F15Rules

Here are 3 scopes that I've owned in the past, and always felt were drop dead gorgeous..

In order of earliest one owned first:

1) - Ylena 150mm Maksutov F14. I just love the plain industrial black paint finish, and the beautifully purple tinted front corrector plate (if it were an objective lens Jeremy would describe it as "lickable"🤦😂).

A stupendously good scope optically, it would give my FS128 a really good run for it's money.

I owned this in 2010 for c 3 years, should never have sold it.. and it had a built in handle!

2 ) - Classic D&G USA 5" F15 Achromat Refractor: IMHO a truly beautiful scope, in classic white, with unique wooden rings, dewshield that seamlessly blended into the main tube - which measured 2 metres in length.

I owned this beauty for c 4 years from 2012, and had it modified by Mark Turner of Moonraker Telescopes, London. Mark cut c5" off the tube to allow native binoviewing  with no OCS. He also fitted an excellent bespoke Moonlite focuser in polished aluminium. I named the scope "Andromeda", and again, the performance of this scope truly rivalled my current Tak: textbook stellar images and superb planetary and lunar views on nights of good seeing.

Andromeda was a beast to mount, and having had a double hernia operation I sadly had to accept that I needed a more practical scope in terms of size and handling. Andromeda went to another SGL member and friend who mounted her properly, on a pier mounted EQ6 as shown below:

3 ) - Vixen ED103s F7.7 Apochromat. I think Vixens are very underrated both here in the UK and the USA, but I find them beautiful to look at and to look through.

I owned two of these during the period c 2014 - 2018, one with single speed focuser and c12 years old, the other with a microfocuser upgrade and a couple of years old (see photo below).

They are well built, classic in looks, and extremely lightweight. The Vixen ED103s has an oversized 114mm tube which tbh makes the 4" Taks look like a peashooter by comparison.. (I now own a similarly oversized 5" Tak FS128 which looks more like a 6" scope..as far as I know the FS range were the only ones to have oversized tubes - I stand to be corrected on that though).

The ED103 was the successor to the legendary Vixen FL102s fluorite apo, which itself had "to die for" classic scope looks.

I've owned two ED103s scopes and was thrilled with them both. If a 5" Vixen apo had been available I would have bought one in a heartbeat (Vixen did offer an ED130SS some years ago, but they are rare as hens teeth).

I was fortunate enough to find my FS128 back in 2016/17, while the memories of my ED103s (which I had to sell, along with most of my entire kit, to fund the Tak purchase) were still fresh in my mind. The FS128 images were brighter (which you would expect, with a 5" lens catching c 56% more light than a 4"), but in absolute optical quality terms, there was very little, if any, difference to my eyes.

So I will always consider the Vixen ED103s an absolutely top class, beautiful and underrated scope: if you see one come up used, and would like a 4" Tak but can't afford one..get the Vixen, I guarantee you'll be smiling for a very long time!👍☺️.

Dave

50 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Ugly ugly ugly

😊

..but the mount looks nice though..

Dave

Nice little set of Burgess Optical planetary filters..now just need some clear skies for Mars and Jupiter👍.

Dave

There's a Vixen 12mm SLV on the For Sale section of this forum right now.

Nothing to do with me but I know the seller and his equipment is extremely well looked after. It has 20mm eye relief and superb optics, at £65 posted it's great value.

HTH🙂

Dave

I think JohninDerby and JeremyS are our resident handle experts, hopefully one of them will be along to chip in..

Dave

Waiting for me when I got home after a trip away..

A nice  Altair 2" 70mm extension tube for my Tak for use with 2" eyepieces, some of them (Axiom LX 23 & 31mm 82 deg) heavy beasts.

This extension is the only one I've found with 3 retaining screws and a compression ring..my previous 80mm tube was ok but only had one retaining screw, and I always felt a bit nervous with heavy kit hanging off it.

Hopefully this one will hold everything much more securely and keep alignment with the main focuser tube better..

It also has a Morpheus style safety kerf section at the bottom of the tube, which should be less likely to catch on the compression ring on the Baader Ultrashort adapter I have attached to the original Tak focuser tube..I'd have preferred a black finish on the safety kerf rather than the shiny finish, but it is painted matt black inside, so shouldn't cause reflections🤞😊.

My thanks to Ed at Harrison's Telescopes for prompt service.

Dave

Many congratulations and good luck with "passing your test" to allow you to do this worthwhile task!

