Roy Challen

2 hours ago, John said:

That restricted field of view issue is a bit more pronounced in the 1.25 inch version of the William Optics diagonals and their clones. I found that a 32mm plossl showed noticeable vingetting in that type of diagonal. A 30mm Vixen NPL plossl though was OK. 

The GSO / Revelation diagonals are good for their cost I feel (both the 2 inch and the 1.25 inch sizes) and they do not vignette any eyepieces as far as I'm aware.

 

 

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 

Ask yourself not where but when. From my garden, between 2am and 5am, the seeing is good more often than not, and excellent every now and then.

I've had over 50 sessions this year, which is about average for me, but far more than most if the recent run of weather depression threads is anything to go by.

Besides, if a place is found to have good seeing but is at the other end of the country, it won't be of much use to you!

4 hours ago, MalcolmM said:

Is it OK to keep refractors and/or open ended reflectors in a garden shed?

Thanks, 

Malcolm 

Refractors, no. Especially Taks.

Reflectors, of course. Where else would I put all my shovels and rakes? 😄

3 hours ago, scarp15 said:

Bicycles yes; telescopes no. A warm dry smoke free environment i.e. inside the house.

Bicycles no, telescopes no. Shovels and rakes yes.

My bikes are worth more than my scopes, and one uses this stuff called lektrisity that doesn't work well when wet. So they live indoors too.😉

1 hour ago, Saganite said:

All so true Roy.  It seems at least a decade since I have enjoyed an unbroken night's  sleep...🤣

We all know of course that the best seeing is often in the hour or two before dawn, so really, it is a win, win.

But, of course, I understand that things are different when retired.

I'm a long way from being retired!

4 hours ago, Ratlet said:

'awful and heartbreaking realisation that it's more often clear in the early am rather than the late pm.  Fortunately having just turned 40 I now have to get up for a pee in the night.  This is becoming a quick clear sky check.'

I don't see it as 'awful and heartbreaking'. 2am to 4am is my happy time😀

It's not getting up for a pee, it's getting up for astronomy, and having a pee before you start 😉

P.S. I'm on about 50 sessions this year, about average for me.

7 hours ago, John said:

I've very often noticed with Jupiter that a lower magnification teases out the subtle planetary detail better than pressing on more power. Last night with my ED120 (and similarly with my Tak 100) 8mm / 7mm (113x / 129x) did a little better than 150x on the planet despite the image scale being smaller.

Me too! I've been using my FS60-CB for planetary recently, and found that if the seeing is good, I don't need more than x80. I see as much as I do with a 90mm Mak, but sharper and clearer. The Mak can definitely go to higher magnifications but won't show more detail. And last night's view of Saturn was as good as any that I can recall seeing with any scope I've ever owned, perhaps better.

I haven't used an ED80, but did have an ED70 and currently have a SW 90mm mak. As I'm not interested in DSOs, the mak is of more use to me.

I also have a Tak FS60-CB, which is very capable for planetary observing but gets a bit dim above x120 mag or so, whereas the Mak still gives bright views at x150-70, albeit with slightly less contrast. It's not really noticeable unless comparing side by side.

I've been observing for 20 years now, and on average have 40-50 sessions per year - about once a week. Some years are better, some are worse. So what? If anything, I do more now than I did in my first 10 years.

I certainly agree with those who advise lightweight setups. Those threads recommending a huge dob for beginners are all wrong! Don't bother, get a Tak FS60-CB on a manual alt-az mount instead!

I think also people need to be realistic with their expectations. Viewing/imaging faint objects from city/town centre back gardens is always going to be a challenge even at the best of times. Personally, DSOs hold no interest for me, they're just grey smudges that never change appearance. So I concentrate on things that are easy to see and are constantly changing; moon (it's not there to annoy imagers, it's the second best object in the entire sky😉), Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, Mars, and the occasional comet. Some may say that I am limiting my list. Maybe, but that's fine with me.

Work with the weather. It is often (not always, mind) clear in the early hours. Most of my sessions take place between 2am - 4am. The seeing and peace and quiet are far better than in the evenings, whatever time of year.

Get a solar scope! Whether it's white light or hydrogen alpha, you'll double your chances of doing astronomy. If I could keep just one telescope, it would definitely be my Daystar.

Lastly, don't sell anything just because you haven't used it for a few months. You'll only regret it when an observing opportunity does arise, then go out and spend more money on stuff that also won't get used because it's clouded over again for a while. Do something else you're interested in for that time instead. Don't be the kid who cries when they can't play outside because it's raining. Put on a rain jacket and play something else, metaphorically of course!

Remember, the stars are there forever, or as good as 😀.

10 minutes ago, Marvin Jenkins said:

Happened to bump into my old friend with the glow in the dark Bushnells and here she is in all her bolt together wobbly glory.

I had one of these as my very first telescope. Being around f/15, the views were actually pretty good, but that mount wasn't at all good. But I didn't know any better back then and enjoyed it very much.

1 hour ago, John said:

well I think I can see something there 

That's my reaction to almost all DSOs too!

6 minutes ago, Franklin said:

 

(Note. The only way dust and other foreign bodies can enter a refractor is via the eyepiece end and standing them up on their objectives can cause these nasties to fall down the tube on to the rear element, something I would not do.)

