garryblueboy

Hi Stu no just a re shuffle a couple of scopes came up I couldn’t resist I’ve still got the AP 130 also 

2 hours ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

So many lovely fracs on display. Gary that really is a thing of beauty. I would love the opportunity to view the Moon and Planets with that scope. To say I am envious is an under statement.

Thanks Mark it was a rare opportunity hope it pays off 

3 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

I'm guessing you won't be spending anything at the Kettering Practical Astronomy Show next month Gary? 

Funny think Mike yes I need a ipolar so hoping they may have some on discount then hopefully see you there 🤞

12 minutes ago, Vicky050373 said:

I feel as though my vintage frac has really let page 99 down in the "serious glass" category LOL 

Not at all Vicky that was my first ever scope the prinz 600 remember my first view of Saturn rings I was 10 

Had a Golden opportunity to acquire this wonderful example and decided it won’t come around again so here it is 

1 minute ago, Neil27 said:

Wow is that really a C14 on a CEM60? 😮

The CEM is on my radar I wish you clear skies.

Yes the OTA weighs 40lb ish mount holds 60 plus 

30 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Looks good Garry.

Do you still have the Mewlon 250?

Sadly Jeremy no but to be honest the 210 is not that far off 

38 minutes ago, JOC said:

It's not just an optical illusion is it - those are huge - yes?

No unfortunately no illusion it’s huge but more manageable than my 11CPC was 

To be fair they are nicely finished scopes mine was the 14” ultra light with Zambuto mirror movement was great in both axis however  collimation and mirror sling I think let it down it didn’t hold it to well and to much movement and the adjusting was poor for a size mirror as this was hence why I no longer have it 

Couple of new toys to try out but weather is obviously not going to play ball for a few days 

already impressed with the ioptron CEM 60 build quality and design is great also much lighter than 

my old AZEQ6 and a bigger pay load means now I’m down to 1 tripod two mounts . I had first light with the 210 Mewlon 

and it’s just as the 250 I had before sharp contrasts views I spent a while on M42 taking in all the detail and moon was sharp 3D like 

can’t wait to give the C14 a run 

15 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

I'd forgot about the 115ED Vixen. If its lighter than the 120ED as Martin believes, I think I'd be tempted to keep hold of it. It will give better rich field views of star fields than a C6 and if it ticks the lunar and planetary box, then why let it go. And "it looks good," it's a win win or at least that's how it seems.

Is the Vixen 115S lens made by Canon Optron like the old fluorites were, and the modern Tak fluorites are? If so, I'd definitely think twice about selling it.

Don’t think the newer optics were Mike but the couple I’ve seen through were very good not Tak crisp but close 

I’ll be honest the 115 you have is an excellent scope and very manageable the extra 15mm over a 100 is worth it it’s almost a 120 without the weight unless your going to up the aperture a lot more I’d say it’s perfect , better planetary views than the SE6 in my opinion and cuts through bad seeing better and a great engineered scope 

You don’t use the shipping foam with the oklop bags on Altair site it says which bag is for the AZ-EQ6 

3 hours ago, Charles Kirk said:

Well that's disappointing to hear.  On the other hand, it's very good to hear that the mirror is good, as the rust and other minor issues I have read about would be solvable.

They do seem to have been quite well received in the comments I have read.

My answer exactly as with the Stargate small niggles but solvable 

3 hours ago, GTom said:

You don't have to go as far as Tak or AP to get a mirror that doesn't fall out of collimation, doesn't delaminate and at least diffraction limited. Apparently vendors are shying away from giving replacement units on customer complains, they rather refund...

I am not 100% sure about that 10x details question in very good seeing (where it is worth to do planetary work anyway) between a decollimated, lambda/2 optics vs a decent lambda/6 orion kept in a good cell. I am not a quality snob (alright, a little bit), but there are some BASIC expectations towards a product which costs multiple thousands of $/€.

Or just turn the question around: apparently the optics is about lambda/2, mechanical quality is a weak beta version. As an absolute NOOB in mirror ginding and with little (but existing) experience in OTA building, could I produce the same quality? Very likely yes and the overall budget doesn't seem to reach $2k.

You asked a question I gave an answer from being an owner of actual scopes with one in my possession and having owned a Zambuto in perfect optical finish there was some difference in quality but not overwhelming the Stargate  also holds perfect collimation much better than my previous custom Sumerian scope did I’d , also question the quality of the collimating device being used in your example and also having owned several Chinese refractors and now owning a AP and TMB I think my 10 x question is accurate so I stand by my answer I think for the money also a full Goto 18’’ Dob it’s great value there are better but for me it ticks the box 

53 minutes ago, GTom said:

Right, there are good scopes too, but price is very much connected to quality. No wonder that an Obsession UC costs twice as much.

Anyway, I am listening, anyone measured 0.90+ Strehl, stable collimation after a year of use?

A Takahashi or Astrophysics cost 10times as much as a Skywatcher but you don’t see 10x the detail nor do you in an obsession see twice the detail so what’s your point it’s what you see at the eyepiece not what you read on the net that maters why not get yourself an obsession then with a Zambuto mirror and you won’t have to worry about the above simple 

10 minutes ago, GTom said:

I am close to give up trusting any mass producers and thinking on building myself... We are in the 21st Century, still advanced materials (CF...) are nowhere in mass pruduced scopes.

Try reading the positive reviews for a change instead of the negative there’s good and bad in everything there are plenty of people happy with there mass produced scopes  they just don’t all write reviews on them 

2nd gen 

8 hours ago, niallk said:

An 'economy standard' 18" Lukehurst is "only" €750 more....

Or drop to a 16" ES truss for €1100 less and get some very nice EPs??

I had an ES build quality was shocking started to rust after few moths seemed to be made from monkey metal mirror was good 

9 hours ago, GTom said:

There are very poor test results in the topic I've linked with scopes purchased in 2019. They might still be older models though. However, even a half-lambda quality mirror will give you details in that huge size, whereas the user might associate any defects with atmospheric effects.

Also found this: the primary is simply not supported adequately. 

Well I must have got a good one as said I had none of the problems your links suggest I can only say on what I own 

Yes it was pretty good really not in the same park as my Zambuto was but still very sharp and with quality eyepieces and paracore no coma or distorted views I read there were problems with the early ones but the later coned out mirrors get great reviews 

To be fair they are not that bad my one was fine and for the price great value I’d say it was the best truss pole one I’ve owned it is a beast though and although can be set up by one person I’d recommend two the GOTO worked flawlessly I purchased mine from FLO in August it was there demo model so had had a few things sorted it does break down into small transportable pieces the mirror is quite stunning on these for what I paid I was very happy 😃  

Very nice Peter I had the TS 130 Photo-line very nice scope 

1 hour ago, John said:

Great report Garry

You have a set of fabulous scopes there !

I wonder how the AZ Pro mount would handle my LZOS/TMB 130 F/9.2 triplet

Is your AZ Pro stock specification ?

 

Hi john thanks yes it’s stock well with the pier extension and I’m using the tri pier tripod balance is key but once that’s archived it’s a breeze and slews merrily away it even handles  my TMB 152  ok  

1 hour ago, Paul73 said:

Nice to see that the scope is living up to it’s lofty reputation!

Looking toward to many more observing reports.

Paul

Hi Paul thanks yes it certainly does live up to its high reputation and will def update on hopefully many more great nights 

All ready to go