Chris

Hi John, that's good to hear. I read it was in a museum on one site, but maybe they meant the original dome as they were talking about that also? This site certainly refers to it being 'visitable' as recently as 2013. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p014hv0c

The UK used to have a 28" Victorian refractor at Greenwich, but sadly it's no longer in use. I wonder if there is a larger refractor then our clubs 10" / 258mm Tomline refractor in use anywhere in the UK?

Really well done! One of the best I've seen over the years!

Looks lovely, David

Good result! I bet you need a break now before even thinking about buying a new scope!

TS used to be really good. Maybe this is a sign their in a bit of trouble? I speculate, but they're not showing their past form.

Oh Dear, that's not ideal, I would expect a little better from TS. I would send it back and go with another supplier. It's a shame FLO don't have a 4" f/7 ED offering in this price bracket. I would hope Paypal would see that taking the scope apart isn't a reasonable solution, but there is only one way to find out.

Bad luck, Jon As said TS are usually good, I'm sure this isn't typical. Surely your luck will change at some point?! Definitely return it though.

Now the fun begins!

Congrats Jon. it would be good to hear your thoughts on the scope once you've had a bit of time under your belt with it

Such bad practice for AA not to communicate with their customers. How are customers supposed to feel re assured to buy from them? Such a shame as their scopes look good. I too would look elsewhere. It's a shame they hurt their own sales, but maybe they sell so many they don't have to worry about good coms?

Me too!

Nice Rosette taken with the RedCat51:

If I could pick only one scope to do every role from observing to imaging of both planets and DSO, I'd likely pick a good 4" F7 ED refractor. Thankfully I'm allowed several scopes though ?

I've only owned one FF camera, it was a 5D mk1 classic. It had a lovely quality to the images taken with it, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was.. Not sure if it was the increased Bokeh, or the dymanic range or what? I didn't notice any vignetting with EF lenses, not to say it wasn't there, but I didn't notice. I'm tempted by another FF. You can get a sony A7 or 6D for around £400-500 now days. If I do I'll take a look at any possible vignetting.

I do the same, I use EF lenses on my 77D, but I must admit I do think of FF cameras sometimes

I understand the resolution wouldn't be the same, but if you want to try and make a 135mm lens closer to a 250mm, it's the only way I can think of doing it whilst maintaining the 'speed' (as we are comparing it to an f2 lens) effectively cropping down with a smaller sensor would be a waste of that lovely fat field though

This is a very good question. One way round it is if you shoot with a smaller sensor, but that relies on you having a bunch of cameras with different size sensors.

I apologise if this vid has been linked already, but just in case it hasn't. p.s. This is at 500mm focal length, as it's shot with an M4/3 sensor with a crop factor of 2x.

Defo an option for me, thanks.

How sharp are the corner stars at f/2 with the Samyang? Do you need to stop it down at all? If you don't I probably should get one.

Yep, double checked Trevor's video. He shows the tensioner ring at the front at 3:21 minutes in. Happy days lol Yeah, I'm not sure I'd like to buy an Astrofest ex demo scope.

I'm sure I heard trever from backyard astro mention an adjuster ring for adjusting the tension on the helical focuser. I need to re-check the video, but it looked to adjust smoothly.

I didn't know you had a YT channel Ray, I've off course subbed, That CEM120 is a beast! As for the helical focuser on the 'Cat', if done right I think it could actually feel better than a single speed crayford fro example.

Go on Ron, you can do it You only live once!