garryblueboy

Great combining both my Hobbies my love of Space and watches both are time consuming 😂and sometimes expensive.

That’s beginning to look a nice set Dave

Having owned the biggest I now own one of the smallest but still beautiful

My New Daytime set up Lunt 100MT

Collected today not really posted Hopefully some spectacular views in the coming weeks

I Have the Apollo missions got them when I visited Kennedy back in 1997

Yep Onstep it is

Power yes Jeremy no push to it is GOTO or Ascom driver etc or just hand set

Just thought I would post about my first impressions of the Warpastron WD17S Harmonic Direct Drive mount as there is not much out there . I have had the mount several months but work and weather have been against me however I needed to try out my Takahashi FOA60-Q . Reason behind getting the W17 was I needed a mount compact and able to hold my scopes and binos now my years are getting on and I’m getting ready to retire and re enjoy Astronomy again so The WD looked the mount for me it’s weighs only 4.6 kg it comes in a nice Black case with a dual saddle fitted for both dovetails a small remote control hand set USBc cable and power cord you also get a set of knobs for adjusting the Azimuth etc this mount when powered up is totally silent the build and finish is excellent and feels very well made I decided it would be more advisable to mount it too my Altair pier rather than a small lighter tripod as it’s going to hold my Tec140 which it does perfectly a nice stable set up it took me a while to figure out the hand set as no instructions were present on it but it was easy enough , it can be used in AZ as well as EQ mode . you can also add a small pier extension which I did and a counterweight bar as extras in case it’s needed I found the tracking to be spot on and deadly silent as I don’t do Astro photography any more I can’t say how it performs but I do no there is zero backlash and it is supposed to be excellent on guiding will post more as I go forward. Hope this helps anyone looking for a compact mount that holds big weight and totally silent .

My first Scope at 12 First look at Saturn - Jupiter couldn’t believe it .

I don’t need it for that accuracy but I’m led to believe they are very very good I’m now purely visual so not really interested in its auto guidance performance it’s it’s portability and weight handling Is the reason I purchased it and it has no belts or gears so no real servicing required the build quality is excellent .

Once I got my head around the handset which is simple the mount was great totally silent moved and tracked very well can’t wait to try something bigger on it .

The TEC 140 are around 10k in uk and on a wait list second hand there a bit like hens teeth no body hardly wants to part with them you can pick a used Tak 150 circa £5-6k in good condition but portable it is not

They are fantastic but I’d say my Tec140 is as good and easy to handle unlike the 150 it’s a observatory based scope really not one to to keep putting out where the Tec is easy

Yes I know which was easier to mount lol

Thanks so now I’ve owned the biggest optical refractor the 150 TOA and the Purest Small one the FOA60Q

Not really posted more collected from @emperorTakahashi A very nice Takahashi FOA60-Q

It sure is thanks to you

First time out since we moved in to our new home last November lots happened to my equipment downsize since then . So out with the new Warpastron Mount Takahashi 60FOA Once I got it sorted all out it was great having a small mount that will take up to 22kg and totally silent tried a little solar but sun was playing hide and seek behind clouds but now I’ve had a sort out I’ll be going out much more now I’ve so missed those stary nights.

Have used several over time on various Taks All ok now I use the More Blue version just as good and a bit cheaper

I think it would go well with the 120 ED I have been fortunate to have owned all the HD range right up to the 14” and the 8 is perfect for that bit extra you can get Star sense to work on the AZEQ6 there is a skywatcher version or was .

It would be my TEC140 it’s a perfect weight and aperture for most things really

Your correct Steve the APM is a wonderful scope also I have had one and would highly recommend one or as I’ve said the 140 is also a little gem although on a good night the Little FS102 is hard to beat on contrast and sharpness but I have luxury of owning a more premium scope than that I’m surprised the original poster hasn’t considered APM 152 or the 140 as they are reasonably priced and a steal on the used market .

I’d say for sure the Esprit is a step above not significantly the 150ED but Costs 3 times the cost as would The Tak150 which I also owned is a tad better than the Esprit at 3 times the cost but both the Esprit and Tak 150 are a heavy scopes if your setting up and tearing down nightly and the View from my TEC 140 is better than my Takahashi FS102 but it’s still a close thing on planets size is relative but so is setting up etc if I had an observatory I’d still have my Tak150 and my C14 Edge but life gets in the way sometimes and as I’m getting older I want less hassle. But that’s me everyone’s mileage will differ.