F15Rules

Hopefully the O.P. has had his questions pretty fully answered with the helpful replies posted above.

Speaking as an enthusiastic member since 2009, when I really had the chance to re-engage with this great hobby after a decade or so hiatus from Astronomy due to work and family commitments, I consider SGL to be an important and rewarding part of my life.

I've made some good friends on this forum, some of whom I have met in person, and I have learned so much from other members about equipment, observing skills, interesting targets to observe, etc.etc.

I find that questions are answered quickly, advice is freely given, (and gratefully received), and all of this is "lubricated" with some great humour and banter.

Full credit to FLO for having the foresight to set up and offer this great resource, free of cost to us users, and for supporting a reliable and easy to use platform for our wonderful member community.

Of course, FLO gain something for all this effort, in terms of market awareness and growth of their brand and business. But they have actually increased the size of the astro market in the UK for ALL suppliers, which in turn generates competition between suppliers in terms of product choice and customer service.

Long may all this continue, and a big thank you to SGL, the Moderator team and all the brilliant members of SGL for making g SGL such a great place to spend time..🙂🫡

Dave

2 hours ago, Astro_Dad said:

Postie brought this a few days ago but having been away I’ve only just opened. Thanks @sorrimen for sending so quickly though. A nice Baader zoom (MK III) to complement my new eyepieces.

 

Nice eyepiece, I always liked the Mk III..

Dave

3 minutes ago, Highburymark said:

I have no knowledge of global telescope sales whatsoever, but I wouldn’t be surprised if NG branded scopes are among the highest selling.

I think you're right, Mark..

And the sad thing is, that if you are right, that could mean thousands of youngsters world wide might be put off astronomy for life after being bought one of these piles of rubbish by wellmeaning relatives who don't know any better!🥴🥺

Dave

58 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

Welcome to the grumpy old farts club 

Please meet the Committee of the above mentioned club at their inaugural meeting at Kettering Astro Show in March😉..

Hmm..notice an uncanny resemblance, perhaps?..

Discuss!😂🙂

Dave

22 hours ago, John said:

I feel the same. I did post a question on the forum some time back seeking to get an idea if purely visual astronomy was declining and I was actually rather surprised that the responses seemed to indicate that it is still quite a popular way of enjoying astronomy.

I thought the ratio of observers vs imagers might be around 20:80 but it seemed closer to 40:60 or even 50:50 perhaps, judging by the responses I got. Of course quite a few folks do a bit of both so our hobby is not starkly divided by any means🙂

 

 

I hope you're right, John, about there being perhaps almost as many visual only observers as those who do only AP.. in recent years I've felt decidedly and increasingly that we visual fans are in a dwindling minority.

As a fully time served Grumpy Old Man of 67 orbits, here are a few things that wind me up:

- "astronomers" who never look through a telescope or eyepiece, but sit in an office, shed or observatory in front of a laptop all night, then moan that they only got 4 hours of continuous clear skies til clouds came along and wrecked their planned 12 hour exposure session..only 4 hours of clear skies? I WISH!! 🥴

- the modern fad for having scopes that have the most garish paint jobs imaginable..bright greens, deep reds, metallic blues, on it goes...Yuk! - Proper scopes are White!  - Capisce??

- short, stubby tubes choked or strangled to death with wires, leads, L.E.D.s and referred to as "Telescopes"?? - What would the late, great Sir Patrick say??

- oh, and the Astro selling forums seem more and more dominated by AP equipment, gizmos and contraptions, when all I'm looking for is scopes, eyepieces, diagonals, binoviewers, handles for Jeremy and the like! - I don't  believe it!!

Against all of the above, the odd smartphone picture of someone's visual observing kit is positively welcome!

(Pause for breath..).

So there!!😋

Victor Meldrew

2 hours ago, laudropb said:

Hi Dave. I still have the one I bought from you a few years back. I use it all the time and it really is a great eyepiece.

Thanks John, was it the zoom or the XL10.5mm that you bought from me?..or both?😅

I don't think you can go wrong with most Pentax astro products..they just deliver, without fuss, and consistently high quality images..👍

Dave

Thanks, Steve. I can't wait to try it and tonight is looking promising..🤞🤞

Dave 

Pentax Japan SMC zoom 8-24mm🤩👍

Saw this for sale in mint condition , with all original packaging and just had to have it! It was bought new in 2021 and has been little used by the original owner.

