GavStar

@vineyard I’ve just measured the ota and it’s 23cm without focuser or internal etalon, 29cm with focuser no etalon, and 33cm with focuser and etalon. As Mark says I’m visual only for solar but maybe one of my local club members such as @PeterW may have a go at some imaging in triple stack mode at some point.

@Highburymark Yesterday I initially tried the new modular scope in single stack mode with just one external etalon (and having removed the internal etalon). Even in this single stack mode the surface detail was good across the whole disk, the best detail I’ve seen from a single stack setup including the Solarscope 70mm filters I had. This got me pretty excited to add the extra external etalon for full external double stack mode and I wasn’t disappointed 😀

The triple stack mode showed nice areas of darker activity that were not clear in double stack mode. So even with a bland sun there’s still plenty of stuff to look at. Very much looking forward to when ‘proper’ activity starts. After a bit of experimenting I think I’ve found the perfect setup for my particular visual solar preferences. I prefer keeping to lower magnifications say max 50x but I know Mark you’ve had great success with much higher mags with your new Solarscope setup. I didn’t get to try my Baader Mark v binoviewers with this setup yesterday - hoping that those deliver even better results. I like it that I can reach focus with my gpc 1.7x rather than have to use a 2.6x gpc. My pan 24s with the gpc 1.7x are lovely.

Solar observing has definitely played second fiddle to night time observation for me since I started this hobby in 2012. However as I’m now working from home all the time and my young daughters are at school, suddenly I have time during daylight hours for some solar viewing.

Even though there hasn’t been much solar activity in the last few years I’ve had some really nice views recently with my lunt 60mm tilt tuned double stacked setup. Even better when used with my Baader mark v binoviewers.

However, this setup does have a relatively small sweet spot and it got me thinking about upgrading. I have previously considered the lunt 80 or lunt 100 but the 80 doesn’t have an external ds unit available and the 100 appears to struggle with Uk seeing conditions. In addition, I really like the portability of my solarquest mount which wouldn’t support the 80 or 100 and I prefer full disk viewing than higher mag stuff.

The recently launched lunt 60mm modular setup gave an opportunity I thought to get a setup that had a much bigger sweet spot by using it with the internal etalon removed and two external double stack unit screwed into the end. In addition, with the internal etalon in place it would give the opportunity of a possibly higher contrast triple stack view of the solar surface.

I took the plunge and today the 60mm lunt modular and additional 60 ds unit arrived from telescope house. Conditions weren’t great but there was about an hour or so of decent viewing around lunchtime.

First up was removing the internal etalon and going for 2 external 60mm Etalons screwed the the end of the modular scope. My solarquest mount handled this setup fine and the views were exquisite. Lovely detailed full disk views at 40x with a massive sweet spot. A definitive step up from my previous double stack setup. Even in single stack mode there was plenty of surface detail visible.

Then I reinstalled the internal pressure tuned etalon for a triple stack setup. The conditions were getting a bit iffy by now unfortunately but it was clear to me that there was another good step up in surface contrast with the dark elements of the surface really popping up much more obviously than in the ds mode. Also the views were pretty bright despite the triple filtering.

A good first go but I’m hoping for some more sunny spells this week to try it out further (some more solar activity would be good as well!)

Here’s a pic of the setup today - very portable.

I’ve just seen this topic. Given it’s been years in development I had basically given up on using my iPhone only with my az gti and sky safari in WiFi mode.

However, I was out last night and decided to give the synscanlink setting a try with my iPhone. And it worked perfectly! I set up alignment with SynScan as normal, then opened SkySafari and connected to the scope and that was it. Great result!

12 minutes ago, Space Hopper said:

@GavStar Hi Gavin, good to hear from you.

No, it never happened. I was totally stuck between 2 scopes : the Baader 95 and the APM 105.

I mentioned it to Rupert from Astrograph, and we had a chat and he persuaded me to opt for the 105. Aperture was the swaying point. I then cancelled my order with Baader for the 95.

The APMs LZOS lenses had become somewhat scarce a couple of years ago, but APM were able to source a new batch in between LZOS Russian military contracts.

Marcus at APM used a cheaper aluminium tube and focuser which brought the cost of the 105/650 down by well over £1000 and actually made it cheaper than the Baader 95 by the same amount.

A case, rings and dovetail + carry handle were all included, so with this and the saving i opted for the APM.

As well as the 105/650, LZOS also reintroduced the 100/800 and the 115/805. As you know, all have peerless optics.

I was very tempted by the 100/800, but really wanted the compactness of the 105/650.  No regrets, its a super little scope, and sits very nicely on my DM-4 grab/go mount.

Ok, it doesn't have the travel potential of the Baader 95, but for the time being with house arrest, quarantine etc its not like foreign travel is an option anyway for the foreseeable ?

I've also really wanted a Russian optic for a long time. This is an air spaced triplet design rather than the oil spaced design of the Baader Fluorite. 

