John

Sounds very promising Neil

I've found my old Dark Star catalogue now - it's mostly photocopied paper but for the 1980's that was as good as it got !

I'll scan the relevent pages when I get a moment and PM them to you as you might be interested. Dark Star were based in Shropshire at the time of my catalogue - I don't know if that was earlier or later than their Welsh address ?

Some great guesses folks !

The smaller box did indeed contain the heavy duty tube ring / 75mm DT bar set and also a William Optics binoviewer set so that I can see if they reach focus with the ED150

Any guesses ?

Many dobs are a "work in progress" even when new. This one sounds worth the trouble

Congrats on the Darkstar dob

I've got a 1980's brochure on Darkstar somewhere. I'll see if I can find it and post some info from it.

If the mirror is bonded to the cell with silicone or similar, I've heard of fishing line or even guitar strings being used to cut through the glue "blobs" to release the mirror.

I've got some catching up to do on this thread !

Nice XW's Alan - I went for the 7mm and 10mm new from FLO in the end (last year) to complete the middle-to-short end of the 1.25" set. Delos 14 and 17.3 and a Panoptic 24 completes the medium-to-longer end. 

Big delivery expected either tomorrow or Wednesday so I'll post something on that when it arrives.

Over the past few weeks the postie has delivered a 2x 2" Powermate, a set of orthos, a 40mm 2" eyepiece and a couple of other bits and pieces that have slipped my mind

Got to keep the astro economy ticking over somehow !

Resolution to downsize the eyepiece collection seem to have gone out of the window though

Better have a clear out soon or my astro storage facility (ie: the dining room) will be overflowing again

I used to own an Istar 6" F/12 achromat. Tough scope to mount if you wanted to keep it mobile (like I did) but a very impressive instrument all the same.

4 minutes ago, DRT said:

Courtesy of @Ricochet this arrived today...

 

Now I will be very interested in what you think of that one Derek

I went for the Delos 14 in the end but was, and still am, very tempted by an XW 14 to join my other XW's.

Lovely items folks

@Sagenite: you must have better skies than I do, I hardly use my 31mm Nagler much with my 12" F/5.3 OO dob let alone a 42mm !

Thats the joy of the pre-owned market

My delivery today was a 2 inch 2x Powermate. I've owned and sold a couple of these in the past but fancied another go with one to extend my Ethos set to 4mm and 3mm. The 2x PM completes my 2" eyepiece case which comprises of the 31mm Nagler, 21, 13, 8 and 6mm Ethos and, with the PM, effective 4mm and 3mm Ethos.

37 minutes ago, JPAG said:

Speaking on Mars, has the dust storm disappeared? Three days ago I couldn't see almost nothing on the surface of the planet. ☹️

Nope - the disk is still rather featureless. Occasionally you might pick out vague suggestions of dark or light areas but the storm is still having a significant impact.

Here are the elements of the Veil Nebula complex to look out for, visually. As Stu says, you need an ~3.5 degree true field to get all of these in a single field. With my ED102SS refractor thet is possible but with my 12" dob I take this target in sections, and lovely sections they are

15 minutes ago, 25585 said:

Thanks John. The Ercole only needs to hold my 100 and 120 Equinoxes at most so not too extreme. I hope it's metal is harder than a Skytee's puck. 

For a counterbalance weight shaft, if a dovetail bar could be used with a shaft central and perpendicular, then it would only need to be clamped in, the necessary weight fitted, and no need for removing or adapting  a clamp. Obviously a tough clamp such as ADM, and one with 2 or 3 locking plates. 

The alloy that the Ercole is machined from does seem much better quality than the metal that the Skytee II is made from. With a 25mm steel axis running through the centre of both pucks the design seems immensely strong to me.

You can get a C/W bar fitted to a Skywatcher/Vixen compatible dovetail bar here:

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p3898_TS-Optics-Counterweight-Shaft-with-Dovetail-Plate---Balancing.html

I've not seen one with a Losmandy compatible bar but there might be one somewhere or that could be made up ?

