F15Rules

1 hour ago, Peter_D said:

Here's a useful article on observing Sirius B:

https://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/how-to-observe-sirius-b/

 

That's a useful and informative article..but do bear in mind it's diagram is based on viewing through a reflector.

If you're viewing through a refractor with diagonal, the image will be the right way up and reversed East and West.. in other words, with Sirius A at the centre of the field when due south, Sirius B will be between the 3 and 4 o'clock position.

I've observed the Pup just a couple of times, with a very fine quality Vixen ED103s 4" F7.7 apo refractor. On one of those nights it was crystal clear for seconds at a time, just like a tiny pin prick.

The seeing that night was exceptional, in Bortle 5 skies.

I now live in rural Bortle 4 skies and have a wonderful Tak FS128 apo. But we have a micro climate caused by the surrounding low hills of the Lincolnshire Wolds, and I have only once felt that I thought I saw the Pup in the past 4 years, due to local seeing conditions.

I don't think light pollution will necessarily prevent you seeing Sirius B, but I do think local seeing conditions are extremely important.

Good luck, Mark, I'm sure you will bag it with your Tak at some point!😊👍

Dave

Just now, Saganite said:

This was the reason I gave up on mine and sold it asap, after viewing Jupiter.  It seemed like a purple blob.

So you were "having a purple patch" in your planetary observing at that time, Steve??🤦‍♂️😂

7 minutes ago, lunator said:

Hi Dave,

I have always felt the 'colours/hues' are definitely affected by type of telescope.  The most vivid colours were in my ST120.

The most 'natural' colours were in my 200mm F6 newt. I most definitely peferred the view i the latter

Cheers

Ian

Hi Ian, 

I think that makes total sense, as the ST120, nice views though it can deliver, has significant chromatic aberration, whereas your Newt is effectively apochromatic.

The same goes for my fluorite Tak FS128..visually apochromatic, whereas my F10 Vixen SP102m achromat, although quite well corrected, clearly shows some CA, especially on brighter objects.

Back in the 1970s, Vega was often described as a "bluish white" star...and so it looked in my F15 60mm achromat. Even the late great Sir Patrick Moore so described Vega in his Observers Book of Astronomy!😂

In my FS128 it is clearly pure white.

Dave

5 hours ago, HiveIndustries said:

As a species we should constantly try and increase our production and consumption of energy

What???? Because????😱😱🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

That sounds like something the Borg would say!

Further comment is futile..

Dave

7 hours ago, johninderby said:

Irrelevant side note here but Columbus bought maps of the east coast of North America from fisherman in Bristol before setting off. They had been fishing mainly off the coast of Newfoundland for many years and the fishing vilage of Walker Newfoundland was founded in 1491. 

That's fascinating info, John..

How did you get a handle on that??

Dave

22 hours ago, lunator said:

Hi Paul, 

I'm  glad we agree on the colours 😃

Cheers

Ian

I'm always amazed at the different colours ("hues" is probably a better word, as the differences are often extremely subtle) that people perceive when observing doubles.

I've noticed that as I get older, my colour sensitivity is less good than it used to be..I guess this is an inevitable side effect of the ageing process.

In truth, though, I have never been able to perceive many of the hues described by other observers, especially 19th century ones, and I do wonder if many of the "exotic" hues described by Victorian users of 3-4" achromatic refractors had as much to do with atmospheric conditions and the limitations of their optics, as it did with their having exceptional vision?🤔

Dave

Just wondered if anyone on here was lucky enough to snag the Maxbright II on Fleabay this evening?

In alleged perfect, as new condition and also came with  a new Baader Amici Prism diagonal with BBHS coatings.

It went for £526 Inc shipping, which I thought wasn't a bad price given the virtual impossibility of finding a new or used one in the past 12 months or more, and the Amici Prism included would have pushed the package new cost up to around £630 or so..

..sadly, the timing wasn't right for me, but someone will have a smile on their face this evening👍😊

Dave

On 20/09/2021 at 16:31, jock1958 said:

Bought my FC-100DL in 2018 new for £2,600, but it’s a later version with the Tak blue focuser not black.
As far as second hand prices go I would pay approximately 60 - 65% of original price if it was in excellent condition, so maybe £1,700 🤔.  

Sorry can’t help with specialised Takahashi collectors, I tend to keep an eye on this forum and UK ABS. 

