At last - some stars!

[Guest Steve]

Finally managed to grab an hour outside. First time I'd had chance to get the Williams Optics 66m Petzval out at night since I got it over a month ago!

Plenty of cloud rolling around but managed a tour of Cygnus and Lyra. The main bag of the night was the open cluster of M39 - the 8mm end of the Hyperion Zoom captured it perfectly.

Really happy with the scope but trying to use a photo tripod is a nightmare. I was having to find a target and then move up until out of view, tighten, relax, and hope the target slid back into view as the scope slumped back to equilibrium. Gonna have to start saving for a decent alt-az.

[Brantuk]

An AZ-4 would do the trick very nicely for observing. The scope's light enough for an EQ3-2 but my minimum these days is EQ5 for any of the lighter ota's. It's grab and go and will give the stability needed for imaging with small refractors and up to 6" newts/maks etc.

[Tweedledee]

I too was out last night till about 1.30am. Had a wonderful time just with 10 x 50s and my 80mm. Spent most of the time on a sunlounger with the binos. I was amazed at how many satellites I saw both naked eye and speeding through the field of view even in the 80mm. Space around Earth must be getting quite congested. M39 was a great target in the 80mm. M29 a bit small. M31 was big in both optics and the coathanger was a nice sight.

Steve, for a very cheap grab n go for visual with your Petzval, I can thoroughly recommend the type of video tripod I now use. It has a lever arm to position the scope which is real slick and precise to use. It is stable enough for a small scope. I miss nearly 10 degrees of the zenith but that's no problem. It will also pack away in a suitcase.

Kim's suggestions would be more stable but probably a bit heavier. I can easily pick up the whole thing in one hand to reposition and view around the the trees in my garden.

/>http://www.eastmidlandsstargazers.co.uk/topic/1725-my-10-snt-and-80wa/#

[Guest Steve]

Food for thought Pate. Is that the Slik tubular metal tripod with Bogen pan and tilt video head from your signature? Is there a model number for that as there are a lot of video heads out there?

(I was using what I thought was a sturdy camera tripod, brought from Fleabay for £12, but it was made out of chocolate for all the rigidity it has!)

Kim, how compact is the AZ4 for transportation? Does the head come off?

Anyone had any experience of the http://www.rotherval...ipod_d2267.html - at £76 it is by far the cheapest thing I've seen. Is it too cheap?

(corrected speelung)

Edited June 29, 2012 by Steve

[Brantuk]

Yup - Head comes off the AZ4 - but hardly worth it - just unscrew the handle and collapse the legs down and it will fit in most boots as is

[Guest Steve]

It's the fitting it into a full car I have to worry about - I'm mainly wanting something for use on holiday in a couple of weeks in the South of France. Any chance I could pop round and have a decco at yours sometime soon to get a feel for it?

(I assume that was what we used when I was at yours before? I was a bit overwhelmed at the time, and wasn't thinking about the mount!)

[Guest Steve]

(Oh boy, it's a good job none of you have smutty senses of humour)

[Brantuk]

Sure Steve - no probs - just gimme a quick bell to let me know when and we'll arrange it. I think you still have my number - if not pm me and I'll send it

[Tweedledee]

Yes Steve that is the one.

The head is a Manfrotto Bogen 3130 and on the tripod leg it says Slik Easy Glide Video Tripod. It certainly is a cut above the average cheap flimsy camera mount.

This particular model may only be available second hand now. But I am sure there are similar new versions about.

Mine was given to me by my father-in-law about 10 years ago, but remained unused gathering dust in a corner of the garage for many years. I found it again recently whilst doing a major tidy up. I cleaned it up and tried my 80mm on it. I was extremely impressed by it's light weight combined with surprising stability. But most of all, it was so slick and precise to move to a target using just one hand on the pan & tilt handle without even touching the scope. Previously my 80mm short tube was on the most ridiculous little equatorial mount which was quite heavy, bulky and awkward to use. I don't even miss the slow motion controls of the eq because the handle operation is so smooth and precise. I should have ditched the eq and swapped it to the Manfrotto years ago.

To my mind, for lightness, compactness, ease of use and portability for a small scope, this is the way to go.

The AZ4 would be a more rigid piece of kit, but that needs to be weighed against weight and compactness.

Hope this helps.

[Guest Steve]

No! - my head is spinning

[Tweedledee]

No! - my head is spinning

I know what you mean. My motto is don't rush in. Get plenty of advice. Google it. Weigh up all the pro's and con's, even write them down. I do this and often take weeks to come to a conclusion, and eventually I come to the right decision for me and I'm happy with it.