Rainmaker

I am trying to understand why people get so enthusiastic about Taks…..

These are the “Keepers” Takahashi TOA130NFB, Skylight Telescopes AR101 F15 and Berry&Mackay 3.25” F15

I decided to simplify my monoviewing eyepiece selection to those eyepieces I use the most. I kept these:

and my homemade "Excalibur" 18" F3.5

My homemade "Guinevere" 18" F5.6

Skylight AR101.15 looking up at the Light in the Sky

I owned both the E21 and N22, I now own only the N22 as I didn’t really find the 100 degree field easy to view… The N22 is just so easy to use….

More scopes should have the ‘character’ of these Skylights….

Yes, full brass 4” F15, Richard made three such OTAs, two went to customers and he kept one of them for himself, albeit without optics.

What a fine acquisition….. there’s something special about these long focus instruments by Richard Day. I have one of the three all brass ones, I mostly use it for lunar and solar viewing….

My case after a lot of downsizing, these are the survivors of the cull....

Jeremy, the Planet is more than sufficient for any normal load, especially if the legs aren't extended too much. I used the Planet for several setups without any problem at all. This Tak tripod is the one specified for the EM400 and EM500 mounts, it has a load capacity of 1000 lbs or 450Kg, it is overkill but I use it for outreach and have had people bumping into it without it affecting the view at the eyepiece, even with the legs fully extended it retains full stability.

My wife said "No more telescopes" but I did manage to make these two over the past five years:

I think the Berlebach Planet is the best thing you can add to the AZ-EQ6GT for a reasonable cost. The standard tripod resembles half-cooked spaghetti when trying to place a scope like the Esprit 150 on it. The leg braces do help somewhat but the thin tubes used by Skywatcher mean that you really cannot extend the legs at all if you want stability. I started modifying my AZ-EQ6GT setup first with a DIY leg brace, then I swapped the tubes for longer, thicker walled tubes. I eventually abandone the GMT128 tripod altogether and bought the Takahashi TMT70300 tripod..... No more issues with vibrations or worry about load capacity....

Very nice purchase! I have them on each of my scopes.