Before selecting the scope, I asked for advice. Alex was great! He provided few options and also provided many links to installation and setting up. I have bought several items from FLO. As always their service, support and advice is excellent. I have done all the setup and now waiting for clear nights. I manged to centralise the scope within the two rings using a vernier I had but a steal ruler would equally work.

I bought this together with a ZWO ASi120mm-mini USB camera as FLO didn't have the ZWO 30f4 guidescope at the time - of course I should have known that there would be no clear skies between its delivery and the ZWO coming back into stock .

Following faultless delivery from FLO I found the scope was not aligned within either of the two clamp rings and they weren't perpendicular to the 31mm dovetail bar. Although sealed, this package contained no instructions. Luckily I have a vernier gauge so was able to centre the scope's body within the two rings using the already-present nylon-tipped adjusting screws after I had used an engineers' square to ensure the rings were perpendicular to the dovetail bar. This isn't a criticism of FLO but does indicate a shortcoming on the part of Astro Essentials. The scope itself will probably be better than my original choice as it has a 50mm objective lens compared to 30mm on the ZWO. This gives it a focal length of 200mm against the 120mm of the ZWO. It has a good amount of focus travel with a graduated helical screw ring to move the objective lens in relation to the body. This will assist in repeatability if I have to dismantle the final rig.

As to how I will use it, I want to guide my SkyWatcher Star Adventurer 2i Pro carrying my Nikon Z6ii and a choice of a 14mm f/2.8, a 70-200mm f/2.8 or even a 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 lens - all of which are inside the 5Kg weight limit for the Star Adventurer. The polar alignment bracket and counterweight has to carry the camera and lens so the guide scope must sit alongside and parallel to the camera's lens axis. In order to do that, I have fitted an L-Bracket to the camera and a dovetail clamp with a 1/4"UNC socket to that so the PA bracket screw can fasten the camewra / lens / guider assembly to the Star Adventurer. To achieve a good balance, I have extended the counterweight bar by 30mm . That saved buying a second counterweight, a neater but more expensive option. The whole lot is controlled using a ZWO ASiAir-mini controller and iOS software app all powered from a SkyWatcher / Celestron PowerTank 7AH unit.

Now waiting for some decent observing conditions....

I tried (and failed) with an OAG on my two scopes using a ZWO ASI585MC as main camera and ASI290MM as my guide. I decided to keep it simple and go back to a guidescope. This was simple to setup and although I havent used it extensively, thanks to the clouds, it just works. This coupled with the great price makes it a bargain.

Although supply chain issues delayed it's arrival, I'm pleased with the look this relatively inexpensive guidescope. Thus far there's been no chance to use it properly, but the item itself is wholly fit for purpose. It's also worth recording my gratitude towards the staff at FLO for their amazing pre-sales advice and support - this alone will ensure I return again and again as a customer.

After having an email chat with FLO (recommended to chat with these guys, their expertise shows and really helps) i decided to purchase this as a replacement for the red-dot finder on my Celestron EdgeHD 8".

The idea for this was to pair it either with an eyepiece to be used as a finderscope or with my ZWO ASI120MC-S camera for use as a guide-scope (which i had already). Although not the best camera for this task it was something for me to play around with having been new to guiding and so not wanting to spend too much at the first stage before i understand and think about buying something more expensive

To mount the scope i also needed a finder shoe/base and the Baader (2457000A) was recommended for my setup. The bonus was that i found an additional mounting spot for the red-dot...bonus!

The scope came nicely package. The focuser is stiff but a few turns and draws sorted that out; to focus you first pull/push the focus tube to acheive a rough position then fine tune with a twist: both rough and fine positions are locked with a thumb-screw.

1.25" eyepieces or cameras are attached by the nose-piece. Two screws keep these pieces in place and i never felt that it wasnt secure.

Alignment was easy with the 3 screws on each of the rings.

Viewing with the eyepiece gave a nice field of view, the only thing i need to make this even better would be to use an eye piece with a cross-hair.

As a guide-scope, i am still learning with PHD2 but i found the process with the software easy to do. The software finds a star without a problem and has managed to keep within 1 degree while guiding (with the astro-gods on my side!). I realise that this setup, and with the focal length of the scope, to be on the lower limit of what is achievable but i find its good for purpose and a great budget finder-scope/guider-scope. Easy to setup and wont break the bank

Excellent piece of kit, well engineered, easy to focus, light weight.

Upgraded my ZWO 30mm to this one. Using the ZWO120MM Mini on it and it's a great match, much easier to focus that the ZWO.

Luckily I emailed FLO for some advice before purchasing a guidescope and guidecam. I almost bought one that wouldn't have been suitable for my set up. With the help and expertise from Chris I was able to make the right decision and learned a ton from him too in the process. I'm never disappointed with the service from FLO, it always exceptional.
The guidescope itself is very well made. I would urge anyone who is buying a guidescope or guidecam to use Flo's guiding calculator online or drop them a quick email.

well made, easy to focus . recommend