Nexstar Evo 6

[BoredPhil]

Howdy all.

A few months ago I treated myself to an Evo 6 I found second hand - it fit the bill for something quick and easy to use (life isn't giving me much observing at the mo so want to make my time count) and after a rubbish year I deserved it 😁

I'm enjoying it a lot (when I can) and I'm now wondering if any other owners have any recommendations/tips for getting more out of it?

I'm a general observer - whatever planetary or deepsky I think it's capable of, and I've been pleasantly surprised.

I've never had an SCT before so still learning (getting comfortable with alignment, but limited field of view means waiting later and later for suitable stars to appear), and my plan is to make sure I'm up to speed/have my set up sorted out for the longer winter nights  - so I've got a few months to plan and do a bit of upgrading.

Any equipment (diagonal, focuser??) recommendations? Will a telrad save me a bit more time?

Any lenses that it likes/disagrees with?  I've got a basic selection of 1.25" that seem fine to me, but I expect if I invest wisely I'll be nicely surprised. -Is it worth going to 2”?

Any tips/hints/hacks welcome! 

[dweller25]

Buy a dew shield for certain.

Perhaps a decent zoom too

I put two layers of reflectix from B&Q around my SCT to thermally equalise it in the winter.

Check and adjust collimation

Edited May 1, 2021 by dweller25

[Cosmic Geoff]

Definitely buy or make a dew shield.  The prism diagonal is quite decent so I would not replace that.  You only need to use the finder during setup so I would not bother replacing that unless it becomes faulty.  A f10 SCT is not demanding of eyepieces, so you may be disappointed on buying new ones, unless your existing eyepieces include 'starter' eyepieces that you got with other scopes.  The 25mm Plossl that you probably got with this scope should be a decent one.

Some people like to add a 2" eyepiece to these scopes. I have not bothered, as I have a widefield scope, and the expense of adding a 2" visual back, 2" diagonal and 2" eyepiece is significant. And the hole in the back of your scope is a lot less than 2" diameter. A 32mm Plossl eyepiece will give you some extra field, much more cheaply.

 If you are interested in planetary imaging, the outfit is quite capable of doing this - just add a good planetary video camera and a laptop.

Zooms have their uses, but the field of view at minimum magnification (max fl.) is rather small, and the action on mine is so stiff that I cannot change the magnification without taking the zoom eyepiece off the telescope.

[BoredPhil]

Thanks @dweller25 and @Cosmic Geoff - how had I forgot dew shield!? Going to have to be DIY isn't it - even I can't mess that up!

One of the reasons I went for this scope was how forgiving people said it was on EP's, but I mainly have stock starters and a couple of OK plossls (8 and 15) I've picked up used for other scopes. You're right - the stock 25mm is my go to for wandering around the sky, so the 32 Plossl idea fits my kind of thinking for wider views.

Hadn't thought about planetary imaging, but now you've mentioned it, I may have to give that some thought too as it could be fun!

Really appreciate you taking the time to reply. I do love the scope, but know it's capable of more than I'm doing at the moment