F15Rules

Great story Stu👍. 

Took me back to my working life involving driving all over the UK for over 35 years til I retired in July 2019..can't believe it's been almost 3 years since I worked!

Early morning, late evening in spring and summer certainly provided a different and peaceful perspective on our environment.

I recently saw the moon rising in the east, circa 8pm, very low and looking huge, just hanging there, across the south Lincs fens..it really did feel more like our planets' twin, rather than its' satellite.

Hope you had a good trip home..if it makes you feel better, my car (petrol SUV) now costs £95 to fill up, with a maximum range of 550 miles..😱😭🤦..

Dave

1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

I can't think of anything more fitting as a beautiful garden ornament than a clutch of beautiful telescopes. They look great, but i think there's a stray leaf on your lawn. 

Paul's right about my FS128. I should have kept it as it was my favourite scope, but when a FS152 came within my reach I got greedy. One of life's harsh lessons!

Thanks Mike. Actually, the lawn isn't great at the moment..I just treated it with Feed & Weed yesterday, and already there are black patches appearing as the daisies and other weeds begin to die away..I don't want to kill them all, just to leave more grass than weeds!😊

Dave

5 hours ago, paulastro said:

Three beautiful looking scopes there Dave.  I have fond memories of using Mike's FS128 when he owned it.  From a selfish point of view, I wish he had kept it.  Ah well.

I just love your garden, the scopes are lucky to have such a nice place to be set up in 😃.

Thanks for your kind remarks Paul. Yes, I know Mike often regrets selling his FS128..I've made similar mistakes myself, and, barring illness reasons, I plan to keep Trinity for the rest of my observing life: only now, after owning her for 5 years, do I feel I'm starting to really get the best from her (my fault/limitations, nothing to do with the scope!).

Dave

Having a spring clean of our outbuildings in this lovely weather, so took a couple of shots of my 3 (soon to be two) scopes..

L-R: All - Tak setup, FS128, EM2s mount and FC-L Tak Tripod, Vixen SP102m on Vixen Super Polaris Mount in Altaz mode, and home made wood tripod, and Carton Japan 60mm F12 achromat on Carton EQ/Altaz mount in EQ mode on SW aluminium tripod.. I have the original wooden tripod, but it's too short for me to use comfortably, more suited to a child..

(This little fellow isn't getting much use due to my acute Takitis - which is compounded by Vixenitis - both of which are incurable, apparently..so I'll be looking for a new home for him soon ).

Dave😊

It was a lovely clear, transparent night last night but sadly I couldn't observe..

Tonight I could observe but of course the sky wasn't at all great, our weather forecast said clear but with poor air quality, likely mist or fog later.

I did pop out though, and to start with the sky wasn't too bad..M42 at low power (x45) was nice, but I couldn't get beyond x115 magnification and transparency was poor..no sign of E or F at all.

So I spent a half hour looking at a few Orion favourites, since it will be effectively gone this time next week, and also at the double cluster, which was nice but showing far fewer faint stars than usual.

I did, however, get to use my new Tak tripod, and it proved, at seated height, to be very solid, with vibrations damping down in 1 to 1.5 seconds..very happy with that..

Dave

10 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

they allowed me to put  it in my bag and walk out of the shop 🤔

That's interesting, Jeremy..can we please see a photo of the handle on your bag??🤭

Dave

9 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Looks the part, Mike 👍🏻

..and not a handle in sight!

Mind you, that mount looks as if it could handle anything..🤭😂.

Lovely setup, Mike. At the Practical Astronomy Show, Alan mentioned you'd gone all mysterious about a beast of a mount you'd found, so this is it.

Wonderful solid base for pretty much any scope!👍

Dave

32 minutes ago, Arneb said:

Couldn't resist the allure of using one of these with the NP101 any longer...

 

Lovely looking setup, Arneb (or Alpha Leporis😊, like the name!).

Just a simple, classic looking top end combination👍.

Dave

19 hours ago, tomato said:

Well, there were a lot binos on display and the superbly engineered Rowan mounts are aimed at visual astronomers? The well engineered scope  trolleys on display are also aimed primarily at big Dob owners.

Fair comment. There were also some mouthwatering big refractors such as AP Starfire, APM 152 F8, which appeal to both visual and imaging fans. I suspect that a good few observers, like me, just enjoyed looking at scopes we aren't ever likely to look through. (being a proud 128mm Tak owner though, I'm not complaining!

19 hours ago, tomato said:

maybe in 5 years time the imagers will all be glued to a laptop screen in the house. 

I find that prospect to be totally depressing!😱🥴

Fortunately, I also don't believe it will be the case..🤭😊👍

Dave

On 19/03/2022 at 21:18, mikeDnight said:

I've seen the bright slither of nebulosity into which the horse head protrudes, through a Tak FC100DC. I observed this from the suburbs of Burnley in Lancashire. The night was transparent and my dark adaption was excellent due to observing from under a blackout hood for around 30mins on this one target. To date, it has been the single most difficult nebula I've so far seen in a 4" scope. The horse head itself was only hinted at and appeared only as an ill defined notch extending from the extensive dark nebula into the brighter nebula, and could only be noticed with averted vision, which made its precise placement on the sketch I made impossible. It was very tiny!

 

Wow!! Ok Mike, how about we do a swap..my FS128 and my eyes for your Tak 100 and your eyes??

Dave

4 hours ago, FLO said:

I remember my wife took one look at it and said "You're not keeping that indoors!" 😆 

My wife, incidentally, chose the 'Ursa Major' brand name for these affordable Dobsonians. 

