This is the latest addition to my small list of equipment (the white telescope): the Skywatcher 72ED. I love this thing!! At f/5.8 I get nice crisp images.
I wanted something with a lower focal length so I could get a good shot of some nebulae and the M31 (the Andromeda Galaxy). It wasn't so straightforward getting this combination of equipment to work, however.
First, declination balance. The dovetail that came with this scope was way to small because I use a very heavy camera (that Nikon D850 you see in this photo). So I took that beautiful metallic green dovetail and replaced it with that orange one you see in this pic. I had to drill some holes into it to make it work, but whatever. Being cheap, I didn't buy a new dovetail, but instead took that orange one off my C6, which I don't use anymore (C6 focal length is too much for the big stuff, but too small for planets and the far galaxies, plus at f/10 for C6, really?).
Second, right ascension balance. The 11 lbs. counterweight that comes with the Losmandy GM811G is too much for the tiny Skywatcher 72ED. So I had to buy a 7 lbs. one instead. However, even with that, I had to push it all the way to the top of the bar to achieve balance, which, by the way, isn't achieved until I add the hand warmers. What hand warmers? The ones I tape around the end of the scope to keep the dew off, of course. Here's what they look like on my C8.
Celestron 8" Edge HD on my Losmandy GM811G. Attached is my Nikon D850. That stuff around the front end are hand warmers taped to it, to keep the dew off, because that big dew shield at the end only delays the inevitable.
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