Agree with this, I don't even like removing eyepieces or diagonals...so I need to buy at least one more!😁

It seems like 3 or 4 scopes is the right number of scopes needed.😉

My scopes don't have a great difference in aperture 60, 76 and 90mm, but the little scopes are really quite short and the f16+ really is quite long. In this pic it doesn't even have the required 50mm extension tube or diagonal inserted.

9 minutes ago, doublevodka said:

I haven't got to free yet but I'm working my way down 😂

I've had a few freebies passed my way but most couldn't be considered a bargain as the items in question were either broken and not repairable, or just plain junk.

I think I have been lucky with telescopes, they've all done their jobs well enough. I have had some fairly rubbish eyepieces though. The worst being an 8 mm BST Explorer (starguider now) - enough kidney beans to fill a pot of chilli con carne with. A Tak MC 7mm ortho was poor in that it was decidedly underwhelming compared to other 7mm orthos I had at the time.

Dunno really. Most of my stuff was bought second hand, so all of it are bargains as such. I got my hyperflex zoom from a member on here, it's easily my most used eyepiece. Or how about my Tak EQ mount, I consider it a bargain at £400, cheapest Tak mount I've seen anyway. Even my Daystar solarscout can be considered a bargain even though it bought it new, I've used it more than all my current scopes combined. Oh yeah, forgot about the Tal 1 I picked up for free a couple of years ago. Pound for pound, the best a bargain can be!

20 hours ago, badhex said:

 It's a long term  investment 

Keep it that way. You'll only regret it when it's gone, then buy another one.

I nearly let my Tak EQ go, so glad I didn't even though a lighter AZ would be easier for me. Eventually it'll go on a pier in the garden.

Lots of fine detail there, Stu. Like it😀

Sorry to hear about your dad.

The best thing to do would be to post as much info about the items in question, along with good quality photos. That way, a fair valuation can be made.

3 hours ago, John said:

I can only speak for the ones I currently own or have owned recently and the differences I've seen are generally miniscule, if I have seen them at all !

I tend to agree regarding the 5mm XW. I actually really like all the XW's shorter than 14mm.

I have only used the 17.3 and 14mm Delos and feel that the latter (which I still have) was slightly better than the former but there are a lot that I have not used.

My preferred Panoptic is the 24mm but I've not used any of the 2 inchers in that range.

The 2-4mm Nagler zoom seems brilliant to me and I've owned a couple of the 3-6's but not held on to them. The latter ones are supposed to be a little better than the 2-4's though according to a Russian gentleman 😉

Of the Ethos I own (21mm, 13mm, 8mm, 6mm and 4.7mm) I believe that the 6mm is the best optically but to my eye they are all superb. The 10mm is also reputed to be one of the very best Ethos but I've not used that one.

I have owned several sets of TV plossls (old and new types) and, from what I recall, the 20mm and 25mm were probably the best of those, optically.

I've owned a few Vixen LVW's and agree with @Mr Spock that the 22mm is pretty special. 

I've owned both the ES 92's and felt that the 17mm was more comfortable for me to use so kept that one for longer. Both were very, very good optical performers though. The best that ES have produced IMHO.

The only Nagler that I still have is the 31mm. I've owned most of those in the past and the stand outs back then were probably the 22mm T4 and the 13mm T6. 

I only owned 2 Radians, the 4mm and 3mm and preferred the 3mm. Lots of other focal lengths in that range though.

Baader Classic's - the 10mm and 18mm were really excellent.

I've owned and used plenty more but the above are the ones that popped into my head as I thought about your question.

I think I'll defer to the expertise of someone like @Don Pensack to fathom out why some focal lengths seem to stand out from others in eyepiece ranges 🙂

With eyepiece choices being somewhat personal, what floats one persons boat may well have quite the opposite impact on another person of course, as we know well from threads on here and elsewhere 😉

 

Agree with the 10 and 18 BCOs, and I love the others in this range. If I had to choose one, it would be the 10mm.

I'd love to try all the fancy eyepieces being mentioned in this thread, especially the TOEs and Vixen HRs (even though they'd only be of use in my FS60-CB) but they're all so expensive I really can't justify it even to myself 😄

Hooray for the BCO! I really like all of this range, and when price is taken into account, they are super value. They also barlow extremely well with the q-turret barlow (and others). I don't find the eye relief to be problematic, even the 6mm is easier to use than the Meade 7mm RGO (which I've had two of).

I had a 0.965" Tak MC ortho some years back, I was somewhat unimpressed, maybe it was a dud but I passed it on pretty quick.

11 hours ago, bosun21 said:

Both the mount bundled 127 I owned (all black) had collimation screws as did a previous black and white model (pro). I have never come across any SW 127 that couldn’t be collimated. I’m not entirely sure about the old blue models although the ones I have seen could be collimated as well.

Here's the back of my blue-tube Skymax 90, I'm guessing these are collimation screws?

21 minutes ago, The60mmKid said:

I've never used a Mak as a grab & go since I consider thermal acclimation essential, and that can take a while with a Mak. Perhaps others' experiences differ?

Not with a 90mm mak, 127 and above yes, sure. The little maks make great lunar and planetary grab and go scopes.

As above, mine is on my Tak equatorial. With a well aligned finder, all I need is my zoom.

Anyone seen an impact scar yet? I had an hour's session this morning, but could see no evidence of an impact. The seeing was very good though, best for a while.

Earlier, on SGL...😉