johninderby
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Posts posted by johninderby
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Bresser Messier 127mm F15 Maksutov
Just bought this OTA as my grab'n'go planetary scope. ?
Chose it over the Skymax 127 for one main reason. The Bresser is a full 127mm aperture, not only 118mm like the Skymax. Also has a bigger primary and a smaller central obstruction. Tube is bigger in diameter than the Skymax to accomidate the bigger primary. Just on simple aperture alone it's 8% bigger but due to the smaller central obtruction it's about 10% bigger in aperture area. A worthwhile difference.Build quality is similar to the Skymax. IE: not high end but very good. Do like the clip on front cover which is similar to a camera lens cover instead of just a push on type. Finder bracket has an 11mm mounting rail on the top so many red dot finders will just fit on. However I wanted a regular Synta type mounting so used an Orion SCT shoe. Also replaced the standard visual back wth a TS one with compression ring. Just don't like those visual backs with a single screw that bites into the diagonal. Diagonal is a Skywatcher delectric. Just waiting for a dew shield to arrive and a 1.25" to T2 adaptor so I can fit a Baader helical microfocuser to the top of the dagonal.
Sits nicely on my Manfroto 475 geared tripod and Manfroto 405 geared head. The head has beem modded by removing the centre geared secton to make it into an Alt-Az head. I have used a C8 on this combination which was pushing it's capacity to the very limit. Doesn't even notice the weight of the 127 Mak. The whole setup with OTA can easily be carried single handed outside. Proper grab'n'go. ?
Had it's first light about 4:00am this morning. Was a bit misty so not a lot to see but Jupiter was visable just over the neighbours roof. The scope had been sitting in the conservatory so not to warm and was able to observe right away. Was impressed with how sharp and clear Jupiter was at 158x mag. The equal to what I had ever seen with my old Skymax 127 and the scope wsn't cooled fully plus Jupiter was low down. Did the obligitory star test and the Airy dsks both in and out focus were excelent and showed colimation was spot on. Left the scope out to cool for a while but when I went back out the mist was getting thicker so just brought the scope back inside. Oh well at least had a nice look at Jupiter earlier.
So I'm pleased with the build quality and the optics seem to be slightly sharper than both the Skymax and Celestron 127 Maks I used to own. More testing needed but very happy with the scope so far.
John
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As refered to above even though they may come off the same production line it doesn’t mean the scopes are the same. The company ordering them will be able to choose the spec of the parts used and the level of quality control during production as well as what focuser etc is used. Often the scopes that don’t come up to the quality standard demanded by one buyer may be sold off at a lower cost to a lesser retailer. Hence the eBay specials that show up at lower prices.
Best to buy from a retailer that supports their products and has a good return policy.
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13 minutes ago, Stu said:
Ditto
I should be getting commission on these sales. ?
To stop the spacers slipping off just wrap a small amount of masking tape around the thread.
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And something else arrived by courier. ?
Bresser 127 Mak. Will review it when the clouds and rain go away. Decided to go with this instead of the Skymax 127 as unlike the Skymax it’s a full 127mm aperture not 118mm. Has a smaller central obstruction and a bigger primary. Will have to see how much difference the increase in aperture makes.
Fortunately had the bits in the spares box to upgrade it right away. Orion SCT finder shoe screwed on and an Orion 6x30 finder fitted. Also replaced the stock visual back with a TS optics one with compression ring and Skywatcher dielectric diagonal.
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Can’t understand why they don’t use knobs in the first place. So easy and quick to pull the mount off. ?
From WDS Ltd. They do the ends in black and grey as well.
M6 x 25mm long thread.
And some M6 x 10mm long spacers.
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Desiccant cap from FLO and some knobs for quick removal of my AZ-EQ5 mount from the EQ6 pilar extension.
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8 minutes ago, garryblueboy said:
Shouldn’t you mean eye eye John
Aue Aye
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Free lifetime supply of clouds included with every scope sold.
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Altair Vixen Mini Saddle for my photo tripod. Nice compact saddle that is just the right size.
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EQ6 extension pilar for my AZ-EQ5 mount. ?
The EQ5 pilar was taller than I wanted so went for the EQ6 one. And yes that is an EQ6 tripod with 2” legs. I’m using a Geoptik adaptor.
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Wearing two eyepatches at once is not a good look. ?
Don’t know who he is and don’t want to know.
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The Apollo astronauts also used eyepatches.
This eye patch was provided to astronaut Michael Collins during the Apollo 11 mission for maintaining night vision in one eye during Earth and lunar orbits as well as covering one eye during use of the navigational eyepiece. First used during Apollo 9, these rubber patches were available in both the command and lunar modules.
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Eye they look like a bargain. ?
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Some round black and orange things. ?
Not bad for £15.99 delivered for a brand new set. ?
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What really makes me shudder at the horror of it is Amazon’s in home delivery seevice presently in the US that they want to introduce in the UK.
Idea is you allow the Amazon driver to have an entry code to your door so they can enter your house and leave the package inside. Yea right as though I want that to happen let alone needing a new door lock fitting. They claim it’s safe as the key code is a one time use code that’s only valid for a few hours but still the driver would be alone in your house.
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Couldn’t be worse than this delivery fail. ?
https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/local-news/look-what-under-fire-delivery-2297921
Should always put the seat down. ?
And more brilliance from Hermes.
https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/derby-news/derby-mums-shock-after-catching-2288676
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My dustbins are kept behind a locked gate well out of the reach of delivery drivers. Have found a few packages that were tossed over the gate and landed on top of the bins though. ?
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There are many very good delivery drivers out there that actually have fully functioning brains and treat your package properly. However there are also those that would fail an IO test. ?
Bit of a lottery sometimes as to which one you get.
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On 03/04/2019 at 15:17, nicoscy said:
A lovely Nagler 26mm T5, serviced by Tele Vue and now good as new.
While I do not have any cans of baked beans at home (please my fellow astronomers, do not castigate me to the bottomless pits of hell for this transgression), in the spirit of having something to show image scale, here is the Nagler 26mm next to its bigger brother and some pickled cucumbers in vinegar !!!
Those are indeed pickled gherkins not cucumber.
This is a jar of pickled cucumbers. Proper home made ones. ?
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2 minutes ago, Fozzie said:
Very stable dob base....
My thought exactly. ?
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Maybe he’s building one of these? ?
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4 minutes ago, Fozzie said:
A nice bit of teak.. any guesses what it's for?
Hmmmm...........wonder what you could mount on that. ?
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2 hours ago, Demonperformer said:
Does this mean they will become collectors' items and end up being worth 20x more than a boring old red one?
At least a fiver more. ?
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Altair Self Centering Smartphone Telescope Adaptor
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Bresser Messier 127mm F15 Maksutov
in Discussions - Scopes / Whole setups
Posted
Looking forward to some lunar observing with it where it should perform well with the increased apeture over the Skymax. Did come across some comments comparing the Bresser and Skymax and they thought the Bresser optics were slightly better. It is a more expensive scope so not surprising if it turns out to be a bit better.
Did read some negative comments by a Cloudy Nights “expert” who it turns out had never looked through the Bresser and didn’t know the specs. ?