But i already have one with my new TEC140FL, and thought it better to compliment that with an air spaced designed scope.

One thing i have noticed is that the TEC does reach thermal equilibrium that little bit quicker even with its much larger aperture : do you find that with your 160...??

 

 

Ok, thanks for the update. Yes portability was a key factor for me, I really like the ability to use the Baader on my Az gti mount whereas even the Tak fc100df struggled a bit on this mount (and hence got sold!)

Regarding cool down of my 160mm Tec, yes it does seem pretty quick,  I think this is a characteristic of oil spaced refractors. 

On 27/11/2018 at 17:54, Space Hopper said:

Thanks for putting my mind at rest.

I  have a year to save up for it now..........

Hi Space hopper,

I was out using my Baader 95mm scope last week and thought how unusual (and nice) this scope is. Since it’s been over a year, I wondered whether you got one from Baader by now?

Mark,

Thank you for posting this. And I’m delighted that it’s giving you great results.

After seeing your success, I’ve copied you! My double stack 70mm Solarscope filters arrived today. Here they are mounted to my tv76 and next to my double stack Lunt. The skywatcher solarquest copes with the heavier load fine which is good news..now I just need some sun.

Here's an update on the current position of Night Vision Astronomy (or NV as frequently referred to in this thread)

The biggest news is probably that earlier this year Televue launched a full night vision proposition including the night vision monoculars themselves as shown on this link

http://televue.com/engine/TV3b_page.asp?id=36

This has prompted a surge in interest in NV in the USA and there are now around 100 users of NV astro gear in the States. As a result, this week CloudyNights has launched a specialist "Night Vision Astronomy" section on its forum (in the Equipment section) and therefore has separated NV completely away from the EAA section in which most NV posts were previously made. CN has recognised that NV is very different in its practical use than EAA, in particular being much more similar to traditional glass eyepiece observing in feel, and has little cross-pollination of ideas with EAA users.

Unfortunately the Televue system is not available to non-USA observers due to US law, although the various adapters can be separately purchased by UK residents which I what I did.

For European residents who wish to purchase night vision astronomy kit, the best place is probably a new French company that specialises in night vision astronomy as per the link below:

https://www.ovni-nightvision.com/en/

The UK dealer for ovni is astrograph.net. This european option is more expensive than the US products (as so often is the case), but ovni do also sell second-hand units which are considerably lower cost.

I purchased my first NV monocular in late 2017 and it has been by far the best astro purchase I have made. For an indication of what night vision astronomy is like, here are some previous posts I have made. Unfortunately, since the EEVA section was setup 15 months ago there have been very few night vision astro posts on SGL.

26 minutes ago, Highburymark said:

Seems a bit churlish to ask this question in the presence of so much beauty Gavin. But where’s the TV85? 

In lockdown on the Isle of Wight 😀, Mark. 
The tv85 was my first refractor and I’ve had some great observing sessions with it including one particularly memorable one in Tenerife.

A new acquisition this month, a Takahashi FSQ130-ED, slotting into my existing refractors

From right to left: TEC160FL, Astro-Physics 130GTX, Takahashi FSQ130-ED, William Optics 103mm Pegasus Binoscope, Astro-Physics 92mm Stowaway, Baader 95mm Travel Companion, Takahashi FSQ85-ED, Altair 72mm EDF, Altair 60mm EDF

Here’s the solution posted by Yuri - seems straightforward and worked for the person whose rings got stuck

15 hours ago, newbie alert said:

Awesome scopes, thanks for sharing..can I ask what the ring at the focuser end of the Tec is for please?

It’s just a carry handle so you can use two hands. I have to say I don’t use it since the scope is surprisingly light to handle but I think the captain’s wheel looks 😎 

Thanks for the suggestions. As mine is fine at the moment, I think I’ll leave it. If I ever get any issues I’ll probably install felt on the rings. 
 

More gratuitous pics you say? 🤣

I’m a member of the TEC mailing group and a slightly odd query cropped up today. A poster mentioned that the tube rings on his TEC140 had effectively become ‘glued’ to the ota and couldn’t be removed. He wanted some advice on how to de-attach them.

Yuri replied that he had only seen this once before in 800 scopes and he would provide some instructions to remove it (he didn’t say what they were). Another poster then stated that he also had had this issue and the only way he had managed to remove them was by giving the ota a good whack - not something I’d like to do! He also said the issue was worse when the tube rings had not been moved for a while so he now undid them every few months.

When I got home this evening, I thought I’d check my TEC rings and to my surprise they had become pretty stuck. However, I managed to gently ease them off with no issues. On inspection, the padding inside the rings isn’t the usual felt but instead a sort of rubber that I can see could go a bit sticky over time. 

So I’m now going to undo my tube rings every now and then as a precaution. 