You will I'm sure get some  incredible views in the years to come👍.

Dave

57 minutes ago, PhotoGav said:

I am happy to report that some washers have provided the necessary tilt to the pier adapter. I successfully polar aligned the mount this evening and all is good. Thank you all for your help and advice.

Just came across this thread but I see you've got a solution..

I have an EM2 mount which also has a maximum of 50 degrees setting. I'm at just over 53 degrees north and a piece of compressed rubber about 12mm thick and 60mm long placed under my north facing wooden tripod foot gets Polaris inside my reticule and quite sufficient for me to track an object for c 1 hour (I'm visual only so that's plenty for my needs).

No worries about the tipping point of the mount if the scope is properly balanced once the "equalising shim/washers/plate" etc is in position..

That EM500 looks quite a beast!👍.

Dave

No!😂

I'm afraid I like the low power UWA 82degree fields too much..

But 1.25" for high power planetary and doubles all the way..

I don't like fiddling between 1.25" and 2" fittings though, so my most used non 2" EPs have 2" sleeves fitted👍.

Dave

7 hours ago, markse68 said:

They’re huge though- heaviest in the lineup but i guess that was to be expected.

They're only about the same weight as, or a little over, the XW30, and compared to my Axiom LX 23mm and 31mm (both 82 degrees) they are lightweights..

I'd be more concerned about  field curvature and edge sharpness..the FC in my former XW14 and 20 was bad enough at F8 to prompt me to change them, the 14mm for a Morpheus 14 and the 20mm for a Vixen LVW 22 which I found better in every respect but fov size.

Then, last year I bought an XW 30mm in the FLO sale and when I compared it to my Axiom 31mm the latter beat it comprehensively in my FS128, so it went back.. I was very disappointed with the XW30, especially given the sky high used prices the old XW30s went for before the relaunch.

I really want Pentax to succeed in the longer focal lengths: their shorter 3.5 to 10mm focal lengths are superbly good (as are the older XL range)..if Ricoh have truly sorted out and eliminated the FC and edge sharpness issues at the new, longer focal lengths, they will I'm sure prove very successful.

But the market for UWA premium eyepieces is very competitive these days, so pricing will also be important.

I look forward to reading some reviews before long and wish Ricoh well with this initiative.

Thanks for sharing the news, Mark👍.

Dave

Ask Jeremy..👍😂

Dave

On 08/11/2022 at 13:01, JeremyS said:

Lovely observing chair. Have one just like it 👍🏻

..only seems to have 11 or 12 handles though, Jeremy?🤔..

Dave

6 minutes ago, Ian McCallum said:

Nah, I'm happy with what I've got.😉

Can't argue with that sentiment!👍

Just to put further temptation your way...👿😁

https://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=193005

A truly portable but optically awesome scope..think Tak quality optically, lens I believe made by Canon Optron as Taks are, and a good price IMHO..

Dave

Sounds like you've made your decision Ian..but if you want a truly portable, "fast to set up" er, set up (and I really understand why you do, given your accommodation and viewing situation), I'd suggest serious consideration of a high quality 100mm apo refractor, say a Tak 100 if funds allow or an Altair 4" F7 if not. Fast to set up, and light to carry.

Your Evostar 120 achromat is a nice scope (my son in law has one), but if you really prefer visual, the Tak or Altair will deliver tighter stars, finer resolution and contrast and much better focusing at high powers. They will also give nice widefield views with the right eps.

So, I'd sell both Evostars and cameras, keep the new Altaz mount, and have just the one, excellent refractor..

And you would still have your 8" Dob for going deeper and retaining a scope with great sentimental value to you.

Good luck, whatever you decide..

Dave

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

I’ve always found my Pentax XL 5.2 a super eyepiece with my FS 102, @Louis D. But I rarely use it these days. I should do.
Maybe we could generate a cult following of the XL 5.2 🤔

I'm in..even though I don't have one now..I do have a 10.5mm XL in great condition that Barlows really well with my Baader 2.25x barlow down to 4.66mm🙂

Dave

I don't know what scope you're using..would 3.2mm get you close enough? ( and using a 1.3x Barlow nosepiece such as the Baader 2.25x Q Turret one would take 3.2mm down to 2.46x).

If so, the original Burgess TMB Planetary 3.2mm could work for you. A nice, light, well made eyepiece and the nosepiece mentioned above would only add 1" or less to your "stack".

