F15Rules

Thanks Jeremy,

It will be good to keep a handle on the developing Mars Opposition😊..

Dave

19 hours ago, Flame Nebula said:

Thanks John 

Indeed, I started saving up, on a slow trajectory from early 2021 towards planned purchase, late 2024, as I am essentially a planet person, and checked when jupiter would be high in the sky again , back in early 2021. I even have my wife's permission to buy a 'special' scope. Not exactly mentioned the mount, plus AP accessories, but given I originally intended to get a C9.25 evolution, you're already talking around 2.5K anyway. So, what's a K (ish) more, between friends. 🤔😉. Initially the cost of the mount and vanilla 200pds would be < 2.5K anyway. It's adding AP stuff that increases cost. If all goes well, I'll have saved 4k by September. So, the budget will cover most of the things I'd like. Do you think a used SW120ED will be as good as newest version? I've heard some things about different coatings? 

But, what will stop me, is if things go sideways on job front, as I can't really justify that sort of expenditure then, even though I've tried to ring fence it and keep it separate from other expenses. Fingers crossed. 🤞

In 2017 I was in the happy position, at the age of 61, to acquire my dream scope, an immaculate 1999 Takahashi FS128 Fluorite Apo complete with Takahashi equatorial mount, tripod and a few Tak accessories. It was to be my "lifetime scope", and my wife fully supported the purchase.

I owned the setup for 7 years but in the last 2-3 years began to have to accept that my deteriorating eyesight would prevent me from getting the best from the FS128 going forward. Also, the FS128 is a large, bulky scope for it's aperture (although not too heavy), and with our poor climate for astro, I reluctantly decided to slightly downsize the scope but to keep the Tak mount.

Here is where I think the point I want to make kicks in. When I sold the Tak in February, it was a 24 year old scope, albeit in superb condition. I had 3 firm offers to buy it at the asking price within 3 hours of offering it for sale: I managed to get back very close to what I paid for it in 2017, and with the proceeds I was able to buy a mint 1 year old Vixen SD115S apo (itself a superb scope), and a set of 6 high quality Vixen LVW eyepieces, with some change left over.

So the Tak depreciated very little, and I doubt that any reflector would hold it's value in the same way (although the reflector would of course cost far less to begin with).

I actually feel that your stated plan to end up with ED 80mm and120mm to 128mm refractors and an 8" reflector would give you an ideal spread of scopes that would cover all your needs for the rest of your observing life. On different objects and in different conditions, a 5" refractor and a  8" reflector can show a fantastic, wide range of objects really well, and are different enough to justify owning both if you are able to.

I hope your future work and eye health circumstances allow you to achieve this. All I would say finally, is if/when the opportunity arises, seize it!..your eyesight will likely never be better than it is now, nor your physical strength for lugging equipment around.

I have never regretted buying the Tak, and am fortunate to have found a worthy, if slightly less powerful replacement.

Good luck with achieving your astro goals.

Dave

2 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

The benefits of jumping from 80mm to 102mm is massive. You definitely won't regret it if you do.  As for mounts, I really like a German equatorial, as it follows the object you're studying but simply turning one knob, or if motorised it will track for ages with very little tweaking. Of course an Altazimuth gives you the ability to sweep across large vistas of star fields, stopping to admire the sights as you go. Ideally having both types of mount has its  advantages. 

..and there is a fantastic Vixen ED103swt apo refractor on the for sale forums right now!

Right up there with Takahashi and a bargain at under £700..

Dave

7 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

Here's a blast from the past. When I first bought a Takahashi telescope back in 2003, their catalogue showed some lovely large aperture finders/guide scopes. Unfortunately for me, buying the scope itself wiped me out financially and by the time I'd recovered, these large finders were nolonger available. It seems to be my lot in life to miss the boat by minutes! I guess I'm not alone in this?

 Today Mr postman drew up outside in his time machine and handed me a package. Inside was a vintage 70mm Takahashi finder/guider with swivel bracket. Now attached to my FS128 I'm hoping it will give me a slight advantage when it comes to fuzzy finding and double stars. 