..does that  price include a handle though, Iain? 

Dave

9 hours ago, Stu said:

Might as well add these in here too. First one is my Vixen 102mm f10 PST Mod. Not classical Vixen looks as it has been modified into a smaller tube but it works very well.

The second shot is my very lovely Vixen FL102S, looks fab and is optically excellent too.

Nice photos Stu 👍.

I note you haven't mounted Florence the Fluorite alongside "Frankenvixen"..

Are you worried they might fight?🤪😂

Dave

Some fabulous gear there, Stephen.

Thanks for sharing 👍!

Dave

And, joking apart, that's a nice find John, and should deliver you some great views👍🙂

Dave

On 17/10/2021 at 20:32, rl said:

Very nice indeed. We will of course be expecting comparisons....

Looks like the age-old debate is about to real its ugly head again...!

...when I first read that, I thought you meant "The reflectors vs refractors" debate..but as that particular debate was won by fracs long ago..you obviously meant "rack and pinion vs crayford" focusers.. 

My apologies for jumping to conclusions! 

🙈🛡️😋😂🤣🍿

Dave

12 hours ago, Saganite said:

No formal ceremony.....,    but I have named her Arcturus.

That's a lovely name for a lovely scope Steve👍..

Of course, that orange stripe that Robert mentioned just happens to be the actual colour of the actual star Arcturus...

Dave

I posted a thread some time back showing how I could get my Tak FS128 to focus, using Baader Maxbright binoviewers (much the same optically as WO and other popular entry level brands) without using a barlow..

Although my thread was based on a T2 connectivity system and Baader Maxbright binoviewer, I'm currently using a Seben (same as Revelation) model which doesn't have a T2 connection at the nosepiece end - just a normal 1.25" fixed nosepiece.

I can still get native focus with no barlow, but with less room left to rack in the focuser further. I can say, though, that this setup does focus perfectly with a pair of Kson 16.8mm orthos with no barlow in my FS128.

Hope that's of some help..you can find my original thread here:

Hi Steve,

Sorry for the late response to your latest post, I've been off the grid this weekend with both sickness and family visitors (yes, I know, not a great combination!😂).

You should be so proud of that beautiful restoration Steve..I so enjoyed reading of your journey with this wonderful scope, and I am almost dribbling at the thought of seeing both your beautiful long refractors side by side on your AZ100..

And it will be absolutely fascinating to see how Andromeda compares with the AE newbie (does "she" have a formal naming ceremony planned??!🤭).

Many congratulations Steve.

Best wishes

Dave

46 minutes ago, jetstream said:

These are vg eyepieces, somewhat forgotten and under rated IMHO.

I agree..I've only used them a few times in short sessions so far, but on my FS128 they deliver wonderful spacewalk views with great contrast, and very sharp out to about 95%or better. 

I always loved using my dearly departed Vixen LVW 22mm, and I'm hoping the views through the Axiom 23mm will match or better the Vixen..🤞🤫😊

Dave

I bought a pair of Celestron Axiom LX 2" 82degree UWA eyepieces fairly recently, in 23mm and 31mm focal lengths, based on some very positive reviews from the US where they seem to be more commonly found.

I knew they were large, heavy eyepieces, but I suppose nothing could really prepare me for their actual size and heft!..

The bigger 31mm weighs in at 1449 gms excluding top and bottom caps   (!!😱😂), and the 23mm at 926 gms.

Although my scopes' focuser can handle the full weight of these eps easily enough, they can affect the balance point of the tube in use, compared to my lighter Morpheus and Nagler T2 eyepieces.

I've read reports of big eps like this being "decloaked", ie stripped of their outer shell in order to reduce their weight, but until now I'd stayed clear of attempting it myself. 

Well, over the weekend, I decided to take the plunge and try it on the 23mm first. I had read that it was quite easy to do..

 - just remove the two small Celestron decals located on either side of the eyepiece outer shell..

 - this reveals a small Phillips cross headed screw on each side, these need to be removed to free up the shell from the main inner eyepiece body.

-  Having done the above, the outer shell should simply lift off when you hold the 2" bottom barrel.

I did all the above, and bingo, the outer bulbous shell lifted off easily..it really was very simple in reality, it's just a little nerve-racking to start interfering with a high quality eyepiece in case it is seriously damaged.

