John

Under 100 quid by the look of it 🙂

The sky has cleared here for a while so I popped out for 20 minutes or so to see if I could spot any Geminid meteors. I counted 10 definites and a couple of maybes (peripheral vision ones) during that time. Most came down through Orion, a couple up through Auriga and the rest were heading towards Ursa Major. I'll pop out again later perhaps and see if I can spot some more. 

Seems to me that there is a niche for a nicely machined adapter to allow a nice but relatively affordable focuser such as the Baader Diamond Steeltrack to be fitted to the Tak FC tubes 🤔

20 minutes ago, Zermelo said:

In the same neck of the woods, and just brought in the scope that's been sitting outside for three hours, waiting for the clear evening promised only this afternoon by CO and Metcheck!

A little to the north, I was looking forward to this evenings clear skies (as forecast by CO) but somehow that hasn't happened 🙄

Lovely scopes, both the 125 and the 128 👍

I wonder how many FS-128's were made annually ?

39 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

I didn't see any Geminids, I was too glued to the eyepiece  Jupiter is so fascinating at the moment I'm not getting any doubles in either. Must plan a session.

Likewise, plus Orion.

I'm not actually that bothered about meteor showers in all honesty. Mostly they disappoint. A bright unexpected bolide is nice to see though.

I generally don't report on something in any detail until I've had a few sessions with it under varying conditions and on a variety of targets. That can mean quite a long time elapsing between aquisition and feeding back on it in any meaningful way.

I don't think that matters though. We all understand thats how it is. I'd much rather read a considered report by an owner who has spent some time using a piece of equipment.

The ones posted by @DirkSteele are a good example. 

Come to think of it, I don't think I've posted a detailed report on any of my scopes. They get "mentioned in dispatches" as it were but they are tools to do a job and it is what is being observed that is more important, IMHO.

I have thin, high cloud starting to spoil things now but it's been a nice session anyway. Jupiter was the best I've seen for a while and Orion is looking really nice, until the thin cloud layer gets to it !

I managed to get E & F Trapezium with the ED120. The best magnification seemed to be around 120x. More than that seemed to make seeing these faint stars harder and less didn't help either. 

I doubt I'll stay out much longer but it has been a really nice couple of hours observing 🙂

Some nice detail visible in the NEB now with the 5mm (180x) focal length setting of the Svbony 3-8 zoom. There seems to be a festoon or loop that comes off the southern edge of the NEB, loops down into the Eq zone and then re-joins the NEB further east, or west, depending which point you start at.

Like the 4th category of dark object in the ID chart below, 2nd example:

56 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

Just put the 4" out to cool. Initially Jupiter looks mushy.

While it's not the best I've seen it, Jupiter from here seems better than the last two occasions that I've tried to observe it. Quite a number of cloud belts showing and some structure to the main pair of equatorial ones.

150x seems quite good with the ED120.

Quite clear here at the moment. Seeing still a little "iffy" though. Some nice views of Saturn and Neptune despite this. Hopefully things will settle down later by the time Jupiter comes into my view.

24 minutes ago, Bugdozer said:

I can't help but notice how often the phrase "no telescope is ideal for everything" gets said on these forums, yet whenever anyone ever asks what telescope they should get, you always get several people saying "6 or 8 inch Dobsonian" regardless of whether the interest is planetary, deep sky, lunar, whatever. 

 

I guess that is because a 6 or 8 inch dobsonian is very good for observing most astronomical targets 🙂

For what they cost, it is difficult to think of another telescope design that provides better views.

17 minutes ago, pavel_s said:

Thank you John for your explanation and link to specification. That helped me a lot about what to expect.

Additionaly, I have found the following picture on the web. It shows N9T1 with an adapter, that makes it exclusively a 2'' eyepiece. Is this thing available to buy or is it rather a DIY thing?

That looks like a DIY thing coupled with a 2 inch par-focalisation ring on the 2 inch section of the barrel. 

The disadvantage is that the DIY adapter does not enable the use of 2 inch filters whereas adapters such as the one that @globular links to above, to give you a 2 inch filter thread.

2 hours ago, johnturley said:

John

On a slightly different note, I notice that you have fitted a micro-focuser to your Tak 100 DL, I just wondered which version that was, and how you rate it.

John 

Hi John,

It is the Feathertouch Micro Pinion MPA-TAK2.5. 

I was quite happy with the stock single speed R&P on the scope and had it adjusted quite nicely but then this very lightly used FT unit came up for sale at a good price so I thought it worth giving a try.

It took me a few attempts to get the feel of the focuser right (there is plenty of room for adjustment / fine tuning when fitting it) but now I'm pleased with it and feel that it is a nice addition to the scope. I used the full FT focuser on my 130mm triplet as a target to aim for when adjusting the micro unit and have now got thing working in a satisfying manner. The feel is different from the single speed R&P of course but I'm now used to it and would miss it if I had to remove the unit for any reason.

I have not tried either the Tak or More Blue units so I don't know how they compare.

Hope that helps,

John

The T1 Nagler 9mm's seem to come in a number of designs depending on the production run. The very early ones (Japan made) were smooth sided with no eye cup and later ones (Japan first then Taiwan I think) had rubber grips and eyecups added. The barrel fitting has always been the hybrid 2 inch - 1.25 inch type but there were detail changes through the production runs.

The one thing that they all have in common is that the hybrid barrel (2 inch and 1.25 inch parts) houses the lower set of lenses so cannot be removed or replaced.

