Hi all,
Could this be my final set up!!

Who knows but after much looking and owning more scopes than I choose to say. With friends with Obsessions,
AP Apo’s up to 7” Takahashi Apo’and the list goes on. But I have never found a scope that I really love. ( Oh Geoff’s SDM is pretty good!) My current set up is just about right.
It’s a Takahashi MT 160 mm Newtonian. I brought it off IIS member Lars Hansen.
Thanks so much Lars.

Geoff aka Starkler

put me onto this scope.
After using it a few times I’m really satisfied with the views. They are as sharp and contrasty as any Apo I have looked through. No its only 160 mm and that limits it to its size. And a 12” scope will show you a lot more.
The scope is a F6.1 and FL1000 mm but I have a focal reducer for F4.8 and a corrector on the way for F8. This makes the scope very good for photography.
Yes I will give this another go but may wait till I get a DSLR.
The mount is a HEQ5 which I upgraded from a EQ5 see pictures. The mount was Daniel’s aka danielsun.

Thanks mate for the great price and it all works very nicely.
The pier is one I got made recently and can take a EQ5 but has my new mount on it.
The pier is basically parts from different piers over the years. I will use the pier at home and use the tripod away. This set up was really put together on a budget, as it’s all second hand so my wife is not so angry with this set up. To put something with such good optics and say a G11 or big AP mount would cost many k more.
So you can put something together which should do the job very nicely on a budget.
Thanks for reading.
Regards.