I bought this for $450

Captured with StellaVita in Bortle 7.
3 hours of integration
Filter: UV/IR cut
Camera: Uranus C Pro from Player One
Mount: Ioptron CEM 26
Telescope: SW Explorer 130PDS
Processed using Siril, RC astro and SnapSeed

I’ve been processing my image of M16, and have been struggling to decide which version is better. I like version one because it’s seems smoother, but version two has slightly more contrast, although I feel like it’s getting a bit too noisy.

Please let me know all your thoughts.

Hello,

I just bought a telescope from a surplus sale a university had posted. I gave ChatGPT a bunch of the images and it thinks it is Criterion Dynascope 8 Deluxe or closely related Custom/Deluxe configuration, probably around 1970 given the 052170 primary-mirror marking

I found 052170 stamped on the back of the primary mirror but there are no other markings I have been able to find so far besides Criterion being on the mount. On the lens side of the telescope there appears to be a spot where a tag maybe used to be be. I have included some pictures that maybe might help identify it. I’m just looking for enough information so if I need to get any parts and also to see if I can find a manual for it online somewhere.

Thanks

The Moon through the lens of a cheap self made equipment. Magnifying glass, paper tube, average eye piece.

Astrobin: https://app.astrobin.com/i/lmp3w5

Took a trip out near Joshua Tree and spent the night stargazing. Towards early morning Orion popped out a few hours before twilight, and I was amazed by how vivid the Orion Nebula was in the visual scope. I only had my Orion 10" Dob and SVBONY 305C for imaging, which is why this is much more magnified than a typical Orion Nebula shot, but it still looks quite beautiful and is a bit closer to what I see in the eyepiece anyway, albeit with far more detail.

Unfortunately it does look a bit blurry to me. I was racing the sun to get this, so I shot it between 24 and 30 degrees altitude and the atmosphere got in the way of a lot of detail. This will be one to return to in a few months.

Gear

• Orion XT10g 10" Dobsonian, 1200mm f/4.7, no Barlow
• SVBONY SV305C PRO
• UHC filter
• 1920 x 1080 at 2.9 micron, 0.498 arcsec/px, 16 x 9 arcmin field
• Alt azimuth GoTo

Acquisition

• 1 September 2026, near Yucca Valley, California
• Gain 0, offset 20, 1s subs
• 2001 captured, 1703 used, 28.4 min total
• Target altitude 24 to 30 degrees, airmass 2.2

Stacking

• Frames rejected on star FWHM and elongation rather than alignment success
• Aligned for rotation by asterism matching, 8.8 degrees of field rotation across the run
• Median of 12 time chunks, which rejects hot pixels without a dark frame
• Cropped to the region covered by at least 75 percent of frames, 86 percent of the sensor

Processing

• Background flattened with a degree 2 polynomial, iterative rejection
• Color calibrated from gains measured on a globular cluster shot with the same camera the same night, since star color calibration does not work through a UHC
• Luminance only Richardson-Lucy deconvolution, so sharpening does not shift color
• Arcsinh stretch, black point applied after the stretch
• Stars separated with StarNet2, no denoising applied
• Stars screened back at 100 percent

Final frame is 14.6 x 8.4 arcmin.

Snug, but it fits.

The product description for the heater ring lists all C8s pre-2006 as incompatible, but I saw a comment on Cloudy Nights saying the ring worked on their older C8. Screw holes line up perfectly. Dust cover goes on but is tight.

Edit: mine is mid-1980s

-Sky-Watcher Heritage 150P Virtuoso GTi telescope

-SV705C camera (unfiltered)

-4-second exposures at gain 350

-Processed in Siril: 70 minutes of data, with 71 darks frames and 50 flatt frames

-Bortle 8.9 sky

I feel it turned out pretty well. I’d like to gather more integration time, but I’d appreciate any suggestions for improvement.https://imgur.com/a/ptmFvG5

I recently installed a DobsonDream DSC encoder kit on my Apertura AD8 and ran into a problem with the altitude tension system.

The stock AD8 tension knob can't be used with the encoder at all. The factory knob is closed on the outside, while the DobsonDream altitude encoder needs access to the end of the bolt that passes through the tension knob/altitude bearing assembly so the encoder can couple to it.

