F15Rules

27 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Swan? All I can see is a rabbit 🤔

Should've gone to Specsavers..🙃😉

Y' know how a lot of stargazers happily use ironing chairs as an observing seat?

Well, sadly, today I've learned that that role can also work the other way, too🤦🤦😱😱🥴🥴..

Thank goodness for Magnum P.I. re-runs on TV!🤪😂

Dave

On 03/03/2023 at 20:15, F15Rules said:

I've actually had a bit of an "in and out" spree lately. Having sold a fair bit of kit, I then bought Maxbright IIs, a Pentax XW7mm, pairs of William Optics 20mm 66 deg, BGO 18mm and Tak Abbe orthos 12.5mm for the Maxbrights, and now this Celestron. 

A few shots of the newly acquired William Optics 20mm 66 degree wide angle pair mentioned above..

The cloned versions of these are optically identical to my eyes..but I like the finish on these and that Swan logo..

But if I can find a nice pair of 26mm Pseudo Masuyamas..🤦😉😊.

Dave

9 hours ago, Ratlet said:

I think Vixen make a nicer looking scope than Takahashi

I can't hand on heart disagree. I've owned two fabulous ED103s apos and they were both fabulous to look at and look through.

Although I now own a wonderful 5" Tak, had a 5" Vixen been available I would have bought it without hesitation based on my experiences with the two 4 inchers.

I've always thought it odd that people often see Vixens as expensive, whereas Taks, which cost a good deal more, are seen as "aspirational".

It's also a fact that a 4" Tak new costs almost twice the price of a new Vixen SD103s, and yet (to my eyes at least) the views through them both are extremely similar.

In practice this does mean that the Vixen ED103 and the newer SD103 make superb used purchases..

I compared my last ED103s to my Tak FS128, and the only  significant difference I could see was the increased brightness and resolution capability that you would expect from a 5" collecting some 56% more light than a 4".

The mechanics of the Tak are, I feel slightly superior to those of the Vixen, but to look at side by side...? I'd genuinely give the Vixen 4" the nod..the oversized 114mm tube of the Vixen just looks more impressive to my eyes.

Just a pity that Vixen don't make a 5" apo frac these days, not since the days of the ED130SS.. and I am very happy with my FS128!

Great collection, Tim. Thanks for sharing 👍.

Nice job!

Amazing what a difference a lick of paint can make👍

Dave

4 minutes ago, Sunshine said:

Nice! I’ve had three X-cel’s and tbh I really didn’t have any complaints, I cannot recall which scope I was using them with but they only reason I sold them was because money was burning a hole in my pocket and I wanted XW’s, I’m sore they are better eyepieces in a side by side comparison but the X-cels seemed to be great for their price.

I've actually had a bit of an "in and out" spree lately. Having sold a fair bit of kit, I then bought Maxbright IIs, a Pentax XW7mm, pairs of William Optics 20mm 66 deg, BGO 18mm and Tak Abbe orthos 12.5mm for the Maxbrights, and now this Celestron. 

Time to stop now for a while I think!🤦😊

Dave

On 28/02/2023 at 15:51, JeremyS said:

I must be odd:  🤔

There: I’ve said it!

Hear, hear!!! At last😂😂😂

Dave

I thought I'd give this nice little Celestron 18mm Xcel LX a go..

I sold my Morpheus 17.5mm to help fund my new Maxbright IIs and other bits. This isn't a focal length I use a lot, but there is a sizeable gap between my Pentax 10.5mm and Axiom LX 23mm, so here we are. I've read good things about this range at the price point..it certainly feels well made, a nice heft to it, and has a nice twist up eyecup.

I don't expect Morpheus performance, but will be interesting to test it out..if we ever get another clear night in Lincolnshire, that is!🤦😂

Dave

1 hour ago, Sunshine said:

Is the knob on that clamshell stock Tak? do you need two hands to turn it like submariners turning those valve wheels? 🤣

Yes, it sure is (was) a standard item with the FS128..

It's a brilliant feature..I sometimes need to move the tube up or down to get correct balance when using heavy or light eyepieces etc..

With 2 standard tube rings I'd have to loosen and then tighten two bolts/nuts etc.. with the single clamshell I just loosen it move the tube and re-tighten..job done. And very secure👍

Dave

4 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

The best bit for me was meeting garryblueboy and JeremyS. That made it worth the 1000 mile drive!! 

Why did you drive there via Paris, to meet JeremyS,  Mike? Couldn't you get a handle on the correct route???🤪😂😂

Dave

3 hours ago, JeremyS said:

You did well to get a Tak green cover for the 128. I guess they must have had one lying around. Nice job 👍🏻

That lovely flat Tak dewshield is just begging for a nice handle to help John pull it off and put it back again..🙃

Dave 

Totally MINT XW7 to join my XL10.5mm😊👍

Dave

1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

 One of the nice things about the FS128, apart from its excellent optics and build quality, was that it could be carried very well on a GP mount, providing the tripod was sturdy enough. In the pic below is my FS128 on a GP and tripod made by Peter Drew. The wide tripod neck gave it great stability while the tripod itself was light and easy to carry. It's probably my favourite tripod!

Here at AstroFest in 2007ish I'd pretty much set up camp at the TruTek stall. At the time TruTechnology was the sole UK importer, so it was rare to see any Takahashi scopes. This was a TOA130.

 

Back home I'd let my FS128 go in part exchange for a FS152, but the brand new EQ6 was no match for the 6". Eventually I had to buy a Losmandy G11 to carry the scope. The EQ6 was returned due to an internal rattle and a factory touched up paint chip, and its inability to hold the scope steady.

 

That's so true, Mike.

