Mark at Beaufort

Martin I have the Orion VX8 f4.5 although its the 1/6th wave. I did a review of this scope in late 2015 for the Sky at Night Mag. Its a great scope although I have changed the Primary and Secondary collimation screws. I have had good views of the Sun, Moon, most Planets, Double Stars and DSOs and its my main grab and go and outreach public scope. If you want a scope mainly for Planets I would think a SCT or Mak Cass would be better. However, The VX8 is light and easily fits onto my SkyTee 2 mount and I think its a great scope. There was one recently advertised on eBay and was going for silly money.

Really liked your final photo showing the projection.

I know how you feel Derek. I sold my 21mm, 13mm and 8mm Ethos EPs. Twelve months later I knew that I missed my 100 degree EPs so I bought the 20mm and 9mm Myraid. Felt I could not justify buying new TeleVue again . However, I really missed the 13mm Ethos even though I enjoyed my ES 82 series so I bought one.

OK Fozzie I have been outside and viewed the Sun . Sunspot 2612 is very easy to define and I could split 2614 into two separate parts but I could not make out 2615. I suppose if I was not going to the Eclipse next year I may not have bought them. I accept what Peter and Chris have stated above and I did consider making Baader filters for my Apollo 15x70 binos which would have been cheaper. But these Lunt binos are very nice quality and it does give instant grab and go to kept a eye on activity on the Sun.

Fozzie I have the Lunt 8x32mm solar binos and I really like them. Great quality and safe although I appreciate they are much more expensive. I initially bought them hoping that I might go to the Eclipse in 2017 in the United States. If you give me a few minutes I will go outside and tell you what I can see especially if I can see sunspots 2614 and 2615 - I know 2612 is very easy.

That's a relief. If I did buy this scope I would use my TeleVue 2" diagonal and my 20mm Myraid for DSO work. Thanks Derek for the clarification.

Derek that is a worrying statement especially I was considering that the AA152 would become my grab and go and outreach scope. Is the problem inward focusing?

Thanks Stu and I have read with interest the subject that Jules raised and the conclusion that a 120ED frac is a good choice for a single instrument. I suppose it then comes down to the Equinox 120ED or Evostar 120ED both having the same glass but the former a better focuser. I suppose to cover this discussion more I should follow the thread started by Jules and not hijack the Starwave 152 thread.

Thanks Stu for your positive and honest opinion. What I was trying to do is to have just two scopes. I have my 12" Dob for DSO work but I was trying to get a scope to cover everything else. The Astro Tech is very good on the items that I mentioned and I suppose I want that quality if I replace it. This is not going to be easy unless I spend a great deal on a 6" short focus ED frac. I like SCT/Mak Cass scopes but I can't use a Herschel Wedge for solar viewing so it needs to be a frac. Perhaps I should consider a 120mm or 127mm ED frac instead.

Thanks for that Derek but I can't seem to find the scope on ABS.

Stu I only use the 4" ED for Lunar, Solar with a Lunt 1.25" Herschel Wedge, Planets and Double stars. My Orion VX8 is now just my grab and go and my outreach scope. I thought a good 6" frac could be a nice scope on my SkyTee 2 for some DSO work but also to view the current 4" area with binoviewers. My only real worry was solar with the 1.25" HW which has been the subject of some discussion on the forum.

I am seriously thinking of getting one of these AA Starwave 152 Achro to replace my Orion VX8 and 4" Astro Tech ED frac. I want to reduce my scopes to a 12" Dob and 6" Frac. Question has anyone used binoviewers in the AA 152 frac and was it easy to gain inward focus or did you require a barlow? Has anyone observed tight doubles in the AA 152 frac and compared the view with say a 4" ED. If you think I am making a mistake I would appreciate your honest opinion.

Mike it looks fabulous and I thought your 14" scope was pretty good. Look forward to hearing more on your visual observations particularly some of the difficult objects like the HH and Cocoon Neb.

Mike I have been following this thread with interest because you have been treated very badly. I just hope that everything works out okay today and your new 20" Dob will be ready for SGL12. With the care and time you have taken to build this scope you will enjoy your dark skies in the Elan Valley and Skye. As Derek mentioned above when the dust settles we will appreciate a details supplier review. My fingers are crossed for you Mike for a good afternoon trip.

