johninderby

Looks like it just might be a pier. ?

Yes the 24 Pan just hits that sweet spot I think. ? Also really like the 26 Nagler but bigger and heavier.

The 24 is my favourite Panoptic. ?

c'est arrivé The ZWO ASI 290MM Mini USB 2.0 Mono Camera arrived this afternoon. Was due Monday but not to complain. ? Now just to wait for the USB hub to arrive from Amazon tomorrow. Tablet won’t power the camera so need a powered hub. John

Still waiting for the new camera but in the meantime bits arrived for mounting the tablet on the mount. Nice CNC aluminium adjustable tablet mount. Don’t trust the cheaper plastic ones. Ball head used for adjusting the tablet to the right angle and tilt. John

Yes I think you’re right. Closeup of a flower with the prisim.

Did some testing with a prism and there was CA which wasn’t there with the regular dielectric diagonal. It’s a very good prism as well. So it looks like prisims aren’t well suited to this scope. ?

Been playing around with the AR102xs in the daytime to see how suitable it would be for nature observing as it looks like being a great little travel scope. Turns out it actually is quite usable and CA is not a real problem even though it is a fast little refractor. Took a few pics using my smartphone and they were not half bad. Every bird and cat etc seems to have abandoned the area for the afternoon so lamp posts, buildings and foliage it is. ? Will stick an erect prism in it and try a few more shots later. John

What I’m finding is it can be used for lunar and planetary and gives pleasing views and the CA is so minor that it doesn’t bother me. So while it is naturally a wide field scope it is good enough for general observing.which is what will make it a great travel,scope as it can be used for any type of observing even if it’s not the ideal scope for everything.

Lucky you. ?

One problem with a new scope like this is that so few have actually got their hands on one that most opinions are based on supposition not fact. Yes it’s no APO but it is still a nice well,built scope with decent optics and very well priced. Lot of negative opinion on CN from those that haven’t actually looked through one. Lot of good people on CN but plenty of self appointed “experts” as well that are anything but. ? Remember a while ago reading widespread opinion on CN that the Carton 100 f/13 optics were just cheap low quality optics no better than the cheapest Chinese stuff. Then someone on CN actually took a look through a Skylight scope and found out how wrong they were.

It’s the aluminium plate with the name of the scope stuck on one side. Just irritated me for some reason so off it came. ?

Tried the Explore Scientific 3x focal extender today and find it suits this scope & wedge perfectly. Using the 7.2 - 21.5 zoom eyepiece at lowest mag the full disk of the sun just fited in the FOV and the image was still clear at max mag. Pefect match. ? The extender wouldn't fit all the way into the eyepiece holder and bottomed out so took a Baader T2 15mm extension piece and ground three slots to fit over the three screws in the top of the eyepiece holder so it would screw on properly. Nice neat solution that looks factory. The TS wedge comes with their own version of a continuum filter and quite frankly can't tell any difference between it and the Baader. Performs exactly the same. Impressed with this scope every time I use it. The optics are definitely better than a plain achro with very little if any distortion and almost no CA if you're usng a decent diagonal. Perhaps it should be called a Semi ED? Hmmm reminds me of the old Semi APO discussuions (arguments?) of a few years ago. ?

Well first light.....sort of. Sun peeped through the clouds for about a miniute. Just enough time to align the solar finder and take a quick look at the sun. Have about 20mm infocus travel to spare and sun was the same green as a Baader continuum filter. Then of course the clouds spoiled everything. Oh well at least the first glimpse seem’s promising. ? John

Just had to drill a couple of holes in the tube. Focuser comes off easily and stuffed a small towel inside the tube to stop any bits getting on the objective and put some wide masking tape below where the holes would be drilled to catch any bits as the fell. Then afterwards pat down the inside of the tube with masking tape to collect any residual bits. The stock bracket screws on just behind where the new bracket fits. Did some lamp post observing this aft to check CA but virtually nil as you can see in this pic. Rubbish pic as it was taken holding a camera to the eyepiece but gives the idea. Think it will made a great wide field scope. John

Bought the Manfrotto geared tripod and 405 geared head years ago. Just out of interest looked up the current prices and was shocked to find the total would now be about £860.00. And I thought astro gear had shot up in price!!!! The 405 head has been modified to remove the centre section thus making it an alt/az head. Note the size of the wedge compared to a Skywatcher Dielectric 1.25" diagonal.