I have a 5mm and it's a nice, sharp eyepiece.

There's a 3.2mm for sale on UKABS..

https://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=192782

Dave

6 minutes ago, Stu said:

Sounds interesting, what is that?

I always fancied one of the Baader 95mm triplets for travel but they are 💰💰💰and hard to get hold of.

You need to read the whole of Cjg's post Stu..an AP Stowaway 😊😁..

..still 💰💰💰 though!!

Dave

My apologies, I wrongly quoted  Steve (Saganite) above when in fact it was Rob (Spacehopper) whose quote I was referring to..🤦🥴😊.

Sorry Steve!

Dave

On 05/11/2022 at 21:48, Saganite said:

And i bet i'd hardly use it and sell it on in a year or two.

Hmm..🤔

I'd beg to differ on both count...if you bought a Tak you would use it and, barring financial disaster, you wouldn't sell it..

I've now had my FS128 for almost 6 years, longer than any other scope I've owned..if I'd been able to afford a 5" Tak (or Vixen) apo years ago, I could have saved myself a lot of buying and selling!🤦😊.

Fortunately, there are now many more excellent scopes available for reasonable prices that get much closer to the very best..

Dave

Hi Douglas,  and welcome to SGL😊.

Enjoy your new scope in your lovely part of the world.

Dave

1 hour ago, dweller25 said:

Hmmm, he says free of wear or damage and has hardly been used but the dewshield, finder and OTA all shows signs of paint chips 🤷🏻

The back story also sounds similar to a UKastrobuysell advert last year.

Caveat Emptor.

To be fair, he doesn't say "free of wear or damage" in the text I read, but does say in the short description "Mechanically and optically fully functional.... optics free of damage or wear" ...

I think with a scope like this I'd want to inspect it in person to check it all out anyway..I know I did that when I bought my FS128.

The slight alarm bell for me was that he said "I collimated it and fitted the two motors.." - a scope like this shouldn't need collimation, especially if it's not been used much..(even though the objective cell allows collimation).

I believe the FS series ended production c 2004..the seller states that he bought the scope 13 years ago..if that's true, he would have bought it in c 2011, so he couldn't have been the original owner. So, it's likely to have been owned by at least one other person, maybe more, and to have been in someone else's care for at least c 7-8 years before this seller bought it.

None of this is necessarily a deal breaker, but I'd certainly be asking all these questions, in person, at a viewing of the scope and everything it comes with.

The Vixen GPD (same as GPDX) looks nice, and to be in good condition. It's an ideal platform for the FS102, and is rated for 10-11kg. The GPDX I owned was a real step up in heft from the GP, and a lovely, rock solid mount with superior "innards", bearings etc to the GP/SP range (also great mounts).

If the lens is all ok, the scope will deliver stunning views..if you're tempted, like Robertl (👿😂 ), just go and see it before buying it!👍

Dave 

10 hours ago, Philip R said:

 

I am going to say: It's quite an eye-opener... from the TeleVue Apollo 11 [page 1] to my 'budget' Skywatcher 2"/28mm LET|LER [page 3] and everything in between.

What did I start??🤦😂

Dave 

2 hours ago, F15Rules said:

Well, F12 would be a lovely focal length..about 10-12 years ago I had a Pentax Japan J80 F12 achromat..it was a truly wonderful scope, and gave me a view of the double double in Lyra which has only been matched my my FS128 and a D&G 128mm F15 achromat..a 2 metre long scope!!

The ED80 is a very nice scope, so at 50mm  F12 it should be a very interesting comparison!

Dave

I had a dig around and found my original post ref the Pentax J80 F12 in case anyone's interested..the scope was a 1990 model.

Dave

On 01/11/2022 at 11:18, JeremyS said:

Yup, F15 rules 😊

If something dreadful happened and I had to shift my larger Tak scopes, I think I could be very happy with my FOA 60Q. Especially when I look at these drawings: https://www.fzu.cz/~kupco/astro/equipment/FOA60.html

Those drawings are amazing! And interestingly, some of the drawings with North at the bottom and West to the left seem to have been made while straight through viewing?

So there's another question..how many of you have tried, or regularly do, straight through observing? I've often heard it suggested that Takahashi have resisted offering RACI finders because straight through observing is the preferred norm by it's main (Japanese) user base?

Discuss!😊

Dave