John

Interesting movie on this mammoth refractor from TEC. Just $29,000 for the optical tube assembly if you would like one 🙂

I was told by the chair of my astro society a short while back that "that boat has long sailed" when I was talking about using star charts, star hopping etc, etc to find targets. Rather sad ☹️

I'm very impressed at how organised and systematic people are about planning observing sessions 👍 Makes me feel a little guilty for my rather casual approach 🙄 I might have one of two targets in mind but after that it's whatever takes my fancy. Typical "space tourist" 😉

I was hoping for the same but such hopes are fading now. Earlier I got some nice views of Saturn despite thin cloud. Now nothing at all is showing through 😒

While cloud cover did make it difficult for many in the UK, there was some observing / imaging done of the event and this thread records that:

My 100mm refractor takes zero minutes to cool down. I can lift it out of the house and be observing at 200x plus immediately. 5-10 minute sessions (which on some nights are all that is available) are practical. If I did not have such a setup, I may well have got practically no observing in over the past 6 months 🙄 I have owned a number of SCT's from 5 to 8 inches and mak-cassegrains from 3.5 to 7 inches over the years and they were very good indeed, when properly cooled and dew protected.

The SCT and Mak-Cassegrain suggestions are great but they do need some cool down time to give their best planetary / lunar performance. The OP specified "as quick a setup time as possible" in the original post. That seems to point towards a refractor to my mind 🤔 If it was me I would be looking around at an ED doublet 100mm / 102mm F/7-ish that would fit within my overall budget. It will probably need to be purchased used though.

Jupiter now showing nicely at 140x 🙂

Spurred by this thread I've just put my Vixen ED102SS out to have a look at Saturn 😁

This came as a bit of a shock when I stumbled across it on another forum - there was a short period when Vixen made some models for Tasco including the legendary FL102 F/8.8:

I used to have a Sky & Telescope in depth review from 2000 by Alan Dyer comparing the Vixen 102M F/9.8 achromat, the ED102SS and the FL102S. I can't seem to find the darn thing now though 🤔

As long as it does not have dielectric coatings, I believe the silvering and over-coating approach is the same as for a primary / secondary mirror.

My ED102SS originally had a Vixen green focuser. This was fine for a few years but gradually needed more and more adjustment to keep it smooth so eventually I replaced it with a Moonlite dual speed. After a couple more years I wanted to return the ED102SS to closer to it's original state so I picked up a focuser that had been on an ED103 which was exactly the same as the original apart from being white and having different shaped focuser knobs. So at least it is an "all Vixen" scope again now 🙂 My scope dates from around 2000 I think. It was imported to the UK by an SGL member, then owned by another SGL member for a while before I became it's owner in June 2007. It survived falling off a mount onto concrete slabs a few years back. The only damage was to the dew shield and the diagonal. I replaced the latter and repaired the former. The optics were completely undamaged and the collimation unchanged (it's still spot on). Telescopes make a horrible sound when they fall onto concrete though as do their owners seconds later !😬

Do you mean the mirror from a mirror diagonal or the diagonal mirror from a newtonian ?

Same as my ED102SS 🙂

Nothing wrong with the WO's (and clones) optically and they are well put together.

I agree. Local issues seem to have a significant impact on seeing, probably even more than the Jetstream position. Central heating plumes as the colder season draws in but in the warmer months residual heat from roofs, roads and car parks seeping back up into the sky. Given all the "stuff" that can happen between our target object and our scopes it's amazing that we can see much at all ! 🙄

Very nice Andy 🙂 I wish I'd got a scope out but the conditions here were so poor I honestly didn't think the clouds would break !

OK, so how is he going to make it appear that the moon has "disappeared" early next year ? David Copperfield Collaborate with Save the Children on Illusion | Save the Children Mass hypnosis ?

No there wouldn't be with the 30mm UFF. It's field stop is around 36.7mm I think. There are a number of 30mm and longer focal length eyepieces that have larger field stops and wider AFoV's. It's only annoying if you are seeking the widest true field for the 1.25 inch or 2 inch eyepiece format of course.

Well it's a good diagonal and the same as the GSO / Revelation but the one pictured has an SCT fitting. I thought you were intending to use it with a WO Zenithstar III refractor ?

Got a break in the clouds here 🙂 Nice views with 11x70 binoculars. A few snaps taken with my wife's compact digital zoom camera. This was probably the best:

The Baader 32mm plossl has a smaller field stop than many of that focal length. It's AFoV is around 45 degrees. Hence the lack of vignetting.

That restricted field of view issue is a bit more pronounced in the 1.25 inch version of the William Optics diagonals and their clones. I found that a 32mm plossl showed noticeable vingetting in that type of diagonal. A 30mm Vixen NPL plossl though was OK. The GSO / Revelation diagonals are good for their cost I feel (both the 2 inch and the 1.25 inch sizes) and they do not vignette any eyepieces as far as I'm aware.

The forecast was rubbish tonight but, as it turned out, there were enough clear-ish patches to make observing worthwhile. The value of having a setup that can be quickly deployed is really proving itself I think 👍