@DRT - Derek that looks excellent. Thanks for the info on drilling - I had a feeling that members have stated in the past that holes needed to be drilled in Orion scopes. I am sure that will be the case for my Orion VX8. Now the forecast looks okay for tonight so you should be able to give this and the VX12 a good test. For my part I am going looking for DSOs in Cepheus using the 12" but I want to test the Orion VX6L on some doubles - Zeta Hercules could be a good challenge.

Derek those Dobs look fantastic. I must admit that the Orion Dob bases are much more handy than the very heavy MDF solid bases that come with many scopes. I will be interested when you transfer the Moonlite over to the 8" Orion whether you need to drill any holes.

Thanks John - I was thinking of getting an eyepiece in the 3.5mm/3.0mm range but I usually use binoviewers + a Baader 2.25x barlow for Lunar and Planets. My other interest is double stars and I find the TeleVue zoom with the 1.6X or 2.25X barlows provides all my needs. The EP case shown above covers all my scopes 12" Dob, Orion VX8, Orion VX6L, 4" Astro Tech Frac and the 72mm Altair Lightwave.

Derek I bought this TeleVue zoom to use on my PST Ha scope - I find it gives very good views. To be honest I sometimes use a black out cloth which increases the contrast and blocks out most of the outside light. I have also used this zoom on the Altair Lightwave 72ED you sold me with a Herschel Wedge, Continuum filter and Polarising filter and again the view is very good. So all I can say is I am happy with the zoom which I hope to use with the Altair Lightwave as a travel scope.

I thought it was about time that I posted a photo in this thread. My main eyepiece case has a collection of ES EPs. Starting on the left is a 24mm 68 degree followed by 18mm, 14mm, 11mm, 8.8mm, 6.7mm and 4.7mm all 82 degree with the latter being Nitrogen rather than Argon filled. In addition there is a 8mm-24mm Televue zoom + 1.6x barlow + 2" Televue Satin Dielectric diagonal + 20mm Skywatcher Myraid 100 degree EP. My collection of filters contain Astronomik and Lumicon O-III, Lumicon and Baader UHC, Thousand Oaks H.Beta, Baader Neodymium, Skywatcher UHC and some colour and ND filters.

John thank you so much for posting this fantastic image of Antares with its companion. My Sissy Haas's double star manual gives a P.A. of 274 degrees which looks pretty close to your image although the entry in the book is 1997. I have tried many times to view this double without success, including a few days ago with my recently acquired 6" f/8 1/12 wave Newtonian. Its good to see a photo showing the precise location which will allow me to make provision for the change of orientation in either my 4" frac or 6", 8" or 12" Newt. Well done again.

What a fantastic first light John. You now have a great choice of quality fracs to choose from - spoilt for choice. I viewed Mars and Saturn last night with the 12" Dob but I can't say it was any where the quality provided by a good APO frac.

John that looks a fabulous scope and I look forward to your first light report. I am currently on my canal boat (10th day) so don't have good wi-fi so have not been on SGL that much. I assume you will say goodbye to your Vixen after so many years??? Hopefully one day I will have chance to view this lovely Frac but I am worried I will to buy one!!

An interesting day chasing the Sun going North. I knew that Hereford was going to be cloudy so made the decision with 3 friends from Herefordshire Astro Society to drive up the M5 and M6 to find clear skies. In the end our first stop was the Sandbach Service Area where we observed first contact. Stayed about an hour showing various members of the public the views. It appeared that the best direction for clear skies was going North East so we headed for the Peak District and found a very nice pub - Robin Hood - the other side of Congleton. The landlord was happy for us to set up the scopes and we obliged by having a nice pub lunch and showing the customers the views. Reasonable clear skies with some high cloud but overall a great day.

I am about to leave in 20 minutes to meet up with Herefordshire AS members to drive north up the M6. We will stop at Stafford, Sandbach, Knutsford until we fine clear skies. The car is loaded up with Frac and PST. I know its a bit of a journey but I did travel to California in 2012 to view Transit of Venus so whats a hundred miles