 

35 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

Thanks Dave.

  I had chance to look through it for the first time earlier this evening. The Moon was crisp and highly detailed despite the low power. 

  I think the finder stem should really be attached to a Tak accessory ring which  goes around the lower end of the scope. I know Tak provide them currently for the TOA and even for the FC100D series, but I think I've missed the boat for the FS128 as I think its a different tube diameter. However I bought the 70mm and worried about how I was going to attach it when it arrived. I decided to use a threaded rod that extended the length of the top dovetail bar that has doubled as a handle. On the underside of the dovetail bar there's a channel through which I ran the threaded bar. At the top is a nut and at the bottom a fancy knob that I scrounge of an old Japanese mount. Together the nut and knob allow me to tighten the stem which is sandwiched between the the knob and the bottom flat face of the dovetail/handle and lower ring. There are washers on either side of the stem to allow movement. It will suffice until I acquire a FS128 accessory ring in another twenty years. Unfortunately for me, by that time someone else will be looking through my telescopes most likely. 

That's an ingenious solution Mike!👍

I almost bought one of those finders some years back for just £85 I think it was.. but I couldn't figure out how I'd fit it to my FS128 at the time..

Great job.

Dave

6 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

Here's a blast from the past. When I first bought a Takahashi telescope back in 2003, their catalogue showed some lovely large aperture finders/guide scopes. Unfortunately for me, buying the scope itself wiped me out financially and by the time I'd recovered, these large finders were nolonger available. It seems to be my lot in life to miss the boat by minutes! I guess I'm not alone in this?

 Today Mr postman drew up outside in his time machine and handed me a package. Inside was a vintage 70mm Takahashi finder/guider with swivel bracket. Now attached to my FS128 I'm hoping it will give me a slight advantage when it comes to fuzzy finding and double stars. 

 

Cracking finder Mike, it should be a nice low power scope in its own right!

I saw that for sale, it had an odd looking connection "stem"..how did you make it fit on your scope setup?

Dave

Lovely mount Neal, and it looks great in the black painted version.

What scope will you be mounting on it?

I have a lovely old Vixen 80mm F15 (1200mm) focal length refractor which would have come on a mount like yours.. I don't have an SP mount at the moment  but I am storing one long term for my son in law, so am using his, in the traditional Vixen "Hammerite Green"..and a Skywatcher EQ5 tripod..

Enjoy!👍

Dave

I'd look for a used Takahashi 1.25" prism or Baader T2 prism diagonal, both come up fairly often for c.£70 used. 

Both optically excellent, but the latter is more robustly built.

HTH,

Dave

13 minutes ago, Franklin said:

Tee-hee! 😁

You'll see, Tim!!😜🤣

Is that yours, Paul?

Are you coming back to your senses, er, I mean, to the dark side of refractors??

It looks great, one of the few frac finishes other than white that I can stomach!😜🤣

Seriously, congratulations, and enjoy that lightweight beauty!👍

Dave

33 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

One approves of your taste in eyepieces 👍

An entirely Logical response, Mr.Spock.. - thank you, and live long and prosper! 🖖🖖🖖

Thanks to my good friend Steve (@Saganite) (and Tim, @Franklinof course), my recently acquired Vixen LVW set is now complete..

The new to me 3.5mm will give me 254x in my Vixen SD115S, and with the 1.6x barlow, 406x.

Here's the full set.. (L-R, back to front) - 3.5mm, 5mm, 8mm, 13mm, 17mm, 22mm, 42mm..

Plus decloaked 2" Axiom LX 23mm & 31mm 84 deg UWAs at bottom right..

Scope and Cyclops Eyepiece wise, I'm now done!! 😂

Dave

Of course, I was being tongue in cheek (being myself the owner of an Apo wich costs almost £3k new), but it does beg the question..

...and it does also remind us that even the most humble, cheap scope available today is far superior to the tools that early astro explorers such as Galileo could dream of..we are very fortunate!

