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Hi Misha,
Well the scope arrived yesterday. It was very well packed.... the usual Skywatcher double boxing and the OTA held in place with foam blocks. The scope comes with the rings and dovetail, a 6x30 finder, and a 28mm 2 inch eyepiece.
All up everything was in good order. The focuser was a bit loose, so I adjusted the tension allan bolt and all is good. I have mounted it to the AZ4, and it is absolutely rock solid on it. It is literally grab-n-go. I can carry the complete unit without having to dismantle anything.
I did manage a quick first light. It was absolutely stinking hot last night here in Adelaide, so I could not be bothered staying out for too long. The scope arrived with collimation fairly intact. I did a quick check, and for first light, close enough was good enough. I managed to get a quick look at M42, Tarantula, 47 Tuc and Eta Carina. All up, quite happy with the scope. Deep sky objects are a bit brighter in comparison to the ED120 (but the ED120 does have a "crisper" view), but not as bright as what I can remember when I had the 12 Inch dob.
All up, for $249 it is a great buy. My main reason for purchasing this was to have a quick portable setup to use at a minutes notice, without having to remove the ED120 from its imaging setup in the 'observatory'.
I cannot comment on the EQ3, but the AZ4 (with the stainless legs) suits the 150mm very well.
Hope this helps. I can post a couple of shots of the setup once I get home tonight.
Cheers,
Daniel
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