New Whie Light Solar Set-up (BRESSER AR-102xs/460 - TS Hershel Wedge) While I did like the Orion 120 frac with a Lacerta 2" Herscel wedge it wasn't the lightest and needed the Skytee II mount. I decided to go with a new light weight setup that would fit on a photo tripod and could be carried outside one handed but would still have decent aperture. After looking around decided on the Bresser Messier AR-102xs/460 Hexafoc OTA as it was light and compact but had decent optics. Build quality is excellent although the included accessories are rubbish and should be put in the bin except for the eyepiece which is actually quite decent and perfectly usable.While it uses ED glass they don't state what it is so I take that as being the minimum standard that can still be called ED. Did some testing on the moon and Jupiter last night and CA simply wasn't a problem.Yes there was some but very minor and more like what you would expect of a f/10 achromatic refractor which is good cnsidering this is an f4.5. So the ED glass (whatever it is) does work. Impressd with the focuser. It really is very good. Ordered the 1:10 upgrade for it. Removed the supplied finder shoe and fitted a Skywatcher one. Also peeled off that tacky aluminium name plate thing of the side. Looks much nicer without it. In keeping with the lightweight theme decided to give the TS Herschel 1.25" wedge a try. Very compact and leightweight and comes with all the filters incuding one that has the same specs as the Baader Continuum filter. Very well priced as well. Solid little bit of kit it is as well and has a brass compression ring on the eyepiece holder. Bresser Refractor Messier AR-102xs/460 Telescope with Hexafoc Focuser Richfield telescope with ED glass lens. 6x30 optical finder with crosshair Focuser with 65mm open diameter. 50,8mm to 31,7mm adapter with integrated T2-thread Diameter= 102mm; Focal length= 460mm; F/4.5 Vixen type 44mm Dovetail plate with stainless steel rail Dimensions: 46x14x14cm / Weight: 2,8 KG / Tube diameter: 104mm TS-Optics 1,25" Solar Prism with Polarizing and Narrowband Filter ♦ High-quality surfaces for very high contrast ♦ Enclosed housing with integrated light trap - no escaping stray light ♦ Cooling fins for quick removal of the heat ♦ 1.25" polarising dilter for screwing into the eyepiece or into the filter for continous adjustment of the brightness without without additional colouring. ♦ 1.25" narrow band interference filter for significantly enhancing the contrast of the solar surface. Especially faculae regions are shown better. The filter has a bandwidth of approximately 40 nm and a peak at 540 nm. Now sun observation is possible with fast Fraunhofer refractors, as the chromatic aberration is removed. Observing report to follow as and when the sun puts in an appearance. ? John

Glad to see it fits just right and better yet doesn’t cheapen the look of the Tak. Tak should include their own version with every scope.

Couldn’t find a scope cover that would fit then discovered the LensCoats. Perfect for the job and if you remove the hard pad then it folds up and fits in your pocket. John

Big Red the Carton 100mm f/13 scope that I built a few years ago was looking a bit tired so time to freshen it up and get it apart and check it over properly. The paint was dull and faded so rubbed it out and polished it and the candy red paint came up a treat. When I originaly painted it was first acid etch primer then three coats of silver base coat, six coats of candy red topped by four coats of clear. Proper candy red paint. The carry handle and gone a funny goldish colour in patches but was repainted and now good as new. Then all the brass bits need a polish and there are a lot of brass bits as well as the dew shield. Most important thing though it's still better to to look thrugh than at although have to admit I love looking at it of course. John BTW if you're looking for something to cap of the end of your scope one of the LensCoat covers works great. Elasticated with a removable hard pad in the end.

Small Maks lend themselves better to autimated production and normally use an aluminised spot on the inside of the corrector instead of a separate corrector and secondary which means less work involved in matching up components. Top end Maks do use a separate secondary but they’re really expensive.

Thought the viewing angle might be a problem but it turned out to be no real problem at all. You soon get used to the small difference. John

Edited

Agreed. Just because a piece of kit may be old doesn't mean it's still not as good as ever. Case in point. Big Red the Carton 100 f/13 frac that I built years ago. Very nice for planetary observing. John

It was the eyepiece I was using. Also fitted a new focuser that was longer than stock meaning the scope has less infocus than stock. Wouldn't' have been a problem with the stock focuser. With current eyepiece has plenty of infocus travel. Had the same problem with the Cool Wedge I used to have as certain eyepieces wouldn't focus. There is absolutely zero,light emissions of any type from the bottom of the wedge. The bottom is open purely for cooling. Tried my old Cool Wedge on a six inch scope and it got hot enough to burn you if you touched the back of it. A not so Cool Wedge. Fine on a four inch but the design can overheat on a bigger scope. John