F15Rules

I agree with Chris. £143 for a plossl, whatever the brand name, is ridiculous in my view. Go for an Explore Scientific 24mm 68 degree, available from several UK retailers for around £100. Argon purged (dust proof), waterproof, TV level build and much bigger field of view. Very nearly as good as the Panoptic 24mm but c£150 cheaper..No contest! Dave

Here's my modest collection, just completed (for now!) with the two Celestron Xcel LX's which arrived today. From left to right: Pentax XL 5.2mm, Pentax XL 10.5mm, (both 65 deg) Celestron Xcel LX 7mm (60 deg), Baader Morpheus 14mm (76 deg), Celestron Xcel LX 18mm (60 deg), ES 24mm , ES 34mm (both 68 deg). I like them all very much, my favourite three would be the Pentax 10.5, Morpheus 14 and the ES 24. Just store them in a standard ali case with pluck foam, which needs renewing. Where I have the original boxes I keep them in an old Polarex Unitron wooden case...all I have from left from a super rare Polarex 4" F15 folded refractor which I stupidly sold years ago. Dave

That's interesting...have you read reports to that effect, or used them yourself? Dave

I have the earlier Pentax XL versions in 5.2mm and 10.5mm, both are superb. I did have XWs in 14mm and 20mm but got major kidney beaning/blackouts in the 14mm and severe curvature in the 20mm. I replaced the 14mm with Morpheus which has a 76deg fov (now one of my favourite eps), and didn't replace the 20mm as my ES24mm is so good with much less FC. That said, and being budget limited at present I've just ordered 7mm and 18mm Xcel LX's to fill the gaps (see my signature for full ep line up). When funds do permit I would love to get an XW 7mm and maybe a Delos or Delete in 17 or 18mm range. I know all the XWs at 10mm or less are superb. Will be interesting to see how the 60 degree Xcel LX's stand up against my Pentax (65deg) and Morpheus (76 deg) units...I've read good things about their bang per buck performance:-). Dave

Whoops, sorry Roy. That's what happens when you have bought and sold a few oldie scopes! I've been very good this year though, only one small F5 frac purchased... Dave

Hi Dave Lovely scope, and do you know, I think I owned that one once! The brass 1.25" adapter looks very familiar, mine certainly had one just like it. Can't recall who I sold it to, I wondered if it might have been Roy??? Thanks for posting. Dave

Lovely looking scope Chris! Have a go at Delta Cygni, it should split nicely at x150 or so:-). A "proper" looking scope!!:-) Dave

Your 32mm plossls will likely vignette a little (show a darker edge to the field of view) but should still give a nice view..(the longest focal length EP you can use in a 1.25" barrel with the widest true field of view is around c25mm. As your binoviewers have a maximum clear aperture (diameter of barrel on the binoviewer eyepiece side) , any eyepiece with a wider than 20mm field stop will vignette ( ie you lose some of the light). I think that's right:-) Dave

Tony is right, this is cheapest way to buy the Baader set. Its a superb setup and because it uses a prism, not a mirror, it has a significantly shorter light path and so takes up less of your precious in-focus:-) Dave

Maybe it's line of sight effect John, but doesn't the ED120 seem to be wilting a little? Bowing in the presence of greatness, perhaps? :-)

It's called "eclectic industrial chic" actually Derek (sniff sniff) :-) Dave

Well, my new (to me) holiday grab n go scope arrived:-). It's a Phenix/Starsky 90mm F5.5 doublet with a sliding dewshield.I've mated it it with a nice Saito Japan 7x50 finder. Only 1 quick peek so far but surprised by the low level of CA at x50 to x100 (Pentax XL 5.2mm). Should be great in Norfolk when visiting family and rock solid on the Porta II.. Dave

No worries Chris, I know you have your hands full lately with the "flock" and the house move. I hope all is well :-). Dave

Thanks John . I'd have to agree...somewhat understated, but I like that. The build and finish is actually very good when you see it close up, with a nice lightweight tube that is easy to handle. Not as solid as a Tak, but a cut above many of the mainstream brands. The oversize tube is nice and I really like the dual speed R&P focusser, no slippage whatsoever. Dave

