Beginners advice

[Peteo1]

Had a tal1 100mm reflector 30+ years ago but life got in the way so the adventure begins again...have just bought a starwatcher skymax 90 on eq1 mount any advice greatly appreciated 😀 

 

[Elp]

Hi, what are your goals?

[Peteo1]

Getting to know the sky again at first and maybe some astrophotography 

 

[Louis D]

I'd probably get a RACI finder for low power views to complement the long focal length of the Mak.  Trying to find your way around the sky with the Mak alone is difficult due to its narrow field of view.

[Elp]

Get familiar with a program/phone app such as Stellarium or Skysafari if you're learning the sky, they're indispensable even whilst out in the field observing.

If you're observing get two or three good eyepieces of different powers and maybe a 2x barlow lens.

AP is a whole other ballgame and one you should get into very slowly unless you know exactly what you want to do, how much money you wish to spend and how much time you are willing to invest in resolving issues, the eq1 really won't be any use for that unless if you're imaging something like the moon or planets which require short exposure photos, even then the eq1 is not very stable and prone to vibrations and long dampening times from my past experience. The long focal length and small field of view of the mak will also make it more difficult.