RobertI

The Altair Astro 102ED-R is another version of the same scope. I’ve been extremely happy with mine after two years. My initial assessment was that I was amazed by its solar system capabilities (especially with binoviewers) but slightly underwhelmed by the DSOs it showed, I guess 4” is 4”. But it is so versatile, going from razor sharp views of planets and the moon at 200x to super wide views of 4 degrees and more. So alongside your 10” it should be the perfect companion. I have mine on an AZ4 which I bought specially for it as my Skytee on a 2” tripod is heavy and overkill for a 4” scope on its own, and my Mini-giro on a heavy duty photo tripod is more ‘delicate’ to balance and doesn’t do the scope justice.

You’re getting some nice views of the comet Michael. I still haven’t seen it yet, I’ll track it down with my 10x50s but will also try one of my scopes. What sort of magnification do you think would be best, say with my 102ED?

I started to do a comparison between my Tal 100RS and my 102ED-R a couple of years ago - you can see it below. I only compared Mars, and the ED scope served up much better views (I don’t think the diagonal in the Tal made a difference as I may have suspected in the test). I didn’t continue the test because I was so impressed with the performance of the 102ED-R I just wanted to use it and not waste any more time on comparisons! I haven’t used the Tal since, not because it’s bad, there’s just no reason to when I have the ED which gives better views. Prior to getting the ED I did sometimes use the Tal side by side with the C8 and it was a very good double splitter and served up decent views of the moon, Jupiter and Saturn. If the Tal was your only refractor I think you would be happy, but side by side with an ED of similar size, I think you’d always be looking through the ED. As for build quality, it’s very solid, the focuser is an ok single speed Crayford, it has a rotatable focuser tube and a removable dew shield. It doesn’t feel cheap but also doesn’t feel special or refined. One point is that with a 2” diagonal there is insufficient in focus, so I have to use a 1.25” diagonal and cannot accommodate 2” eyepieces as a result.

Well done indeed, I’m sure they’ll be very popular. 👍

It’s a message …… from Elon Musk. It’s rather pretty actually.

Your dob looks like it’s sulking in the corner.

Very enjoyable video, a nice examination of the comet, great setup you have there.

You mentioned the word “refractor”!

Another vote for the 102ED. I'm a fairly recent convert to the joys of a 4" refractor for visual after many years with my highly capable Newts and an 8" SCT. Very pleased with the 4" all round and I tend to use it more than my other scopes for visual as most of my sessions are spur of the moment and fairly brief, so quick cooling, easy setup and minimal paraphernalia are important. The main limitations for me are globular clusters, where I think you need 6-8" and above to resolve enough stars to get that wow factor, and possibly galaxies.

Good catches Reggie. 👍

Is it this one? https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/baader-clicklock-m63a-x-1-for-feather-touch-25-focusers.html

Sounds like a horrible situation to be in, and a real dilemma for you. I don't know your situation, but could you look to focus on enjoying your imaging again, and take the pressure off, by using a cheaper/simpler/smaller scope for a while, and the triplet dilemma might become clearer over time with help of the good people on SGL?

Personally I think an OIII is worth it for the Veil Nebula alone. Even through the 4", with an OIII it's stunning on a transparent night and so much to see, and sketch if you're that way inclined. UHC is more versatile. Both really can make the invisible visible. I also bought a 38 Panaview eyepiece for my 102ED giving a 4 degree FOV and can fit the entire Veil in!

What a session Dave! Must have been superb transparency that night. Beautiful scope ... "Flourite Apochromat" ... is that some kind of plastic? 😉

Excellent mods sir! I also have a strap on my C8 instead of a handle, it's very effective and better than a handle in that you can position it anywhere around the OTA to suit. 👍

Just FYI, I have attached the baseplate to my scope using two cable ties around the circumference of the scope, one on each side of the base plate. It doesn't look pretty, but actually works brilliantly, and no stickiness required. It also mean you can mount the quickfinder at the lens end of the scope (in the case of a refractor) which makes it easier to look through.

Great to hear Stu, at least great that the scope is not duff! 👍

LOL, yes the 12” might be your Obsession but the 8” makes more (star) sense. 🤭

Great to hear about your first light and welcome to the club! Your experience quite similar to my first views - doubles and clusters amazing, planets awesome, faint fuzzies a bit "meh". But actually it's my main scope at present due to its convenience, and the lack of aperture hasn't stopped me seeking out those faint fuzzies anyway, and with its super contrast, its actually better on fuzzies than you would think, especially with narrowband filters. I got some binoviewers for planetary, lunar and solar and have been amazed by what extra you can see and how much more enjoyable the experience is.

If you're like me, and find it hard to sell stuff, then buying a new scope is a big deal, even if you can afford it. By adding yet another scope to the collection there's always the risk it will make your observing less enjoyable by making it more complicated. A dedicated solar scope sounds like a fine plan though and a nice complement to your night time arsenal.

Some great advice above. Once you’ve found them, you’ll be seeing them all the time. Don’t forget M35 in Gemini. If you extend the line from M38, M37 and M36, you eventually get to M35. If you have good eyes and a reasonably dark sky, you might spot its hazy companion cluster NGC2158.

Excellent, something a bit different, looking forward to seeing it! In house premium optics by the look of it. Is it a doublet or triplet?

I was out last night (see separate report) with the goal of observing objects in Cancer. I had a pre-planned list and it worked really well. Except....... because I was exploring a single constellation, with a variety of object types, I was switching eyepieces quite frequently. 10mm and 17mm for clusters, and zoom with/without barlow for double and carbon stars. The result was that I dropped an eyepiece - always the danger when 'fiddling'. The alternative is to stick to an object type (eg: open clusters), and choose a single appropriate eyepiece (eg: medium power or zoom), cruising multiple constellations for that object type if required, but this is a bit more difficult to plan, in my opinion. When Leo is better placed, I can have the best of both worlds, so many galaxies in one constellation! What are people's thoughts? How do you observe?

Jupiter I set up the 102ED on the AZ4 before dinner, and had a squint at Jupiter. The GRS was visible, but not immediately due to poor seeing (as always!). I invited my 8 year old to have a look at Jupiter through the binoviewer. Amazingly he immediately said, "I can see a spot at the bottom", and when he described it, it was in exactly the right place below one of the EQ belts. Young eyes I guess! Cancer I went out again later for the main event - a pre-planned tour around Cancer. Despite the dew-band for the objective failing (broken I think - the cable got hot but the band didn't) and me dropping my new Morpheus eyepiece onto concrete (minimal damage thankfully, thanks to a niftily placed foot), it was an ok session. M44 - the showpiece, large and spectacular at low power. M67 - an open cluster with around twenty stars forming some interesting swirls and loops Tegmine - A triple with the closest pair being 1.1" apart, this was a real challenge in the non-ideal conditions (and manual AZ4 mount). At my maximum mag of 320x, most of the time it was just resolved (peanut shaped) but some of the time it was clearly split (gap in between). Struve 1245 - a nice multiple system, easily split X Cancri - a lovely, bright, deep orange carbon star. Using the zoom was interesting on this one, the colour seemed better at some magnitudes than others - I think part of this is getting enough "white" stars in the FOV to really highlight the red colour. Iota Cancri - the "winter Alberio", lived up to it's name with a yellow primary and seemingly blue secondary, truly spectacular. NGC2775/2749 - a couple of bright galaxies, unfortunately the objective was well and truly dewed by this point, so I shall have to leave these beauties for another time. Surprising how much this faint constellation has to offer.

Good choice, enjoy!