The DobsonDream installation therefore leaves you without the normal adjustable tension knob on that side of the telescope.

I wanted to retain both functions, so I designed a replacement knob with an open center that allows the bolt to pass through and connect to the DobsonDream encoder while still functioning as an altitude tension knob.

Space is extremely tight between the knob and encoder assembly, so it took several prototypes and measurements of the original hardware to get everything fitting properly.

The final version is now installed and working on my AD8. It feels very similar to the factory knob and provides more than enough tension to prevent altitude drift. In fact, the modified side by itself can hold the telescope in position with my normal setup, including a RACI finder, 3D-printed handling handle, and 2" 30 mm eyepiece.

I printed mine in Prusament PETG on a Prusa XL.

I've made the design available for free on Printables under a noncommercial Creative Commons license and included the STL, 3MF, STEP, and Fusion 360 source files:

https://www.printables.com/model/1830474-apertura-ad8-dobsondream-tension-knob-adapter

I've only physically tested it on my Apertura AD8. Since these scopes are GSO-made, I'd be very interested to hear from anyone who tries it on another compatible GSO Dobsonian.

Clear skies!

Captured using Celestron 70eq with 3x Barlow lens with 20mm eyepiece. Preprocessed using PIPP, stacked using AutoStakkert and sharpened using Registax

yep, this is how saturn basically looked from my 70mm f/13 telescope, gosh i js needed to wait for it to get higher i can even see the cassini division!! it looks just like those pictures but really small (this is how it looked like from 10mm)

for my fellow beginners wait for objects to get higher than 25 degrees, it looked like this from 30, it sucks at 25ish tho

oh wait nvm it looks way to big in the drawing imagine it like 40% smaller

edit: today i looked at stellarium, it was actually about 35-40

Got my new guide telescope and filters. At the moment they arrived, some time ago it got clouded and rained... I haven't been able to use it yet but am all hyped looking at it! hehe had to share it

I recently got a decent deal on an open box Celestron 10" Tube and Base, but the base was missing all it's parts. I've gone ahead and sourced pretty much everything but the Altitude Bearings from my local hardware store, and all that's left are the bearings.

I'm worried I won't be able to "eyeball" the correct piece like I did with the others as the outer diameter and friction of this seem to require some precision for it to come together properly.

If anyone with this scope have any pictures or measurements of these bearings they would be willing to share with me, or some advice, I would deeply appreciate it!

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

ISS Lunar Transit - August 31, 2026. Telescope: Orion SpaceProbe 130st; Camera: ZWO ASI585mc; Mount: SV225/SV225t, manual alt/az, manually tracked; Capture Software: SharpCap Pro; Capture Format: RAW8, SER; Region of Interest (ROI) 1920 x 1200; Exposure .250s; Gain = 204; Capture Rate 15 fps; Binning 1 x 1. Just East of Sweet Springs, Missouri (County Rd. K and Hwy. EE). PIPP used to debayer the SER and extract individual PNG frames. Seven successive frames aligned on lunar surface to show ISS's progression across the Moon. Local time = 11:26 pm CDT (~4:26:51 UTC). Thanks for looking!!

Chinese no brand mini Newtonian 60mm Aperture 240mm focal length, sv205 no barlow. USB Camera app unknown settings.

Just a few pixels can just about make out the rings.

Telescope is tiny, about the size of two coke cans.

Hello all, I posted an earlier version of this finderscope bracket for my Virtuoso 150p and wanted to share the updated version, along with the other 3D printed mods I've installed.

The finderscope bracket itself slides onto the vixen rail and clamps on with thumbscrews. It wraps around to provide a couple finderscope shoes without requiring any drilling or adhesive. Right now I've got an Apertura RACI finderscope and a new Telrad installed, and balance is pretty good. I've tried mounting the Telrad to the top of the tube where the old red dot finder was, but that required adding extra weight to the bottom of the tube to balance. Not sure if the Telrad will work out or if I'll try a Rigel instead.

