johnturley

I agree, based on the video files the advantage does seem to be with the Tak, would be interested to know how they compared visually. Over the next few weeks (weather permitting), I hope to be able to do a few visual comparisons, on the Moon and Jupiter in particular, between my recently acquired Tak 100 DZ, and my ES 127 Refractor. I have rigged up my AZ-EQ5 mount in AZ mode so that both scopes can be mounted at the same time, making it easier to do the comparisons. John

I kept a look out whilst observing Jupiter at around 7pm last night, but didn't see a single meteor. Unfortunately the weather forecast is not so good for tonight, expected to cloud over at around 5pm. John

Looked up for a few minutes while I was observing Jupiter, but didn't spot anything, apparently they are only expecting at best a ZHR of around 200 meteors per hour (about twice the rate of the Perseids and the Geminids), not the meteor storm that some were predicting. John

Had an excellent view of the end of the Io shadow transit, conditions were not as steady as late last night, but not bad, although the Esprit 150 was giving a slightly better view than the 14in Newtonian. I was fortunate in so much that it didn't cloud over until the end of the transit. John

I have an AZ-EQ5 which I previously used for my ES 127 Refractor, and will in future be using for my recently acquired Tak 100 DZ, I've never bothered to go through any of the alignment procedures, in EQ mode I've simply set the angle to my latitude (53 degrees), and pointed the mount in the direction of Polaris, and found that objects (planets in my case) will stop in the field of view at medium-high power for 10-15 minutes, which is all I require for visual. I'm currently in the process of carrying out a detailed comparison between the ES 127 and the 100 DZ, before I probably sell the former, so have set the mount up in AZ mode so I can mount both scopes at the same time. However I'm finding that it doesn't track the same in AZ mode, in fact I think the motor is only tracking in azimuth . I would be interested to hear how you get on with the mount, and whether you can get it to track in both altitude and azimuth when in AZ mode. John

Yes, the AZ-EQ5 does have this function, though not sure whether it will help with the tracking. John

I did a comparison a few years ago between a 4mm Vixen SLV and a 3-6mm Nagler Zoom at 4mm on the moon, there wasn't much difference between the sharpness and contrast of the two eyepieces, but I preferred the significantly wider field of the Nagler Zoom, although in theory they have the same APFOV. I subsequently decided to sell the SLV, partly because there wasn't enough room in my main eyepiece case for both. John

Had one of my best recent views of Jupiter between 9 and 10 pm last night, and was one of the relatively rare occasions when I could see more detail on the Jovian disc through the 14in Newtonian than the Esprit 150, the Great Red Spot being clearly visible through both instruments. My Neodymium filter helped with the view through the 14in, in particular reducing the glare from the very bright disc, which tends to mask out some of the surface detail. I really should have attempted some imaging with my ZWO ASI 462 through the 14in, but it was that bl**dy cold at -3 degrees, plus it started to cloud over at 10 pm. I was also able to compare the view with that through the recently acquired Tak 100 DZ, which put on quite a respectable display, and the GRS could just be made out, although to be honest it was some way behind the other instruments. However the difficulty in achieving precise focus with the standard Tak focuser put it at a disadvantage, and I'm going to get either a micro focuser (Tak or More Blue), or a Baader Helical Eyepiece focuser. I've also rigged up my Skywatcher AZ-EQ5 mount in AZ mode so that I can mount both my Tak 100DZ, and my ES 127 simultaneously, and do a more detailed comparison between these two instruments. I am however finding that the tracking with the AZ-EQ5 is very poor in AZ mode, and I suspect that it is only moving the scope in Azimuth, unlike the Celestron CPC mounts, is anybody familiar with this mount. John

Noted, although the cost of the T2 Zeiss Prism (£198), plus 2in Nosepiece (£30) and 1.25in to T2 Helical focuser (£40) would come to a total of £268, more than the £247 for the MEP3 Micro Edge Focuser. John

