jabeoo1

Your just talking yourself into this Dave aren't you? Its only a matter of time......

Very good service. Opened account on Monday, placed order same time. Was delivered Wednesday. All progress was emailed, tracking service with UPS. Product as described. Excellent ! Will visit again

I wanted to praise both Ed & Ian. We chatted on the phone a number of times, and they are both patient and helpful and offer excellent advice and enthusiasm for the hobby and what they sell. On placing orders with both, the packages were dispatched promptly and both arrived the next day (on a Saturday too). Cheers !

That is a great idea !

You won't be disappointed John, they fit like a glove and are solid.

I will have to save some pennies first before the white light stuff but I may well PM you with some questions about in the future I was very lucky as they came with the OTA (bought secondhand today). I think they are from www.Opticstar.com However they are currently out of stock and not sure how frequent they come in. They are really nice quality rings and I will be leaving them on without doubt. Just waiting for a dovetail, diagonal, bracket & finder to turn up now. I will try my best to do a 1st light report and not be wax lyrical (May be difficult to be honest but you never know).

I stopped on the way back for baked beans and bread to freeze but wish I had done it ages ago..... and a comparison...... Thanks to all the SGL members with this scope who did reports and in depth discussions on the forum. Also I appreciate the time taken with all those long PM's discussing this scope. I look forward to contributing to the discussions now.

I bought one second hand and assumed I was one of the few who did not like it as the comments online were pretty good...... I used it twice and sold it on. A significant outer portion of the field of view showed useless kidney beans implying the field stop may as well have been bought in like the 40mm. 8mm through to 25mm are all brilliant performers.

Initially Ron said the batches are going to: Teleskope serviceFLORother ValleyRobtics

I think that price will change given the RRP of $340 = 302 euros. $475 is extortionate.

Don't worry the function lives up to the looks and visa versa, in fact its gives everything and more. The fine control is fantastic, a 360 ° of the fine control knob gives the narrow but critical range of focus. Its single rotation covers a focus range of on the edge of in, exactly on & slightly out of focus. Once you choose what feature you are looking at studying the ability to fine tune to it is really astonishing. For example: I was quite easily fine tuning to only a certain segment of a filament yesterday, seemingly tuning into the curvature of of the solar sphere. The coarse focus on this set up also performs to a high enough level of resolution, allowing the user to dig deep into a chosen area of detail especially for visual only purposes. With this unit in place the whole scope feels like the precision scientific instrument that its was intended to be. Like I said before, I cannot recommend the addition of this focuser enough, its honestly beyond my expectations in how it allows the scope operate and handle...seriously good. When the seeing is good the ability to dial in right now is there, right at your fingertips. Absolutely no slop or travel, its all about just the response.

I am grateful to Ron at Moonlite for allowing me to beta test this focuser, and I am in no way affiliated to his company. As expected the focuser oozes quality like the other product lines. This model weighs just over 500g, compared with the standard stock focusers 120g. Installed the focuser fits solidly to the scope with no play. The coarse and fine controls are very smooth and precise. Imagers out there will no doubt welcome both the shaft lock & lifting capacity draw tube pressure thumbscrew features. As a visual astronomer these features are useful in their own right. The B400/B600 attaches with a compression ring system and feels nice and safe. The MoonLite CM Model-Mini is a joy to use. It replaces the least enjoyable part of the Lunt 50 package, and is in a league all of its own. In summary I would recommend this product without reservation. Product is in transit from USA to EU / UK retailers now ! See images below:

Ron from Moonlite has sent the following images & specs out to me this morning. I am waiting to receive the unit & will test it on first opportunity, after that It should not be long in reaching a good retailer near you I obtained permission from Ron before publishing the following images & text. Model CM-mini 1/4" Crayford Focuser Colour=Red Flange= Lunt 50mm Solar Scope Drawtube = .4" 1 1/4 " format comp ring Knob/Motor = Dual Rate with Shaft Lock List price = $340 (Single speed less).

This DS really blew my socks off today, I can clarify I am very happy with this setup. My well documented ups and downs are hopefully helpful to others, and at the same time not intended to put people off. As with all things astronomical its about patience and willingness to persevere. When seeing is good and the features are actually there (cross reference with GONG) this thing really kicks things up a notch. In the words of Highburymark 'this scope just keeps giving', I am more consistently enjoying this setup now

Cheers for the feedback guys.

Question to you all. The new focuser: With or Without the T2 thread on the draw tube? I only do visual so don't need it however if there is only one version of the focuser I am guessing that the imagers out there want it left on. Let me know what you want !

I have not been informed of the RRP.

Ron has started production on the LS50Tha's Moonlite focusers The new moonlites profile are matched to the stock focusers profile, they cannot make them any shorter, so more in focus is sounding very unlikely. I am looking forward to seeing these.