This is a pretty crude model remixed from some existing brackets, but it's functional and seems to work well. I've ensured I could properly align the finders as well. The file is available here:

https://www.printables.com/model/1820937-heritage-150p-finderscope-bracket

The rest of these mods were made by others and I'm just sharing them because I've enjoyed using them:

I've also installed a new focuser. It uses a 58mm focusing ring to provide much smoother action without rotating the eyepiece, and without adding much length. Model by Rabid Badger:

https://www.printables.com/model/1569498-sky-watcher-heritagevirtuoso-gti-150p-focuser-upgr

Focuser support bracket by LemonTek:

https://makerworld.com/en/models/1813009-sky-watcher-heritage-150p-lens-brace#profileId-1934429

Light shroud:

https://makerworld.com/en/models/1093335-skywatcher-virtuoso-gti-150-light-shroud#profileId-1087252

Telrad Dovetail mount by Axel:
https://www.printables.com/model/977525-telrad-dovetail-mount-reduced-dovetail-size

Moon photo taken 8/30/26 from Houston, Texas with Sony a7R V through Takahashi TSA-120 telescope with Vernonscope Dakin 2.4x barlow on ZWO AM5. Best 50% stack of 2,400 RAW file images with remote trigger. Aligned in PIPP, stacked in AutoStakkert 4, processed in Photoshop.

Saturn taken with manual 10” dob
ES 6,7mm 82° eyepiece
2x barlow
iPhone 14 pro
4k video 60fps and manually selected one frame that looks good.
Edited a bit of color and brightness in the native photo app.

I am a beginner so now I am going to learn how to stack and process to achieve better results.

Not bad for an iPhone camera looking through a telescope 🤷‍♂️

I took this last week during the partial lunar eclipse. I don’t have any fancy equipment, but my friend had a telescope out and I thought I’d try to take a photo with my phone. I was surprised how much red came through!

31/08/2026 lunar terminator
Manual 10" f4.7 dob
ES 6,7mm 82° eyepiece
2x barlow.
iPhone 14 pro
4k 60fps unedited video

Took this video last night and I was amazed by how sharp the view was at 360x magnification compared to other days I used the telescope. I bought a Cheshire collimator and I think that is a lot better than the cheap laser collimator I used to have. The seeing was very good so it was probably a mix of both.

I rescued this telescope for $29 usd and am planning to purchase the missing parts. From what I can tell, this model is likely from the early 2000s, so I’m wondering if I’ve accidentally bought a dinosaur.

Is it worth investing in the missing parts, or would I be better off putting that money toward a newer telescope? My biggest concern is whether newer hand controllers/accessories will actually be compatible with this older model.

Also, what’s the best place to buy replacement parts for older telescopes like this? Any particular retailers or sources you recommend?

Also on Astrobin (https://app.astrobin.com/i/tdc2cm)

Two nights on the Helix Nebula with the Seestar S30 Pro at Starfront Observatories in Texas. Coarser resolution than I am used to at 3.74 arcsec/px, but I am impressed by what came out. I used the same simulated SHO palette as my Dumbbell because I find the contrast between Ha and OIII easier to read. There is no real SII channel behind it, so this is a two channel palette, not true SHO. Shot with the Seestar LP filter.

Gear

• ZWO Seestar S30 Pro, 30mm aperture, 160mm f/5.3
• Built in LP filter
• 3840 x 2160 at 2.9 micron, 3.74 arcsec/px, 2.2 x 4.0 degree field
• Alt azimuth, uncooled, sensor at 34 C

Acquisition

• Nights of 29 and 30 August 2026, about 2h 45m per session
• Gain 200, 10s subs
• 1363 captured, 1358 used, 3h 46m total

Stacking

• Frames rejected on star FWHM and elongation rather than alignment success
• Aligned for rotation by asterism matching, 38 degrees of field rotation across the run
• Mean stacked
• Cropped to the region covered by at least 75 percent of frames, 34 percent of the sensor

Processing

• Background flattened with a degree 2 polynomial, iterative rejection
• Colour calibrated from 337 field stars
• Arcsinh stretch, black point applied after the stretch
• Stars separated with StarNet2
• Nebula layer denoised with GraXpert at strength 0.7, starless layer only
• Palette: Ha = R, OIII = 0.7G + 0.3B, mapped to the Hubble palette with a green pull
• RGB stars screened back at 100 percent

Final frame is 48 x 36 arcmin.