12 minutes ago, Saganite said:

I don't know why but I have not put my Vixen ED103S wt on this thread, so here she is again.

Truly a beautiful scope Steve!🦊😊

Dave

20 hours ago, Franklin said:

Exactly where it should be Dave, on the mount it was supplied with all those years ago. Looking good! I noticed the GP up for grabs the other day. The SP had the better setting circles and the altaz option.👍

Thanks, Tim.

I do love both SP and GP mounts..but, I've refurbished the SP specially for the SP102, as you say that would have been the original configuration, and the versatility of Altaz and EQ modes of the SP, which the GP can't do, was the deciding factor in keeping the SP.

I've added the brand new counterweight bar and a lighter weight, and put the older ones on the GP, which has now sold.

The SP is ideal for the 102 frac. I might beef up the wooden tripod but for now I'm happy with this setup and can see myself using this alongside the FS128 more often.

Dave

20 hours ago, Franklin said:

Talking of midges. Here's my midget Vixen, it's about all I can fit on the balcony right now.

A62SS on a Porta II with APPTL-130 tripod, I can pick it up with one finger.

 

That's SO cute, Tim..Proper Grab n Go!!👍👍

How does it perform?

Dave

On 01/02/2022 at 23:00, jock1958 said:

In my youth I used to spend part of my summer holidays near Gairloch on the West Coast of Scotland, what a beautiful place with fantastic views, unfortunately there are clouds of those cursed  midges especially in the evening just as the suns setting 😩

Hi Iain,

I'm sadly well acquainted with the accursed midges: most of my family is from Scotland and I used to visit my grandparents in summer holidays when I was just 10..I loved messing about in the local "burn" (stream to us Sassenachs!!🤭), catching small trout and minnows in a net, but I had to learn to live with the wretched midges.

The strange thing is, the Scottish version are smaller than the English midge, but much more aggressive..I've never run away from English midges, but I have from Scottish ones, several times!

Fortunately our trip to the Hebrides will be well past the main midge season, so fingers crossed it should be ok!🙏😉😂

Dave

Thanks Vin, for answering Jocks' query..nothing much I can add to your great reply!👍😊

Dave

Thanks Stu..over the past month/5 weeks or so, having felt really grotty, and frustrated at seeing some lovely clear nights come and go, without being able to get outside,  I've been inspired by the "What did you see tonight thread", whereby SGLers post up their thoughts and experiences, long, short, and detailed reports or just quick summaries.

Reading all this stuff galvanized me into wanting to better log actual clear sky opportunities versus opportunities actually taken..if we have clear skies and I don't use them, I can hardly blame the UK weather if the actual reason I don't get outside is me just not bothering to!

With this in mind I've just switched my Vixen SP mount to Altaz Mode, to give me even less excuse "not to bother"!! 😱😜😂

Dave

Sounds great, John! 

Good look with the move, hope it all goes well👍.

Dave

Had a fiddle about this afternoon with my Vixen SP mount..

I've always used it in EQ mode thus far, (same for my FS128's EM2S mount), but as a couple of my recent short sessions have been hampered a bit by incoming clouds or lack of time, I decided to alter the SP from EQ mode to AZ mode to facilitate more of a grab and go set up..also, we plan to go to the Scottish Islands later in September, and I hope to take this set up with us in the hope of some Bortle 2 skies 🙏🙏.

It's a remarkably simple process to make the switch to AZ mode, and this facility really adds to the versatility and appeal of this lovely mount..

I found this easy pictorial guide online, with acknowledgement to the original poster, Greg Nowell,  see below. The process can be reversed back to EQ mode in less than 5 minutes.

The photos show the mount loaded with my old SP102m F10 achromat, perfectly balanced and extremely smooth in operation.

Even today, these old Vixen SP/GP/GPDX mounts offer great performance, great reliability, great engineering and superb value for money as a used purchase.👍

Dave

Right..so, as at the end of January 2022, my local clear night score for the month was:

12 clear nights total

2 partially clear nights

17 Cloudy/foggy/hazy nights

Of the clear nights, illness prevented my from observing for 6 nights, and the bright moon deterred me on a further 4 nights.

I had 4 sessions under the stars, 2 excellent ones, 1 quite good and one poor session ( the latter two sessions on the "partially clear" nights, where the sessions were hampered by non astro weather issues).

Overall, to have 12 good clear nights in January is great, and I'd happily take that every month!

The illness was, I hope very unusual, so I would hope to manage at least double the number of sessions per month going forward.

Note: All classifications of Clear, Cloudy etc defined as the period from 7pm til midnight, being the usual hours I would observe normally😊

Dave

Es Reid can sort this out for you. He cleaned my FS128 fluorite doublet which had some mould spores on it, caused I believe when I stupidly put back the well sealed dew cap one dewy  evening without letting the lenses dry naturally first.

I did expose the lens to bright spring sunlight to stop it getting any worse, and Es did a wonderful job of cleaning it properly...and crucially ensuring it was perfectly re-collimated afterwards!

Your biggest headache will be getting the lens to him from Scotland (he's in Cambridgeshire).

