Jimboscotland

I unfortunately didn't notice Royal Mail vs courier in the excitement of ordering my Baader zoom. Now paying the price by long delivery delay. Just when we have the clear cold skies in Scotland! 😖 live and learn. Kicking self over and over...😫

Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate your help.

Morning all, I want to replace the diagonal on a SW 102 mak. Between the Baader T-2 prism and a dialectric mirror diagonal which is better suited to a maksutov? Which quality/cost one would you choose? No recommendation for 12" dog considered! Ha! 😆

Yes, that one. Are you familiar with Besser 102/1320?

Thanks again all. My budget is tiny as I'm on a pension. So the Evostar 102 including mount (obviously needing a beefed up tripod) is attractive. An 80mm ED is the largest that I could afford since I'd need diagonal, mount etc. Things that give me pause is the f/10 of the Evo and resulting CA. Or the short Fl of a 80mm ED. Another option is waiting to use if the Bresser 102 f/13.2 with mount,about the same price as the Evo, ever comes back?? Or waiting for a used ED scope to show up on the used market... I love retirement, but the pays not so good. 😏

Thanks guys. This is the type of discussion that helps. Cheers

Wow nice!

Thanks for your sharing your work. Great job. I've been making a point of trying for sporting the new moon for the last few months and have mostly spotted clouds 😫 but will keep at it. BTW I'm using my new Pentax SP 20x60's.

Hi all, One factor in making my scope choice is stumping me. Scottish seeing/skies and scope size. Yes I can get an 8" dobsonian for the same price as an 80mm ED doublet or a 102 long focus achromat, but how often would I be able to use the extra inch or more difference in size, vs the lesser weight and grab and go factor of the smaller scope? I really like the idea of a refractor for doubles and the contrast for the moon... I'm not as interested in faint fuzzies. I'm visual only? Thoughts??

Thanks Rob for the suggestion of the Starwave 80mm ED. Worth considering.

Just starting over, so I'd need the whole kit. But that's better in the long run than getting a scope pkg. and replacing things, I'd have what I like from the get go. 1 1/4 dialectic mirror diagonal and 1 1/4 eye pieces. Not sure of the finder as a long focal length eye piece could make it it's own finder.?? Recommended barlow??

Wow! Lots to consider. Thanks all. My main interest in doubles lies not in the toughest split,one can always find tougher and tougher pairs requiring bigger and bigger scopes...hey why stop there take up spectrographs..you get the idea. I like studying stellar evolution and doubles provide this and aesthetic differences as well. So colours are important. That favors the ED or All scopes . But if say the 72mm is doable budget wise the small focal length only gives 45x's for a 10mm eyepiece. Does a Barlow which introduces more glass surfaces take away some of the visual quality? More to think about Cheers

Wow! Lots to consider. Thanks all.

Nice report, thanks.

Hi all, New to the forum and I'm enjoying reading past posts. Now to my query: I'm 74 with intermediate in experience but new to doubles observing. In researching which scope for doubles for Scotland's iffy skies I narrowed it down to either a 4 inch f/10 or f/+ achromat ,or a 127 maksutov. With pensioners budget I've ruled out ED or Apo scopes. If choosing , say a Bresser 127 maksutov and adding say a Porta 2 mount the cost is 150 GBPs more than say a Sky Watcher Evo 102 on a Eq3-2 mount or a Bresser 102 on the same mount. I really like the idea of increased portability and slow motion controls on the 1st choice and will have to weigh that against cost, but optics wise is one better? Any and all feedback welcome. Thanks in advance. Cheers James Ayr Scotland