John

I know Taks cost a lot but they do know how to package a scope:

I really can't understand why they just can't send you another scope and arrange to have the faulty one collected and returned at their cost Thats what a decent dealer would have done as soon as they ascertained what the problem was. All the inconvenience and delay seems to have fallen on you but it was entirely TS's fault. They packed the scope and they arranged delivery. They really should have "owned" this problem from the start and sorted it at minimal inconvenience to yourself together with an apology.

I believe that TS are possibly the largest European astro dealer so they should have the resources to respond promptly Especially when customer satisfaction is at stake !

Yes, the longer the focal length of the eyepiece (25mm in this case) the lower the magnification you will get. Mars is a lot brighter than Uranus.

I might have a go at this distant object tonight. My 12 inch dob is out and cooling. My faintest point source with that scope is mag 14.7 from my back graden so far so PG 1634+706 is just about attainable, I hope. Thanks also for the Skysafari list of other quasars Neil

A bit like mine except a little longer Alan Very nice setup ! I think the ED103S followed the ED102SS and ED102S in chronology terms.

I did have a very nice Moonlight CF2 on the scope but a chance to get an original Vixen focuser, from one of the last ED102SS's came along at around the same time that the very old Moonlite CF2 on my ED120 developed some real issues so the ED120 now has a much newer CF2 and the Vixen a very smooth original focuser. The swap around has shaved quite a bit off the overall weight of the Vixen as well. Moonlites are lovely but weigh quite a bit by the time the hefty flange is taken into account. The Vixen is back to it's original weight of 3.3kg. I've owned the Vixen for 12 years now - the longest of any of my scopes

I've not found that a filter (of any type) helps because it dims the stars. I have heard that a green or red filter can help with Sirius but I have not found that myself.

An improptu session with my Vixen ED102SS tonight on the Skytee II mount and Berlebach Uni 28 tripod. I've got an original Vixen R&P focuser back on the scope again which is nice to use. Here I was rather fruitlessly trying to pick out the Leo Triplet out of a rather murky sky. Back to double star splitting I think !

E & F are a little different from most multible star splits because, as well as being quite faint and quite close to brighter stars, they are seen against a nebulous field. I feel that this adds to the challenge of seeing them. I've found that getting the magnification "just right" is important as well. I would have thought 150x - 200x with your 127mm mak would have done the job but your seeing may well have been against so pushing them just beyond reach. Can you see Rigel's companion and the mag 8.8 4th member of Sigma Orionis ? - if so then E & F might be visible using the above magnification range.

Good news on the views ! Some of the brightest galaxies will be visible with the scope. In particular you should seek out Messier 81 and 82 in Ursa Major and Messier 31 in Andromeda. They will just look like faint smudges of light but they are galaxies. Low magnification is what is needed for these and a dark night with no moonlight in the sky and, if possible, away from other forms of lighting as well.

Then the owner has to fit it, check that the optical axis lines up with the objective, and adjust the focuser tension to suit. If all is not well with the scope then, the supplier can always point the finger at the focuser not quite being installed correctly. I think it is better to allow the suppler to supply a complete new unit and take responsibility for the overall quality and operation of what is supplied.

What can I say ? I get E &F consistently with my ED120 refractor, E consistently with my 100 / 102 refractors and F on really good nights with those smaller instruments. My observing experience is probably less than Olly's and my skies undoubtedly worse. But thats just me with my eye from my back yard in a semi-urban environment "Your mileage may vary" as they say

Lifetime scope ? - we have all been there, several times ! You already have a great scope so you can hone your skills on that (ie: E & F Trapezium) so the next one you get, you will really hit the ground running, so to speak ! Good luck in finding the one for you

You already have a Skywatcher 127mm mak-cassegrain don't you ?

I worry a bit when I see scope decisions based on the achivement (or not) of a very specific observational challenge. Ten members here could say that they can easily see E & F Trapezium with a certain scope, then you get one, and can't make them out. I'm not sure where that has got you ?