If only we had their levels of dark skies!😊

4 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

Thought I'd add my drawing from a few nights ago.

A sketch like that, showing an image from a 4.75" cheap achromat worth perhaps £150 versus a Japanese hi end 4" apochromat costing c £2k does beg the question..why pay out the £2k??🤔🤦‍♂️🤷‍♂️

Dave

2 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Super setup. All you need now is a backpack

..with a strong handle?🙃😊

Just spent a very enjoyable hour and a half with Superfox, my lovely new to me Vixen SD115s, observing Tegmine and Theta Aurigae.

I found that the seeing did improve over the 90 minutes, and it was fascinating to try different permutations of eyepieces and barlows. 

My findings were as follows; (all at F7.7, 890mm Focal length).

1. Vixen LVW 5mm at 178x -  Split and Resolved intermittently..this was when the seeing was at its most unsteady earlier on. Contrast was good. Edge sharpness was good across virtually the whole 65 degree field. No false colour noted. I'm so pleased now to own almost the full set of these fine classic eyepieces.

2. Tak Abbe ortho 12.5mm with stacked Baader zoom 2.25x barlow and short WO 1.6x barlow to give c263x.

This was the first and most consistent split. I could see little or no visible image deterioration from the stacked barlows , no false colour and excellent sharpness across the fov (admittedly only a modest 44 degrees, but using an eq mount with RA drive the image hardly moves anyway!).

These Tak Abbes have wonderful contrast and my 12.5mm pair are supremely comfortable for binoviewing.

3. Pentax XL Zoom 8-24mm with Baader 2.25x zoom threaded in to give a high power zoom from 3.55mm (250x in my scope) to 10.66mm (83x).

This eyepiece wouldn't be my first choice for high power on close doubles, but it gave an early session resolved view at 250x on Tegmine..I suspect it would have done even better later in the session but I didnt get time to try it again. 

The Pentax really comes into it's own on short sessions of changeable skies and seeing, where I can simply dial in the best power for the conditions..on such nights, or short sessions, I can often manage with the Baader 2.25  barlow, the Pentax zoom, and my Axiom LX 23mm 84 degree UWA for low power wide field.

For the last part of my session I spent some time on Theta Aurigae, an old favourite of mine..as a lad in the 70s I used to struggle to split this unequal pair..at mags 2.7 and 7.2 and just  a 3" split, my little 60mm refractor rarely, if ever, split them. But in a modern 80-100mm scope the pair is a delightful sight, with the tiny, faint companion twinkling next to its very bright prime star close by.

The Vixen made short work of this pair and I easily split it at 70x. If you haven't looked at this lately do check it out while it is still very well placed high up in our skies..

It was SO good to be out again at last  tonight, and thanks to John for pointing to Tegmine, a real jewel of a double!👍😀.

Dave

Orion, Sirius and Procyon slowly sinking west over our house twilight turns to night..

Superfox ready for some tight doubles action!

Superb looking setup Steve 🫡🫡.

I'll be fascinated to get your thoughts in due course regarding a comparison between your Superfox 115mm and the big APM 150mm..

I suspect they will both complement each other in different ways...but if only one survives longer term..my money is on the Vixen!😁😁

Dave

1 hour ago, tomato said:

Certain telescope brands just love their red anodising, but as far as I am aware it doesn't improve optical performance one iota.

Agreed..I confess I'm not a fan of gaudy colours and "bling"...but each to their own, of course. I'll stick to white or white and black scopes, thanks.😇😄

P.S. I did make an "Honourable Exception" when I owned a Tak FS128...😂

Dave

On 23/03/2024 at 18:17, Saganite said:

Thanks Mike.

My concerns about it not being stark white but creamy , something I have not seen before on a Vixen, do not matter because there will be none of the original accessories on it.

Steve,

I think of it less as "creamy"...