The process is completely reversible, apart from the fact that the two small metallic film Celestron decals do get scratched while being lifted off with a very small slot headed screwdriver. The inner body and outer shell of the eyepiece were left undamaged.

There is some factory applied grease on the inner black body when the shell is first removed, but this is easy to clean off without getting any near the optics.

Below are a couple of images showing the before and after pictures, and showing the outer shell next to the decloaked eyepiece.

The weight saving on the 23mm is significant, about a third of the eyepieces' weight is in the shell.

Using digital scales I measured the original weight as being 926gms and the decloaked weight at 649 gms..the decloaked weight is MUCH closer now to my Nagler 12mmT2 at 500 gms, and my Morpheus 9mm at about 330gms.  ( if I fit a 2" to 1.25" adapter (weighing around 100 gms each) permanently to the Nagler and the Morpheus, the difference is reduced again as the Axiom is a 2" barrel only, so doesn't need the adapter).

I will try the eyepiece out in it's decloaked format before deciding whether to do the same with the 31mm monster (which in it's original condition outweighs the Tele Vue 31mm behemoth by at least 300 gms or more!).

I quite like the decloaked "simplicity" look, although I also found the original state with the outer shell in place quite attractive too.

Thanks for reading😊.

Dave

9 hours ago, wookie1965 said:

Brilliant Doug was clear here before I was debating whether to set up or not, looked at Jupiter with my binoculars, got my tripod out levelled it put the mount on turned around bank of cloud coming over. 

I should of set up earlier then I could of got at least an hour. 

Smashing report I will have to check but I am sure there are a couple there I have not seen so thanks for them. 

I had the same here Paul..got all set up (and well wrapped up, it was 🥶 COLD last night!), 6 or 7 minutes looking at the moon...and in rolled the clouds🙄..

Of course, this morning it's back to clear blue sky!🤪😂

Dave

That's a cracking looking mount..and British made too!✴️👍

So encouraging to see such true, UK based innovation in engineering -  especially in collaboration with a UK reseller who really do actually listen to their customer's feedback, and use that feedback to help inform new product development.

Wishing you every success with this project guys

Dave

+1 for Pseudo Masuyamas!!😊👍

Dave

Good for you, I sense your delight😊.

I got my scope out at 10.10 pm and got precisely 7 minutes viewing before the clouds rolled in...🙄..story of my observing life lately!

Never mind, there will be other nights soon, hopefully..

Glad you got some great views though👍

Dave 

Nice report!

I've just got home from a family evening meal out and noticed how clear it is..(cold, though, only 6 degrees!).

I'm going out in a few minutes to see what I can see..😊

Dave

On 13/10/2021 at 20:52, John said:

I used to have those. I had one with the Orion Ultrascopic branding and one branded Celestron Ultima. Both the same optically. Very nice glass, as you say.

The only series around at that time that I felt competed and perhaps even bettered slightly, the Tele Vue plossls

 

I very much agree John.

I had a set of 7 (out of a possible 9 total) of Parks Gold Series of the same design. Lovely eyepieces with smooth barrels and nice optics. The shorter focal lengths had shortish eye relief, although the shortest (3.8mm) version (not shown in the photo)  was, I believe, a 7.5mm with a Smyth lens screwed into the bottom  - thus retaining longer ER.

If you can find a pair, the 20/25/30mms make wonderful binoviewing pairs👍...look at the eyelens on the 30mm😊

Dave

Great report, and it sounds as if you're Berlebach tripod has transformed your Mak's performance!👍 A solid platform is just so important for getting the best from any scope.

Those BCOs really are great eyepieces for the money..very small, light and simple but the Ortho optics really deliver pure images, and on a still misty night Maks really come into their own on doubles.

Dave

17 minutes ago, Stu said:

Thanks Dave 👍

I’m half tempted to get another for binoviewing, but suspect I would be better off with something like a 7 or 9mm Delite and GPC/barlow them to higher powers.

I get that Stu..I have a nice Carton Japan 7-21mm zoom which I regularly use with the Baader Hyperion zoom Barlow at 2.25x.screwed in.

In my FS128 that combination gives me 334x down to 111x at the turn of the zoom barrel - a really nice and versatile range of powers, depending on sky conditions👍.

Dave