Roy Challen

Cloudy in Watford, but same as you, Tuesday and Wednesday were clear. Seeing was terrible on Tuesday, pretty good on Wednesday.

Mars through a small telescope won't reveal much detail, even when it is nearest to earth. The picture below is of Mars and the Moon, taken with my phone through a 90mm Maksutov, focal length of 1250mm. Mars was at opposition during this event, so about as close as it gets to us. Don't stop trying though, but focus on other objects as well.

Depends on the telescope you'll use them with. If the focuser doesn't rack out far enough, you may need an extension tube, the exact length you'll need to measure yourself. On the other hand, it may work without one.

Since I posted this, I have bought a SvBony 3-8 zoom, meaning I now have every focal length between 21 and 3mm, plus a barlow. Does this mean I now have too many eyepieces?

First light is merely a shakedown run, a check to make sure it all works as it should. The first ride on my £8k carbon bike was a 20km commute. The first drive in my Aston Martin...was from the dealership to my home. First light on my FS60-CB was 10mins on Mizar. Only one of the above is true😉, can you guess which?

I had the Baader prism you mention, several years ago now, but I recall it being very good. I had a Tak prism at the same time and there was no difference visually. The Baader is considerably better built and easier to use, but way more expensive. Shouldn't have sold that one... Can't say I ever saw any diffraction spikes. I used it with a Borg 60mm achro and my Skylight f/16.

Not luck, not coincidence, design. I believe that all Tak cradles have the same bolt hole spacing - 35mm iirc. I had the same thing when I bought my FS60-CB early this year. The cradle bolted directly to my 40+ year old Tak mount. Very convenient 😃 Btw, I like your front (?) room, looks like a telescope showroom 👍

Isn't China 'running out' when they're down to the last million or so?😉 Seriously though, the price seems to be dropping so I'd guess they made more than enough to go round.

Agree with all the above. I've noticed reflections when looking at Jupiter.

It'll be on a fast boat if you got it from ali express. Mine only took a week.

I stopped using eBay a few years ago, either for buying or selling. No such thing as a bargain there anymore.

Seeing as it clouded over at about 4am, in SW Hertfordshire at least, the aurora is probably blazing away now😁

Nothing going on in the south of England yet.

I've never noticed this before with my eyepiece and diagonal combos until I got my SvBony zoom. On unpacking it, I thought the barrel looked longer than average, and sure enough, it does contact the mirror in my Tal diagonal. Lifting it up a few mm solves that problem but a parfocal ring would be better.

Why not keep it in the family? Tak FS60-CB and Baader Skysurfer finder on an Altair Mini AZ (same as TS AZT6), SvBony 3-8 zoom, and Hyperflex 7-21 zoom.

I've only used mine once, but it compares very favourably to my Baader BCOs. On Saturn, it is at least good as the orthos in an f/6 frac, maybe even a touch sharper although that could be new purchase bias. Won't be selling the orthos though 😉

Well, it's already here! Feels well made, and unbelievably, it looks like it will be clear tonight 😃

The Prinz Astral 660 is a fine telescope indeed. Mine was converted by Richard Day into a Skylight, it has split (once) the double double with a 25mm Zeiss Huygens albeit on a night with perfect conditions. Also very good for planetary, lunar and white light solar. Needs a good mount though.

The London light pollution will guide your way😆

Yup, took the chance and ordered one. Hopefully it'll arrive in a couple of weeks.

Thanks Don. I do have the Q barlow,and generally only use it as a 2.25. So, the HZ barlow is more suitable for imagers then? Makes sense. Several of both types have appeared on ABS over here recently and I was just wondering what the difference was.

Baader sell two barlows, the Q-turret 2.25 and the Hyperion Zoom barlow, also 2.25. Is there any difference optically? What other reason is there for offering two very similar products?

Same here, at least for the moment

I too have an AzT6, Altair Astro branded. I use it with my FS60-CB and Daystar, on a First Horizon tripod, although for travel, I use a 3 Legged Thing carbon tripod. Agree with Jeremy re: counterweight bar. I almost had it confiscated 3 times on my last trip abroad. The airport security were concerned that I could use the counterweight as a weapon. I pointed out that I could also use a pencil as weapon...I still have my counterweight 😛

I just tried my WO durabright 1.25" and StellaMira 1.25" with a Baader 32mm plossl. Can't say I saw any vignetting in the WO. Focus point is further out with the WO though