Steve

So, Great Bear, sorry, Steve, has your wife unwittingly revealed her pet nickname for you??😁😂

Dave

On 16/03/2022 at 21:46, JeremyS said:

Every time I move an eyepiece on I come to regret it.

So the collection grows

If you really want to slim down your collection Jeremy, you could perhaps offer a free Tak scope with each purchase?..that would soon clear a few dozen? 

Dave

On 16/03/2022 at 23:06, Louis D said:

You and me both.

You must get through GALLONS of Baader Wonder Fluid!! 😱😂

Dave

On 16/03/2022 at 22:47, Stu said:

I’ll make that laughable statement and say that ‘I’m done’ changing eyepieces, but I don’t even believe myself so don’t expect you guys to either 🤪🤪🤣🤣

Been there, said that Stu..it's rubbish!!🥴😜😂

Dave

13 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Crikey, Dave: real people!

Yes, Jeremy!👍

I was looking for a bent over chap carrying 10 Taks strapped to his back, but without success...

.. couldn't you make it??😋😁

Dave

Had a lovely time at the Kettering Practical Astronomy Show today👍.. 

Some amazing scopes on view (some at eye-watering prices!), and it was really nice to meet a few SGLers in person..

A few photos if I may..

My good friend Steve Bennett aka "Saganite" (left) with Astro legend Peter Drew..

Paul (Paulastro), great mate to, and tormentor of, MikeDnight 😁..

..and Steve (Saganite, far right, again), Alan White, centre, and yours truly left, aka F15Rules).

Oh, and not pictured, it was great to meet Ed as well (NGC1302) - top bloke!👍

Our thanks to all the organisers and exhibitors!

Dave 

3 hours ago, IB20 said:

Two nights in a row, and non school nights - superb.

Haven’t named my Tak yet, maybe I should have a naming competition? 🤔

Temptress?

Thriftkiller?? 

Threatener of Marriages??? (Tom for short)..

Just a few to start you off😋😊😂

Dave

50 minutes ago, Franklin said:

Just the job for the EM-2 Dave, looks great. I thought of you when I saw the ad, did you get the shorter legs as well?

Hi Tim,

No, I asked the seller to just sell me the tripod and spreader/tray, as I already had the hub for connecting the mount..so the seller could make a complete short tripod to sell separately.

Dave

Dancing in the moonlight...

Dave

Takahashi FC-L tall tripod..made from solid mahogany with adjustable legs and "Tak Green" furniture..

My FS128, "Trinity", which I've now had for 5 years, came to me with this exact tripod: however, I sold it quite soon afterwards as I felt my existing trusty but fixed height old home built tripod built by another amateur over 10 years ago was a bit more rigid..

I always thought Trinity looked her best on the Tak tripod though, and as I'm increasingly tending to sit to observe, I decided to pounce when I saw this one for sale.

I think the adjustments available with the Tak tripod will suit me better - especially when viewing lower altitude objects like M42, Sirius, Scorpio etc..and, of course, the more I lower the tripod, the more stable it will be!

It arrived today, from Scotland, in very nice condition and I'm chuffed with it..I will keep the old tripod for my trusty old Vixen SP102, on which it will be as solid as a rock..😊👍.

Dave

On 16/03/2022 at 23:59, Mr Spock said:

In terms of image quality the Morpheus wins. But it sure is ugly... 

..says a large Dob user!..😋😂😂

Seriously, beauty is such a subjective thing..I often think scopes can look beautiful (as long as they're fracs!😜), but I rarely think of eyepieces as beautiful or ugly..FWIW, of the 4 I like the look of the Pentax best (not the views though!) and the Nagler the least (it's a bit small for my liking)..but really not an issue on any of them.

Coming back to the what counts factors..I've owned Morpheus 14mm, Pentax XW 14mm and the Nagler 13mm T6.

The Nagler is excellent, but very light (so not convenient match to my Morpheii and Axiom LXs).

I have an excellent Nagler T2 12mm in that spot which is much heftier and has both 2" and 1.25" capability.

The Delos is by all accounts excellent optically, but far too expensive for my wallet and has the dreaded undercuts.

The Pentax was nice but has significant field curvature at F7-F8 and, in side by side comparisons with my then Morpheus 14mm, the latter was a clear winner to my eyes and significantly wider fov.

I've since sold the Morph 14mm and replaced it with the 9mm Morph which is superb, and I also have the 12mm T2 Nag and Morph 17.5 which is also superb, so the 14mm size is superfluous.

As Don says you can't go wrong with any of your choices really. I've never used the APM mentioned, so can't comment on that.

Good luck with your choice 👍.

Dave

20 hours ago, Don Pensack said:

Everyone keeps mentioning the Vixen LVW, but I don't think most people realize they were discontinued around 15 years ago.  There can't be that many used ones around by now.

Not so..in the UK they were readily available as recently as 2016/17..

Vixen LVW Eyepieces https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/270614-vixen-lvw-eyepieces/

There are plenty of used ones in circulation over here..it's just that they are so good, hardly anyone ever sells one now!

Great eyepiece range👍

Dave

That's a great picture, very sharp!👍

Dave

2 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

 

Imagers do not love the clamshell. It's a likely source of differential flexure since it holds the tube only in the middle.  It can help to put the guide scope on the main OTA but tube rings are the real solution.

Olly

I'm not an imager

Dave

14 minutes ago, cajen2 said:

I just knew this thread would become a Takahashi lovefest.......😉😄

 

 

Aah, but I never said I was loyal to Takahashi though😇..