AstroSylv1

I need to get 5 old ortho eyepieces dismounted, de-cemented, cleaned and re -cemented, from the 50’s, brand Manent.

Hi, in oder to repair some eyepieces, I have been advice to contact "Graeme Cooper at Bino Bros"... but I can't find any website nor e-mail nor nothing about this company... anyone knows them ? Thanks a lot !

Hi there, I picked up all units from SkyMeca, and two pieces are left now. Let me know if you're interested.

Hi there, with the Baader system, you need an additional ring from M44–> T2, and then only their QCA, which is thinner / weaker. Skymeca made a M44 QCA directly, heavy duty, based on the design of the original one that came with my Zeiss refractor. So, in the end, cheaper than Baader solution. Skymeca have 5 pieces left of the hybrid (stainless steel male part with aluminum female part). Send me a private message if you are interested, it costs 90 euro + shipping costs from France, I am just the messenger and dispatcher since Skymeca don’t handle requests outside of France (due to language barrier).

Hi everyone, For those of us who own and use a Zeiss Telementor, Telemator, or other Zeiss scope equipped with an M44 output thread, with accessories in M44 (like a Zeiss diagonal), there was, back then, as an option, a quick coupling solution, with M44 threads, and a circular dovetail system. It helps positioning and rotating the diagonal in the direction we want. Otherwise, it is not easy since it is screwed in. Baader have a similar solution based on M44/T2 adaptor rings, which is less practical than a native M44 coupling. I asked a turner/miller in France, SkyMeca, who is specialised in astro gears, to take measurements of my original one, and to come up with a similar version : one is full aluminum (cheaper) and one version is an hybrid alu/stainless steel (avoid thumb screw marks). It's a long story/discussion on CN forum, and now, the project is completed. If some of you are interested, SkyMeca can make some again, here are some photos. For questions, let me know, within limits, I am not a seller, I was helping the astro community and was the interface between SkyMeca and astro amateurs. We got 10 pieces produced and all are on the way to their owner.

Looks like a super early version, number being 10576 (105 is on all of them, then EDT or EDF version, then serial number). Looks rather good condition, you can tell by the bag (genuine also), usually this bags wear off quickly at the handle. If there is no scratch, paint missing, shocks or whatever, it sure is a great looking one, early though. The most desired ones are the latest ones, but you could still ending up selling it for 4500 USD to American astronomers, and maybe 2800 euro to European astronomers (somehow, our friends in America are willing to put more money for this made in USA scope, when Europeans tend to pay less since it competes with Takahashi or other top brands.) The last one I saw was sold at the AP dealer in France for 2800euro, second hand, and it took them months to sell it. But on American websites, they barely stay 1 day, even at 5000USD. But shipping this may be risky...

Hi there, I used to have one, indeed excellent scope, almost regret selling it. In Europe, it goes for somewhere between 2500 and 3000 euro, but in the US, of in excellent condition, you could sell it for 4000-5000 USD depending on accessories and generation (hence the serial number). Already the paint can give you a hint : shiny polished black paint (older) or pebble feeling (latest). if you have the original case, rings, dovetail plate, etc, it is the minimum required. Post some photos here, we can help you with that.

