View attachment 8278 Just two weeks ago I was down to two scopes and one mount. Today I have 5 scopes and 5 mounts. My wife said I am nuts. My latest one, which I got yesterday morning, my wife did not notice. I put a bag over the scope so it would not be so obvious...LOL. Like the unknown comic... I was hard to hide this puppy View attachment 8276 View attachment 8277 ..read more

Looking at Amazon Warehouse I came across this brand of telescope. It appears to be similar to the Starsense Explorer but half the price. The mount is the Orion Versago E https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C8HNLDMB/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_2?smid=A21UM5P2ATBO5W&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C8TJZHST/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_1?smid=A2UARN6G87QBHF&psc=1 It says " 2 ED(Extra-low Dispersion) glass elements, chromatic aberration corrected for accurate color... New Discovery ..read more

I'm pretty much a mirror guy since 1968 when I received a cardboard Newt at the age of 8. So I'm pretty sensitive to CA, but last night Jupiter was a mess! I was using a mirror diagonal and my Hyperion 24mm, I also tried a 17mm Plossl, but Jupiter looked like it was being viewed through a ST80. I haven't owned this Orion 80ed that long, tonight I may set up an SCT next to it to rule out atmospheric conditions. Any thoughts ..read more

About 6 months ago a longtime observing friend passed. His son asked if I could come and inventory the observatory so spent a couple days last week getting everything together and putting prices to everything. I ended up leaving with a full Vixen AXD mount and accessories. It is a handful as the mount along weights 25 kg! It has a 33 kg photographic load capacity and my heaviest telescope is 13 kg so I think it will be alright ..read more

Now this one should bring some funny and unusual responses -- I hope! This is number 2 on my list It was from Amazon Warehouse. I like new Twilight 1 mount Well it came in a box that belonged to a kids painting set and was full of torn, ripped styrofoam that did not come with the mount. I did not even try to assemble the mount as there was large tear in the box and I found some parts actually lying in the driveway when it was delivered. What the heck... Enjoy. and wait for number... What was your worst astronomy purchase ..read more

Up until 5-6 years ago this brand had a great market niche for lower end ED refractors in the USA. Then Svbony entered the market and impacted the AT cash cow for Astronomics, who by the way owns Astrotech. As a consequence it is most likely that AT profits margins have dropped significantly. Now those of you card-carrying CN Astrotech aficionados will take umbrage to this post but so be it. This is just one person's humble opinion. In order to protect the Astrotech brand,... Astrotech Refractor Telescopes ..read more

Firstly by SSE I am alluding to the system whereby one affixes their cell phone to a cradle which is either attached to the mount or OTA. I have several versions of Nexstar Mounts – GT, SLT and SE – and several Starsense Explorer scopes with their mounts. In trying to find objects in the sky to me there is no comparison. SSE wins hands down. With the Nexstar Mounts you need a power source, the larger mounts are much heavier, and you must align the unit. Sometimes the latter takes... Starsense Explorer(SSE)vs Nexstar Mounts -- Object Finding ..read more

I have always felt that a 90mm was an optimal scope for lightweight grab and go purposes. A 102ED with rings weighs in the area of 12 lbs which is too much for many lighter weight mounts to handle. By lighter weight mounts I am alluding to the Versago, smaller Twilight, etc mounts. If you add a 102ED for example to a Twilight I you are talking about 30 lbs plus. A 90ED would be easily under 10 lbs and with some of the smaller mounts the total weight would be under 20 lbs which is great... 90mm ED Refractor ..read more

As we all know Celestron has 4 models representing their SE series of telescopes -- 4SE/5SE/6SE AND 8SE. My question is: Do they use the same mount with all 4 of these scopes? If not how many mounts are there? I have read albeit not substantiated that the mounts for the 6SE and 8SE are the same but then others say the mount base is larger for the 8SE. So what is the story about these mounts? thanks ..read more

I was looking at reviews of telescopes and noticed that some of the newer models and newer manufacturers are not listed. Is there a way that I could add any of these so that I could provide some reviews ..read more