At Last - the ST120!

[Ogri]

Happy Dance!

No problems with assembly, quite a nice finish with it.

Size seems well ok for taking on the bike (going to make a travel case). The AZ3 seems rather nice, and good for travelling with (overtightened nut adjusted ok), it's definitely better than I expected. A suggestion I read somewhere (Cloudynights?) about mounting the tube as far forward as possible in the rings seems sound.

RDF aligned.

Supplied 25mm EP seems nice (10mm definitely doesn't suit me - LER WA like the 25mm is the way to go with my eyes). Even with misty hazy conditions, it's obviously very nice for daytime spotting with the 45 deg diagonal.

The focusser is much better than I expected before stripping it down to clean and regrease (I may leave that a bit for things to run in).

Can't wait for first light, but clouds are rolling in now.

[russ]

Congrats on your new scope, the ST120 is a terrific scope. I have fond memories of mine, although that diamond black paint scheme is far nicer than the really old Skywatcher dark blue i had. Your first light will hopefully be a memorable one.

Russ

[John]

Nice scope !.

The AZ-3 is fine until you point the scope towards the zenith, then it can start to tip backwards if the altitude bolt is not tight enough - mounting the scope well forward as you have and avoiding heavy eyepieces / diagonals helps overcome this. You can add DIY counterweights to the mount to address this as well:

has | AZ-3 Mount Mod

Hope you get 1st light soon

[Ogri]

Thanks guys!

It definitely has the 'This is a Keeper' thing written all over it for me already. Watching the spring lambs a bit over 2 miles away was awesome.

Can't do that much with it for the moment, not just due to the weather, but next up will be the essential filter(s) I need (and I've definitely overdone it with the powertank stuff as well lol! - I can indeed resist everything but temptation).

Nice tip on that counterbalance for the AZ3 article John, that's something to have a good look at for sure.

[albedo0.39]

Nice move ! I went to purchase one of these scope from FLO last year, but I never actually got a price from them (it was pre-owned). I wish I had pushed them harder because from all accounts, they are a great little scope.

I'd be mighty interested in the view in respect of colout fringing. I have heard that it's evident at higher powers but minimal with a low power EP

Looking forwards to days and days of cloud (oops... I meant first light !)

S

[Ogri]

Well, I had what was to be a very quick look that ended up being a nice couple of hours or three, before the brass bits fell off. No filters (so didn't venture anywhere near the moon), and the supplied 25mm (24x mag) was very nice to use (I tried the 10mm earlier and it's flat out unsuitable for my eyes).

As viewing below about 60 deg was more than a bit iffy (as well as mostly cloudy), and Mars was well overhead, I tried the Ascension 5.2mm I got secondhand from Shanefarrell (Ascension ED Apochromatic Eyepieces.) - along with a Celestron prism star diagonal to swap out with the terrestrial one - and chased it around for ages for practice (I can already feel I overdid it without a filter though /sigh). The 115x magnification was quite manageable, if not quite as comfortable to use as the 25mm (again, down to my eyes and wearing glasses) and I really didn't notice any CA to speak of when in focus (that's not saying a lot with my admittedly atrocious eyes and tonights viewing conditions though). For me (always an important Caveat) this 'scope is very much livable with, and I'd made the mental allowances to give it reasonable expectations well before it arrived (which it seems to be exceeding with ease).

With the conditions, even though I couldn't make out any Mars detail, I am just chuffed to bits to have been chasing it around (then for a bonus I found a Mars bar in one of my coat pockets).

Didn't get round to trying a 2x Barlow of dads, which I had intended to, as I was enjoying the views too much to go indoors for it.

I did a fair bit of straight up viewing bimbling around with the 25mm in, and the AZ3 was coping fine with the tripod legs fully extended (shoving the 'scope well forward in the rings must be having a pretty positive effect). eta: I was using it with 1 leg forward, and just lifting it up and plonking it down so as to keep 2 legs at the rear so the EP end had bags of room, and that was easy enough.

Something else I like, with the 'scope pointing straight up, the whole package folds up to a very compact size to live in a corner or in a cupboard (I think I'll leave the little lens tray thingy off as I have a coat with big pockets and plenty of them), and it for sure goes out the door and gets set up very quickly indeed.

It is nowhere near as bulky a 'scope as it might be easy to imagine it to be. I wasn't too sure what to expect exactly, just guessed that it looked to be about the limit of what I could easily get on the motorbike to take touring. It'll go on, and it isn't all that heavy all up (including the AZ3) either.

All in all I'm pretty sure I've managed to get a 'scope that's ideal for me for the long haul. Not just for astro use, but dawn, daylight, and dusk animal spotting capability looks to be pretty impressive too.

There's a lot of mileage potential there for it being just the one 'scope imho.

Also, I read somewhere here on SGL someone recommended the cheap Argos red led light that you wear on your head, and I'd picked one up. This worked lovely and I'm grateful to whoever it was that recommended it.

[david o]

Congrats on the scope Ogri !

Glad the clouds let you alone for a few hours to enjoy first-light.

By the way, what bike you got?

[Ogri]

Congrats on the scope Ogri !

Glad the clouds let you alone for a few hours to enjoy first-light.

By the way, what bike you got?

Thanks David, it cleared up just enough locally to have a peek.

My main bike I use all year round and for touring is a Honda Hornet 900 - probably the best all round bike I have ever owned since the Kawasaki Z650's of the late 1970's (and Honda have stopped making it now. Grrrr!). While I can't go far in cars anymore, I have managed about 1,000 miles in a day on the Hornet (Cheste, home of the Valencia GP, to Calais), and could still walk when I got there. I couldn't do even half that on my BMW, for comparison.

My other bike is a Honda Bros 650, which is a very nice and ingeniously designed little V twin. Needs some major customising to make it suitable to do long distances in comfort though.

[david o]

Mines a Yam FZR 600. Old, but still mean enough to spit me off and do damage when I'm not careful !