Hello there, In order to get a good feeling of what it’s like to do some stargazing from a labeled dark sky reserve area, some members of our local astronomy club have spent a full week in Saint-André-Capcèze, Lozère district, right between Villefort and Génolhac), at the guesthouse « Au Portaou » (www.au-portaou.com). Since the owners of this guesthouse can speak fluently English, German, Dutch and French (she’s from Belgium, he is from Germany) please have a look and feel free to go there a week or a couple of days, you will be impressed by the sky quality, and pleased by the warm welcoming B&B. As for the sky, we had not seen such a dark sky, nor this level of seeing since our trip to Chile last year, amazing. Because of the weather conditions, not every night was fully successful, but still, we had a fantastic week. The area where we have settled the scopes has a South, South-East orientation, and we had way enough space for 5 scopes, including 2 dobsonians of 400mm and 2 of 250mm. Full darkness was achieved thanks to the total absence of any artificial light, no street lamp, no parasite light bulbs of any kind, nothing... only The city of Alès, 40 to 50km south, could bring a faint light halo on the horizon. SQM was definitely and consistently over 21, easily. We had to use our head torches in order to walk around since we could not see each other’s in the dark, almost scary ? !! We are no longer used to this level of darkness, especially at our usual spots. In the middle of the night, the Milky Way had arisen enough to see it from one side of the valley to the other side, completely, gorgeous with a lot of contrast. Personally, I had never seen so many details in M101, I could keep on magnifying and pushing on M53, and had never seen so much contrast on M92 or simply on M3. In total, I observed a list of about 40 objects, from tight doubles to the brightest Messier’s, and of course many galaxies from the NGC catalog in Virgo or Coma B in this season. All in all, a fantastic sky, very clear and transparent, with a good seeing, and barely no light pollution (only this Alès halo, very faint). In the guesthouse, every single attention of the owners was making us feel like VIP guests : old and well restored house, excellent food from Patricia, the owner, Hans, her husband made some space in a small cellar so that we could store our chairs and gears during the day, etc... I totally recommend this place and this area. If only light pollution was down to this level all over France, especially in the North East where I live ! For sure we will go there again next year !

I have been using some E Pl 10x/25 for months on my bino, but because I need a barlow to reach focus on my dobsonian, I end up with a high magnification and too much eye relief, so, not the best for my case only...

Thanks ! It still puzzles me that they have not been able to update the apps and firmwares to take into account iOS and SkySafari with one device needed only...

Still no longer get the Sun tracking feature, deleted the app and re downloaded it, reset the mount WiFi, tried everything I used to do when the Sun tracking was available, but now it’s gone... anyone has the same issue ?

Anyone has seen the “fast solar tracking” feature on the SynScan App ? I could not longer find it this morning !

To be honest, I enjoy doing straight through viewing on my Telemator, with the tripod fully up and standing, but in my configuration for the Tak DL, it's more about me being scared, that if for a reason or another, the optical tube would swing completely loose, and hit the tripod.. this is why I am in favour of that column or extension... am I paranoid ?

The Tak FC 100 DL being that long, I can not have "no column" or "no extension", but if I could replace the EQ5 extension column, with a tripod integrated Berlebach column, I would gain in set up time, in portability, in weight, and in ease of use. BUT the only two compromises I don't want to do are stability and vibration damping time... so, there is still a big question mark... Piero opened a potential new opportunity with his FC 100 DF on his photos... it is worse the thoughts...

I think the DL with a 2” diagonal and a heavy eyepiece will be too much for the AZ GTi, unless you replace the Tak cradle with a lighter combination of rings made of aluminum. Primalucelab rings would make me gain almost 1kg... according to Marion at Berlebach, it costs almost 30euro incl. shipping to buy the base plate with column from the UNI 19 in order to transform a UNI 18. I need to sell some stuffs first.

Good idea Piero, I will have a look at that too... settling time is good, but I still haven’t pushed magnification since mid October due to the horrible weather conditions... :-( but it is anyway less than a second.

Here is a DL on SW AZ GTi + EQ5 extension column and UNI 18, very stable and super heavy...

Sorry for the XW 40, I was stupid enough to trade mine months ago, thinking I could live without it, and I was wrong, I had to find one again... sorry sorry...

Thanks all...

Hello Piero, I am wondering, I use a Berlebach UNI 18 tripod, and a SkyWatcher Extension pilar from my old EQ5, it weights a ton, but it is very stable... do you think the UNI 19 with its pinion/rack column is just as stable ? For sure it must be lighter... I wonder how it compared in vibration damping, and on stability... I also have an AYO mount as well as the SW AZ GTi... I also wonder if the new Skywatcher small extension tube is providing the same stability as the super heavy, longer extension column... Anyone knows if it is possible to convert a UNI 18 into a UNI 19 (if the column exists as a spare part ?) ?? Many thanks

Same here, on a Mac...

Yes, I saw one at La Clef des Étoiles in Toulouse (France)...

The DL is still available, from the second run...

On a diet I’d say :-)

Anyone tried it with a long f/d refractor, like above 7 ? If so, how stable is that ? I am considering getting one to replace my EQ5, but I don’t want to rush, I need to be sure first that stability will remain the same or better...