Planetary / lunar rig

[Priesters]

7 hours ago, WestCoastCannuck said:

Sorry to muddy the waters....

Absolutely no problem.  Thanks for taking the time.  I guess buying a SkyTee is a no regrets decision though as it will be a robust enough mount for my 8” SCT and pretty much any other scope that I may change to in the future if I really get in to lunar/planetary.  It’s more expensive than an AZ4 but not massively so.

Thanks again.

Andrew

[Priesters]

7 hours ago, WestCoastCannuck said:

Evostar 120  (F7.5 FPL 53 Doublet)

Must admit I hadn’t appreciated there were two versions with different glass.  This one retails in the UK for £1409 and the other EvoStar 120 that I had in mind is F8.33 and retails for £339.  Quite a difference. 😂

[Priesters]

On 04/11/2023 at 20:04, RobertI said:

but you have your 80mm for that. 🙂

@RobertI  I seem to be flip flopping around on this and am now wondering if, as a starter rig, I could achieve my aim with my WO GT81 and AZ4 and potentially move up to 100mm aperture or more at a later date.  Question is what magnification would be realistic at 80mm?

[Paz]

An 80mm scope will give a 0.5mm exit pupil (which is a rough guide for maximum visual magnification) at 160x, which would mean you are not limited by the seeing so often.

You can go to smaller exit pupils (i.e. higher magnifications) than that with good quality scopes and good eyesight, and that GT81 looks like a good quality scope.

[Priesters]

36 minutes ago, Paz said:

good eyesight,

Thanks for the advice.  Pretty certain eyesight will prove to be a limiting factor so might not push it too far.

[Priesters]

Bought the AZ4 and other bits and used it last night with my GT81 and a 3mm and 27mm eyepiece.   AZ4 was a bit ‘sticky’ so might change the grease.  However, can’t really express enough how much I enjoyed those 3 hours with Jupiter, Saturn and the Pleiades but god was it cold last night up here in the Lake District.  I’m also expecting a telling off at some point today for putting towels over the bollard lights at our caravan site😂.   GT81 did admirably at 160x but I’ve got the bug now so have an appointment to inspect a used Altair Starwave Ascent 102 ED on Wednesday as per @The Lapwingtip.  If (when) I pull the trigger on that I’m just hoping the CFO won’t notice there are two white scopes for a while.  Very much looking forwards to planetary/lunar visual whilst DSO imaging. Thanks for all your advice.

Cheers

Andrew

Edited November 11, 2023 by Priesters

[Mr Spock]

Here's my 120mm during the day. I mainly use it for solar. However, I had a great session last night on Jupiter. With a combination of minus violet and an 80A filters the view was quite detailed. Better than you should expect for an inexpensive scope. Mostly at x147 (17mm LVW & x2.5 Powermate) - x192 was good (13mm LVW) to but just a bit much for the seeing conditions. Seeing got better later but I was using the 12" by then.

I have fitted it with an Astro Essentials dual speed focuser though. Much better scope with a decent focuser