nicoscy

No time to object anyway. Paul is recycling a book about recycling and this will create an infinite loop of recycling which will create a vortex, sucking in the entire universe and spitting out recycled material on the other side of the vortex...

I’d appreciate it as well if you share your observations with us. Both single and double stacked!

I just hate screw marks and the diagonal has a single screw But, being T2 on top, a short T2 to 1.25” adapter can be used, “sacrificing” 16mm

Happy the TV aerial looks good, but I want some meat on the table Looking forward to your post! I just came home myself from a couple of hours of observing

Nojus, you got the double stacked? A question: can the top of the diagonal be removed and a Clicklock installed like one can do with the Lunt Blocking filter diagonal?

Looks great Justin! Please post your impressions when you get first light

Well, considering the price difference between the 60mm SolarMax II and the 70mm SolarMax III (which has a 60mm Front Etalon which can be removed to use as a 70mm doublet telescope at night) is quite high. I have read a couple of comments that the new Solarmax is sharper than the previous one, but old one was EUR 1,290 and new one is EUR 2,990. Both 60mm front etalon, both BF10 blocking filter, both around 0.7 Angstrom band width. It appears the regular focuser added Vs the old rotating helical focuser and the addition of a Vixen dovetail, plus some tweaks to the etalon are - ahem - worth EUR 1,700. Talk about marketing done in extremis. I note that the Lunt 60mm with a B1200 blocking filter (let's call it a BF12) and perfectly serviceable Crayford focuser is EUR 2,575 (TS description on this model re FTF is in error), sans eyepiece and dovetail, so almost at the same price as the Solarmax III if you include these bits. To bottomline it, Coronado has decided to price up to the levels of Lunt. Now, it remains to see if the quality justifies the price. I am probably going to grab me a solar scope late this year and I have just begun researching this. And despite my gripe about the price increase, if the performance is on par to the Lunt (I have tried a 50mm, loved it but want that little bit extra - 60mm. Was thinking of the 80mm but we are firmly out of the realm of grab and go then for quick views), I will probably go for the Coronado as I like its looks more, plus I can also have it in a case with my 2" Herschel wedge and swap diagonals and remove front etalon to view in white light...

Abyss is the soul of a man... Marios, your sketches keep improving like fine wine my friend!

I would say then it's a toss up between the TS80mm f6 Triplet with FPL-53 and the Starwave 80mm f6 Triplet with FCD100. - Both should perform more or less the same. FCD100 is comparable to FPL53 and anyway, it forms one of 3 lenses so it really depends on the other mating elements to decide between the two, so don't let the glass influence you. - Both have retractable dewshields, rings and 2.5" focusers. - TS is slightly cheaper (shipping included) than Altair, but I find the Altair design more aesthetically pleasing (that's just me). - Both will ride just fine on the SW mount - I have a friend who uses his in EQ mode regularly with the Explore Scientific 80mm Triplet and it works just fine. If you want to do more serious imaging, as you note, you need a guidescope and camera. When the time comes, let me know and I have a pretty good recommendation to make to keep the weight of adding a guidecamera extremely low.

True true! Other options to consider: this and this and this, mated to a flattener or flattener / reducer. As an observer whose smallest scope is 55mm, I will say that there is a lot to see with whatever aperture you are using.

Screw fit is indeed always better, IF you have a rotatable focuser, which the SW ED80 does not have. Depends if you are happy with rotating the scope through the rings or not.

That's unfortunate, although there is a simple way to make it transportable. Two shower caps and you can have the dew shield, lens cell and one part of the OTA together, and the second part of the OTA plus focuser as the other bit. Open ends are simply closed with a shower cap. I see this as the only means to get into the 90mm class of refractors and yes, it comes with a tiny bit of fiddling around. Otherwise, the 80mm class would be good enough, but as you know, in small diameter instruments, every mm counts. The difference in surface area (hence light gathering) between 80mm and 90mm is a staggering 26.56% and something that you can definitely see at the eyepiece. Hence why I am trying to "gently push" you towards the largest portable refractor within your budget and specifications.

If the price is right for you BTW, no relation whatsoever to the seller - just a frequent visitor to UK ABS (which is certainly no plus to my pocket)

Not with this particular one but I have had 3 TS scopes so far and was quite happy with them. The people over at TS are quite responsive, so ask them for measurements. And then perhaps you can grab the one on UK ABS - no guilt as you are removing a scope from circulation, thus creating a vacuum that needs to be filled in by the seller with the purchase of another scope and so on and so forth

At 4 kilos and with a split tube, I think the TS Photoline 90mm FPL-53 triplet is a good choice. There is one on UK ABS right now. Yes, you will have to remove one of the tubes and reassemble at destination, but it is a triplet (AP check), 90mm (10mm more aperture than the 80mm discussed above), binoviewer friendly (think lunar / planetary with binoviewers), at the limit of the mount but still will work fine. Best way to carry it on an airplane is a decent camera backpack. Allows you to carry scope and important bits and bobs, and check in the tripod and non critical bits.