I've owned 2 of these in the past, one of them I bought new from FLO in a sale in 2016.  Sadly I had to reluctantly sell both of them, but always wanted another as they are just so good. The build quality is superb, (best I have ever seen,) the weight, at 550g is great as it will mean I can swap between my Maxbright II binoviewers and my cyclops eps (which are all large) with minimal balance adjustments on my FS128.

With the Baader Zoom 2.25x barlow I can go from 24mm right up to 3.55mm focal lengths, giving me from 43x minimum up to 292x maximum in the FS128 - perfect for high power doubles splitting and Lunar/ Planetary viewing.

The fov at the 24mm setting is only c40 degrees, but pin sharp. I already have  superb Axiom LX 23mm and 31mm UWAs at c 84 degrees for low powers anyway, and will use this zoom mainly for medium (c16m) to high powers.

I've sold my recently acquired 7mm XW as it was too close to the 8mm max of the zoom, but have kept my wonderful XL 65 deg 10.5mm.

My equally sharp BGO 18mm (which is a narrower fov but just superb when barlowed to 8mm) is now at risk, being the same 8mm fl when barlowed as the new zoom at its highest setting of 8mm and 60deg fov. I'll do some comparisons before deciding whether to keep the BGO or let it go (they are SO hard to find nowadays!).

So here's my new cyclops viewing lineup..

See how the "big boys" protect the little BGO..🫠😂

Left to right..

Pentax Zoom, Pentax XL10.5, BGO 18mm, Decloaked Celestron Axiom LX 23mm, and Decloaked Axiom 31mm.

Am well chuffed!😊

Dave

Cheers Tim.

I can now see that you have the shortest possible light path on your setup. That's a shame that you can't bv native, but the overall fabulous features of your SD115S mean it's not at all a major setback.

Thanks for sharing the photos!

Dave

55 minutes ago, Franklin said:

My new Maxbright II's can reach focus in the SD115s, F/7.7, 890mm fl but I either need the 1.7x GPC between diagonal and binoviewer or the 1.25x GPC between diagonal and scope. Unfortunately I can't get native focus with this set up and that's using the Baader 32mm T2 prism with direct connection, short of chopping down the ota of course but that is NOT happening. Being able to get native focus with the big Tak FS128 is an excellent result and I am not at all jealous.

Hi Tim,

Can you post a close up picture of your 115s with MB II's in place?

From your last post to Stu I'm assuming that you too have removed any clicklock from the optical train from in front of the T2 prism?

It's that area where I have saved the most consumption of in focus..the parts I needed to get were this one..

..the Tak Adapter M72/M68 (part#2558230) and Baader Tak Ultrashort clamp (part#2458196).. these, according to Baader, have a combined optical length of 22mm..

...now, there is this adapter

https://www.baader-planetarium.com/en/accessories/adapters-imaging-accessories/eyepiece-clamps/baader-2"-four-in-one-adapter-m68-(zeiss)--2.7"-(a.p.)--m60-(vixen)--m56-(synta).html

which may do the job for your Vixen..according to Baaders specs, this adapter has a total optical length of 24mm - just 2mm more than the parts I use on my FS128..and I have about 12mm infocus to spare natively with my set up.

Got to be worth looking  into Tim?

On the T2 prisms, its worth mentioning that the Baader Specs state that the T2 Zeiss BBHS prism (which I use) has an optical length of 38.5mm and a free aperture of 34mm.

By contrast, the ordinary T2 prism has an optical path length of 35mm, so 3.5mm LESS than the T2 Zeiss BBHS unit, but a free aperture of 32mm, ie 2mm LESS than the T2 Zeiss  BBHS unit..

..so, the Zeiss prism takes up 3.5mm more in-focus than the standard T2 prism, but will vignette long focal length eps less than the standard T2. This matters more if you use low power long FL eyepieces for binoviewing, but less, if like Stu, you use high powers more often. 

Hope that makes sense!🙂

Dave

Q. "What are "bright" DSOs, really?"

A. They are easily visible small grey smudges, as compared to barely visible, wispy grey smudges.

🙂

Dave

13 hours ago, Stu said:

Thanks Mike, looks great. I understand that a GPC corrects for the aberrations caused by binoviewers so should result in less CA etc. no sure if it is a visible effect though. I often use both a GPC and a Barlow (AP Barcon) and see no degradation from either.

