Roy Challen

A great buy! I have one too - Prinz branded but given the Skylight treatment. Although the standard focuser works well enough, I think it is worthwhile upgrading to something more modern that can take 1.25" EPs. It's not a straight forward swap though. An advantage of the long focal ratio is that you don't need to spend £££s on high end EPs - my Celestrons give edge to edge perfect views. Also, they're not just planetary, lunar and double star scopes (although that is what they do best), they work well on globs and open clusters too. And they look great! Focuser end Business end

Six Pentax including a 5mm XO - if that's deprivation I'd like some please!

As usual I'm late to the party, but I do have the excuse of being on holiday for a week. Anyway, to all the bemoaners of the Moon, it's not so bad when it's the only thing visible in the night sky, as is often the case in Watford. Posted on here before, but it's the best image I've taken through a scope - I give you.........the Moon! Taken with a hand held Galaxy S3 (obviously Samsung's astro-imaging phone) through 76mm f/16 Skylight, 28mm Edmund Scientific RKE and not processed at all.

Haven't checked in on this thread for a while..... and look what I missed! It is indeed a beautiful instrument, and mounted the way it should be. The Tal looks like the finder for the D&G!

That's a seriously nice collection you have. I particularly like the 5 on the right, and the 4 on the left!

Wasn't me Dave! I had your Prinz 660 off you last year- had it Skylighted

Friday night was clear for me, but seeing wasn't as good as it could be.

Blimey! You can read by that light! But you can also see the Milky Way, so it's not that bad

Looks good in bare metal, I say leave it as it is

Hi Chris, iirc your scope is identical to my Skylight 660(Prinz 660) and I used one of the adapters in the link below, it should just screw into the focuser tube. Much better than a hybrid diagonal, or the original adapter that screws into the tube (I think it's about 15mm shorter - takes up less in focus). http://www.tringastro.co.uk/vixen-adapter-364mm-male-thread-to-317mm-push-fit-5647-p.asp When the Prinz got Skylighted, I had the tube shortened to allow the new focuser to reach focus with all my eyepieces and a lunt wedge without the need for adapters. It might even reach focus with binoviewers without the need for a GPC.

Excellent choice of telescope sir!

Love that tabletop setup.

That's a lovely setup SkyGibbon, but tbh I'd rather have your spotless sky and gorgeous looking pool!

Interesting finder arrangement on the Mak, Chris, I like it!

The Tal is a lovely frac!

Don't telescopes look so much better at night? I'll have to take a pic or two of mine soon...

Helical focuser? I do like that eyepiece retaining screw!

I had a MiniBorg 60mm achro last year. It came with a Baader RACI prism and I happened to have a Borg helical focuser lying around. Put it all together, fit a widefield EP, and hey presto a super versatile mini telescope of excellent quality. Then I went and sold it. After reading this review, I'm tempted again, only this will cost me a lot less new than what I paid s/h. There's just something about a tiny tele that I can carry about in my pocket that really appeals to me.

My double barrel Tal cannon from a while back. I still have the RS, Dad has the R, and the SkyTee has been sold - I like the look of those Giro WRs though, might have to try one! Not a great photo but it's all I have on my works computer.

Nameunknown, Sorry to hear about your experience with the dodgy wholesaler, I hope you get the dovetail for your Tal sorted. On another note, I noticed that the roof on your obsy is "wench operated". Now that is impressive!

I'm not sure- never tried binoviewing. The tube is 38mm shorter than it used to be, so I guess it is a possibility.

Cheers Dave! (and everyone else too), yes it 's the one I bought from you, and I agree that it is worth investing in. I wanted a scope that would never be tempted to sell for any reason. The Skylight, coupled with a Tak prism and the CZJs is about as good as it gets without huge expenditure. It doesn't have quite the resolving power or field of view of my Tal 100 but the views are cleaner, and for what I use it for, that's all that matters!