Roy Challen

Bargain! Only just out of warranty too, they don't make them like that anymore!

Good report, and I agree that the scope package looks nice. I think it is a little expensive for what it is though. Having said that, splitting Antares at UK latitudes is pretty impressive.

I see there is a small range of those orthos available for not much more than the Baader classics, I wonder how they compare.

I'm not into imaging, but when I do take the occasional shot, that's how I do it too. With a little practice and a steady hand, you'll be surprised at what you can achieve.

Glad you had good views. I was out early too as my sky was clear. While I waited for the sun to clear a tree, by the time it had, the clouds rolled in🙄.

The horizon tripod is 1/4" not 3/8, so you'll need an adapter. Cheap enough from Amazon or wherever. Worth trying I suppose, but I think you'll be wanting a sturdier tripod before long.

Hi and welcome to SGL.

I have used the Horizon 8115 to mount my long frac. It is doable, but not really worth it. To get the eyepiece at a reasonable height, the tripod legs need to be fully extended. This, coupled with an inferior mount, makes it too wobbly to be useful. This was with the scope's original mount. However, a 150p, being a Newtonian, wouldn't require full extension to be well positioned (assuming seated viewing position).

As it sounds like you would need to buy a mount anyway, you're better off getting something like an AZ4 or 5, which will easily support the scope.

3 hours ago, FLO said:

Welcome to SGL 🙂 

We (FLO) have a similar arrangement in the UK. All our Daystar Quarks and Solar Scout telescopes are checked by Gary Palmer before dispatch. It has been this way for over a year. 

We don't advertise this extra layer of QC because it is something we do for our own peace of mind, not for marketing purposes. 

Steve 

That's really good to hear, I didn't know this when I bought my Solarscout in February. Thanks FLO!

3 hours ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

Well you've certainly started a lively thread here .

I have the same problems as you and probably a lot of others in that i get up at 5:15 every morning , and as such , cannot afford the luxury of staying outside past midnight , at the latest . 

 

 

I also have to get up stupidly early - 3:30-4:00 is normal for me - so occasionally it's not too much of a bother to get up at 2am as long as I go to bed early enough (also not a problem). It just depends on where the moon is at the time 'cos I only tend to do lunar and solar these days (planets don't appear above my house at the mo). Benefits of early rising - the seeing is usually much better than in the evening, and rested eyes.

I'd also be interested in real world opinions on this subject. To add to it; what about Mak 100 vs Tal 100?

Nice, but are you forecasting a prom in 10 days? 😉

Your experience pretty much echoes mine, glad to hear you got a good one. Perhaps Daystar have made some steps to improve quality control.

Yes and No. Yes, there are two Orions, and no, they're not connected.

Carbon for me. Wood might smell nice, but I don't sniff tripods😅

2 minutes ago, Stu said:

Your Russian is good 😀👍😉

A bit more than quite good, aperture notwithstanding they are sublime!

As my wife is from a Russian speaking country, I've learned a fair bit. The alphabet is really easy to learn, therefore reading is also easy. I just find it difficult to speak Russian well as I rarely have an opportunity to practice.

I have just read the long thread on CN about these scopes, there is a good post from AndyH (hasn't been on here for ages) about the history of Tal/НПЗ, as well as loads of info in general about them. 

I'm sure the optics are great, but as I've never looked through one I didn't want to say that without being sure.

14 hours ago, CraigT82 said:

That's nothing. An FC100D has only 31500mm2 of figured glass coming out at a frankly ridiculous 7.9p per mm2...  All for for a little peashooter with two bits of glass! 

By that reckoning, my Tal only cost me 0.3p per mm^2. Bargain!

It is an Alkor, that's what the Russian writing on it says. The optics should be quite good, as everyone else has mentioned.

1 hour ago, Victor Boesen said:

Well, may we never see the sun again for the rest of the month

This is most likely the most expensive Astro purchase I've ever done. Quite scary I must say, but I also feel like it's a great investment in H-alpha observing/imaging. At least that's what I try to convince myself

Thanks to everyone who's helped me in this thread! I'll keep it updated.

Yep, Ha isn't cheap😀

4 hours ago, Stu said:

A good quark is an excellent options, and very versatile; anything from full disk views in a small 60 or 70mm scope up to lovely close ups in a 120ED for example.

Getting that good unit is the challenge, so it’s good that you seem to have a way of checking this out. The sad thing for me is that a lot of people unfamiliar with Ha observing are probably using poor units unwittingly and are missing out on the full experience.

The problem is though, how do you know whether that unit is poor or not if you neither have significant experience nor anyone to assess it for you?

I think mine is good judging from my own insufficient, but increasing, experience, and by comparing to the images on Gong. But someone more experienced may tell me otherwise. I dread to look through anyone elses Quark-based scope in case mine's actually a duffer🥺.

I don't think it is though. 

Ooh, saw that one on eBay, glad it's gone to someone who'll appreciate it. Let's have some pics when it arrives, especially the lens. Should be very nice indeed.

It is a little quiet at the moment, but there are a few small proms visible. However, you wont see them with a Herschel wedge. You need a hydrogen alpha filter/scope for that.

I bought a Solar Scout from FLO in February. Although I have nothing to compare it to, it has been great so far. The views through it are amazing and match descriptions of what other people say should be expected. 

I must admit that I was a bit apprehensive about the reports of poor customer service and quality control, but it seems I've got a 'good' one. Hope it stays that way.

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/372856-first-light-with-daystar-ss60/?tab=comments#comment-4047055

I only started keeping a record since about 2014, and I didn't do that much astronomy between 2017 to 2020, but these days, I just make up a word doc with just the essential info, sometimes with a photo or sketch added. Stored as a Google Doc so it takes up 0 bytes in the cloud.

I don't do imaging, but I do use the solarquest for visual. Take it outside, turn it on, it does the rest. Cannot get any easier than that.

Hello from Watford.

That was a good read, I vaguely remember doing a similar tour of the Virgo 'Ms' with my ETX 70 15-16 years ago. I was in a nice, dark spot in the Chilterns, and remember being surprised at how much I could see with that little scope.