereas I was struck by how solid and weighty it felt for its size. 

[Fozzie]

21 hours ago, happy-kat said:

Seeing that makes me think that a pan head like on the link would improve the nudging of a photo head based mount. Then the ball head is just doing az and the pan head does alt.

Link here

Oh I like that Idea!

20 hours ago, Bino Pete said:

Thanks for all the input.

If I wanted to upgrade the eyepieces that come with this scope. 

Can you recommend makes and sizes please. I will probably be buying 2 eyepieces and I wear glasses if that helps.

I mainly want to view the moon and planets (on a side note what can I expect Saturn to look like through this scope?).

Thanks

Eyepiece recommendations are so personal what's right for one is not necessarily right for the next.

The general consensus is to give the EP's that come with the scope a go first, the 25mm should be ok with glasses, you might struggle with the 10mm however.

 

that being said at F13 (wow really?) which the skymax is, it will be very forgiving on anything you use.. If your interested in eye relief primarily then the following would be good alternatives over the 10mm, I've tried to list in order of price.. and the list is by no means exhaustive..

• BST Explorers (very popular upgrade)
• Celestron Excel LX
• WO SPL
• Vixen SLV (love these, but don't be swayed by my outrageous biasness, especially as these are on off from FLO at the moment, not the 10 though but the 9 or 12 is!!)
• Baader Morpheus
• Televue Delos or Delite.

All of the above have different fields of view but would be better than the original stock 10mm..

Let us know how you get on!

Ta

Fozzie

[Mak the Night]

21 hours ago, Bino Pete said:

Thanks for all the input.

If I wanted to upgrade the eyepieces that come with this scope. 

Can you recommend makes and sizes please. I will probably be buying 2 eyepieces and I wear glasses if that helps.

I mainly want to view the moon and planets (on a side note what can I expect Saturn to look like through this scope?).

Thanks

Although some sources say a 102mm Mak can magnify up to 241x I find that a maximum of 208x gives an exit pupil of 0.5mm. The Celestron Omni 12mm (12.5mm according to their site) or any 12-13mm eyepiece will give you around 100x and that can be easily doubled with a Barlow to 200x. I can get 208x with my 12.5mm Hutech orthoscopics plus a 2x Barlow. Any 15mm eyepiece gives a nice medium power of 87x that can also be nicely doubled with a Barlow. Any eyepiece below a 6.25mm focal length will give a smaller exit pupil than 0.5mm and you may start to see floaters from your own eyes. For lunar viewing around 200x is superb with the 4" Mak. It may be a bit much for Jupiter at times depending on circumstances. I find Saturn looks good at almost anything from 130x - 200x (it will move fast at 200x though lol). As the Mak doesn't have a great field of view I'd get a 32mm Plossl as a general low power EP and a 13 or 15mm EP that can be doubled with a Barlow.