Richard136

 Thanks again.

Your trick with the 15mm extension:: I guess this relies on the correct threads being present on the extension piece and flattener. The flattener I'd use has a T2 thread so I'd need to find a t2-to-2" extension.

Thank you, Stu. 

4 hours ago, Louis D said:

Unless you're old like me and have presbyopia that leaves you with fixed focus eyes.

I do visual only and couldn't stand the defocused stars at the edge at low powers.  I mainly use the AT72ED for low powers, so this wasn't an occasional thing, it was all the time.

Do you mean you had the curvature effect on the AT72ED? I'd like feedback on that please.

.... I just re-read the answers on the thread. Scratch that question.

I'll check. Good point about the eyepiece possibly introducing an effect.

Main question was how does it compare to others of similar FL. Is the curvature an effect of the FL or the design of my specific scope.

I'm just doing visual not photography, so no flattener. The slight distortions maybe an artefact of short focal length.

Thanks - would like to know.

I've got the 70ED from Altair Astro and the build etc is very good. It does show a small loss of quality on star fields towards the edges of the field at low power - eg with a 2" 28mm eyepiece. 

Could someone who owns the TS 72mm comment on the quality of the field.oc view?

 Is there any visible distortion toward the edges of the field? 

2 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Read some reviews on CN comparing the Leica , Zeiss and Swarovski zooms and the Leica and Zeiss were equally liked but the  Swarovski came out in third place as it wasn’t as comfortable to use with eye placement being the main  problem and a warmer tone.

If I win the lottery I’ll have to get all three and compare. 😁😁😁

Haha.

Interesting.

There's a host of them to fit spotting scopes, e.g. Swarovski. Not sure how they'd perform or even fit in some cases.

After some advice on a zoom for my Altair 70 ED travel scope. Also for use in my 110 refactor.

Baader seem very much up there, in price at least, but I read good things about the HyperFlex. Is the Baader worth the extra? Who is king of the zooms?

11 minutes ago, timwetherell said:

I use a WO66 and it's great - enough aperture to see most brighter Messiers and small enough to be able to achieve low magnification with normal EPs. It also has the advantage of accepting 2" EP,s  so with a 40mm ortho if gives almost 7 degree field which makes it an ideal finder. It's also a nice spotting scope in it's own right and a very capable wide angle astrophotography scope using the main scope as a guide. I actually use this scope as a visual instrument too, very large objects like M31 and the North America nebula look great - the latter especially with an OIII filter 

The 66 was  / is on the list; however I couldn't find one anywhere. Think the 70 or 72 may be preferred over the ZS61 on balance

33 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

I used to have 60mm F/4 achromat scope. Well it was not quite scope - more guidescope / finder sort of thing, but it did show quite a few messier objects from my light polluted balcony (hand held even).

Having said that - I would not call it grab&go scope - it was more quick peak scope than anything else. I think you will need a bit more aperture than 60mm to keep you busy/interested longer than 5-10 minutes.

This is what concerns me with the ZS61 for my purposes. Which pushes me to the 70 or 72.

Thanks, Paz.

Still juggling between the AA 70 and 72 (and the TS equivalents like you have), and the WO ZS61... 

Saw the ZS 61 and it's very slick and obviously ultra portable. The only question is it is too small for visual use as a grab-and-go?

Weight and length-wise, the AA and TS scopes seem very similar indeed; maybe 10% one way or the other

Leaning towards the Altair 70mm travel ED-R. Seems like best combination and value. 

Dave whereabouts on your photo do you mount it?

Thanks.

The position shown for the finder show in your photo has two metal larger screw heads. I was nervous to touch those because they dont look like finder mounting points. I'll double check now.

Finder scope.

The approach you've taken is what I'm thinking of doing.

Is there a different way for a RDF?

Excellent help, thanks.

Purchaser the above scope.

Cannot figure out where to mount a finder. Mine is the DDG version.

Help and experiences welcomed.

Thanks for both replies.

Noted about the WO61 and the mounting. Although cant you use female to female clamps for this sort of thing?

The TS scopes are of course an option. Is it worth the nearly 200 euro extra for the 72mm? Glass is stated as better and the mounting looks more substantial too. Though at that price I can have a WO ZS73.

I need a small refractor for use as mega finder and portable second scope.

Thinking of 50-70ish mm. 80 probably too big.

Should be usable on a camera tripod and ble to piggyback on my bigger fractor. 2" decent focusser, and low focal length so that a 30mm eyepiece gives v wide fov.

The current WO61 looks good. Also I've seen a second hand Borg at ENS for similar money. No experience with Borg but would value to hear experiences.

Other suggestions also welcome.

Thanks.

Currently debating using the FOV calculator online. 

Thanks. 

Not heard ot Aero ED so I'll check them out.

Hi

I'm looking for an eyepiece for widefield viewing with my 110mm F7 (770mm) refactor. Mainly for starfields.

I've not had 2" eyepieces before and am tempted by one of these; to date I've only had 1.25" up to 32mm. The WO SWAN 40mm looks promising, although I've not handled it. 

Any recommendations? Assume a budget under £200.

Thanks, R 

Hi all

Does anyone know what battery type the digital display gauge in the WO 110 FLT uses?

Thanks, R