Do you think that there is much difference in quality between the T2 Zeiss prism diagonal, and the non- Zeiss version apart from the different size. As mentioned, I was thinking of getting the latter with a built in 1.25in helical focuser, as an alternative to fitting a MEF3 Micro Edge Focuser. Note: I do have a Baader 2in Dielectric Diagonal I can use for low power wide field views, where focusing is not so critical.# John

Agree, presumably you also need to get a T2 to 2in eyepiece holder, and that this doesn't cause any vignetting with the 30mm UFF (which I also have), and which I think has a field stop of about 36mm. P.S. Just been looking on FLO's website again, and noticed that there are actually two different T2 Diagonals, one type, including the version with the built in helical focuser, has just a 1.25in prism, the other (which I assume is what you have on order) has a larger (I assume about 42mm prism), but you have to buy the nosepiece and eyepiece holder separate. Baader T-2 Prism Star-Diagonal | First Light Optics This latter version Baader T-2/90° diagonal features a prism manufactured to Zeiss specification from BaK4 glass, multi-coated, inside a solid metal case, and I assume can be used without vignetting with the 32mm UFF. Am I right in thinking that this has a better quality prism , and will be more comparable with the Tak Prism Diagonal quality wise, although of course the latter only has a 1.25 prism. John

Managed to slacken off the two grubscrews shown above, I needed to use a bit of nail varnish remover and WD40 to remove the glue and get the Allen key to fit in .The focusing mechanism now moves a bit more freely, I didn't however access the 3rd grubscrew that @Mr Spock mentioned, as I gather you have to unscrew the whole focuser mechanism to access this, which I didn't really want to do. Incidentally if anybody wanted to know, its a 1.5 mm Allen key that fits these grubscrews. I had the opposite problem with my Esprit 150, the focusing mechanism was too slack and needed tightening up, I had problems with the focuser racking out on its own when viewing objects at high elevation, and in particular using 2in eyepieces. It was also a bit of a problem trying to find out how to do this, as like with the 100DZ, there were no instructions regarding how to do this in the manual that came with the scope.

That's was the problem when I tried to view Jupiter for the first time through my 100 DZ, turning the focusing knob imparted vibrations to the setup making it difficult to try to achieve correct focus. Viewing conditions however weren't very good at the time, and it probably didn't help with the mount and tripod being place on decking, although I didn't find the latter a problem when I had my CPC 9.25. At the moment trying to decide between the Baader Focusing Eyepiece Holder (and T2 Prism Diagonal), the Tak MEF3 Micro Edge Focuser, or the More Blue version of the latter. John

That's interesting, as you say quite cheap at just £40 from FLO, I'll give that idea some thought, but it looks like I would also need to purchase a 'Baader T' Prism Diagonal (£90), plus a 2in Nosepiece (£30), but you can buy the two combined for £117, and FLO currently have this in stock (unlike the Tak MEF3 Micro Edge Focuser) , and would work out about half the price of Tak MEF3, and avoid the fiddly job of fitting one of these or the More Blue version. I was also thinking of asking Rother Valley Optics (from whom I bought the 100 DZ) to fit an MEF3 if I bought one from them, don't know whether they would charge extra for fitting. Baader T-2 90° Prism Star-Diagonal with Focusing Eyepiece Holder & 1.25" Nosepiece | First Light Optics This would mean however that I would need to swap diagonals to use 2in eyepieces (I currently have a spare Baader Click Lock Dielectric Diagonal), but I probably won't use the 100 DZ much with 2in eyepieces, as my Esprit 150 is probably better suited to low power wide field views. I was however thinking of getting a Tak 1.25 Prism Diagonal anyway, as I think that @Mr Spocksaid this noticeably improved the visibility of the Jovian Cloud Belts over the Baader 2in Dielectric Diagonal. I don't know whether the Baader T2 Prism Diagonal would be as good, but I do know that several observers think quite highly of this diagonal. John