...more as "creme de la creme" 🙄🤭☺️

Dave

1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

 It isn't Coventry I have a problem with Dave, it's just that peddling up hill all the way home again to Pendle Witch Country which is a nightmare. It really is an arduous drive with the only nice bit being the Toll road. May be next time I should fly down, with my wife's permission of course. I'd hate to find my scope had suddenly been turned into one of those Schmidt thingies! 😲

Hi Mike,

I remember when I lived in the Midlands and was working, I used to drive 30-40k miles a year on business, and the Toll Road was quite new then..it was definitely my route of choice to go north and bypassed all of the M6 "carpark" and Spaghetti Junction, with all it's concrete 'humps' every 20 metres or so!

And best of all, I could reclaim the Toll costs as a legitimate business expense!👍😁.

My son lives in the Hinckley area and my wife and I still hate going back from the quietness of rural Lincolnshire to the traffic mayhem of Leicestershire!

Dave

1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

Not another one at Coventry! I don't think I have another drive to Coventry left in me for this year, or possibly ever.😩

OY, Mr Night!!

I'll have you know that's my home town you're dissing!😜🤪🤣..

I suppose the venue could have been in a far worse place? Like "Burnleh", perhaps??😁😁

Dave

PS I couldn't get to PAS today as I was en route home from a city break to Porto..now that would make an excellent venue..even MikeDGRINCH would approve!!

15 hours ago, Saganite said:

Already have the red dovetail and red rings...

Steve,

I fear you may be turning into a Blingon..

Don't worry, I won't tell Mr Spock..😉😁

Dave 

20 hours ago, Zermelo said:

Looking forward to that one.

Before the end of 2026, perhaps, with current weather patterns.

I do love an optimist. 🙄🤭

Dave

4 minutes ago, John said:

I've always wanted to own an Astro Physics refractor. They are like hens teeth to find over here though and command high prices when they do come up.

I had the chance to buy an AP Star ED 120 around a decade back but I passed on it for one reason or another. I sometimes regret that decision 🤔

Right now I seem to be very attracted to an Ernie Elliot brass 3.1 inch F/15 refractor which is currently being sold. That desire is totally illogical though, given the other scopes that I already own. It's just such a wonderful looking instrument though ........ 

I know what you mean, John..

I think it very irritating of Richard Day to offer that scope, in pristine condition, and with absolutely no good reason for me to want it other than the way it looks!

Am a bit, er,  "brassed off" to be honest!!😁

Dave

I have had just two scopes for several years, although I have bought and sold literally dozens over the past 10 to 15 years.

Until very recently the two were a  wonderful Tak FS128 which I owned for 7 years, and an excellent Vixen 80mm F15 achromat which I've had for perhaps 18 months or so.

For reasons well documented elsewhere, I reluctantly sold my FS128 just over a month ago and downsized slightly to a superb Vixen SD115S Apo as my primary scope. Thanks to the appalling weather since I bought it, I've managed less than 2 hours viewing with the new Vixen, but already I know it will see me out for the rest of my observing days.

I will keep the old 1980s 80mm Vixen achromat longer term also, I think, as a nod to the days of my youth and because it is a delightful double star splitting scope in it's own right.

I do totally get why so many people on here own so many scopes. I used to love buying scopes, trying them, and then moving them on to try something else. I often owned up to 6 or 7 scopes at one time..

But ultimately, (and this also applies to eyepieces), I realised that however many scopes I owned, I will only ever have one pair of eyes (and in my case slowly deteriorating eyes), so it no longer makes sense for me to waste time and money chasing the "perfect scope and the perfect view"..

So I now have two great scopes for the kind of observing I want to do, some great eyepieces, and I will use them as much as conditions will allow, to their full potential, without being distracted by the "Green Grass" of the other side.

My SNC phase (Scope Nirvana Chasing) is over, and I am content. 😊

Dave

It's really interesting that this object seems so elusive or faint in relatively large 10-12" reflectors, but is visible in relatively (compared to the former) "small" 4" refractors.

Why would that be?🤔 - better contrast in the refractors? Or something else?

This isn't a "Refractors vs Reflectors" loaded question..I'm genuinely intrigued by this and keen to hear opinions on this😊..

Thanks!

Dave