F15Rules

Thanks Steve, I'm chuffed at first sight..it arrived early this morning.. a large box H knew nothing about!🤦😂.. I'm in the middle of a big painting job in our bedroom so I couldn't look at it until tea time. The first thing will be to test her out optically and see if the Binoviewers will work in it too. I'm not entering her into any beauty contests unless I can find someone to give her a good respray, but the main thing for me with this was always going to be the optics.. The original finder was included (after I asked for it!🥴), but it's a bit beaten up and straight through..also, I think the finder shoe may have a stripped thread as the retaining screws won't tighten up against the finder bracket. In anticipation of this scope coming I bought a mint Skywatcher 6x30 RA (not RACI) finder, so I will use that instead. Of course, our weather forecast is rain, cloud, rain and more cloud for the next week! Sorry, guys!🤦😁. I think the scope was worth the price of a decent premium eyepiece, so long as the optics perform and I've no reason the think they won't.. 👍 Dave

A large box arrived today, inside which was a large Manfrotto Holdall, inside which was a rather long tube of some age.. A vintage 1980s Vixen 80mm F15 achromat to be exact🤦😊.. Having shed all my scopes but my FS128, this came up and I couldn't resist it, especially reading reviews of it on doubles and lunar observing.. It's a long tube (over 42" or 3'6" in old money).It is branded SBS and originated from Japan but via France. Even the dust cap has the V for Vixen moniker on it. The objective looks pristine. The tube has marks of usage here and there but is largely good. A nice GSO made 2" Crayford 2 speed focuser upgrade was done over 5 years ago and the lens is collimateable too. The scope came with tube rings, and specially for Jeremy, a HANDLE!👍 I'm going to upgrade the dovetail with a longer, stronger and more rigid one made from solid aircraft stock aluminium.. The original 6x30 Vixen finder is present, but I have already a lovely Right Angled SW 6x30 which I will use. I have no mount or tripod for it permanently, but for now I will use it on my Tak EM2 mount on which it should be solid as a rock. I can't wait to test drive this old beauty! To quote a phrase.. "F15RULES"!!😂🤩 Dave

Hi Mike, Ref the above post... I've been advised that it's possible that your Taks' focuser may not be threaded with a 72mm thread, so just best check that out before investing in one.. In fact, I've just found this on a CN thread.. I have the Baader Clicklock part #2956264 (M64 for Sky90). That works fine on my FC-100DZ. I got that one as it seemed the shortest light path option to use with a binoviewer. My BV configuration is as follows: M64 Clicklock #2956264 -> Baader #2408191 (2" to 1.25" reducer adapter) -> Takahashi 1.25" prism diagonal -> Denkmeier Standard BV Hope that may help further, and my thanks to Iain @jock1958 for the cautionary advice ☺️👍 Dave

Hi Mike, Take a look at my photo below..you may be able to use the same configuration if you have a standard Tak 72mm thread on the end of your focuser tube.. If you zoom in to the end of my silver focuser tube, I use firstly the Baader M72-M68 slim adapter.. Into that goes the Baader Ultrashort Adapter (the one with three large and strong retaining screws each at 120 degrees spacing. The final part you can see is the knurled threaded connecting ring from the Maxbrights, with which you connect the T2 prism (either with 2" nosepiece, or 1.25" nosepiece into a Baader 2"-1.25" clicklocks, both work well) direct into the above Ultrashort Adapter. The Baader T2 prism has the shortest possible light path. I actually use the T2 Zeiss BBHS prism which has 34mm clear aperture vs the 32mm of the standard T2 prism (the difference is very apparent when comparing them side by side). The Zeiss has a slightly longer light path, but I can still get native focus with no GPC or Barlow. You can probably use other short light path configurations, but the above works well for me in the FS128.. HTH☺️ Dave

