Roy Challen

Correct. Not TAA, Тал in lower case. To the OP, it's a good telescope, I had one and enjoyed it very much

I don't have a quark, but I do have a Solarscout. No issues with power in the two and a half years I've had it. If there were no issues before you sold it, then I would suggest that it must be a fault with either the cable of the new owner; or, something happened during shipping. I would check that the socket on the quark is free of debris, that the cable is rated for at least 1.4 amps, and that the battery/supply is fully charged. Also, is the owner aware that it takes a few minutes before anything meaningful can be seen through a quark?

Yep, although the group on the opposite side also seemed to be flaring albeit in C class, at least that's how it appeared at the time. Things were very changeable this morning though.

Seeing was pretty good this morning, caught the end of the M flare @Nik271 mentioned. Had another quick look just now, one of the big proms looks significantly different from this morning. Hope the weather holds 🙂

Why? Do they sell astrophotography gear now? 😄

I hope you haven't jinxed the weather with your post😄

I, too, really would like to know the answer to this. From what I've read, the extender is way better than a barlow...but it's also way more expensive. It would allow better balancing with FS60-CB using the cradle.

Great to hear you're happy with the Daystar, Neil👍

I'm fairly sure all the Tal 100 fracs use 1.25" eyepieces. The Tal 1 newt used slightly larger (32mm?) eyepieces in the early versions, then swapped to 1.25 later on. Not sure when the transition was. Glad you found a solution 🙂

That is the eyepiece, isn't it?😄

I don't generally use finders, no need for lunar or planetary with a long frac. But I also have a short frac and a mac, for which a finder isn't necessary but does make things easier. I have a nice Japanese 6x30 and a Skywatcher 6x30, both are very good optically, and as you only spend a couple of minutes looking through them, the fact they're not RACI doesn't matter. Tal 6x30s are a bit better than average, at least the three I've had were.

Totally agree, my most expensive eyepiece currently in use is a Hyperflex zoom, it's fantastic not just on axis but almost to the edge even in a f/5.9 frac. The only reason to spend more is for a wider field and more eye relief, not better quality.

Great set of images! I'm quite surprised that the main AR wasn't visible to my naked eye.

Same in Watford!

Forgot about Borg. I had a 60mm achro from Borg some years ago, it was better than a 70ED Altair I had at the same time. But better than a Tak triplet? And 3kg lighter. Hmm, that would be something!

0 is what I see in my account after having been on FLO website!

Smartphone image? Wowsers!

Backing off to x217! I wish...!

Apologies if this is already a thread, but what is your most desirable telescope? Doesn't have to be the best, just the one you want the most. For me, it has to be a Zeiss APQ 100mm, or a Telementor, or a Questar 90mm, or perhaps a Mag 1 Portaball, or other scope with a Zambutto mirror. In that order.

How's the eye relief on the 5 and 3.8mm? I have owned 30, 12.5, and 7.5mm Ultimas in the past. They were good but not better than equivalent orthos. Just curious, as I'm looking for a good 5mm and maybe <2.5mm without having to use a barlow. Possibly, using a barlow with a slightly longer focal length is actually better.

You've never altered an image captured with your phone? It's not that hard tbh. Have a look at some images of the objects you're interested in and attempt to replicate them. That's the only useful way of learning how to do it! You could try to use your phone to take an image of the moon and see how that turns out. Really, it's not that hard, and up to a certain level, even quite fun!

Damn, I thought it was the capturing that was the fun!

I'm guilty of that having bought a Tak recently. However, it seems only to apply to night time as I've had some good solar sessions recently 😄. Regarding the continuum filter, try it without, before committing to another purchase. Just saying

One more! A bit of white light this morning after my more usual Ha sesh. Pretty good seeing, so out came the long achro, continuum filter, and zoom ep. AR 3285/8 Very good detail seen in this region. Controversially, I think the view was better without the filter. Well, it was brighter, maybe not better.

5mm is very useful focal length, almost independent of telescope focal length. I had a 5mm BGO not too long ago, sold it, then immediately regretted doing so... I think there is a thread for such admissions...😀