Nicola Fletcher

Weather doesn’t look much better on Saturday- still, better to postpone as they only get one chance at this!

I had this scope for about ten years and loved it - I still miss it! I bought a set of BST Starguiders and the Baader Hyperion Zoom - these were great and I use them in my refractors now so they were good for future telescopes too. I did find that the tripod was quite wobbly, but setting the telescope up on a lawn really helped with the shakiness. Apart from the eyepieces, I didn’t make any further upgrades to the setup. It was great fun to use and I found the optics great. I hope you enjoy it!

Welcome! I hope you get lots of enjoyment from SGL!

I'd also go for the Tak, but perhaps consider the FC76-DCU as suggested by Jeremy. It screws in half so can fit in the smallest travel bag, and I think is more portable if you ever want to fly with it. As @MalcolmM says, getting the FS60Q, and later the FC76 objective upgrade, is an option and would give you the flexibility of the FS60 plus the 76. When deliberating my options for a very portable setup, I read http://alpha-lyrae.co.uk/2017/03/12/takahashi-fc-76-dcu-review/ and his other reviews and this was what helped me make my final decision to go for the FC76-DCU. I don't regret it!

I immediately thought of the Matrix 😊 My little FC76-DCU brings a smile to my face whether I’m looking at it or through it - I can’t believe I own it still. Must think of a name now!

It’s an absolute picture - what a fabulous scope. Love the name too!

For me, so far, it has been my Tak FC-76 DCU as well. It’s not as well travelled as yours but it has been to a public observing event and has been on holiday to Bortle 3 sites. It’s an absolute delight to use and the views through it are fantastic. It’s equally good on a Giro Ercole Mini and a GoTo mount.

Looks like a beautiful classic setup Mike!

It wasn’t a great night for it but I got a quick look at Jupiter with my new AZ-EQ5 and not-so-new Starwave 102 ED-R.

I booked because I wasn’t sure whether I’d need to, and didn’t want to be turned away when I got there. There was actually no need to book and lots of availability when I got there. I’d say you would be safe enough to just turn up!

Definitely not - I’ve been infected with a severe variant of Takahashi-itis which I fear will take me a while to cure.

Welcome to the Lounge! Im sure you will get some great help and advice - people here are so friendly and willing to help people getting to grips with the hobby. I’m sure you will enjoy it and SGL is a massive reason why I am so obsessed with astronomy. I went to my first Astronomy Society (Birmingham Astro Society, while I was working in Birmingham, which was excellent) for a while before I bought my first scope. They had an 8” Celestron SCT and I had the opportunity to view various targets through it before buying my own telescope. I had lots of advice but ended up taking the advice of one of the members and buying a 127 Mak on a GoTo mount. I loved it and had it for many years - it came everywhere with me as I moved back and forth between the UK and Ireland. It was super portable and so much fun to use. I’ve since upgraded with help and advice from SGL members and am still really enjoying the hobby. I know it can be overwhelming when you look at the variety out there and you don’t know what to choose but there are lots of options that will give you many enjoyable nights under the stars. The one thing I have learned is to enjoy choosing equipment as well as enjoy using it. Best of luck!

One of the turbines was on display and there was great information in the museum about the development of the turbines. His designs were also used in the Titanic, Mauritania and Lusitania according to the information boards. I definitely recommend a visit!

I can’t find anything online with details of viewing events. There is an article in an Irish Astronomical Society’s publication that says it has been restored as a museum and tourist attraction rather than a working observatory: http://www.irishastrosoc.org/orbit/articles/irish.htm. It would be interesting to see what the views are like through it.

That’s interesting- thanks for posting it. I thought its azimuth was fixed but you can see there is room for small azimuth adjustments.

It’s really an incredible construction isn’t it. I’m fascinated that it only moves in altitude - how frustrating if something interesting was just outside its field of view! It’s predecessor was a 35 inch, but I don’t know if it had the same design. I think it’s amazing that the astronomers discovered and recorded so much with it - as you say a testament to their commitment. And an extreme case of aperture fever.

Glad you enjoyed them - it must have been amazing, sitting up there late at night sketching (and wondering how you were going to get down in one piece!). Seeing it up close was a fantastic experience.

I visited the Leviathan at Birr Castle, Ireland, yesterday. I had been hoping to see it for a long time (funny how we are less likely to visit things on our doorstep!) and it didn’t disappoint. The great telescope had been restored in the past number of years and looked like it is in working order. Apparently the mirror has been replaced and the wooden stairways and platform system that can raise the observer to the eyepiece looked in very good repair. The grounds were stunning with the autumn colours and the I-LOFAR low frequency radio telescope was also visible. The Science Centre had a lot of very interesting displays- I’ve posted a few photos including one of the absolutely massive EPs from the telescope. One of the highlights for me was some of the beautiful sketches that had been made at the telescope (reminded me of the fabulous sketches of Mars by @mikeDnight), as well as a sketching box and an old red lantern that was used telescope-side. I hope you enjoy the photos - Also I hope it’s ok to post this here. I wasn’t sure if History of Astronomy would be a better place.

I thought that was a great episode - I wish it was on more often!

Thank you for posting all these fantastic photos and the description- I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the build and the end result is jaw dropping - I hope you have many happy years in it!

Thank you both very much - I didn’t think I’d be the first one to have this issue. Magnus, I’d really like to take you up on your very generous offer - I’ll PM you now. Thank you!

Hi all, I just took delivery of a new AZ-EQ5 GT mount and set it up. It looks like a very nice, solid, well built mount and I want to use it primarily for visual with my refractors. I have one small issue - I have a Celestron lithium powerbank that uses a fairly straightforward cable that plugs into the powerbank and there is an identical port on my EQM-35 Pro that I can use to power the mount. I’ve taken a photo of the two plugs on the cable that came with the powerbank (first photo). The AZ-EQ5 comes with a cable with a specific plug on one end that fits into the power port on the mount, with a cigarette lighter plug on the other end (second photo). The powerbank doesn’t have a cigarette lighter port on it though, and I don’t have anything else that I can plug it into apart from my car! My question is whether there is a cable that I can get to connect the mount to the powerbank - and what is the name of the port that’s used to power the AZ-EQ5? Is there another solution apart from buying another powerbank? Thankfully we have heavy cloud tonight as i’d be so disappointed if I couldn’t use the new mount if it was clear! Thank you very much in advance.

Thanks @ScouseSpaceCadet for a great observing report. Plenty of ideas and I’ve never looked at the double cluster in Perseus so it’ll be top of my list next time out! I also got out last night to my local village for an annual astronomy event that has been postponed since the beginning of the pandemic. We mainly focused on the gas giants and Venus earlier in the evening, but the Pleiades were a treat through my FC76-DCU - playing with magnification using the Baader Hyperion zoom. I’m glad you had a clear night - it was my first one in a while too, and we also captured a shooting star with an iPhone completely by accident. IMG_4092.MP4

Apologies- I can see now it’s bigger! You must get some great views through it. I agree, knowing that it’s tested is a huge bonus.