Piero

Indeed! It the sky remains clear, I will observe Saturn later this evening.

An additional note. Of course, while observing with this Tak, I couldn't help comparing the views with those I have with my TV-60. Aside from the obvious difference in aperture (and therefore resolution), what made me think quite a lot was the following observation. At higher magnification than 70-80x, the TV-60 becomes much more seeing-dependent. Eyepieces like the Zeiss zoom and the Vixen HR still allow to `open up` the image noticeably despite the seeing, but for eyepieces like SLV, Delos, Naglers, it can be tough if the seeing does not cooperate. It's a bit tricky to explain. It's as if the Zeiss / vixen HR somehow allowed to push that threshold further ahead, and therefore to show an image which is still in a good shape. Of course, when the seeing was excellent, the SLV, Delos, and Naglers allowed a bit more, but so the Zeiss /Vixen HR did. With this Tak, I kind of have the impression that the optics allow to push the magnification more before reaching this decline. As an example, I preferred the view of this 5mm using the Tak 100 than the 5mm using the TV60. I am not talking about details here, but image preservation. The image seemed a bit clearer, despite the shorter exit pupil (f7.4 vs f6). A bit of food for thoughts..

I had my first solar observation! Here some pics too! Mount. The mount does the job fine. I only need a bit of practice, that's all. It is a good mount and the tripod is surely solid enough for this telescope. Thanks Chris again! Tak - solar obs. The seeing was okay-ish, with some wind, but the sky is clear. I know it is early to say this, but it has already exceeded my expectations. I mostly used my 24 Pan, Vixen SLV 9mm, 5mm, and HR 2.4mm. At low-medium power, granulation was very clear throughout the solar surface. It was rich and interesting to observer it. At high power (308x), granulation appeared like well defined nice blocks of different sizes all over the surface. At lower-medium power, the medium size sunspot showed irregularities on the perimeter of the spot itself, and its surrounding penumbra region. At high magnification (308x), the outer and inner borders of the penumbra region were just incredible, very irregular but still very crisp. I've never seen it like that. Also, this penumbra region did not appear homogeneous in colour, but to my eye appeared with different shades of brightness from the outer to the inner borders. Really interesting. The black spot was certainly not a spot, but a surface with defined zig-zag perimenter. It reminded me of the shape of an insect. Eylashes were really intriguing too at every magnification, and at high power. At least for the Sun and to my eye, there was no image breakdown with the couple Tak+HR (0.3mm e.p.). Beautiful. Really beautiful.

Mount collected from Chris ( @Lockie ) this morninig! Thanks Chris and nice to meet you! I tested the Tak on it indoor and it works reasonably well! Very happy with this! Hopefully the sky will clear up a bit for a first solar observation..!

Very nice pictures Mike! How do you compare this AZ5 against your AZ4 using the same tripod now that you have owned it for some days? Have you noticed any difference in vibration and motion smoothness?

As it is cloudy outside, I was just contemplating the beauty of the Tak.. It's really an outstanding piece of engineering, quality, and elegance. And I still have to observe through it! Am I biased already? Of course, I am! How couldn't I? I was playing with my current equipment to see how it fits. The new 2" Baader BBHS mirror diagonal also arrived; another superb design to use and admire. I heard a lot of very positive comments about this diagonal in the last year or so, that I decided to reserve an entry for it in my wish list. I opted for the 2" model because I know I won't go into binoviewing and didn't want to be limited by 33mm field stop. The ES34 68, which will likely replace my current ES30 82, will show 3 degrees of sky with a good exit pupil of 4.6mm: a nice tool for extended nebulae using the Lumicon OIII or DGM NPB filters. The Baader diagonal looks lovely on this Tak. It's big, but I have to say that it really surprised me how light is. Hopefully this weekend this Tak will see some real light for the first time. Luckily, Saturn is still visible!

The dovetail has just arrived from Astromarket, Belgium! I didn't know this shop before. They sent me a very fine Vixen dovetail for Tak FSQ85 / FSQ106 / FS60 rather quickly. They also included a small packet of Haribo Goldbären sweeties. Dovetail:

Thanks Everyone! Difficult to forecast the next clear night, after all these purchases now! LOL!

Wow, that was luck! The new baby, who is now sleeping after the long travel, will soon observe sitting on an AZ4! Thanks Chris! p.s. just being promoted to Brown Dwarf!

Just spotted an ABS ads for an AZ4 with steel tripod by a SGL member! That could be a nice solution for now! Hopefully it is still available!

I think you are right.

Thank you @JeremyS and @Stu ! I already like it a lot! Look forward to trying it out!

So, now I have to seriously think about the mount! My photo tripod is really at the limit... The AYO II will arrive within 6 months.. Potential solutions so far: 1. add to extra screws to safely attach the dovetail to the Tak clamshell and use the photo tripod. 2. like 1, but get a proper tripod, so that the current head works on a sturdier base. (Eventually I have to get a tripod anyway). 3. get a proper tripod and a temporary AZ5 to be sold after the AYOII arrives. 4. get a complete AZ4/AZ5 and resell it after the AYOII arrives. Get a proper tripod then. 5. ..... mm..

The Tak arrived today! And the finish is superb!

I am waiting for it. Sometimes it is the best thing to do, and I believe this is one of the cases. Now your text colour seems back to normal. Very clear to read.

Thanks John! The style of the OAK AYO 2 is beautiful to me. So far, I've only read positive reviews about the mount movements. Out of topic: your text colour seems to be the same as the background colour. I can read it after highlighting the text, but couldn't otherwise.

That looks very nice, Mike! I look forward to reading your thoughts under the stars!

That's lovely!!! And yes, that is a `proper job`!! How is the axial rotation? do you like it?

Nice! Mirror or prism?

Superb! Out of curiosity, is that a 2" BBHS?

Okay, the mount is sorted. I pressed the button for a black AOKswiss AYO II. Now, tripod to choose...

Thanks Garry! I really doubt I will!

Thank you Chris! LOL.. i was thinking exactly about this yesterday... The problem is... I still need to buy a few other things!

Thank you Jules!

After searching for a suitable dovetail in the last two evenings and a interesting conversation about this subject with Mike ( @mikeDnight - Thanks again! ), I found this nice dovetail matching exactly the 95mm Tak Cradle (TKA21420) that I bought: https://www.astromarket.org/takahashi-5/tube-rings---dovetails-5/vixen-style-dovetail-for-tak-fsq85---fsq106---fs60 There are 5x35mm spaces, plus 12.5mm at each borders for a total length of 200mm. I also like the fact that this bar doesn't have an `elongated hole`. Now it's time to deal with the next step... mount head!