The safest way if you cant take it physically would be to send him the whole objective cell (not the tube ), packed to within an inch of it's life, with a specialist glass carrier with insurance.

Don't worry, it CAN be sorted👍

Dave

4 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

What a night you missed Dave! Stars right down to the horizon and as steady as a photograph through my scope, and the colours were so vivid. The Patriotic Triple in Cygnus low against my northern horizon stopped me in my tracks with its colour contrast. Still, don't feel bad, there'll be other nights like that some day. 

Thanks Mike.

I looked outside early evening, following a lovely day, with cloudless blue skies (but lots of Con trails - just where are all these people going to at this time of year?🥴).. it was now mostly cloudy (this does happen a lot where I live), so I decided to look out again later.

So, at c 8pm I looked out and could now see some stars, but it was very hazy and lousy transparency..I could barely make out the 7 main stars of Orion..hmm.

My wife and I then watched something on TV til about 9pm, and I went to look once more..by now more stars were out, but I realised I wouldn't get out and set up properly for c 20mins..so I just went to watch more TV!

During the night I answered a call of nature at c2am..we have a Velux in the en suite, and the stars overhead were stunning! If only they'd been like that a few hours later...as you say Mike, there will be other nights..👍🤭..

Dave

Nice setup, Roy👍.

I love the way the Vixen Polaris can double as both in altaz and equatorial configurations..

Looking forward to your first light report😉

Dave

On 29/01/2022 at 11:17, JamieQ said:

Are there any other barriers besides the British weather which may prevent you from enjoying a night outside?

Oh, yes..in no particular order..

- fatigue

- domestic issues/events

- something very good on TV (a rarity)

- mood/inertia ..last night a case in point: a lovely night the later it got, but by then I was tired, couldn't stay up too late as I had to be up early this morning..so I didn't bother🥴

And this morning I regret it!!

Dave

On 07/01/2022 at 02:00, John said:

I wonder who is doing the beta testing ?

..the same people who were testing the Morpheus 17.5mm before launch?🤭😂

Mind you, it was worth the 3 year wait..one of my favourite eyepieces👍

Dave

That's a great spot with such a small aperture, congratulations!👍

Dave

11 hours ago, JamieQ said:

Have you enjoyed evenings before on a sun lounger? 

Yes, but only a few times, and in summer months. More often I've used a reclining garden chair which goes back perhaps 20-30 degrees, but is comfy and much better than sitting fully upright.

I don't do this often though, as the good skies in the UK are rare enough, that when we have one I want to get my scope or binoculars out!

I'm much more likely to do some naked eye observing when I'm away on holiday on a warm springs or summers night🙂.

Dave

With regard to your originally stated objective:

"I'm a final year furniture design student in Nottingham, UK, researching how seating may (or may not) aid in naked-eye stargazing...

The "naked-eye stargazing" I'm referring to is concerned more with experiencing the night sky on an emotional level, rather than purely observational. "

I think the first thing I'd say is that although it's possible to stand to do naked eye observing, I think sitting, or lying down, is the only way to do so comfortably..and I personally feel that to feel anything at the emotional level, I need to be comfortable..and to be comfortable I have to be seated, or lying down.

I think, if practicable, lying down on a sun lounger or similar, is the best way to take in the scale of the sky above us..not the only way, but the best way. 

Others may see it differently of course😊

Dave

I'm not colour blind at all, but I could well believe that as I get older my all round visual acuity is lessening gradually.

With visual astronomy, I've always found most star colour differences to be very subtle..with the exception of reddish stars such as Betelgeuse, Arcturus, Aldebaran etc which have always been very clearly reddish/orange.

When I read my "Double Stars for Small Telescopes" by Sissy Haas, a book I genuinely really like, I do find that the description of colours and hues in the notes/comments sections, often made by historical observers from the 19th century, are, frankly, ridiculous and fanciful, especially when for example they might describe a faint companion, which is several magnitudes dimmer than it's much brighter primary, as being "emerald green" or "topaz"..I do think that Victorian observers in particular took real license in their extravagant "coloured stars" descriptions!😇😋...perhaps they were colour blind?

Dave

On 21/01/2022 at 20:14, JeremyS said:

Ah! Another XL fan 👍🏻
Have you got the 28mm? Quite rare I believe 

Cracking old eyepieces!!

I owned the 5.2mm and 10.5mm XLs and both were brilliant..I also owned their replacement XW5 and XW10, and to be quite honest, apart from the slightly wider fov, 70deg vs 65deg, I couldn't tell the difference in the views🤔.

Congratulations on getting the whole set Mark!👍

Dave

I think your point ref the driven mount is a good one.. I too use a driven mount, but I know a lot of observers these days use Dobs and Altazimuth mounts..for these observers I can see the appeal of a wide or ultra wide fov whereby the observed object stays in view longer between nudges..

Dave

I'd agree regarding the 5mm SSW Tim..I had one for a fairly short time and to be sure it was a nice eyepiece..but I sold it and bought a Vixen HR 3.4mm with a much narrower fov, but to my eyes the views through that eyepiece were essentially perfect. I later sold it, stupidly, but hope to replace it again at some point.