I’m waiting for stock of the necessary adaptors currently so am limited to 1.25” with the longer light path of the standard setup. I will replace the focuser sometime soon too, with apologies to all Tak genuine only fans 🤣. The stock focuser doesn’t quite do it for me in terms of fine focusing.

Cloudy today, but the forecast looks good beyond that.

As you know, Stu, I use the same setup shown in Mike's  photos..and I know you're  planning to get the same adapters when available..

The photo below shows my FS128 using the Baader Adapters, with Maxbright IIs and a pair of Tak Abbe 12mm orthos, at perfect native focus with no barlow or OCS and probably about 12mm or more of spare infocus left.

The MEF3 microfocuser is fitted to the standard 2.7" Tak focuser assembly, and the small black microfocuser fine focus knob can be seen to the right of the silver aluminium standard right hand side knob in the photo below.

I find the Tak MEF3 microfocuser retrofit upgrade to be excellent, and I understand that users of the More Blue equivalent microfocuser rate it highly as well.

I've never used a Feathertouch, although their reputation speaks for itself: I simply couldn't afford the c £1k I believe one would cost including adapter for my FS128, nor do I feel any such additional investment would be worth any potential gain I might get.

I'll watch with interest though if you buy one and will be interested to hear your thoughts😉👍..

Dave

After a 5 day family visit, we are alone again now and it's looking good for a (all too rare recently) look at the moon a bit later..

Trinity the FS128 out cooling under a just-past-1st quarter moon, loaded with Maxbright IIs and a pair of Meade 4000 32mm and Tak Ortho 12.5mm..no barlow or OCS needed to get focus..

Dave

I felt the same about the Tak finder, Stu. It felt "wrong" to sell it soon after I bought Trinity, my FS128, but its just so hard to use a straight through finder without contorting my body in ways it just doesn't want these days!

Like you, I kept the original Tak bracket, which is so much better than the SW one..it holds its settings really well..the only watch out is that the grub screws on the bracket can easily scratch the finder body, so I wrapped some black electrical tape around the finder body. This tape protects the finder body and can be removed if required.

About 2 years ago I found a mint unused SW RACI finder in white..it works brilliantly in the Tak bracket holder 👍👍.

I'm so pleased for you that you like the 128.. you've had, and still have, some superb scopes, so it's great to hear how highly you rate this new one. It's a real shame that Takahashi don't currently offer a full 5" apo doublet in their range.

Dave

5 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

If anyone approaches me in the dark I'd be more than happy to demonstrate what an EQ5 counterweight bar is for... 

 

..and end up on an assault charge in a police cell?

I doubt that the real Mr Spock would have thought that approach was very logical!🥴

On 09/03/2023 at 15:02, F15Rules said:

Well, I see a "Final Reduction"  to £365 now..so that's all right then🥴🤦.

Look, like Stu, I've bought and sold more stuff over the years than I could shake a stick at (mainly on UKABS much more some years ago than more recently).

Overall I very much doubt I have broken even (ask my Bank Manager!), although I did make a bit on some items, often when they left me in a much better state than when I bought them. 

I used to just love trying out different items and buying used allowed me to do this. It also meant I contributed to the wider new AND used market, by helping to enlarge the pool of decent products that were affordable to others, whilst others would upgrade to new product purchases.

I actually bought one of my past Vixen Apos from a "Kit Tester", not having the foggiest idea of what that meant, a guy based in Devon. But the product was well priced (half the original cost) and the transaction was smooth and easy, and I was delighted with that scope. 

When I sold it, I got back around 8O-85% of what I'd paid for it, which after 3 years of ownership and a couple of accessory upgrades by myself, I was well satisfied with. 

So "Kit Testers" per se don't put me off..until I become aware that they are adding on the kind of margins that a bona fide business like FLO can only dream of..and then position a "Final Reduction" as though they are doing buyers a favour!

Dave

Just further to my previous post back in March on the topic of Kit Testers/Traders..

I've noticed in recent months how many ads per week are being posted by the "Kit Tester" who was the subject of the original "A bit Cheeky" thread by Tim @Franklin..