Have you got enough finder shoes there on the ED120 Paul ?

Eyepieces, diagonals etc come in 3 sizes generally. We are talking about the diameter of the chrome barrels with these sizes: .965 inch - the older type scopes. Not used these days and new accessories in this fitting are not available. 1.25 inch - very common fitting these days and the vast majoority of scopes take this size. 2.0 inch - another common size these days for wide angles of view at low to medium magnifications. Your scope will be either .965 inch or 1.25 inch fitting. To try and get the scope to focus without a diagonal, put the 25mm eyepiece in the focuser tube and extend the focuser tube as far out as it will come by turning the focuser wheels. You might also be able to create an extension tube from the part with the 2x Barlow printed on it combined with the chrome part of the tube with the lens in it - the black part with the lens in would need to be removed and should unscrew from the chrome section. Try the extension tube you have now created between the eyepiece and the focuser tube and then move the focuser inwards and outwards to see if you can get focus. All this could be done with a distant target (a km away or more) in daylight rather than waiting for a clear night.

The scope may need a diagonal prism / mirror in place to reach focus. This picture below is of the scope in the link that Dweller25 posted earlier in this thread and you can see the diagonal in place and the amount of chrome drawtube that is showing. Without a diagonal in place the focuser would need to be racked out quite a bit further to get an eyepiece on it's own to reach focus.

Mr Spock must have better eyes than I have ! I'd never call seeing the Pup star an "easy spot" in any scope that I've seen it in. There are some very experienced double star observers with large scopes who have failed to see Sirus B so I don't think it ever falls into the "easy" category, from the UK at least. I had the Pup in view (to my eye) with my 12" dob last year at a Society star party but none of my club member colleagues (some experienced observers) could see it at all Mind you, they did not have the Vulcan eyesight I'm not against the 9.25 SCT's though - they can be superb scopes if you get a good one.

FCD-100 is pretty close to FPL-53 in terms of it's specs. FCD-1 is pretty much the same as FPL-53. I believe the FCD glasses are by Hoya while the FPL's are Ohara glasses. As I mentioned in my earlier post, there is quite a price difference in the cost of the glass blanks between these types which is usually reflected in the cost of the scope. The last figures that I saw (2017) showed FPL-51 costing 11x as much as Schott BK-7 crown glass and FPL-53 18x as much as BK-7. I reckon there is a similar difference with FCD-100 and FCD-1. Such cost differences will have to find their way into the retail price I would think. What annoys some manufacturers and retailers I think is that all the talk is of the glass type in the ED element but the mating element(s) glass type, the figure and polish of the optical surfaces, the coatings used and the objective cell design and quality all contribute significantly to the end performance of the objective and yet are rarely discussed.

If you get a 7-10" frac be sure to post lots of pictures More seriously though, much above 130mm and I would be looking at a high spec newtonian I think - something like an F/6 with top quality mirrors and a relatively small central obstruction. Mak-newtonians are good as well - very "frac like" images

I have a 12" OO F/5.3 with a 21% central obstruction and a good quality primary in it. It can show really superb planetary images when the seeing is good. When the seeing is average to fair (ie: more often !) it still does well but my 120mm and 130mm refractors get mighty close despite the big aperture difference. A lot of what can be seen through a scope is about the seeing conditions and the experience of the observer in teasing out the detail. When you identify the factors that contribute to the quality of the image your observe, the scope and eyepiece are lower down the list in terms of impact, generally. Look at what one of our members here can see with just 3.9 inches of aperture:

I think the part marked 2x barlow lens screws onto the threads top of the chrome part of the tube to the upper right of the picture to create a complete barlow lens which the looks a bit like this:

"... features on ganymede ..." When you say features I assume you mean the very subtle albedo changes that it is possible, under superb seeing conditions, to detect when using a really good 8 inch or larger aperture scope ? Many scopes are capable of showing the 4 brightest Jovian moons as disks but seeing brightness variations on those disks ....... well thats a different level of observation