moriniboy

Evening Steve, that was a Circle V 0.965" 25mm Kellner, agreed there was no visible difference and a worthwhile comparison.

Thought I would put an alternative slant on this post by going 0.965" old school. Really enjoy using these when widefield views are not required.

Just taken this year's insurance photo and looking at my post last year 10/10/15 I have managed to reduce the number of fracs I own by one List as follows, left to right: 152mm Altair Astro Starwave 120mm Skywatcher Equinox 101mm TeleVue Renaissance SDF 102mm Ikharus (still my workhorse scope) 100mm TAL 100R stage 2 PST mod 80mm Vixen FL80S Fluorite (now with Baader diamond steeltrack focuser) 80mm Skylight Kenko f12 70mm TeleVue Ranger 63mm Zeiss Telementor The only change I'm currently contemplating is swapping the Ranger for a TV60

Skylight heaven Loving my 80mm Kenko F12, finder is a non standard item from a Prinz Astral 500

I kept the green tupperware tub and sold the scope, liked it that much!

My TAL100R PST stage 2 mod is going nowhere, it's a cracking scope and I love the objectives purple coating.

My contribution, stage 2 PST mod with BF10

Agreed and the neatest thing is that you also get a booklet signed by Al Nagler as well.

First photo of my new scope, it's a TeleVue Ranger achro, 70mm f6.8, was hoping to get a first light photo under the stars but the weather is not playing ball. Bit of a quirky scope as it does not have a traditional crayford / R&P type focuser instead rough focusing is achieved by sliding the focuser tube out part way to suit the ep and the helical element takes care of the fine. Weighs 1.5kg excluding diagonal etc.

Just took a photo of my fracs for insurance purposes, rather surprised to find out that I own 10 (honest ) so I have decided to share the photo with you. Having a modded Skytee 2 means that I can mount two scopes at a time side by side so they all get regular use. From left to right 120mm Skywatcher Esprit 102mm Lyra Optics 101mm TeleVue Renaissance SDF 102mm Ikharus (my workhorse scope) 100mm TAL 100R stage 2 mod 90mm Vixen Super Polaris 90M 80mm Vixen FL80S Fluorite 80mm Opticstar AR80S 66mm Altair Lightwave 66ED-R 63mm Zeiss Telementor

Barr & Stroud 8 x 42's which I took to bits to collimate and I haven't put back together yet...... Great views though.

This should win an award for a seriously ugly mak cat (and yes it is a Questar from 1981)

I recently re-acquired an Equinox 80 and decided to have a try with the short tube currently being sold on Astroboot. With this scope I now have the following options Solar Ha with the 60mm Solar max etalon and BF6 Solar white light with the 2" Herschel wedge Conventional astronomy. Now when I replace the main tube with the shorter version I get all the above with my binoviewers. That's why I love fracs.

Not currently, thanks, as long as you are taking photos that will be a great help in future.

Don't own a dob, enjoying this thread though.

I'm liking the fact that virtually all mounts seem to be alt/az as well, they just seem to be a perfect match to a refractor.

1970's 6" newt which cost approx £36 when new next to an OO modern version that cost considerably more.....

Wonder how the cost of the Questar compares to some of those Dobs though?

190MN at NW Astrofest 2014 (with a photobombing Dob). Must take more more photos of this scope, this was the only one!

Love this thread, my contribution

I'm thinking of upgrading the vanes on my AE newt to curved ones by using 4 stainless steel 0.5mm rules, should be interesting.... They only cost £1.29 each off feabay and if it does not work I will just convert back to stock.

Here's a photo of the ep's, I understand 17mm was also available so will keep my eye open for one.

Simples, no matter what I have searched I can't find a photo of the exact Vixen one. Then I found that they might be the same as Celestron, hence the similarity. If I buy them will post a photo as a record.

Are these any good, they look like this, I can't see photos of the exact ep on Google but this is close enough. Also any idea of an approximate price?

Note Coronado warranty will be invalidated if you follow this modification. Right from the start the Etalon from my PST has been difficult to get the tuning just right. If you overcooked the tuning and reversed direction you could feel a knock within the unit and the sweet spot became a sweet oval with no Ha definition in the middle. Since I have now converted the PST into a stage 2 with a TAL 100R I was finding that this problem was always getting in the way of my viewing pleasure. I realised that something needed adjustment but I was uncertain about taking the Etalon to bits. After trawling the internet I found this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llSJy99Om9E After dis-assembly I found that the large coarse thread allows the Etalon tuning ring to move from side to side and up and down quite significantly, not very good really for modern manufacturing techniques, and I assumed the rocking of the threads was the main reason for the tuning problems due to mis-alignment. To lessen the side to side movement I used a couple of strips of DC Fix black PVC tape in the area shown below (red dots), whilst not a perfect solution it removes the majority of lateral movement. To lessen the up / down movement I used a couple of circular rings made from milk bottle sides with double sided foam tape in the middle (tape was about 1.5mm thick) Finally re-assemble and test, this proved to be a complete success with a reversal of direction occurring with no o ring sweet spot problems. After final assembly showing the tuning ring assembly Its a bit rough and ready and I'm sure better ideas will be forthcoming but it currently works for me.