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GavStar

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Everything posted by GavStar

  1. Hi Mike, what is the dovetail clamp like? Does it look like it could be upgraded to say an adm clamp? Gavin
  2. There is another possibility that I've installed it incorrectly!! Maybe next Walton meeting we can compare and check I haven't done anything silly...
  3. Stu, I was just thinking that when I saw pictures of your scope earlier today. I had to make a special request from flo for it to get it direct from starlight instruments. Link from starlight is attached http://starlightinstruments.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&path=38_60&product_id=405
  4. Mirror. I was dissuaded from getting the larger 2 inch prism by reports (bill p's first diagonal comparison) that it has some observable ca whereas the smaller t2 did not show this. I have the t2 bbhs prism but like the 2 inch mirror bbhs since it allows me to use my 21mm ethos to its fullest extent.
  5. Attached is a photo of my preferred focuser setup. But as per previous comments all options are rather good!!
  6. Looks very interesting for grab and go. I've ordered one to try out with my tv85 and Tak FC100DF. I will be interested to see how the tripod works out. I'm visual only but don't like much vibration so may look to upgrade to a good photo tripod in due course.
  7. The capacity appears to be less than the vixen porta 2, not sure what the benefits of the az5 are over the porta?
  8. No but they don't tend to come with fine focusers and I find that I need one for high magnification viewing. Also Tak focusers do have a bit of a marmite reputation. In fact a few years ago Tak offered the tsa102 and tsa120 with a feathertouch focuser rather than a Tak focuser which potentially indicates even Tak recognise for some people a feathertouch makes sense.
  9. I started with strategy 3 and bought an FC100DF but have now replaced the focuser with a feathertouch crayford (I ordered it from flo and you need to specify that you want the adapter for the FC100 since I think it is different from the fc76). So starting from scratch I would now go for Strategy 2. I tried the mef-3 Tak fine focuser but prefer the feathertouches on my other telescopes and hence in the end changed to a full feathertouch and have not regretted it. i haven't weighed my scope with the feathertouch installed but seems pretty light to me, lighter than when it was a DF! Drawtube lengths for DF and feathertouch are similar at 2.5 inches but I have needed to buy a 2 inch extender (I chose a Televue one but can use any I guess) to get enough back focus for my diagonal. My DF did reach focus with ethos eyepiece since it has a bit more extension built into it than the feathertouch. i have used Ian king and trutek to buy Tak telescopes and both have been excellent. i prefer the parallax 95mm tube rings to the Tak cradle since it just feels a bit more secure to me but I think it's just personal preference. Fantastic scope!!
  10. Olly I have wondered how the locking screw on my feathertouch focuser work. Is it really as simple as a screw with a nylon tip or does starlight use a different approach? Gavin
  11. John, I agree with you that the focus on holiday should be spending time with our families and taking a break from normal life. I'd only take some telescope stuff with me if I thought there was the likelihood of seeing objects that I either couldn't see or were low in the sky in the UK. I was in Barbados earlier this year and from there some Southern Hemisphere objects are visible which was a real incentive to take some gear with me.
  12. Impressed by DirkSteele's think tank backpack I decided to buy a thinktank accelerator backpack for my tv85. Just received it today and everything fits well. Just a bit bigger than my ultra portable tv60 which has previously been my aeroplane travel scope. With the mount going into my hold luggage I think this will work. I like planetary viewing and with Saturn so low in the UK it seems that I'm going to have to go abroad to get a nicer view. For this the tv85 will be much better than the tv60. Plus for widefield dso hunting the tv85 should be a lot of fun. I've got trips to southern Portugal,Cyprus and Gran Canaria over the next 9 months so all I need to do now is persuade my partner that it's fine for me to use up my hand luggage allowance on telescope stuffs Her comment this evening was I still needed to take the nappies in my hand luggage!! Contents of the bag are: Televue 85 2 inch Televue everbrite diagonal 21mm Televue ethos Leica asph zoom Leica 1.8x extender 4mm Televue delite Hitec Astro dew controller 8ah tracer lithium polymer battery astrozap dew tape Petzl tikka headtorch Unihedron sky quality meter Giotto air blower
  13. Yep I think it's probably the last bit of Astro kit I would sell! Really really nice
  14. Of course you're right John - I forgot about those imaging people!!
  15. Dave, yes I did wonder why short focal fracs are so much more popular than f9+. However even the FC100DL I have I find a bit of a handful particularly when looking near zenith. The flexibility of the 130gtx just zipping around all areas of the sky easily on the mount without having to change observing position is rather nice. ?
