dweller25

18 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

This is one of the threads on CN which has several contributors some of whom appear to be very well experienced visual observers. They have used several higher end refractors visually as well. It was from this thread and others that I gleaned the visual performance of the 120/140 Askars was good. Have I been reading this thread through a pair of rose tinted glasses? Thanks.

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/900932-askar-140-apo/

I just read that thread and here is my take.

The one person who bought the Askar 120 said it was visually outstanding and then sold it quite quickly !

Here is one of my old posts from 2010 where my wife and I visually compared a 5” refractor to a Skywatcher 8” F/6 Newtonian…

“I was really enthusing about how good the seeing was so Mrs Dweller25 decided to come out and have a look.

Now this is a rare event as Mrs D and the cold night air don't mix so to spice things up a little I suggested a shootout between the 5" Takahashi FS128 and the Skywatcher 8" F/6 Newtonian. Each of us would take a turn observing and drawing Mars in each scope so we could compare and contrast.

Seeing was very good - AII, temp was -4'C.

We concluded :-

1. Mrs D25 has better eyesight than me - I have astigmatism 😕

2. The humble Skywatcher slightly outperforms the Tak 😱 🙂

The AZEQ6, 80mm refractor, 5” refractor and 8” Newtonian is a great combo and would cover imaging and visual nicely 👍

@Replayy

Where do you live ?

It could be worthwhile hooking up with an SGL member who lives close to you or going to your local astronomy club.

1 minute ago, Flame Nebula said:

Hi Dweller, 

Fair point, you have given lots of good advice on my posts. 

But your post just now, is still repeating, in my opinion, the same attack, but in a different form. Are you saying I wasn't being genuine in my post? Because I can tell you I was. So, when I said the title says it all, it did. 

So, you can either choose to believe me or not. 

I think it best that we agree to disagree and move on.

All the best in whatever choice you make 👍

@Flame Nebula

I have constructively contributed to many of your posts but this one felt like the title was just click bait when you said the wording was “deliberate”

You have subsequently explained what you were trying to do.

Perhaps it would have been better to have had a more genuine approach at the start ?

Good point Magnus and I always cool my eyepieces, diagonal and especially my binoviewers with the scope.

You need to put the above drawtube back into the focuser, marked below..

I just saw an eyepiece - it’s in the end of the draw tube….

Sounds like an 8” F/5, mirrors look reasonable but hard to tell.

Do you have any eyepieces with it like this - ignore the writing.

11 minutes ago, Elp said:

Watch the live feed videos

Yes, good idea

The SM looks a little better than the Tak in the live videos but to me that’s mostly as the SM image is brighter.

2 minutes ago, Elp said:

Funnily enough (though it is an imaging comparison):

https://youtu.be/grH0O3RekgU?si=Q4hM1fYv3DtFfNv7

 

https://youtu.be/1ZCSPwM5_Hg?si=hpIJpRHGA5v5bWC1

 

Yes, but does not bring an answer for visual as images get a lot of processing.

@bosun21

I know it’s not on your list but for almost the same price as the Askar you could get a 4” Takahashi…..

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/takahashi-fc-100-series-refractor-telescopes/takahashi-fc-100dc-f7-4-doublet-fluorite-apo-refractor.html

8 minutes ago, Flame Nebula said:

No, it's deliberate. 😉

Which implies you already know the answer, so I wonder why you asked ?

Perhaps the question should be the other way around ?

Here are my drawings of Hesiodus an hour apart showing the increasing ray phenomenon.

It was great to get out with the scope again after weeks of bad weather.

Big thanks to @Nyctimene for flagging this up 🙂👍

I was also out last night looking at the Moon, seeing was very good until about 9pm after which it deteriorated.

However, your description suggests you are seeing spherical aberration which @Mr Spock did not see with his Starfield 102.

Manufacturing variances do occur, so It may be worth talking to your supplier.

2 hours ago, RobertI said:

Looks like the draw tube is missing from the focuser, will need some attention at some point.  

I think the draw tube is on the front dust cap for some reason.

It’s totally clear here and stopped raining just in time 🤣😄🌝🤪🥳

I have been viewing/ drawing since 18:45, watching a fan shaped beam of light gradually getting longer, will post some drawings tomorrow…..

It’s a Newtonian with maybe a 200mm F/6 mirror.

Dimensions as requested above will confirm

Just bumping this as a reminder for Wednesday evening….

5 hours ago, AlcorAlly said:

I'd like a recommendation for a travel telescope which has nicer optics than my £50 f5 achro, weighs no more than 1.5kg and costs in the range of ~£250-300. Visual only. Does it exist? 

I was staying in the mountains in Turkey last week. Trying to keep the backpack light I only took my Celestron Travelscope 70 on a photo tripod. The total weight of the equipment was 3.7kg:

Telescop: 800g
Spica Mount: 900g
Carbon photo tripod: 2kg

The little Celestron has been upgraded to a nice diagonal, decent eyepieces and extra long dew shield. It's a decent scope and an incredible value for money but the optics are still quite basic. I'd like something a little nicer to take hiking. My Heritage 150 is much better but it's a bit too heavy and bulky for this purpose.

I've shortlisted so far:

• Heritage 100 - much smaller than my 150. Could it better than the Celestron? I think so, although the focuser sticks out a bit, which is not ideal for the backpack
• William Optics GuideStar 61 APO with FPL 53 glass - with a discount it now costs £269 but it doesn't have a proper focuser. Not sure how frustrating it would be to use for visual.

The SVBony 70 and SW72 ED are very nice but a little too heavy.

Are there other options?

The Heritage 100 will have better light gathering than your 70mm refractor, no chromatic aberration and is very cheap so no worries if you break it whilst hiking.

Hello @tico

Going from 80mm to 100mm is a good jump in performance 👍

If I did not already have a 4” Takahashi I would buy that Vixen 103Swt in the for sale section.

@quasar117

Here is a useful summary of optical tests.

BUT do bear in mind that what really counts is how the views at perfect focus look.

13 hours ago, quasar117 said:

The closest example to what I'm seeing when in focus on a star is as per this image although the black spikes are more severe in this image than what I'm seeing. 

Yes, apart from the spikes that is how Aldeberan looked tonight compared to the dimmer stars in the same field of view - but with an airy disk.