F15Rules

For us Penniless Ones.. the Poor Man's Terminagler...next to an Aero 30mm for scale.. Celestron Axiom LX 31mm, claimed 82deg fov, but its actually wider, c84-85 degrees. It's also heavier than the Nagler, which is why I decloaked mine (and also it's 23mm little brother).. Both are superb eyepieces for low power viewing. Here's a shot of the 23 and 31mm decloaked next to a Nagler T2 12mm for comparison.. I don't ever plan to let this great pair of UWA's go! Dave

Glad you got a handle on what it was Jeremy! 🙃😊 Dave

+1 for Morpheus option. Great eyepieces, hard to fault. The 14mm has minor field curvature, but much less than the Pentax XW14 which I sold having tried the Morpheus. My main set now is Vixen LVWs, but that's another story..no longer made, and rare as hen's teeth secondhand. Go for the Morpheus set!👍😁 Dave

I ordered this Move Shoot Move smartphone adapter last week, having seen Stu's excellent Lunar shots using this device to get proper alignment rather than than handholding, which is truly an exercise in frustration! It arrived today, a few days after Steve (@Saganite) received his.. As Steve remarked, this looks a very well made item, all anodised aluminium and with very smooth, precise feeling adjustment screws. I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but so far I am impressed. I also ordered the remote Bluetooth shutter, to allow smooth, remote shutter release on my phone. A few pictures to show you the key features..🙂 The informative printed outer carton.. The informative printed outer carton.. A solidly built device oozing quality, even has its' own cloth pouch. A useful user manual with specs sheet showing key dimensions re for example the maximum eyepiece and smartphone dimensions which the device can accommodate. Dave

I'm chuffed to bits with my Vixen SD115S and Takahashi equatorial mount combination. The only components that I felt looked in any way a little flimsy and small were the plastic tube rings securing knobs..see below.. ..then it struck me that the spare original focuser knob, (made redundant by the Moreblue microfocuser upgrade), which is much larger and more solid (metal or aluminium) than the plastic tube ring knob, might just have the same thread locking grub screw..and it did! I then fitted the spare focuser knob to one of the tube rings..a lovely fit. And then, in online chat with Tim, (@Franklin) who sold me this scope, he said that because he had also upgraded his SD81S scope to a Moreblue microfocuser, he had a spare focuser knob from that too! Tim promptly offered me his spare for a pittance (all the SD apos have the same sized focuser knobs), and it arrived yesterday. These larger knobs could have been made for the scope rings, and I do think they look great, as well as feeling much more solid👍☺️.. Dave

I couldn't resist this lovely old c1980s Celestron Japan 30mm Plossl, complete with original box.. It looks virtually identical to the later Ultima 30mm, with very solid build and a lovely large eyelens...and a smooth barrel!!👍😁 Shown here next to a modern Vixen NPL 30mm 50 degree plossl for scale.. The Celestron was supposed to have a 52 degree fov rather than the more usual 50 degrees of most plossls. Comparing the daytime view through both eyepieces, the Celestron definitely has a wider field - perhaps even slightly more than 52 degrees. Both eps have a very sharp field stop. Can't wait to try it out! Dave

Looks good Steve👍.. Mine hasn't arrived yet but is with the delivery agent apparently..I have watched an online "unboxing" video and it does seem to be well thought out and designed..🤞🤞😉 Dave

+10 for that option..a great piece of kit! Dave

I think that was the point being made on the CN site Peter..several primary mirrors being physically measured as 118mm diameter, not the 127mm advertised. We have seen similar misleading specs in chinese Binoculars.. Steve Tonkin of Binocular Sky fame has reported on a number of allegedly 50mm or 60mm aperture binoculars being significantly stopped down, leading to inferior performance.

It might also be worth noting the following, as posted on the USA site.. "I found that the few Chinese Mak-Cass I tested were roughly 1/2" smaller in true aperture than advertised. They are probably the same optical system with different branding/packaging. The culprits are the undersized 2nd surface on the corrector and the undersized primary mirror." It does seem that these entry level Maks from China have a 127mm corrector plate, but that the primary mirror is only c 118mm in diameter, so a noticeable difference. Add to that the poor quality (and possibly also stopped down) erecting prism, your Mak might only be operating more like a 4 -4.5" scope.. I've used several high quality Russian Maksutovs of 150mm aperture (not stopped down) and their planetary performance rivalled a 5" apo refractor..but they do cost a lot more to buy. Dave

+1 for the Vixen SD115S F7.7, barebones tube weight 4.4kg. A good deal lighter, shorter, slimmer than my wonderful ex Tak FS128. Cheaper than some 4" Taks with almost 1/3 additional aperture..very noticeable. Dave

Thats beautiful John..and with a Carton OG too! I wonder if Richard might accept a cheeky offer for the objective only, to try out versus my Vixen 80mm F15??😂

