Marki

Yep - the dovetail thing, thanks.

What a beautiful scope, Nicola. I wish a successful first light! BTW, Jeremy, is the dovertail to clamshell fixing the same for the FC100s, do you know? Or are there tube rings that fit the tubes? (I've been wondering how to attach the clamshell to a bar for use on my azq6, should I ever succumb to the Tak tempatation....)

I remember that one. My note book has a record for 10th Feb 2014 - "Got to see the Type 1a (?) super nova in M82, SN2014J, magntitude between 11 and 10. Fantastic to think what force that explosion in a galaxy 12 million LYS away represents for us to see it so bright here". I don't think I've been lucky enough to see one since (at least, not one I recorded in my notes).

I can't believe I've got a 'scope mounted and cooling for the fourth night in a row! Skywatcher Evostar 150ED ready for action (as soon as I've plugged it all in ).

Nice Nik. I tried this in my 100mm f13 last night (moving Sirius just off the ep field of view). I can't swear to split, but I was getting hints of its presence at 260x with a 5mm baader genuine ortho. Tried again at 292x with a 10mm ortho and 2.25 barlow, but if any thing that made it harder. So, I 've got closer than I've been before, but tantalisingly this is not a definite for me yet. The pup escapes again... . I find this scope will certainly show the Rigel double and the E and F in the Trapezium (altough it struggled with this last night), and can just split Zeta Cancri (just... bar

My contribution, again in the 4" class. Tonight I'll be using this Skylight 100mm F13 (based on a Carton lens), mounted on an AZ-EQ 6GT in eq mode. Beautiful to use, and really punches through poor seeing. Great for doubles.

Good point on the tube rings. I have bought the upgraded SW set, just not got round to fitting it yet (partly so it'll go back in the case ok). WOnder if it'll make that much difference to the stability? As it is, it damps down pretty quikcly if I accidently nudge it, and doesn't vibrate when tracking. I reckon I need some better eps too (maybe some TV Delos or the Nagler zoom). At f8 it seems less forgiving of my basic eps than my f13 100mm. Having said that, my Baader orthos work well with it.

Good stuff Gary. I'm in agreement on the SW 150ED. I think its a really capable scope and excellent for its cost. I just don't get on with the focusser - might see if I can replace it with something better. How do you find yours to use?

Couldn't crack it in either my Tal125R achro or the SW Evostar 150ED refractors over the last two nights, despite pouring on the magnification. Anything over 250x-300x probaly didn't help to be honest, given the seeing and the lowish altitude and the fact Sirius lies adjacent to/over my neighbour's house from my view position. I think I need to get out of town or wait for a really steady night.

I've had this scope since December last year, and its had a fair amount of starlight now, albeit under generally poor/average seeing conditions. Still, long enough for me to have come to some conclusions. My skies are suburban, but pointing towards central York. Apparently I'm in Bortle 6, but I'd say closer to 7 (right on the edge according to the maps I've seen). In a nutshell, its a 6" (150mm) ED (glass unspecified) with a focal length of 1200mm (f8), with a price well under £2k. FLO currently have it for £1799 - I was lucky enough to buy mine for £1520, before the recent price rises

I have a Skywatcher AZ-EQ 6GT which I mainly use in equatorial mode - its been really good over the years - robust, quiet and tracks well (well, at least for my needs; I'm pretty much visual only). Handles my 125mm f9 achro easily and manages my SW 150mm ED f8 ok too (for visual, certainly). The SW 150 ED is c. 9.5 kg for OTA and rings. This mount should have no problems with a 115mm Triplet. I have no hesitation recommending it.

That is truly astonishing! Thanks for the link!

Thanks for that link John. Excellent resource I'd completely forgotten about! My night wasn't so good and pretty frustrating - haze and ridges of cloud rolled in as just as I'd got aligned/balanced and cooled. Seeing started off average, but declined. I knew it was going south when one minute I could see the F component of the trapezium and the next it was gone and the main four were dimming. Like you I then retreated to a few easy doubles in the Cancer/Leo region, and enjoyed some moon-time. I did play with seeing how much magnification I could usefully use on the moon with the Skywatche

Set up just after dark. Left scope to cool for 40 mins and came back out to a high thin haze with some thicker rolls of cloud. Poor transparency and a milky sky with the scattered moonlight. First "clear" night in ages; its so frustrating. Oh well, good practice in setting up/taking down the kit! Hope the rest of you are having a better time :). Nice moon though!