I can't find any data on their focal plane / field stop position although the Tele Vue specs page does have some information on these discontinued models at the bottom:

Tele Vue Optics: Tele Vue Eyepiece Specifications

Here are a Japan made 9mm T1 and a Taiwan made one (neither are mine) from the bottom to compare their barrel design. The Taiwan one (right) seems to have a threaded 2 inch skirt whereas on the Japan one (left) it's unthreaded. Sounds like yours is one of the earlier Japanese ones.

15 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

Some images as they speak better than words.

It's not possible for 2" eyepieces to reach.

 

LVW in 2" mode is about 5mm or so short. You could get away with a filter but I wouldn't advise trying!

 

The long barrel x2.5 Powermate is a long way short.

I don't have the 1.25" fitting so I can't test that one 

 

That's great if you use a 2 inch eyepiece holder with that diagonal 🙂

I used to use a very similar arrangement.

If you use a 1.25 inch one (as I do now) the risk is there because there is no lip to stop a long eyepiece barrel, at least with the ones I've tried, including my current Baader click stop 1.25 inch holder. I use a T2 extension between the eyepiece holder and the diagonal to remove that risk.

My arrangement is this for 1.25 inch eyepieces:

4 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

No, in the diagonal. 2" eyepieces can't make contact with the prism. 1.25" eyepieces, plus filters etc, when used in the adapter aren't long enough to reach.

The only eyepiece I have long enough to reach is the LVW when used in 2" mode as the 1.25" barrel extends too far down.

This is with a 2 inch Baader eyepiece holder and a 2" to 1.25" adapter when required ?

If the diagonal is used with a 1.25 inch eyepiece fitting eyepiece holder, the risk still exists I think.

1 minute ago, John said:

 That's interesting - my Baader T2 zeiss prism diagonal does not have that lip. Must be a design change 🤔 

So caution is still advised in case you have an older Baader T2 zeiss prism (mine was purchased new in 2016).

 

Just realised that you are referring to a lip in the 2" to 1.25" adapter rather than in the diagonal itself.

22 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

I've tested the T2 Zeiss prism now. x2.5 Powermate plus filters doesn't even come close to the prism. 2" eyepieces hit the lip inside the holder.

 

 That's interesting - my Baader T2 zeiss prism diagonal does not have that lip. Must be a design change 🤔 

So caution is still advised in case you have an older Baader T2 zeiss prism (mine was purchased new in 2016).

4 minutes ago, Ags said:

I don't think the 4-inch rule is correct, it approximates another rule, which is the 50% rule. The next scope up needs to be 50% larger in aperture. So the step up from a 6-inch newt would be 9-10", and the next step up would be 14-16". For a refractor, the logical step up from my ZS66 was a 90mm refractor, and the next step would be 120-140mm.

It's not really a rule, it's a guideline that I have often seen repeated online and in print applied to the newtonian design. My personal experience of owning newtonian scopes up to 12 inches in aperture suggests that there is some merit in it but maybe it's time for us to come up with something better 🙂

Logic has not always played a strong part in my selection of scopes though, I have to confess 🙄

48 minutes ago, Cjg said:

So many questions, what were the views like? 
How on earth did you store / transport and fit it onto the mount?

Quite certain that’s not a scope you could slip past the other half unnoticed🤣

That’s a lot of commitment, well done!

Chris

That scope is not mine - I just used it as an example of the appeal of a large aperture, long refractor.

My Istar 6 inch F/12 was still quite a beast though and, once setup, there it stayed for the session. I think the whole setup weighed somewhere around 50kg.

8 minutes ago, Voxish said:

I use a 4 inch refractor. I was just out a few minutes ago and Jupiter (it’s still climbing) was just stable at x110. My step up is x176 and it a blur this evening 

Jupiter rarely seems to benefit from high magnifications. Certainly not as high as can be used on Saturn or the moon. Mostly I use 130x-150x with my 4 inch refractor and similarly with my larger scopes. I've found the seeing here in SW UK quite poor on the last two occasions that I've observed Jupiter, quite probably due to the positioning of the jetstream. Last time out even 112x was pushing it a bit !

1 minute ago, Sunshine said:

You would beed to buy the house next door to keep that in.

I'm sure glad that I did not go for the F/15 version of the Istar 6 inch. There was one available from the same source at the time that I acquired the F/12. I saw the F/15 in it's box and decided that there was no way that I could handle it. I would also have needed to cut a hole in the ceiling to stand the thing on end !

53 minutes ago, MartianHill said:

That Istar is really impressive John, you must have needed an equally impressive mount  ?

I ended up with an EQ6 mounted on a Meade Giant field tripod with 3 inch steel tubed legs. Even that was not really stable enough. I would have really needed something like an EQ8, a Losmandy G11 or even one of the old Fullerscopes Mk IV's. Probably a massive pillar to put the mount on as well.

Putting a 7 foot long 30 lbs optical tube onto a mount head that is over 6 feet off the ground is no joke either. 

I concluded that scopes like this need to be permanently mounted in observatories. No possibility of that where I am 😒

I found my way to the Ethos eyepieces by way of the Pentax XW's. I loved the neutral tone of the XW's, their sharpness and control of light scatter given their quite complex optical design. But I wanted those optical characteristics with an even wider field of view. The Ethos delivered that so I got hooked on those. An expensive taste to acquire 🙄

And quite different from the Svbony 3-8mm zoom too !