  16. John, you are probably right that there was no difference - also seeing was varying and maybe that's what I was noticing. I am loving the AP though!
  17. So tonight was my first direct comparison of the TEC140 and the AP130GTX. On Jupiter and M13 I couldn't see any noticeable difference. However on Epsilon Lyrae I'm sure I saw a difference. The split with the AP was just a bit easier and the stars a bit sharper. Seeing wasn't as good as the first light night but it was still good. It may be new scope bias - I really don't know. Possibly Stu will be able to see if I've got this wrong in a few weeks time... The AP was also easier to manoeuvre and the stiffer AP focuser was helpful as the scope neared the vertical - I was having to use the focus brake on the TEC quite often. At the moment I'm hooked! (I was using same diagonal and Leica zoom to get similar magnifications)
  18. Forecast looks clear this evening and grs is transiting from 9pm so am going to try to get both tec and AP out for a quick compare (children permitting!). I am also intrigued to see what m13 and the double double look in the TEC. Those ball shaped stars (in velvet!) I saw in the AP have made a real impression on me.
  19. Mike, I don't understand all the details but one interface is Air spaced and the other one is oil spaced so it's a mix of both. Using both allowed AP to use all spherical lenses. But I guess with one interface being Air spaced I think the cool down is longer. This probably means more to you than me! Pre 2016 the design (AP 130GT) was all oil spaced but with aspherical lenses.
  20. Thanks John. The AP130 used to be fully oil spaced like the TEC but for some reason the new GTX is part oil spaced part air spaced, which may well be why the cool down seems longer to me.
  21. Since I got the AP 130GTX it's basically been wall to wall cloud. However, the forecast seemed decent tonight. Looked out at 10pm and it was clouds again. But I thought as it's Friday I'd set the new scope up anyway and start it cooling down just in case. At 11pm the clouds cleared and I had just over an hour before they came back again. It was enough though to get a nice first session in. First off was Jupiter since the GRS was visible. I used mark v binoviewers with 19 pans. GRS was very obvious, but not as red as I've seen it in the TEC recently. Also, at first, although I could see 11 regions, the detail was a bit fuzzy. I assume the scope was still cooling down (seemed to take longer than the TEC) as suddenly cloud details appeared and various features such as a large barge became clear. By this time the skies had cleared even further and stars had appeared all over. After having a great evening of observing in the iow a few weeks back it was shocking to see how bad the light pollution in SW London is. I decided to aim for some DSOs. First up was M13. The LP was so bad it took a while for my eyes to pick up the Keystone. In went an ethos 21 and m13 magically appeared through the whiteness. Best I've seen in my back garden. I moved to a Leica zoom to push up the magnification and at 160x individual stars appeared and it took on an appearance not too different from an open cluster at lower mag. I was impressed at how cleanly the stars resolved. A quick star test was excellent. In the iow I'd had an excellent view of the double double in the Tak FC100DF so I did a comparison. Not a fair competition but even with LP the AP gave a better split at a similar 160x magnification. The AP also split it very comfortably at much lower magnifications of around 50x. The views at 160x were very nice. The 4 stars had a crystal clear ball-like quality I just haven't seen before in any scope. Extremely comfortable split with clear blackness between the 'balls'. Unfortunately at this stage the clouds came in and I decided to pack up. A few practical use points: I prefer the feel of the feathertouch on the tec to the AP focuser. However with use the AP focuser got better and it does provide an easy sharp focus even with the f6.3 focal ratio. Although not much lighter, the AP is much easier to mive around than the TEC. On planets, so far the TEC has given me the best views but that's probably due to differing seeing conditions. Interesting that the GRS didn't appear that red in the AP compared to the TEC. Cool down seems longer in the AP vs the TEC. On DSOs the AP gave a more pleasing image imo with very tight control of the star shapes. A short but very enjoyable first light.
  22. Now your just encouraging me, Mike ? I think my partner would leave home if an even bigger frac arrived. Also having noticed a material difference between the 100mm and 140mm a few weeks ago I think a move to the right would need to be a 180mm. Having seen DirkSteele's photos of his fantastic 180mm the sheer size (not to mention the cost!!!) means it's not going to happen. I have reached my comfort limit. And I think you mentioned to me previously that the FS 152 you had was a little on the large size? ? Interesting ideas re bino FC100s but one for another year I think...
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