Sounds a bit like the early (pre-Starfire) Astro Physics Refractors, which had very basic focusers. John

I fitted one to my 14in Newtonian, replacing the one supplied with the scope by Astro Systems (Luton). I agree, its much smoother than the focusers on my Esprit 150, ES 127, and Tak 100 DZ, although it does have a short distance of travel of only 40mm, but then you are limited on a Newtonian, unlike a Refractor. In addition with a Newtonian the weight of a heavy eyepiece is more pushing downwards on the focuser mechanism, rather than pulling outwards with a Refractor. John

I've just had a look at my scope, and yes there are, I hadn't noticed them before, the lower one in particular was largely hidden by the lock-knob. So you need to slacken them off to make the focuser freer moving, any idea about the size of the Allen key required. John

The adjustment screw holes on the side of the Vixen focuser actually look more similar to those on the Esprit 150 focuser, and not at all like on the Tak 100 DZ, where there aren't actually any adjustment screw holes on the side of the focuser. Incidentally there were no instructions for adjusting the focuser in the manuals that came with either the 100 DZ or the Esprit 150. John

Wasn't sure how to remove the metal plate, do you need a special tool, I assume that its screwed in. John

There is a small round metal plate under the focuser, presumably this needs to be removed to expose the screws. John

There doesn't seem to be anything on the BAA's website, best just keep a look out between 1st and 3rd December. John

Having recently acquired a Takahashi 100 DZ, I must confess to being a bit disappointed with the focusing mechanism, I found it to be very stiff even after slackening off the Drawtube clamp, and difficult to achieve correct focus, having only coarse focusing. I'm surprised that at this price point it doesn't come with a dual speed focuser, especially as most non-premium 100mm Refractors costing less than half the price, come with a dual speed focuser, and in order for me to carry out a meaningful comparison of the performance with my other refractors, I consider that a fine focus mechanism is essential. As I understand there are two Precision Focuser kits available for the Takahashi FC 100 Refractors, the genuine Takahashi MEF3 Micro Edge Focuser available from FLO at £247, or the More Blue Precision Focuser Retrofit Kit, currently in stock at FLO at £195. I would be interested to receive any recommendations from observers that have fitted either of these fine focusing kits, including ease of fitting. John

Got my first fleeting glimpse through the 100 DZ last night, at Jupiter through a gap in the clouds, apart from making out the 2 main bands, I didn't have sufficient time to assess the performance before it clouded over again, and I don't think that atmospheric conditions were very good. With the Baader diagonal (like yours, which has a light path of 112mm) and a Tele Vue 7mm T6 Nagler, it reached focus with the drawtube just 20mm out., some of my eyepieces focus further in. I didn't need the Tak 2in extension tube that came with the scope, which I assume you only need if you don't use a diagonal. I assume that the Tak 1.25 in Prism Diagonal has a shorter light path, so that the eyepieces will focus further out, do you know whether the Baader M72 Click Lock clamp has a longer or a shorter light path than the Tak M72 to 2in adaptor that came with the scope. I also found the coarse focusing a bit hit and miss, and at some point will probably get a Precision Focuser Kit, at present a bit undecided between the More Blue, and the TaK version. John

Around £3,000 I think, I was thinking of getting one around 1983, and the price from Astro Systems (Luton) was around £3,500, but then the pound fell sharply from the high of about £1 = $2.40, pushing up the price to around £5,000, so I opted for a fork mounted 14in Newtonian from Astro Systems, which then cost £2,950. John

Notice that you have a Skywatcher 9x 50 finder installed in the Tak finder bracket. I wanted something a bit bigger than the Tak 6 x 30 finder for my recently acquired 100 DZ., but didn't want to pay as much a £330 for the Tak 7 x 50, so purchased a secondhand (which turned out to be like new) Skywatcher 9 x 50, and installed in the Tak bracket. John John