On my original photo the FS128 is on the original Tak tripod, which looks great and works fairly well..but I did get some wobbling. The EM2 mount is excellent (think GPDX capacity), so I decided to use my trusty 14 year old fixed height hardwood tripod which was built by another SGL member and has a nice Berlebach wooden tray for extra rigidity (and ep storage of course).

I recently cut 100mm off each leg to make seated observation more comfy on my Geoptik Nadira chair, and it now makes an excellent platform for the scope..👍

Dave

8 hours ago, JeremyS said:

I never joke about Taks, Dave.

Or handles.

Actually, Jeremy, that very fact is in itself rather funny!😋

Dave

Hi Martin, 

Yes, the FS128 is very light for it's size..7.5kg for a tube that is almost 6" diameter and c. 1 metre in length. The finder, diagonal and big EP or binoviewers bring that up to c 9 kg.

The newer 4" Taks are even lighter. If the day comes when I can't lift my current setup (and that would probably be the only reason I would change it), I think I'd go for one of the FC100 range on a light  Altaz type mount.

I was very moved by Paul's post though and feel a) so fortunate that I can still lift my present setup and b) more importantly, so pleased for Paul and others like him that they have found a literally perfect "Holy Grail" solution for their needs.

We often joke and tease one another about which of refractors, dobs, newts, scts or maks are best..but surely, in extremis, surely the best scope is the one that prolongs our ability to participate in our wonderful hobby for longest.

Dave

On 23/02/2023 at 18:34, Sunshine said:

Is there one particular scope which you would consider your holy grail scope? one which you do not have and may never get your hands on but it crosses your mind leaving you starry eyed every now and then. For me, I think it would be an FS128.

I consider myself very blessed, and very content..

So much so that I no longer own any other scopes. "Trinity" has been with me  now for almost 6 years and is 24 years old.

Her objective makes me smile every time I look at it, as well as through it..😉😁.

Dave

2 hours ago, paulastro said:

That is only true if you think a sub - four inch Takahashi is the best telescope for everything and you're certainly not an imager!  😁

Well I'm certainly not an imager!! And I would tend to agree a 4" Tak is hard to beat.. if I didn't have a 5"..😉😋😂

Dave

Well Mike, I know of at least 6 of us who will be at PAS, and we'd all happily sit and listen to you for an hour if you're supplying the coffee??!!😁😁

Dave

Against all the weather forecasts for this week, it turned into a beautiful evening with dark, clear skies..

..so Trinity the Tak was happy to come out to play. She delivered wonderful views of M42, Alnitak, Rigel, Iota Orionis, M45, and the Double Cluster in Perseus.

I spent two luxurious hours just gazing at the above objects, with both Maxbright II binoviewers/Baader Zeiss BBHS prism and Astrotech 2" dielectric diagonal. Eyepieces a combination of Axiom LX 2" UWA, Pentax XL, and Burgess TMB Optics for cyclops viewing and  Tak and Baader Orthos and WO widefield pairs for binoviewing.

Here's Trinity gazing up at the Double Cluster in Perseus👍😊..

Dave

4 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Now THAT’S what I call a handle 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

I’ll need to lie down in a darkened room now. I hope Dave @F15Rules has taken his meds.

I've come down with the shakes.. I had a weird dream I was being chased by a madman carrying a huge black handle, shouting "Dave, where are you, you've got to see this!!!"..

Just woke up, and am about to have a very strong coffee...🤦😱

Lovely scope Magnus👍.

I assume that's a sliding dewshield? How heavy is the OTA? And what will you mount it on?

Congratulations 👏

Dave

On 15/02/2023 at 07:56, Stu said:

Very interesting @F15Rules, I didn’t know you and the TAL had such a history, I always assumed it was with longer focal ratio scopes, for some reason 😉

Hi Stu,

Well, to be sure, I did get into astronomy as a teenager with F15 scopes, which really were what most refractors then we're available as..80mm F15, or 60mm F15, to control CA.

I had a significant break from astronomy when we started a family in 1989, and did little astro until c 1999 onwards. That's when I bought my first Tal at F10 and over the next decade bought and sold (too many) various scopes, mainly achro fracs, (Tals, Vixen, Polarex, Pentax):I then also got into 150mm Maksutovs for a few years, and owned Lomo, Ylena and Intes Micro Maks, all of which were also pretty long focal lengths, between F11 and F14..and all really excellent scopes indeed. Then I found an (AE Luton) 4.5" F14 achromat, and my F15 phase culminated in my superb "Andromeda", a fine 5" F15 D&G USA achromat, fabulous, but fully 2 metres long! Sadly that became unmanageable for me, but a couple of years later, after owning 2 fabulous Vixen ED103s 4" apos, I found "Trinity" my "Precious" 5" Tak, and my morphing was complete!🤦😂..

Dave

4 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Easy does it, Stu. No sudden movements or you might do yourself a mischief 😊

You should have bought it jointly with Stu, Jeremy and then you could both split the difference..

Dave 

Yea, Paul, I think the later RS batches did have slightly varying colour tints, yours looks nicer than the other one I'd posted👍😉

Dave

Hi Iain,

Don't know about being a guru, but thanks for your kind comments 😉.

I thought Astro Baby's review was very insightful. She was quite a perfectionist, so I was pleased that she rated the scope so highly. There were definitely variances in individual scopes, which is not really what you want if you're addressing the volume markets, but the lenses in my experience were consistently good to excellent.

Where there could be a problem was with the interior baffling of the tubes, especially with the earlier 100R.

It could be that glare and other perceived optical faults were caused by a mechanical issue such as baffling or focuser alignment, rather than with the optics per se?..🤔

Dave