John

I can certainly empathise with that

I'm onto my 3rd case now So much for rationalising my eyepieces ......

Me too.

Very nice read Chris I managed to catch CTA 102 visually as well just before Xmas. Prior to that my most distant object was a "mere" 4.5 billion LY's ! I believe CTA 102 is still around mag 13.

For £80 (+ delivery ?) it's probably a good buy. Looks like you will need to add a dovetail bar (can't see one in the pic) but the carry handle is a nice feature. On an AZ-4 mount it would make a nice, portable scope that was pretty much "grab and go". The only other thing to think about is the finder. The Bressers use a Meade-type finder mount which is not compatible with Skywatcher type finders. You could just forget about an optical finder and stick a Rigel Quikfinder or a Telrad on the scope. That would be enough "finder" for most applications with that scope I'd have thought.

The Vixen / Bresser days were pre-internet Ben

Some of the early Bresser scopes were made by Vixen in Japan. Definitely far from sub par ! The more recent ones are OK as well though. For £80 it sounds a good deal. As long as it has a parabolic primary mirror. A 2" focuser would be good as well. The Bresser scopes (refractors) I've seen and used recently have been very like the ones that have Meade branding on them.

This review of the contast booster, semi-apo and fringe killer might be of interest: https://www.baader-planetarium.uk.com/en/pdf/baader_contrast_filters_US_ATT_review_0414.pdf If it was me I'd probably go for the one that give the most natual looking views / tints even if some residual CA was still present. I suspect personal preferences might vary on this though.

The Moonlite on my dob is black too but the ones on my refractors are red ! Whatever the colour they are fine focusers ! Edit: apologies - I mentioned the "r" word in a dob thread

Indeed. Thats the constellation that I most regularly use to estimate my NELM.

Here is some info on working out Naked Eye Limiting Magnitude (NELM) using stars in Ursa Minor: https://darkskydiary.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/naked-eye-limiting-magnitude-assessing-sky-brightness/ Here is another link which gives you a much wider choice of constellations and stars to use: http://obs.nineplanets.org/lm/rjm.html

Very nice I too use T2 spacers with my Baader Zeiss prism. I find the 7.5mm and 15mm useful in different ways. I have the 7.5mm on the bottom of the Baader 1.25" twist lock adapter to ensure that eyepiece barrels (especially the 2-4mm Nagler zoom ) don't contact the prism and also use the 15mm on the 2" barrel when I have a 2" eyepiece adapter on the prism to ensure that the edge of the 2" adapter clears the drawtube of the scope. The Nirvanas / UWANs are pretty good - about on par with the ES 82's I'd say. I used the 4mm Nirvana for quite some time as a high power eyepiece and it did very well in that role. Your mini-Ercole looks great. My Tak FC100DL rides on a Giro II head on a hardwood tripod. Steady yet very portable

Markus at APM has told me that since they were launched in 2005 there have been 109 130mm F/9.2 LZOS triplets made. 5 more will be made before production of the objectives ceases in 2017. Mine is #20 Mind you there have been a lot more of the F/6 version made - they are more useful for imagers. I'm looking forward to your 1st light report Gavster

Looks wonderful 700+ units seems quite a lot for a high end scope like that. How long has it been in production ?

With some of these ED glasses and the excellent coatings that can be tricky - the glass can do a sort of dissapearing act from some angles ! Lovely scope Gavster @Nightfisher / Jules: Thats a great looking ED120 setup. The EQ5 on what looks like the 2" steel tripod should be well up to the task

I don't think it does otherwise no SCT would be able to perform to the resolution limits of their aperture when using with 1.25" accessories, which they clearly do, or at least all the ones that I've owned have.

I don't think 2" eyepieces let in any more light and reveal any more detail. The additional field width can be useful / nice for framing larger DSO's though.

Yes, you screw the diagonal onto the rear port of the scope in place of the visual back. You just need to make sure that the larger diagonal will clear the mount when the scope is pointing upwards.

Excellent Jules - I'm very pleased for you

These people in the USA do them Derek: http://www.destinycomp.com/Online store menu.htm I don't know if there are any UK / EU sources ?

It's a OO fitted one. Back in 2006 when the scope was made it was an option but OO don't do them now. The effect on images is that you don't see diffraction spikes. Diffraction is still happening of course but it's dissipated across the whole field. They were fitted when I got the scope but it's performed very well for me so I'm happy with them As far as I can detect the dissipated diffraction does not cause a lighter background sky but I guess I would need to be able to compare my scope "back to back" with one of the same spec with conventional secondary vanes to be sure. I'm sure your views will be at least as good as mine, maybe a tad better if your coatings are new. My primary was re-coated and re-Hiluxed in 2010 by OO. I've had nice views of Venus, Mars and Neptune so far this evening - I have a feeling that it's going to be a good one

Some new pics of my 12" F/5.3 Orion Optics dob because it's out cooling under a clear sky

I'm not sure that the XLT coatings will make much difference but the slower focal ratio will make quite a difference to the amount of CA showing:

Nice !. I like the dark blue / white colour scheme It will be interesting to compare the Omni 120 with your Startravel 120.

It might reduce vibrations a bit as well. I've often thought that having less weight but further from the central axis of the mount (ie: towards the end of the C/W bar) creates a rig that is more prone to vibration than having more weight closer to the central axis. Great looking setup !