Stellalyra or skywatcher....the later does come with a coma corrector but I've already got the stellalyra coma corrector on my 16 inch reflector and the lyra is £100 cheaper, the skywatcher corrector does reduce f ratio further and the lyra magnifies slightly.....Mummy....the focuser on the watcher isn't supposed to be great which looks the same as the one on the 16 inch. I own several Stella scopes and accessories now and have always been pleased with them so Stellalyra it is. On arrival mirror alignment was OK but secondary mirror position relative to draw tube was a fair bit misaligned which was corrected using the usual collimation techniques (cap, laser and Cheshire). Scope and all the usual gear was loaded into the back of the pickup and off to Dorset for a week at a relatively dark location. Unfortunately the weather didn't play ball and the scope remained in the pickup for the entire trip (600 miles plus days out). On returning home the laser was bang in the centre of the donut and only a fraction off of the laser retinal, only requiring the tiniest adjust ment of the main mirror locking screws . I'll settle for that. No imaging unfortunately but managed 16 minutes on the seestar pausing between the clouds !!

I ordered the StellaLyra version of this telescope (albeit £10 more expensive) because I preferred the more conventional black tube rings and trim colour rather than the red TS-Photon version. When the telescope arrived I found it had the same colour scheme and finish as the TS-Photon, in fact it appears to be exactly the same telescope (I stand to be corrected). So I paid £10 more for the StellaLyra name on the OTA, slightly annoying! Having said that the telescope is of excellent quality, the focuser is silky smooth, and the overall finish is very good. Collimation was slightly out, requiring only minimal adjustment of the secondary and primary mirrors. Awaiting clear skies to put the scope to the test. I have also fitted the equivalent of Bob's Knobs to make adjustment easier. I have also managed to fit the Skywatcher Autofocuser.

To fit the autofocuser you will need to use the larger of the two fixing brackets that come with the focuser. The 4 screw holes need to be "shifted" 0.5mm outwards along the length of the bracket, and 2.5mm inwards across the bracket. I used a small round needle file to do this although it took some time! (I found the new hole was too close to the existing hole for me to use a drill - you may have better luck) The centre hole needs to be re-drilled to 8mm diameter to take the tensioner screw. You will also need to replace the 4 screws holding the focuser with M3 X 25mm black stainless screws which I purchased from Accu on the Internet. Next remove the large focuser knob (not the slow motion one) by undoing the grub screw (there is a key that fits this grub screw provided with the autofocuser). You will find the spindle it slightly too large to fit the motor connector. The hole in the connector needs to be drilled with a 4.5mm drill, which then makes it slightly too large. To make a tight fit I wrapped a few turns of insulating tape around the spindle, and it fitted fine. Tighten the spindle grub screw. You will now find their is a gap of about 6mm between the focuser bracket and the bracket that holds the motor. This can easily be padded out using washers or in my case some M6 nuts. That's it, you have a motorised focuser. I found that the 9volt battery does struggle a bit to move the focuser, but it does work. A better option is to purchase the excellent value 4Tronix Focus RF from FLO, which then enables you to use a 12volt supply as well as remote working. Please note the above changes will undoubtedly void your warranty. The instructions are offered in good faith, but I am not responsible for the outcome. All I can say is that this has worked for me.