F15Rules

Dave,

I really admire your approach to this scope, and look forward to following your journey with it.

As someone with genuine affection for many Tal products (for example I've owned at least 6 Tal 100's in various incarnations over the years), and an excellent 125R achromat, I know that a well sorted Tal can be a joy to use.

I also know that all of their products have a kind of "old school industrial" engineering feel (and smell!), and that sometimes their QC is "variable".

I remember when the Apolar scope was launched, there was a lot of interest and anticipation, but sadly, several high profile poor experiences (including our highly respected scope and gear reviewer @john above), and a relatively high retail price for a scope with non-exotic glasses and complex design, meant that the model never took off in the UK.

They clearly had and have the potential to shine optically, but those early bad experiences, and the influx since the Apolars' launch, of more mass produced but consistently well built chinese competition such as the ED120 and others, at very competitive prices have since dominated that market.

It seems to me, Dave, that you sound like just the sort of buyer who could make this scope work: you have done your research, identified the potential pitfalls, and seem to have confidence in your ability to address and overcome and such pitfalls you may encounter.

I wish you every success and hope yours proves to be a "good 'un"!👍

Dave

Welcome to the forum and Happy Christmas 😊.

Yes, you live in a lovely county..we were up there two weeks ago in Warkworth and Amble visiting friends and were lucky enough to have a nice unexpected session with binoculars whilst there.

Good luck with finding the right first scope for you, you've come to the right place for helpful advice..👍

Dave

2 hours ago, Chefgage said:

Enjoyed the launch but on the same note quite disappointed. The coverage I thought was very poor compared to what space X produce. By this I mean appart from the first 10 seconds the rest was mostly just computer simulation showing the rocket as it disended and staged

Well, it IS a serious scientific project, and not a movie show...😊

Dave

Very uplifting (sorry!) event..the culmination of many many collaborative teams working together..

Dave

19 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Very nice Dave.

I see you went for the optional accessory those Pentax guys offer. Nice handle!

Ah, bless you Jeremy..thats a pen.. quite clearly a pen, actually

When exactly did you last have an eye test??😋

Dave

Postie came today following a heads up from Flo on Wednesday..

Resistance was Futile! 😁

It's certainly a lovely looking Big beastie!

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Dave

1 hour ago, NGC 1502 said:

To FLO, you’re offering a £25 voucher for an image with “all spaces occupied”.

I’m waiting for someone with lateral thinking to occupy the spaces with Mars bars or Milky Way bars, or Galaxy bars or whatever 😁😁😁😁

A very happy Christmas to all👍

That would certainly be a lot cheaper way to fill it, Ed!!😂

Happy Christmas!👍

Dave

1 hour ago, Dave scutt said:

I don't know how you have time to read all those books with all the clear nights we've been having 🤣

Book deliveries, scope deliveries (major shareholder in Takahashi), eyepiece deliveries, observing sessions, imaging sessions..Jeremy can handle them all!👍🙃

Merry Christmas!

Dave

26 minutes ago, cajen2 said:

Sorry, less exclusive / expensive selection

Please don't apologise for your eyepieces...we all have different means and are at different stages of our great hobby.

What really matters is that we can all get some wonderful observations with whatever equipment we have.

Speaking for myself, I'd happily trade my top 3 eyepieces for "lesser" ones in exchange for doubling the number of decent clear observing nights we get here in the UK!☺️

Dave

2 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Takahashi TOE 4mm

Been waiting for one of these to come into stock for a few weeks. Up popped an in-stock notification from FLO at lunchtime yesterday, ordered within seconds, despatched early PM and just delivered. Just in time for Christmas. Thanks FLO 👍🏻

Lovely looking eyepiece Jeremy, and with that nice knurled surface so easy to handle..

Dave 

On 21/12/2021 at 16:33, JeremyS said:

Very nice 👌 

But why have you attached a vacuum cleaner to the counterweights? 🤔

I'm a sucker for a good photo!👍☺️

Dave

On 21/12/2021 at 12:04, Alan White said:

Postman Pete been a few minutes ago, good that its Astro realted,
sad its not the new boiler circuit board as still no heating and 3 weeks into frozen nether regions now.

Astro wise, regretted selling an EP that I liked a lot, so replaced with another.
Takahashi LE 5mm.

Alan, sorry to hear of your boiler/heating woes..we had a leak in our external oil boiler 8 days ago and had no hot water for 5 days and nights..that was hard enough -  and we were able to shower while visiting family, so goodness knows how you're managing😱😭..

I hope you get some good news before Christmas!

And a lovely EP by the way👍

Dave

19 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

I can see my favourite asterism all year round Dave: the handle of the Big Dipper

 

Yes, I love it too, Jeremy, but at this time of year in the evening it's obscured from view by tall conifers and I just can't get a handle on it at all!

