John

I think reports of what small, low cost scopes both old and new can do are very valuable, especially to encourage those with tight budgets or with similar scopes stuck in lofts that they can see some good stuff with them and enjoy astronomy

I'm going to see if I can find my old 60mm Tasco now. I may be gone a while though ......

I could split Epsilon Lyrae with my old Tele Vue Ranger 70mm. I seem to recall that Izar was very "touch and go" though.

That "loosen the retaining ring and slap the cell all around it's edge" trick is really useful. The scope should be pointing upwards of course but it does help "settle" the objective elements and their spacing.

Good thread this - lots of tips for having fun with smaller aperture low cost scopes.

Given some TLC and knowing what to point the at, I reckon most scopes can produce some really pleasing results

I really must get my old Tasco 60mm refractor out again and feed it some photons.

Here is how it works......

You asked a question in this thread and you got a helpful answer:

So you now either "thank" or "like" michael8554's post (bottom right heart symbol in his post) in appreciation.

When you post something helpful or interesting then other members may do the same for you.

It's as simple as that 

1 minute ago, WilliamAstro said:

So I heard that you can win the most liked content on here and I am wondering how can I get to that... How likely can people win days?

 

You make posts that people find interesting and helpful.

There are no prizes. It is not a competition.

Don't forget to "like" other peoples posts as well as I have just done with yours

20 minutes ago, Cuto100200 said:

How difficult is it to fully split double double, do conditions need to be near perfect? and what sort of magnification would be needed? 

Also thank you all for the suggestions, got a list now lol

With a 100mm scope, about 100x and upwards will do it. The stars in the 2 pairs are close together though so you need to look carefully to see that they are pairs of double stars. A larger aperture and the easier they are to split.

36 minutes ago, heliumstar said:

Just out of curiosity....what do you consider small scope?

I've seen the Ring Nebula in scopes from 70mm and upwards. I struggled to see it when I had just a 60mm scope but that was a long time ago and I may well not have known what to look for. It is a small object at low power and easily overlooked.

I have seen the Veil Nebula with a 70mm as well but I did need the help of a UHC filter and it was rather faint.

54 minutes ago, ThomasF1234 said:

Thank you! Just to make sure should it look like a sort of fuzzy area like the attached picture?

The brightness and extent of star resolution depends on the aperture of the scope. Globular clusters are one target that aperture makes a real difference with. Under a reasonably dark sky my 12 inch dob shows M13 pretty much like this at low power:

And like this at 200x (my favourite view of these targets)

42 minutes ago, jetstream said:

I am going to retire from the thread having gained more pieces of the puzzle and this quoted piece is a very important concept (for me). As is "diktat" in reference to accepted resolution definitions.

As I learn more and gain observing experience I seem to embrace that some limits are not hard and fast- it is quite enlightening.

Thanks Andrew.

My thoughts as well Gerry

2 hours ago, trusty1948 said:

I am also new to the hobby. Baught an Orion 10" Dobsonian.  Having the same focusing problem.  Would appreciat seeing the PM discussed.

The scope have a 1.5in adapter and came with 1.5 Inch eyepieces.  I suppose buying 2 inch eyepieces would take care of the focus issue.

Hello and welcome to the forum.

You might want to start your own thread with your questions.

It's likely to get overlooked tagged onto the end of this old thread.

I would go for the BST Starguiders over the Hyperions in an F/5 newtonian. Here is the range:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bst-starguider-eyepieces.html

None for me. Just observing as and when I can

I have all the gear I need (too much really)

Great report Stu !

It was not a DSO night at all here so, after Venus, I had a fine time with my favourite double stars and the Tak FC-100DL. Zeta Herculis included !

By the end of the session I could only see the brightest constellation stars so had little to navigate around by.

Delta Cygni was my final stop - the dimmer secondary was only just visible because of cloud obscuration.

The 26mm in that range is the weakest I think. I would go for the 30mm instead.

Does this shed any more light on this topic (see what I did there 😞

https://www.telescope-optics.net/eyepiece1.htm

Very pleased to hear that and well done !

You have obviously had better skies where you are than I have had tonight. Thin cloud restricted observing here to the brighter stars, Venus and the Moon. It was not a deep sky night !

29 minutes ago, Robindonne said:

no sorry.  I just added some originals for comparing the two brands. I think its very unlikely they copied it and get away with it.  Im sure they are the same housing at least.  But who knows the maxvisions are the ones who didnt pass the qualitycheck?   They come from the land of rise and covid btw.  And the 1,25” are about 50% of the es prices.  The bigger the ep the smaller the difference in price.  Im going to try the 2” 18 mm.  Ill post a picture when i get it in 8/12 weeks 

They will almost certainly be made by the same factory that makes ES stuff. Most of the stuff we buy is made by a handful of manufacturers in China or Taiwan. ES don't make things themselves.

Make sure you know what the import duty is before you order. Things bought from the far east look low cost but once import duty and handling charges are added the overall price can take a jump.

As a variable FL eyepiece (rather than a zoom) I guess it uses a similar concept to the Baader Fine Tuning rings, but, er, variable ?

Those old Japanese refractors had good objective lenses in them. My 1st scope was a Tasco 60mm F/13.3 of a similar vintage to yours and it produces good views for it's aperture. The thing that let them down was a wobbly mount and simple eyepieces but then again you don't really need complex eyepieces at F/13.

I see yours has the Circle-K logo on the label so made by Kowa perhaps ?

I'll look forward to your feed back on the SW "variable" Dave

The ONLY 80 degree variable / zoom around as far as I'm aware.

11 minutes ago, laudropb said:

Yes but it does not say that on the Maxvision eps.
 

Ooops, my mistake - I thought all the photos posted were of the Maxvision versions

Mind you, if they can be acquired 50% of the price of the ES, still worth consideration ?

Tele Vue seem to get by OK without purging or waterproofing.

Thanks John - saves me searching for that thread !

3 minutes ago, laudropb said:

Looks the same but not sure if the Maxvision is waterproof.

I guess if they are Nitrogen or Argon purged, they must be sealed ?

Same as Explore Scientific I think.

Maxvision is a brand name that the manufacturer uses when one of the big brands is not taking up their stock. The same thing happened when Meade cancelled a larger order for SWA's and UWA's a few years ago - the manufacturer stuck them out under the Maxvision branding.

The dust cap even has the recess for the ES button moulded into it !

Nice job Stu !

My Berlebach is an HEQ5 fitting so is fine for the Vixen GP but I wouldn't mind putting the T-Rex on it as an option which is EQ6 compatible. I'll have to look up the johninderby HEQ5 - EQ6 Berlebach conversion thread and see how he did it.

Which Uni tripod is that by the way ?

Did you need a longer fastening bolt ?