jetstream

wheres @quaoar? Might not be home made but very impressive

😲 Ive just about fainted!😀

This is way off what I normally talk about as I have a diverse set of eyepieces and equipment. It seems as if there are some companies that are dropping astronomical eyepieces from their line up like Docter. Explore Scientific prices are going way up as is the rest of everything. IMHO, Televue has set a high standard for astronomical eyepieces to which many are compared to. It seems as if they have weathered the storm of cheap, Nagler type competitive eyepieces- well I hope so. I kind of wonder if we should "heard up" around Televue? If this company is gone we might be paying huge prices for eyepieces for "other" brands. I have no financial or other interests in Televue but its in our best interest if this company continues to do well.IMHO. If this thread is off base mods please remove, its just a thought. I'm curious what others think thats all.

Its not so bad you know 😀 We like visiting the city once in a while but its sure nice to get back home.

Actually have to disagree... send that TSA102 up north to me here!

I think the responses in the thread point out that refractors are not fragile- they are in fact tough scopes.

I'm more concerned about water stains inside the lens assy. I never bought an oil spaced frac because the shock can cause oil leaks- maybe. And I just use bubbled filled FLP- maybe all those bubbles give a bit of structural strength in there? The only issue for the fracs is the lens cell twisting up a bit and causing astig- the SW120ED is most susceptible - so far the TSA120 has had perfect extreme cold cool downs, every time. I can see that if a cell was tight to begin with, and then moved a lot in the cold that it could conceivably crack a lens. The lens wont crack on its own I dont think but a twisted up lens cell could do it. Never heard of it myself though. My sea can is the freezer lol!

I gave it a smiley but I "like" the answer too. 👍 One thing I'm careful of is condensation or frost from taking the scope into a warm building. My 90mm APO triplet went on so many dark site adventures I lost count, most in the winter. From a warm truck to -30c then back again- it would frost up then melt -on the inside lens too. This SV is a tough little scope lol! I asked the wife to make me an insulated scope coat- she did out of an old quilt and this slows everything down, preventing the issue. Now I store in a sea can at or near ambient all the time- the fracs are fine but the big mirrors lag and will have small issues- solved by a small light bulb in each mirror box. Yes a "nugget of truth" just like a small inclusion in FLP glass! both are pretty small

How many objects in that immediate near area "north" of Triangulum do you see naked eye?

naked eye?

Its bizarre, these ideas IMHO.

I have not seen any cars here without working headlights, at times you might see one vehicle with a light out, but its very rare. Headlights are on 24/7 here and if the police see a car with no headlights your pulled over immediately. Not surprisingly I run Nokian Hakka 9's and Russian Pirellis, all studded for winter.

Seriously? You should try driving over here or in the rural USA.. not sure about yours but our headlights work well.

The Bortle scale really confuses me- a Bortle 4/3 mentioned and another member mentions a 3/4? I just dont understand it- not a judgment to those that use it for sure. To me the MW is the easiest guide- as its possible to have good zenith darkness near overlapping light domes, depending where one is on the curve of the domes. How does M33 show naked eye from your skies? It should be easy at Bortle 3 3 Rural sky 6.6–7.0 21.69–21.89 the zodiacal light is striking in spring and autumn, and color is still visible some light pollution evident at the horizon clouds are illuminated near the horizon, dark overhead nearer surroundings are vaguely visible the summer Milky Way still appears complex M15, M4, M5, and M22 are naked-eye objects M33 is easily visible with averted vision limiting magnitude with 12.5" reflector is 16

I peruse Stellarium and also Uronometria, S&T Pocket Atlas and after a while target areas are memorized which are then "sky surfed" to see if any can be picked up. Kind of fun because finding them "out of the blue" is rewarding. Then after a while doing this allows repeated specific observations just from memory using the constellations as the only map. An example is visiting the Wizard, after the Bubble and Lobster Claw near the Scorpion then up to the massive IC1396 (nebula) for a quick edge catch. From there many dark nebs pop out. I love this type of observing.

@John I'll share something that I now consider ridiculous on my part. I read that the TSA120's non adjustable lens cell could easily knocked out of whack- on you know where. I went into a frither of activity searching out the truth lol! Tak and scope expert, Matt @Rainmaker (on here) from Aus straightened me out on this, thankfully. Zero issues with my TSA120, or his (many). He also taught me how to adjust the "junk" Tak focuser... that can hold a 2" Zeiss prism and hvy binoviewers at zenith, in the cold and is smooth as silk. Now its bubbles in the glass or melting fluorite... I'll relate what I do and dont do with my fracs in a bit- just the dew/frost thing.

I got the 2" Zeiss prism for one reason- to use 2" low power eyepieces to observe large nebula. These scopes are super for this. If I wasnt into that I would only use 1.25" eyepieces.

One smiley aint enough! 😃

Thats ok, I only have bubble filled FLP glass and I'm just shocked that the lenses havent blown right up from thermal shock in my temp extremes.

🤣 yeah and then are there those that mention battery acid in relation to lenses... dont know about you John but my skin sure wont take the acid lol! Ridiculous IMHO.

I had my SW120ED "spin" around and hit a tripod leg hard ( my fault, mount wasnt up to it) from some wind. Zero affect on the scopes performance. I also use this scope down to -40c and while this scopes cell will distort sometimes (not most of the time) I have no issues- including bringing it out from the house into this. I keep the scopes near ambient in a sea can now and they regularly experience cold temps (and hot 34c yesterday here). So far no lenses have blown up.

Many of us observe dark neb without realizing it ie the Lagoon and Triffid, great list. Observing DN that lie in bright objects could be an asset from lighter skies IMHO.

I think but dont know that magnesium based coatings could be softer than others.If so I would presume caution would be in order for eyepieces that use it as well.

Well it seems the 100ED did very well, giving vg views despite this "flaw" or whatever we call it. I'll check out the thread.

How big was this chip? pretty small? Years ago I saw images of horrendous damage that didnt really affect the views. Did you get a new lens or whats happened with the scope?