Gratuitous photo of my TEC160FL with the rings off this evening 😀

1 hour ago, Nigella Bryant said:

The new saddle plate wasn't that much out of sync from the original position. So hopefully it'll only need a little adjustment Gav. Just using my eye the saddle plate looks central to the centre of the light diode. A little edit, I centred the new saddle plate with the diode with only the centre bolt first which took the saddle plate to one of the screws that attaches the back plate. If you then get a slightly longer bolt than the reused ones (I happened to have one) you can then tighten both the secondary bolt through the back plate and into the mount hub thus securing the second bolt hole on the saddle plate. I hope that makes sense Gav. 

So just to clarify, I think you now have attached the adapter with 3 small screws rather than 4 and you use the resulting spare hole to attach the adm dovetail clamp with a longer screw you had available. 
 

This allows you to get the adm clamp level with the sensor since in the original setup it was 45 degrees out?
 

Is that right?

10 minutes ago, Nigella Bryant said:

You'll have to realigh your mount by recentering via the dial and press to set the new alignment, we'll that's my take on it. Not tried it yet to see if that's what you have to do. It does say in the manual to do that if it's not centered. Watch this space, lol. 

Isn’t that only for small adjustments? 

Hmmm, I tried fitting this to my solarquest mount a few months ago. However I hit an issue which was that az gti adapter puts the scope at a different angle to the solar sensor so that the when the solar sensor had found the sun, the scope was pointing at entirely the wrong place. From your last photo it appears this may also be the case with your mount?
I even took the mount apart to try to adjust the angle of the solar sensor but no joy.

Did I make a school boy error? 😀 (quite possible!)

1 hour ago, John said:

 

Thanks Gavin - The T-Rex is a winner with me

 

Thanks John. Delighted that you are pleased with the T-Rex (I was very confident 😀).

Complete setup looks great and good that your enjoyment of the 130mm is increased. 👍

I look forward to reading your future reports.

Enjoyable catchup with several friends and retailers.

Here’s the night vision contingent with David Nagler

1 minute ago, PeterW said:

Obviously it won’t be powered up (unless we can find a suitably dark room!) (bit like expecting a solar telescope demo when it’s cloudy).

Peter

PS think the %is a bit high....

If there are other Uk nv astro users they are hiding well 🤣

75% of the UK night vision users (ie 3 of us) are meeting up on Saturday afternoon at astrofest. I’ll be getting some more adapters for my kit from Televue. There may be a night vision monocular to have a look at if anyone wants to see one.

Now available from a UK dealer

http://astrograph.net/epages/www_astrograph_net.mobile/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/www_astrograph_net/Categories/Shop/Night_Vision

9 hours ago, Space Hopper said:

@GavStar    Ok...........

The handset. I can't get to grips with it. I struggle with the alignment procedure every time. I've done 2 star alignments and slewed to an object and its been nowhere near it.

You have to be careful with the cables which can easily get caught. And the main power lead is all too easy to accidentally catch and pull out.

Its unbelievably heavy. I'm glad i go to the gym ! 

The counterweights are hazardous to fingers ! The edges of the tightening wheels are razor sharp (as well as the bars) , and i've cut myself on them several times. Its a gloves on job now for me when i handle them.

Other than that.....😀

The reality is, i'm not very savvy with things like this, and just need someone who knows the mount show me the ropes.

Neils has just started an online user group, so hopefully i can get to grips with it. I must persevere, as it's stopping me doing any sort of imaging.

Then theres the fact then when i actually do get a clear night when i'm not at work, its all too easy just to grab the DM-6 and be observing in no time at all. That i can use, and i have no problem at all using the DSC Nexus, unlike the Panther.

 

Thanks for these comments, very interesting to get someone else’s perspective on this mount - there doesn’t seem to be that many around.

I agree the handset is a bit awkward. Hence I use skyfi and sky safari to zip around the skies with the panther. I’ve never had a problem with the 2 star align - I assume your location settings etc are all correct?

Compared to my dob and c11 I find it not too heavy - I like the fact it breaks down into separate bags which are easy to transport.

And my counterweights aren’t sharp - so no bloody fingers here. 

It did take me a little while to get the hang of it. In particular I now do the balancing on setup carefully which avoids any issues. 

And it works well with binoculars as well.

I did manage to give it an initial test. The build quality is fantastic, better than I expected, the focusers are not that far behind a feather touch.

The ems is a dream to use and very easy to collimate the scopes with the x and y knobs. Great views with my 24mm pans and plenty of in focus (I’m guessing the tubes have been shortened a fair bit compared to the mono 103). It’s a great fit with my Panther TTS mount.

I had a kowa highlander previously which I didn’t get on with but this wo Pegasus is very impressive - really looking forward to the next time (which might be a while away looking at the forecast)

With my double night vision setup it looks a teeny bit silly, but works great - two eyes are definitely better than one!

Just got this delivered today - first one in the UK I think. And some clear skies so hopefully will be using it shortly...