First Light with My New Telescope System: A Detailed Review
Last night marked the much-anticipated first light with my new astronomy setup, and I’m thrilled to report it was a fantastic success. I fully expected a night filled with troubleshooting, USB disconnections, guiding meltdowns, and possibly crying into a mug of cold tea. Instead, the system performed like a dream—far exceeding my expectations. Honestly, I’m still suspicious.
Setup and Polar Alignment
The setup process was so smooth it felt like I’d accidentally hired a pit crew from Formula 1. From carrying the gear outside to balancing the rig, the entire process took less than 15 minutes. Pre-marking the balance points indoors before first light was a masterstroke of foresight that even I wasn’t expecting from myself. Polar alignment with SharpCap was an absolute doddle—those silky adjustment knobs made fine-tuning so satisfying, I almost wanted to undo it just to do it again.
PHD2’s drift alignment was equally painless. Ten minutes for RA, ten minutes for Dec, and I hit a final alignment of 0.02" in RA and 0.09" in Dec. Total setup time, including alignment, was around 25 minutes. That’s less time than it takes me to find my keys on most mornings.
The mount isn’t 3D balanced in Dec, but I went old-school and slightly weighted the nose of the OTA. RA was perfectly balanced, and for once, the astro gods didn’t punish me for defying modern YouTube advice. Despite Dec’s “issue,” guiding performance was excellent. I plan to refine it further with some fiddling and swearing—maybe slowing down Dec’s guide rate or sacrificing a USB cable to the telescope spirits.
Guiding Performance
Guiding with PHD2 showed oscillations of 0.33 to 0.42 arcseconds in both RA and Dec, holding steady with no tantrums or drama. Dec wasn’t as smooth as RA, but it was still well within acceptable limits. PHD2 claimed Dec backlash, but the axis feels as solid as my conviction that coffee counts as a meal. It might actually be too solid—binding in the worm gear could be causing the motor to overcompensate like a teenager trying to parallel park.
Luckily, iOptron made adjusting the mount ridiculously simple. In about 10 minutes—without needing to dismantle it like a piece of IKEA furniture—I should have it sorted. Considering this mount went from a warm factory to freezing 2°C conditions, it’s not surprising it needs a bit of TLC. Precision equipment has feelings too, apparently.
Power and Connectivity
The Pegasus Astro Pocket Powerbox Advanced is my new favorite toy. This little box has everything: USB 3.1, efficient heater band control, weather sensors, and even power consumption meters, which is great for feeding my obsessive need for data. With one USB cable connected to the CEM70A saddle, I powered the Pegasus box, rotator, focuser, filter wheel, guide camera, and imaging camera. This left just two short cables to unplug for teardown—a minimalists’ dream, and an OCD person’s nirvana.
Despite 2°C temperatures and 94% humidity, the dew controller kept everything dry, including me. (Okay, that’s a lie, but my gear was dry, which is what matters.) The system pulled just 1.1 amps, even with the imaging camera chilled to -10°C and the heater band doing its best impression of a sauna at 84%. Pegasus, you overachiever, you.
Optics and Imaging
The Askar Sharp Star Z4 delivered a beautifully corrected field of view, though the brightest stars hinted at pinched optics. Was it the set screws? The tube rings? Alien sabotage? Who knows. It’s subtle enough that only hardcore pixel-peepers would notice—or care. The sextuplet design’s color correction is still under evaluation, but my initial test of 17x300s Lum subs yielded a perfect 17/17 keeper rate. That’s better odds than I get ordering takeaway.
Software Experience
Manually focusing consumed a frustrating amount of time—seriously, where is the bloody autofocus button? Hocus Focus, you’ve got one job! NINA, while new to me, left a good first impression with its plate solve and centering feature, which worked flawlessly and faster than expected. That said, I’m a creature of habit and miss the simplicity of MaxIm DL and TPoint. NINA might win me over eventually—it’s free, after all, and I’m nothing if not a sucker for a bargain.
Final Thoughts
Overall, this first light session exceeded all expectations. The system performed flawlessly, and while there are areas to tweak—like Dec balancing, guiding refinement, and learning how to autofocus without rage-quitting—the foundation is rock solid. Spending extra time on polar alignment proved to be the best decision of the night, ensuring a productive session with minimal frustration.
The CEM70 mount, Pegasus Astro Pocket Powerbox, and Touptek cameras are an absolute delight. With patience, tinkering, and maybe a bribe to the astronomy gods, this rig is poised to deliver some jaw-dropping results in deep-sky astrophotography. And let’s be honest, anything that keeps me outside and happy on a freezing night is a win in my book