Dave

7 hours ago, DaveGibbons said:

I like many others Paul love the majesty of a clear dark night  but hate the deep dark day's of winter , if only we could live in perpetual spring! 🌝

Agreed, Dave. 

But with winter, not spring, constellations!☺️

Dave

Apart from the narrow fov (2deg IIRC?), these are great in every way, typical Pentax quality, and very sharp, contrasty images.

Enjoy!👍

Dave

A nice list👍, thanks for sharing.

Like in the Turn Left at Orion books Guy co-authored, I really like the illustrations..a much more realistic impression of what can be seen through moderate sized amateur scopes.

Dave

On 15/12/2021 at 12:34, Stu said:

With the x2.25 barlow you are down to 3.2mm which is quite handy.

Me too. I often use a Baader 2.25x Hyperion zoom Barlow with my Carton 7-21mm zoom..that gives 3.11mm equivalent, or 334x in my FS128, and a great power for closer doubles like Alnitak and Delta Cygni, separations 2.4" and 2.7" respectively.

On steady nights these look magical at 300x +..

Dave

1 minute ago, Dave1 said:

I have yet to use the Pentax 6mm Ortho in action. I only have a 60mm telescope at the minute. Which with an 6mm eyepiece will give an exit pupil of 0.36mm. Will have to give it ago, image will probably be to dim. 

Worth a try though..as it's an old eyepiece it might be worth carefully cleaning it with a cotton bud lightly dampened with Baader Wonder Fluid, just to ensure its clean..🙂

Dave

4 minutes ago, Franklin said:

I'm begining to think it's just one big black cloud following me around!

But on the brightside, I've an SD81S arriving before xmas which should give the FS78 a bit of competition I reckon.

That is when I can eventually get them out for a side by side shootout👍.

Now that will be an interesting comparison..

I've owned two ED103s (virtually identical to the current SD103s) and both were optically superb. I only let my last one go when I had the chance to acquire my FS128.

Lots of first light details and photos asap, please😊!

Dave

7 minutes ago, Dave1 said:

Well I wouldn't mind trying an ED doublet 4", 5", or 6" between F11-F15. And the observatory to go with them. I already have the mount, to mount them on! I do dream after certain lines of eyepieces. Pentax SMC Ortho line, ZAO I and ZAO II. The Pentax SMC are rated up there with the ZAO II. 

I do have a Pentax 6mm Ortho but its there normal none SMC version...Still suppose to be an excellent eyepiece.

I've only ever had one really negative experience with a Pentax product..it was an XF zoom 7-21mm eyepiece which had truly horrible chromatic aberration at night. However, I am aware that many users of this eyepiece love it for solar viewing..🤔

By contrast (sorry), their XL SMC 8-24mm zoom is truly excellent for astronomy, and every other Pentax product I've used has been of very good quality overall👍.

How do you find your "normal" Ortho in use, Dave?

Dave

I feel I need both, they fulfil different needs.

I use my Vixen 8.5x32 roofs for birdwatching in the garden and on walks but also for quick night sky views, especially on holidays.

I use my Orion 9x63 Mini Giant bins for nice 5 degree views of clusters, moon etc, usually mounted on a tripod. Great for very short 5-15 minute peeks and occasionally for longer views. 

But if sky conditions are anything like good, I want a scope to be out. That's when I really start to "observe", rather than "have a quick look"..

That said, I do appreciate that many enthusiasts really do concentrate on Binocular astronomy almost exclusively, and often reading their reports spurs me on to look harder and deeper..I probably need one more binocular of around 15x70 or 15x80 to cover all the bases properly..🤔☺️.

Dave

6 hours ago, Franklin said:

Clear days, cloudy nights and foggy mornings. Merry xmas!

You've got to laugh, Tim, otherwise we'd just cry!!😢😭🤪😂

Dave

22 hours ago, wookie1965 said:

I have never been abroad furthest I have been is the Isle of Man😁. 

But that may change as I am getting fed up with this British weather. 

+1 for that Paul.

Dave

Great report Badhex!👍

Your new Apo and XW sound like a marriage made in heaven.

Thanks for sharing, especially at a time when some of us can hardly remember our last decent session!😂

Dave

1 hour ago, Stu said:

Optically and mechanically they are excellent. I often use mine with more extension to get a higher multiplying effect.

Stu,

Do you have any info on what different magnifications you get with which length extensions?

TBH, I've never properly got my head around how you calculate these things, same as with binoviewers: I'm never exactly sure what magnification I am getting..I tend to "guestimate" it from a comparison with a cyclops view with a known magnification..

Dave