Thanks Craig :-). Actually, I can't claim the credit for the wooden leg extensions: I bought an AZ4 mount some time back, and the seller had made these to fit the AZ4 tripod, which is a clone of the Vixen one. I didn't like the AZ4 much, so I moved it on, but I kept the leg extensions "just in case".. in fact, about a month ago, I very nearly took them to the tip with a load of declutter I was getting rid of! When I bought the Porta very recently, I remembered these and thought I'd try to see if they fit - perfect fit! So I'm well pleased I kept them :-). I'm just about to acquire a short focus 90mm F5.5 for true holidaying grab n go viewing, so will post up some pics once I have it (tomorrow, I hope!). Dave

I've posted pictures of my Vixen ED103s doublet here before I think, but here she is on my new Porta II mount for quick grab and go sessions. Very smooth and the manual slo mos are great, no backlash. I've fitted 3 hardwood leg extensions which can increase height (not needed with this scope) and/or aid improved stability as the ali legs don't have to be extended so far. The weather has been so lousy where I live this year, but this set up at least allows me to pick up the rig from the garage and move it 4 metres onto my drive with no effort whatsoever, no alignment with Polaris etc, just point and shoot! Is pretty steady, damps down with a big ES eyepiece in 2-3 seconds maximum :-) Dave

Fabulous first light report John, which I've only just seen as I'm on holiday in north Norfolk til tomorrow ( and no clear sky to look at at night time!). I really do think a 5" or so apo at F9 , and of that quality, must be pretty near the perfect dream scope for frac lovers. I'm so pleased for you!:-) Dave

Thank goodness for that! I think you and the Vixen should be joined at the hip! Be great to hear how they compare, even though they are very different:-) Dave

These are clones of the Zeiss Jena 8x30s, which is why they are so sharp. I believe the manufacturer is ZOMZ, who also make Tento and Sotem brands, all with very good glass. As Nigel mentioned above, the quality was superb until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, so the most sought after models are pre 1990 (although that's not to say you can't find good post 1990 examples). These 8x30s can be picked up for a song. I have a pair in mint condition which I bought on Gumtree UK for £13! And they are to my eyes every bit as good as the Jena CZ which would cost around £100 plus on ebay etc. Yours look to have been well used/loved, but the lenses still seem to be very clear and sharp. Enjoy! Dave

I've owned several HD60s and I did like them. They are very well built and solid feeling. They are effectively a "supercharged" plossl, ie with an artificially wider field of 60 degrees instead of the normal 50 degrees found in a plossl: the views on axis match most eps, but I did find the edges very soft when I compared them to other 60 degree eps, most notably the Pentax XF 8.5 and 12mm. I take your point about only wanting to upgrade if you get more field of view, but actually, if you can get the same field of view with sharper images for the full 60 degree field, I submit that too is a worthwhile upgrade - you could have virtually 60 degrees of sharpness instead of 50 degrees of sharpness and 10 degrees of seagulls.. You can currently get a good price (around £90 each) for the Pentax XF's and I would heartily recommend them :-) Dave

I have a mint Evo 120 which I store for my son in law. Most of the time it lives in a wooden box, but I have used it a few times and have twice put it head to head with one of my Tal 100RS scopes (I don't own a Tal any more). In nearly every respect I preferred the views through the Tal..the Moon and Jupiter to my eyes were sharper and with less CA than the Evo. I don't think F8.3/does the Evo any favours..if it was an F10 (or better yet, F12) the Evo would be a very attractive proposition, to me at least. The one area that I felt the Evo beat the Tal was DSO..on M42/and the Double Cluster it showed more detail, a wider field and far more faint stars- altogether a lovely view, and showing that the extra 20mm of aperture really does count on fainter objects. Dave

I'm a bit confused..is the comparison scope a 102mm or 120mm ED? If both were good ED doublets, they should beat the Tal clearly, a 120mm ED by some margin. Dave

I agree. Any proper ED scope should show much less CA than the Tal 100RS. However, sharpness and resolution could be better in the Tal, depending on the figure and polish of both lenses. Dave

In defence of the Tal 100RS, I think I have owned 6 or 7 over the past 10 years and have never had a bad one. I also had a 125R which was a peach. But with their venture into "Apo-land", ie the 125 Apolar, they do seem to have got it badly wrong. But I blame their UK distributor as much for that...if you are a distributor selling equipment that you know has travelled 1000's of miles overland and is going to sell at (originally) c£1500 per scope, why would you not open up each unit to check it over before re-selling it? It could well be that the scopes left Russia in good order but were mishandled en route- in which case if OVL had bothered to check them, they would have immediately spotted things such as the broken element that John reported on his test sample. I can't imagine FLO doing business like that.. Dave

Lovely collection:-) Dave