John

I've been wanting to try my Takahashi FC100-DL out on my T-Rex alt-azimuth mount. I wondered if the slim lines of the Tak would be rather overpowered by the T-Rex but they seem to fit together rather well. The F/9 Tak is absolutely rock solid on this mount as you might imagine. While I was setting it up the clouds seem to have formed a solid ceiling sadly but I thought I'd snap some pics anyway

Would your insurance cover it ?

This is the set that I use with my 12 inch F/5.3 dobsonian. I don't use a coma corrector. The 40mm does not get much use to be honest. The 17mm is an ES 92 degrees. Not a focal length that I use a lot so I don't have an Ethos in there any more:

For my refractors I have this set which has a Delos / Pentax XW run at it's heart, plus some others to "bookend" those:

For someone new to observing I think the ~70 degree Delos / Pentax XW's are probably the easiest and most comfortable to use.

It's taken me quite a few years and more than a few other eyepieces including many of the Tele Vue's to arrive at these and I'm very happy with them.

Not perfect of course but they will do me

47 minutes ago, Dantooine said:

I use a losmandy AZ8 with my F7 and love it. It’s solid, we’ll machined and would take the F11. It’s quite expensive and there’s not much I could find between this an the SW stuff.

I agree that there is a niche for a good alt-az mount priced between the Skytee II / Ercole and the AZ8 / Rowan AZ100.

2 hours ago, Laurence Behney said:

I agree. My 9 mm Delete is something special!

Larry

The thread was originally about the 6mm Ethos.

The 9mm DeLite is also very good I'm sure 😀

The optical tubes can be bought for around £120 used and the EQ5's for around £100 (undriven). Worth bearing in mind.

It's not just here.

We spent a month touring western Australia in 2018. Lovely weather generally but we only got 2 clear nights to explore the southern skies.

I read about the 1999 total eclipse when I was about 10 years old. 29 years of waiting and it was clouded out in Cornwall on the day !

Yes, it's a frustrating place to practice astronomy.

Having a setup that is quick to deploy and tear down is helpful to getting more observing in when the conditions do allow it. My setups all now follow this approach - even the 12 inch dob.

If you can remove the mount head from the tripod, you can check the tripod hub fitting is EQ3 / EQ5 / HEQ5 compatible before you commit to buying another tripod.

The steel tubed tripod is a noticable upgrade over the aluminium tripod.

Maybe try the scope under the stars first though and see how you get on ?. It will be at higher magnifications (100x plus) that you notice vibrations / unsteadiness, if they are there.

At least most of the 2nd hand equipment sold is "low mileage" in the UK !

15 hours ago, Jm1973 said:

So do you think upgrading the tripod to the 1.75" stainless steel, version, which will take 30kg, will not help that much? Is it the mount itself that is the weak link?

The tube length is what puts the strain on the mount and on the tripod in particular, more so than the weight of the scope.

9 hours ago, Franklin said:

What size mount would you recommend for the Altair Ascent 102ed f11 for visual astronomy?

If equatorial, a Vixen GP or Celestron AVX would do the job. For alt-azimuth I think the Skytee II or Ercole would be suitable.

It's a long tube so a tall tripod or tripod plus pillar is very nice to have as well.

Perhaps start another thread to get more opinions ?

3 hours ago, johnturley said:

David

What other scopes do you have to compare your Tak FC100 DZ with.

 

I think David has a Tak TSA 102 and a Tak FS 128 so the FC100 DZ is in good company. He probably has some other scopes as well.

There is quite a big difference between F/11 and F/7 re: mounting requirements.

Excellent - good work

As you will have gathered, the answer to your question is "it depends ......" 

All the scope designs have their strengths and weaknesses so to help you make a decision, we are going to need to ask quite a few questions.

Many folks end up with a number of scopes of different designs and sizes to give themselves different observing and imaging opportunities.

I think that way - shims behind the mirror is the best way to do it. There will be some trial and error in it so maybe not sticky shims until you know how much tilt is needed ?. Probably not a lot.

I use a short cheshire to collimate my 12 inch F/5.3 dob. I've been using it for a few years now so it's become 2nd nature to use. I rarely need to do more than adjust one or other of the collimation screws a tiny bit just to completely centre things.

I have tried a number of other collimation aids over the years but having found one that was simple and that worked and was consistently backed up when the scope is star tested, I've stuck with it.

I got a copy of this book (1st photo) to add to this book (2nd photo) which my wife bought for me around 35 years ago. Not everyone's cup of tea by any means but I rather enjoyed the original book so I'm interested to see how the author followed it up.

I have just found out that, very sadly, Ken Fulton passed away earlier this month  

1 hour ago, Deadlake said:

Lack of posts, so here is a new Vixen SD103S. Have been enjoying it this summer. 

Thinking of getting a Vixen Mount either an SXD2 or SXP2, anyone got one?

 

I have a Vixen ED102SS F/6.5 which dates from around 2000. Obviously the optics have changed to F/7.7 but otherwise your scope looks like a longer version of mine 

Hyperions and F/4.7 don't mix well in my opinion. The ES 68 and Vixen SLV's are much better choices. Nivarna 82's are great value if you would like the wider field of view.

If you are fussy about edge correction and decide to use wide or ultra wide eyepieces you might also need to consider using a coma corrector to get the best out of them. That will correct much of the coma that the fast newtonian optics produce.

I won't talk about Tele Vue or Pentax

Sorry that @wookie1965 and I disagree about the 25mm BST Starguider. I'm sure we are both calling it as we found it

I have the older Japan made 11x70 Opticron Oregon LER's and they operate at full aperture as well. Out of production now though.

26 minutes ago, jetstream said:

Can you see the Veil with no filter John?

Yes but it's pretty faint. With my fracs I can detect the E portion without a filter. With my 12 inch dob the E & W portions. It's so much better with the O-III filter that I rarely observe it without though.

On one memorable night a few years ago I was able to see the E segment with 15x70mm binoculars unfiltered. That was a truly exceptional night though.

1 hour ago, Alan64 said:

...An HEQ-5 is merely the go-to variant of a base EQ-5.

As Steve says above - the HEQ5 is a very different mount to the EQ-5 and much more capable.

In the USA it is more often found branded as the Orion Sirius EQ-G.

8 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Looks a fantastic scope @Deadlake

You might want to blank Out your address details on the box, though.

I agree with Jeremy on both counts - great scope !

I have edited your post to remove the image that shows your address. Feel free to add one with the address blanked out.

Hope that's OK