Great stuff Steve!👍 A truly enjoyable day at PAS last Saturday was made extra special seeing you and Mike placing orders for this great new product..and finding them actually in stock!!😁 You have some amazing BV eyepiece pairs Steve, and I'm really looking forward to your first light and comparison with your other BVs when time permits..😊 Dave

..and Front Surface 128 & co.. FS60, 76, 102, 128. Referring to the Fluorite element of the doublet sitting at the front of the objective..😊 Dave

Great stuff, Mike! It was good to finally meet you and several other very fine chaps who frequent these forums😊. I'm not sure that you needed much "encouragement" to buy the Maxbright IIs though..as I recall, you left our little huddle group to go and make a purchase..by the time we had tracked you to the Widescreen Centre stand, you were waving your "Drastic Plastic" and then turned to us brandishing a package containing a spanking new pair of Maxbright Binoviewers!😂 I am willing, though, to concede that my taking my MBIIs to the show at the request of Steve @Saganite may have somewhat confirmed your already made decision to buy!😱😁. I've had mine a few weeks now, but only used them properly twice so far..when I think of the amazing sketches that you have made over the years, using your trusty Revelation BVs, the mind boggles at what you might produce with the help of these beauties!👍 A few shots of my own pair.. Dave

That's cheating, Steve.. You know perfectly well you have painted that yourself!🤦😭😂

I've gotta be honest..all these blingy bright red, blue and green scope colour schemes leave me cold.. Proper scopes are always white.. So there!!😁😂 Dave

Now we really are all Grey!!!😭🤦🤪😂 Dave

The best of it is, Alan, that bald patch wasn't there you til you started debating with yourself whether to splash out on that Delos!🤦😂

Here's a short video taken in the afternoon when things were quieter. There were definitely more people there this year than last, so hopefully it was a success for the exhibitors. 712119335.mp4 Some of our small huddle can be seen at the end by the bar, nattering away😊. Sorry for the poor quality, my phone is dying and due for change very soon🥴🤦.. It was just a shame that the freak March storm a day or two before the event prevented people from travelling. Here's to next year and proper spring-like weather! Dave

Yes, of course, my apologies for not mentioning Ed ( @NGC 1502), who hadn't yet joined our huddle at that point. A gent and scholar, is Ed, and good to see him again👍😊. Dave

It's already gone to Sergeant Cath Cawood at Happy Valley Police Station..🤪😋 Dave

Welcome to the Old Astigmatics Club! A friendly group of visual fanatics who got together at PAS Kettering for a good old chinwag, in which we discovered that most of us are astigmatic!🤦😂 So ignore anything we say in future about eyepieces not being "sharp to the edge"!🥴😋 Two (yes Two!) Maxbright IIs and a Delos may or may not have been purchased today...😋🤔 A good bunch of lads having a good time at a great and FREE Astro show.. here's to next year👍👍 From Left to right.. Dave (F15Rules), Mike (MikeDNight), Keith, Alan (Alan White), John (Telescope40), and Steve (Saganite)..

Just wanted to wish all those travelling from snow hit areas a safe journey if you can travel. It would be great to meet some of you, but only if you can do so safely..🤞👍😊 Dave

