RobertI

Great vid Chris, and interesting to see an alternative camera to the usual suspects. 👍

Well done FLO, yet more great scopes to add to your already “Stella” lineup. 👍

Very frustrating. I hope when it finally arrives and you start using your lovely scope, it will quickly become a distant memory.

Excellent - I have never used binoculars bigger than 10x50 so the views must have been impressive.

I was just about to ask why 102mm is common(ish), but you have answered John. All the better, I have a genuine 4” frac. 🤗

All will be welcome! 😁

Looks like an interesting option Alan. Might be a bit tight on FOV for the Veil possibly? Got me thinking that I have a 0.8X reducer/flattener for F6 scopes - wonder if this might give an even wider and slightly flatter field? Having done a quick search not sure if flattener would make the edges better or worse for visual. Might give it a go if I have the right adaptor.

Yes that’s the scope. Tecnosky and TS also do the same scope with their own branding. It’s made by Kunming United Optics and seems to be very popular scope with glowing reports from owners. It’s a quality scope and I can’t really think of single bad thing to say about it! A 102 owner’s thread seems like a nice idea!

You trying to bankrupt me Stu? 😆 Seriously, thanks for the steer, perhaps the ES might be a good step up. I’ll have a play with the FOV calculator and check out the prices.

Cheers Alan. That’s a lovely scope, similar spec but somewhat better optics I’d wager! 😋

Thanks Stu. The 38mm is an impressively big eyepiece, but it does suffer from ‘fall off’ toward the edge of the FOV, which isn’t ideal when trying to view the whole of the Veil, so I had the centre the area of interest to get the most detail, but still a lovely view.

Great project and superb result. I'm in no doubt it will be come a fantastic resource. 👍

Take the ZS73 and a good pair of binoculars - you’ll be in astronomy heaven! Last year I scanned the Milky Way with my 10x50s, holding an OIII filter up to one eyecup and a UHC filter to the other - it was like having X-ray vision, the emission nebulae just popped into view!

Thanks John. I hadn’t appreciated how the two objects were at such opposite ends of the observing spectrum - I take it for granted now! I also hankered after a 2” OIII filter (holding a 1.25” OIII confirmed better structure than the UHC) - probably worth it just for the Veil!

First session in a LONG time (13th June to be precise). Had a rare good day at work, and finished on a high and motivated to make the most of the clear night promised. My main targets tonight were the following objects, which I have been waiting to view through my new 102ED-R for the first time: - Jupiter using the BVs and the 102ED-R; Mars was so spectacular last year and such a revelation with this (new to me) set up, I was chomping at the bit to see Jupiter. - The Veil using my 38mm Panaview; an eyepiece bought specifically for the purpose of fitting in the whole Veil complex. When finally the last bathroom light went out (apart from one - I think someone must have fallen asleep on the toilet!) I tried the Veil. Even though it was not fully dark, I was delighted to easily find it and, YES, the whole complex did fit in the FOV With the 2” UHC attached the view was breathtaking, with subtle structure visible in the arcing Eastern Veil. In and really dark sky and an OIII filter this will be something to behold. Next was a swap to Jupiter. With the BV arrangement giving a magnification of 175x, Jupiter was HUGE. And even though low over the rooftops, the view was surprisingly steady, yielding beautiful rusty belts, a prominent white belt and several festoons and lots of structure. It was a really amazing moment to see Jupiter like this. Should be amazing as the months progress and it climbs higher. So mission accomplished, targets observed and warm glow achieved. The 102ED-R continues to impress. 🙂

What a great looking scope Steve and a genius idea, I might keep an eye out for a mangled ED100 to convert my Tal - it’s a great scope but the in-focus is so shallow that I can’t even use my 2” diagonal. Happy binoviewing!

Great report Paul. Your descriptions are really making me look forward to seeing the Jupiter and Saturn with my 102EDR and binoviewers - a setup which gave me amazing views of Mars last year. Might have to travel out to a country site with a clear horizon as they seem pretty low.

Awesome John 😎. Congratulations and thank you for sharing your insight an enthusiasm with us!

Great vid Chris very helpful and good to see the process of putting together. Nice tripod!

You lucky devil. Looking forward to “first mount”. 🙂

Nice haul. Was this with the Tal? (sorry can’t see your sig on my phone). I was surprised one night when my Tal dewed up before my C8 (usually a dew magnet!).

My Tal 100mm refractor has a dew shield which is held in place with three grub screws which sit on the circumference of the lens cell. When I first bought the scope I over-tightened the screws and got that exact problem. It took me ages to work out the problem but on slackening them off, immediate perfect airy discs!

I mount it on a Skytee 2 which is rock solid, sometimes side-by-side with the C8. 👍

The 102 Mak should be pretty darn good for planetary. Amazing what you can see with 102mm of aperture. I really enjoyed using my new 102ED-R on Mars last year, some amazing views with bino-viewers. Can’t wait to give it a go on Jupiter and Saturn. I will try and give a proper comparison with my 8” SCT and 150PL newt, as in theory they should all be really good for planetary. The 102ED-R is so easy to mount and use though, with such a crisp image, I suspect it will be my scope of choice for planetary.

Some great advice above and your head is probably spinning by now! My personal opinion is that by replacing your large dob with a smaller goto scope, you could be replacing one problem with another - Goto takes time to setup and is another dis-incentive to go out and observe, so you may not use a goto scope much either and it’s an expensive way to find out. An alternative thought - I have found that the smaller Newtonians are incredibly capable for both DSO and planetary and so easy to use. The Skywatcher Hertitage 130 and 150 are cheap as chips and you could probably buy one to experiment with without having to sell the big dob. That would allow you to experiment a bit and see whether a smaller manual scope would get used more. Something else to ponder! 🙂