21 minutes ago, 25585 said:

Can the Ercole be fitted with a Losmany D clamp each side? 

Yes it can. Each arm is drilled with 2 M6 holes at 35mm centres. If the clamp has those holes (many do) it can be fitted to the Ercole. The only drawback is that you can't use the counterweight arm when a clamp is fitted, unless the clamp is drilled to allow the C/W arm to pass though, and I don't know any that are offhand. I guess a clamp could be custom drilled with a 20mm hole in the centre (needs to be very accurate) to allow the C/W bar to pass through and screw into the arm when you want to use C/W's.

I have both an Ercole and a Skytee II (again !) and it's interesting comparing, or re-comparing the 2 mounts. The Ercole is a much better finished mount, better looking (IMHO) and a smooth performer when well balanced. The Skytee II is more agricultural but the slow motion controls do have their uses at times and it is less sensitive to inbalance. Vibration dampening is similar between the mounts that I currently have. My previous comparisons (another Ercole mount) gave the Skytee II the edge in this with my largest refractor on board but the two examples that I'm currently comparing seem much more equal in this. Perhaps I've learned to balance and tune the Ercole better this time around ?

I hope that feedback on the Ercole vs Skytee II is some help

5 minutes ago, 25585 said:

66 Equinox. More portable and lighter than the 80 Equinox. I have all 4 Equinox models now (AFAIK)!....

Very nice.

How does the Equinox 100 compare, in terms of optical performance, with the TAK FC-100DL ? (both the same spec I believe ?)

37 minutes ago, johninderby said:

I’m wondering if an individuals light sensitivity or eyesight in general makes a difference in what filters work or don’t work for them. I found the Contrast Booster to be of little help but found the Neodynium makes a real difference in detail on Jupiter for instance. 

Our eyesight is a key link in the chain and we are certainly not all the same in that respect, thats for sure.

Interesting thread

I've used / owned the Baader Contrast Booster and their Neodymium filter, also a few other planetary filters including the Tele Vue Bandmate Planetary filter but, after some time with them, I didn't feel they were adding anything for me. I tried them on Mars, Saturn, Venus and Jupiter and Uranus for good measure.

The Tele Vue filter enhanced the major Jovian features but at the expense of the more subtle ones and also a pink hue that I did not enjoy. The Baader filters were more neutral in terms of adding a tint but I did not feel that they helped me tease out more detail any any of the planets 

I'm just another "data point" though - "You Mileage May Vary"  

4 minutes ago, dweller25 said:

@John hope its better than the VC200L i had which was the worst planetary scope i ever looked through ?....

Interesting to know Dave. I think I'll cross that one off my "I'd like to have one one day" list.

Interesting - I wonder how it would compare with a Vixen VC200L ?

7 hours ago, DRT said:

It’s now cloudy ?

Same happened here Derek - I thought of you and the 2 scopes when the clouds came over last night 

Hopefully another clear night will present itself very soon.

It's probably just me but colour matching is not too high up my list of criteria for astro equipment

Mostly I use the equipment in the dark and when it's not in use it's in a box or cupboard.

Jupiter seems nice and steady here ATM. Hope it is similar for you Derek

If your seeing is up to it, Jovian features such as festoons are quite a good test. If you are prepared to wait for Saturn, I've yet to see Enceladus with 100mm wheras the 120 has done it plus the Crepe ring can be tough at these apertures.

Splitting Antares (if you have the horizon and seeing for it ?) will really test the scopes as well. Zeta Hercules is well placed.

I guess what you want to compare is the acuity of the scopes, quality of the star image, CA control and any SA present, that sort of thing. The additonal 20mm should make fainter stars and DSO's easier so thats not such an issue perhaps ?

Just now, DRT said:

Ok, but we’re not going to talk about focusers in case you two get a bit rowdy ?

Point very well taken Derek