I like wide fields, but if the wide field comes with lots of other compromises such as you described, then what indeed is the point?

I have an excellent 9mm Morpheus which I use a lot..if I want high power I can barlow it quite successfully, but for that kind of magnification I'd be looking at mainly doubles, planets and occasionally the moon..and for close doubles and planetary detaiI I have a 5mm BGO which, as a specialist high power eyepiece designed for maximum sharpness and contrast, would deliver the very best views of such objects, albeit with a narrower field of view.

There are some extended objects that view well in high power wide fields.. M42 is a case in point..that really does look great at 150 - 200x in a good high power widefield like the 70deg Pentax 5mm or my barlowed 82deg Nagler T2 12mm. And some Barlows such as my Baader Hyperion zoom 2.25x do really "get out of the way" 

I do think there are a few really excellent high power eyepieces available, also with pretty wide fields..two that spring to mind are the Pentax XW 3.5 and 5mm..I've owned the 5mm and it was right up there with the BGO in image quality, and I believe the 3.5mm is of a similar standard.

Dave

Hi Steve,

I really like the Axiom 23mm..it's comfortable, very sharp and has great contrast..right up there with the Vixen LVW 22mm, but with an extra 17 degree fov.

It is much bulkier than the Vixen though, too much so for binoviewing..more like a Meade/ES/Maxvision 28mm size and heft.

I've yet to have a session under moon free, transparent skies, but I am optimistic it will be superb on M42 etc, open clusters and bright globs like M13, M92 as well.

Oh, and I think it will work well with my AP Barcon Barlow to become a 2x 11.5mm eyepiece😊..will check and report back on that..

Dave

I was pleased to get out last night, wrapped up to the gunnels against the stiff, cold breeze coming off the North Sea..

I thought I'd put the Vixen SP102 out alongside Trinity the Tak😊..

Both scopes were lined up on Orion, and I spent the next couple of hours happily just moving around Orion, with several visits to Sirius in between.

I used a 2" dielectric mirror diagonal in Trinity and a Baader BBHS Zeiss T2 prism with 2" Clicklock to T2 adapter in the Vixen..this enables the use of 2" eyepieces in the Vixen, despite it only having a 1.25" focuser..I found in my 'bits box' an adapter with a T2 connection on one end which threads into the prism front end, and on the other end a thread which fits into the chromed draw tube of the Vixen's focuser, see below:

This setup minimises vignetting with the BBHS prism (which has 35mm free aperture).

Using this setup with my Axiom LX 23mm 82 deg in the Vixen gave 43x, extremely similar to the 45x it gives in the Tak (the scopes focal lengths are 1000mm and 1040mm respectively.

In both scopes the fields looked remarkably similar in size when viewing M42..of course the Tak at 128mm was a good deal brighter than in the Vixen, but the Trapezium in both scopes stayed sharp right to the edge of the field.

Using a 9mm Morpheus, a lot more detail became visible in the Tak, with E and F stars faintly but definitely visible with direct vision, despite the bright moon. Nevertheless, the contrast and sharpness in the Vixen was still very pleasing..only on bright stars like Rigel was CA apparent, as a fine violet halo around the star..on anything below mag 1 it was really not an issue..and Rigel B was clearly visible in both scopes, and very sharp in the Vixen - I'm pretty sure that was due to the BBHS prism, which really does seem to reduce scatter, plus the fact that I cleaned it recently but haven't yet cleaned the dielectric mirror diagonal, which I know has some visible dust on it.

I spent an interesting half hour on Sigma Orionis, and readily saw with direct vision the 4th faint companion, estimated at mag 11 or fainter. Here, the Vixen was well beaten by the Tak, only showing a very faint glimpse, with averted vision, and only with the 9mm Morpheus.

M42 itself presented lovely detail in both scopes, but the Bat wings could be seen to extend much more across the field in the Tak, especially in the Morpheus 17.5mm, which seems to have particularly good light transmission.

Finally, I came tantalisingly close to seeing the Pup, Sirius' close companion last night..sadly, there was just too much scintillation of the image (and the strong breeze didn't help).

I didn't use the BBHS prism in the Tak last night..qas I stated above, I did feel that light scatter was noticeably less in the prism than the mirror diagonal, and look forward to a proper Tak/Prism session soon.. but for last night, I thoroughly enjoyed being out with two very different, but enjoyable refractors😊.

Dave

Very interesting John, and great photo.

To be honest, I'm not a serious lunar observer, I don't know the names of many features and while I do like looking at the moon in it's younger phases, I confess I am always quite happy when the moon disappears and the dark nights reappear!🤭.

All that said, I have found this thread really interesting, and the quality of your image really shows how good the seeing must have been the night you took the photo..and really interesting to see quite clearly a part of the moon, the limb, that many of us might up until now have used only to check for CA in our scopes!😂

Great stuff!

Dave

FS128 and Vixen SP102m both out for an outing tonight. Bit of a breeze, and Moon still very bright but just going to cruise Orion and compare the views..😊

Dave