DirkSteele

Last year I utilised the custom build offering of Teleskop Service to make a solar filter for my APM 105 triplet (not trusting my own Blue Peter skills!) using Baader AstroSolar Safety Film and the end product received was finished to a high standard. In anticipation of the International SunDay on June 21st this year I decided to place an order for a new custom solar filter for my Takahashi FS-60 as it is far easier to carry across London than the 105. I submitted my order on May 25th and quickly received an email confirming receipt of my order. However, by June 15th I had not received any updates and with SunDay less than a week away I followed up. A response arrived the same day stating that they expected a further 10 days before dispatch. Sadly too long for the SunDay. At the bottom of the email was a short passage which explained why. Teleskop Service was moving its business to a new location from the 24th to the 27th of June which I can only imagine was delaying many workshop orders (my 105 solar filter took little more than 2 weeks to arrive). I may well have missed a notice on the website about the move but it is a shame that potential delays were not prominently forewarned. The filter was eventually dispatched on June 30th though DHL took seven days to deliver it. However, the filter is now in my possession and just like the 105 filter, the quality of the finish is excellent. So overall, a slightly disappointing delay, but highly satisfied with the final product.

Wow! You must be on Roland's Christmas card list with that lot!

I try not to think about quite how much money has been spent on that lot. However, they bring me great enjoyment and will hopefully last me a lifetime. Without too much effort I imagine I could write thousands of words about the APM 180, and one day I probably will in a review. In an attempt to be a little more succinct I would offer up the following. Imagine the most wonderful views you have had through a first class four inch apo, the classic pin point jewels on black velvet, with a purity of image not rivaled by other telescopes designs, and wonderful contrast that allows the finest details to be seen, and then scale that up several times over. It really is just like using a big 4" Apo, that just goes deeper and reveals even more of the heavens. The planetary views on nights of great seeing are extraordinary. And I believe the extremely good contrast allows details to be seen that slightly larger scopes fail to show on DSOs, though the image is not as bright due to the smaller aperture, if that makes sense.

Ha, actually you are right. I now have an 80mm finder for it!

Given the scopes that are listed in my signature, it was only a matter of time till I joined this thread. As a refractor nut, I might have been known to say mirrors are for shaving! The APM TMB 105/650 The TMB 115/800 The Takahashi FS-60 and FC-76 objective upgrade The big one, the APM LZOS 180/1260 with the APM 105 for scale (and me at 5 foot 11 inches). Not shown is the Takahashi FS-60Q, a quadruplet f/10 60mm refractor. I might have a bit of a problem. Is there a refractors anonymous meeting I can attend? "Hello my name is Matthew and I am like refractors.....A lot"

I have added the Vixen SG 2.1x42 binoculars as the chance to observe the Milky Way under the magnitude +7 skies of the International Dark Sky Association gold rated reserve in Namibia (where I head in a week) was too much to pass up.

It was pointed out to me at a recent astro club meeting that if ever I was going to get the most out of the Vixen SX 2.1x42 Binoculars, it would be my two weeks of stargazing in the International Dark Sky Association Gold rated reserve in Namibia which I head to in a few weeks. I had to agree. I emailed Tring Astronomy this past Friday to enquire as to availability and they had received a new shipment that day. I promptly placed an order on the website and received an immediate confirmation email. Later that day I received another email informing me that the item had be dispatched by Special Delivery (despite paying no P&P) and it arrived Saturday morning. Very easy transaction. Now I cannot wait to try scanning the Southern Milky Way.

I somehow managed to misplace my Cheshire Collimating Eyepiece and needed it to check the collimation on one of my refractors which had taken a knock before a trip to a dark sky site. Despite turning the house upside down, I was unable to locate it so turned to FLO for a new one with the usual quick delivery. I placed an order for the Premium Cheshire on the website at 10:50am, received an email immediately confirming my order and then another email at 4:18pm the same day informing me the item had been dispatched. It was waiting for me in the next day when I arrived home from work. Smooth and reliable as always.

Despite learning the night sky with my father's 10x50 binos over 20 years ago, I then went without until just recently when I won a pair of Opticron Oregon 15x70 in an astro pub quiz. I am quite looking forward to giving them a go under the stars and reacquainting myself with the joys of binocular astronomy.

A while ago I approached the Widescreen Centre with a brief that I felt would be best served by a Takahashi fluorite doublet refractor. I was looking for an ultra portable scope for those times when my APM 105 refractor was too large to travel with. The choice was either the Takahashi FS-60 CB or the Takahashi FC-76 DC, in the form of the FC-76 objective upgrade that screws into the FS-60 tube to create the 76. I also wanted to use 2” eyepieces and the lack of focus travel in the FS-60 was an issue which needed to be addressed. The Widescreen Centre went away to consider the issue and returned with a variety of package deals they felt would best serve my needs. The first was the FS-60 plus a feathertouch focuser and extension tubes plus a unique way to attach the Tak 6x30 finder for which the feathertouch had no immediate way to connect. The second was perhaps even more ingenious, they proposed using the TAK 76 objective upgrade plus another TAK tube and feathertouch to create a very portable 76mm scope (because it splits in two) with all the related required accessories. I decided to select the TAK 60 package but elected to purchase the 76mm objective upgrade as well to give me the choice of whether 60mm or 76mm would be appropriate for any particular trip. As well as a package price, the Widescreen threw in a hard case to store of the components as Takahashi do not provide cases. Rather than just sell me a scope which may not have fulfilled my requirements, they thought about my specific goals and then came up with solutions to it. Very pleased with the level of service throughout the transaction.