Well, Steve I'm nothing if not open minded!!🤭😋

Thats the only Newt I've ever found attractive to look at. But I'd still have to stand up to view most objects and tilt my head at an awkward angle to view through it🤪!! A literal pain in the neck!😂 I suspect David's original thread starter post was somewhat, er, mischievous..😉🙄. Dave

I have Vixen pairs at 7x50 (porros) and 8x32 (roofs). Both high quality and made in Japan. Both are very different animals..the 7x50s are very heavy, and benefit greatly from a tripod (I have mine on a pistol trigger grip and aluminium tripod, on which they are superb). They have a 7.3 degree field, great contrast and pinpoint stars across most of the field. The 8x32s Apex Pro roofs are a handheld delight..compact, solid but quite light and very comfortable to hold for long periods - and also with a nice 7.5 degree fov..but it feels quite a bit wider than the 7x50s. I think an 8x42 pair of roofs would fit very well with your current pairs..they would be very comfortable, not tiring for extended sessions, and stunning in darker skies on clusters, milky way etc. And also excellent for bird and wildlife watching. Good luck with your choice! Dave

I have found the exact same Stu.. About 6 years ago I was driving to work and my right (dominant eye) vision quite quickly went very blurry and "milky".. it was a scary experience! I got an urgent appointment with an optician, who advised it was age related (I was 62 then) and he likened it to bits of material detaching from the sides of my eye and floating around - rather like a snow scene ornament you shake and then watch the "snow" settle.. He said it should settle by itself but that there is no treatment for it. Thankfully it did settle a fair bit. But I can't now view with right eye only. I trained myself to view with my left eye, which thankfully is still reasonably good. I have also found that binoviewers definitely help with viewing Moon and planets..there is some light loss when using binoviewers vs "cyclops", perhaps c half a magnitude, but more comfortable. And I definitely find when binoviewing that my "good" left eye "lifts" my bad right eye, not the other way around. For stellar images (point sources), doubles and fainter clusters I find left eye only viewing best. So now, I have Maxbright II binoviewers and 3 pairs of eyepieces plus barlows, and c 8 single eyepieces plus an eyepatch to cover my weaker right eye for cyclops. HTH, Dave

They seem highly regarded over the pond...and that tripod looks very robust! Dave

Oh dear..I seem to have inadvertently pressed a couple of buttons!..🤦‍♂️🤭 😁😁

What's to correct? A lovely image!👌😄 Dave

Thanks Steve..I do find it very difficult to get a decent mobile phone shot..they never truly reflect what I see through the eyepiece!. I know Stu often manages good mobile phone shots but I believe he does have a proper phone mount? They do look rather like Instruments of Torture though!😄

Having been "promised" a few hours of clearness by the Met Office app, it looked early on as though the clouds (both high up thin cloud and lower fast moving ones) were going to scupper any chance of a session.. ..but I looked out again at c 8.40pm, and there was the Moon very high up and bright, so I got out my Vixen SD115S and did a quick polar alignment of the EM2s equatorial so I could track the objects I planned to observe: M42 of course, the Moon, Rigel, and Sirius. I was pleased to note that although transparency wasn't great, and of course the very bright waxing Moon was drowning out many fainter stars, the seeing looked pretty good. I started on M42 with MBII binoviewers and a pair of Vixen 30mm NPLs..I can't get native magnifications with the 115s as yet (I need to look into this, to see if I can find a truly "ultrashort" adapter). So, I tried 3 different barlows, at 1.6x, 2x and 2.25x. M42 was first, and was a little disappointing compared to my first view 10 days ago (better transparency and no bright moon then). I moved straight to the Moon, and was rewarded with some lovely views, most notably of Plato..I managed a shot of it with my handheld mobile phone (I must get a proper holder!) through the right hand eyepiece of my binoviewer .. Below, for comparison, is a screenshot image taken from the Sky at Night website with credit to the original photographer who used a 9.25" Celestron SCT.. The session turned out to be quite short but very sweet..but I'll write up a proper report later today..but suffice to say for now..I am delighted with this lovely scope!😉 Dave

Hi Stu, By the above, did you mean "The Tak", as in Phyllis, the FS128, or 'the tak', as in anything else "Tak-ish"?🤔🤭😁 Dave

Utterly classic looking setup Steve..but with absolutely top tier optics!😊🤩 Dave

David, your title could just as well have read for my new to me Vixen SD115S.. I've had it for 2 weeks tomorrow and have had just over an hour of proper observing in that time..and before that I'd had under 2 hours with my dearly departed FS128 in the previous 5 weeks, all due to the wettest and cloudiest autumn and winter in Lincolnshire on record..ever!!🌧☔️🌧☔️🌧☔️🌧☹️😡 Dave

Looks fabulous Nicola!👍👏🤩 I love the way the little finder is peeking through the packaging as a teaser! Enjoy! Dave