As I subscribe to the automatic notifications from UKABS when new ads are posted, this has become increasingly annoying: if I don't check my phone for several hours, I can often find 20 or more ad notifications waiting for me in my inbox, only then sometimes to find on opening them that 5 or 6 of them are posted by this person..and very often they are just repeats of ads I have seen before, sometimes several times before!🤦‍♂️.

Add to that the waffling, badly spelt content that would do credit to a dodgy car salesman, I decided to contact Paul at UKABS to ask if there's a way to block ads from a particular seller from coming to me.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the reply from Elsie, who owns the site, advised that there is no facility for advertiser blocking, and that the seller in question does pay for the ads he posts,  and that he also adheres to the 3 Day Rule on reposting of adverts.

I want to stress that I have no criticism of Elsie or Paul: they offer a very useful, free service in a niche market, and I have had many successful transactions over 15+ years through the site..and will continue to use it in the future.

For myself I have now unsubscribed from automatic ad notifications: I am pretty happy with my equipment these days, but will look at the ads now and again out of interest  and habit. I heartily endorse UKABS as a valuable resource for amateur astronomers for  buying, selling and trading privately with each other, and with their bona- fide advertisers.

I just thought some of my thoughts might resonate with others. 

Clear skies (one day!!😂😂).

Dave

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

Tak FC 76DCU

Is the carry handle obscured by the finder, Jeremy?🙃

Dave

On 29/09/2022 at 18:54, L8-Nite said:

Astral 100 at a favourite observing spot up on a local mountain. 

Love it! Back to basics minimalist  viewing at its best!👍

Dave

And very likely too the 60mm aperture isn't really 60mm, probably stopped down a fair bit.

Still, you got them for nothing!😊👍

Dave

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

 

Errmmm 🤔….both supremely lickable 

Steady, Tiger!!🙄😂

Dave

Here is my entire scope collection.. firstly, FS128 1999 vintage on 1998 Tak EM2 mount.

Note Tak decal on OTA tube..

..and Fluorite decal on dewshield in both English and Japanese..apparently not all FS128s have all the decals..🤔

EM2 mount conservatively rated (as ever with Jap mounts) at 10.5kg. I'd say 12kg was more like it.

The Fluorite element (Front Surface ie FS) was a breakthrough in the 1990s as it allowed high quality hard coatings to be applied to the Fluorite element, now located at the front - which Takahashi stated was the optimum Fluorite placing to get the lowest scatter and best contrast from a doublet lens.

The coatings are certainly attractive, and more importantly seem to work really well.

This shot shows also my Vixen built 1980s "SBS" branded 80mm F15 achromat. Note the length of the F15 tube..longer than the F8 1040mm Tak.

This scope originally was purchased in France, and I believe the SBS branding may have been specially for that market..for a French Importer, perhaps?

This one shows the Tak acting as a mega finder for the Vixen!😂🤣

..and finally, this one shows the ladder I use to reach the Vixen dewshield!!

Thanks for looking😊

Dave

39 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Let’s hope there’ll be no backsliding on these lovely FS 128 finders to non Tak RACI models 😊

You see, Jeremy, you have an unfair advantage here: when you're  already a Pain in the Neck you don't have to worry about getting a further one from  using a straight through finder!!🤪🙂

Dave

Fabulous  Stu..

Actually a GPDX holds this scope quite well provided it's on a good (ie wooden) tripod..I used mine on one a number of times and its stability compares to my Tak EM2 mount.

Dave

36 minutes ago, Telescope40 said:

Also saw an advert on ABS last night. Chap looking  for a nice frac and he mentions a LZOS 130.  Just sayin. 

Saw that ad, John. But he specifies an F9 Lzos (Stu's is an F6) or Tak TOA130 and doesn't seem to think a non triplet can match  a Mak Newt or an apo triplet for planetary observing😵‍💫🤐. Hey ho..

Actually, Stu will soon be able to give us a first hand comparison of the FS128  and Lzos 130 F6: Will make interesting reading!

John, you mentioned that Mike has got another FS128 recently?? More details please!🙂

Dave

Wonderful Stu!

Looks immaculate all round and a rare find. I'm very chuffed for you and am sure you will love it.

How do you plan to mount it?

Btw, I love the clamshell on mine and IMO so much easier to use and adjust than rings👍.

Dave