I think you're right..the new generation of visual observers largely didn't grow up with long achromatic refractors. These days, an F9 scope is seen as "long" or "slow"..when I was young, that would have been seen as quite "short" or "fast", and the common focal length for popular achromats were between F10 (Vixen SP102 for example) and F12-F15 (Unitron, Circle T, Pentax J60/J80). If you've never looked through a good real long focus achromat, you can't understand how good they can be. The best stellar images I have ever seen (not generated on a Zygo machine or carrying a super high Strehl rating!) were delivered by a Pentax J80 F12 and a D&G 5" F15..by "best stellar images" I mean stars focusing down to the smallest, tightest point possible, with just one, faint diffraction ring around the point..so as much light as possible is going into the central point. In the case of the above scopes, the lenses were superbly figured and polished, often finished by hand: the visual result, on for example on Epsilon Lyrae (the double double) or the Mizar system in Ursa Major was like a photograph..ultra sharp stellar points, fabulous contrast and tiny almost invisible single diffraction ring. On nights of excellent seeing, it was like an etching, and the major planets could be exceptional too. The quality of polish of the objective lenses is very important indeed, and it is much easier to get a good level of polish on a long focal length lens set. It's true that long achromats can be challenging to mount , but for specialised double star observing a good 80mm F12-F15 will deliver outstanding results. And, because they can be had so relatively cheaply, a bit more money can be spent on a good mount, eg Vixen GPDX and modern fixing hardware such as an ADM mounting plate instead of the older style thin dovetail bar. I've read of a few of the younger, imaging fraternity discovering the pleasures of visual observing with "old fashioned refractors" recently. I often see scopes like the Prinz 660 80mm F1200 scope come up for sale for £100 or less. They were bundled with mount, tripod and small 0.965" eyepieces, non of which are up to the standard of the OTA..but if you just take the OTA, fit some decent modern tube rings, a decent mounting plate for rigidity and put it on a GPDX or HEQ5 class mount and tripod, you will have a killer double star and lunar scope! If you've got this far, thanks for indulging my short wallow in my observing past, and give the humble long achromat a second look..they can't do everything, but what they can do, they are brilliant at! "Andromeda" - USA built D&G 5" F15 achromat. Modified 2015 by Moonraker Telescopes (tube shortened by c 130mm to allow binoviewers to be used natively), and Moonlite Focuser added. Meade 339 80mm F16 rebuilt by Moonraker Scopes with new polished aluminium tube with multiple baffles, long (15"!!) flocked dewshield and 2" capable Crawmach Crayford focuser added. The same "Moonrakered" 80mm F16 achromat on my Tak EM2s mount and fixed height hardwood tripod..solid as a rock! Zeiss Telementor 60mm F13 achromat c 1982. Superb small refractor on over engineered tripod/mount ..solid as a rock! Lovely little 1986 Carton Halley's Comet edition 60mm F12 achromat. Wonderful little portable eq mounted scope..solid as a rock! Dave

A wonderful mount for a superb scope👍 Dave

I'd keep the Starfield.. Perhaps I should clarify..nothing against the Genesis, it's a lovely looking scope, and if it's the one with the FT focuser it's well specified as well. But at F5 it's really more a lower power widefield scope, whereas the longer FL Starfield would be more versatile and a very capable all round scope. Dave

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

Great Stuff Alan.. After end to end cloud for the last week or more (and it's back again today!), last night's short reprieve was like food for the spirit! And great that you could enjoy it with your daughter as well!🤗👍 Dave

I had just a short Cyclops session early evening (7-8pm) while the Moon was still low.. Had a quick first light with two additions to my Cyclops set, the Pentax XW7 and Celestron Xcel LX 18mm, on a few old favourites, M42, Alnitak and Sigma Ori. No surprises with the XW7, already having the XL 10.5mm and previously owned an XW5..just lovely sharpness, comfortable ergonomics and neutral colour, with excellent light transmission. If I had a surprise it was from the Xcel-LX 18mm..it was excellent! Also did well in the above areas, and Barlows well with my Hyperion zoom 2.25x Barlow to make a decent 8mm. Not quite as good transmission or sharpness as the XW but nevertheless a very nice viewing experience. So my Cyclops set is for now complete.. Back row from R to L.. Meade 4000 56mm, Celestron Axiom LX 31mm, Axiom LX 23mm..(both decloaked). Front Row from R to L.. Pentax XL10.5mm, Celestron Xcel LX 18mm, Pentax XW7 mm also showing Barlows 1.6x and 2.25x Dave

You poor thing, Alan! Maybe, on Saturday at PAS, we can discuss the various counselling options that are available ??😂😂 Dave

Aah!! So you're far sighted then!!🤪😂

Should've gone to Specsavers..🙃😉