F15Rules

Does it have GOTO?

Dave

Postie arrived at lunchtime and dropped off this lovely 9mm Morpheus..thanks to Steve (@saganite)😉.

This will go nicely with my 17.5mm Morph and 12mm Nagler T2. These will all work really well with my Baader 2.5x barlow to give me a mag range on the Tak between 33x up to 260x, plenty for most nights. I might add later one more high power ep such as a 6.5mm Morpheus or a Vixen HR 3.4mm for special nights😉.

I also have a Celestron Axiom 23mm en route to join my 31mm "beast", to give me a set of 76 deg -82 deg eps👍.

I'll post a picture of the full set when the 23mm arrives..

Dave

On 30/04/2021 at 13:42, Dean Hale said:

Quite rare for me to stumble across a bargain. £43 from amazon warehouse. A couple of very small marks on the side. No doubt i shall shortly add my own when clambering around in the dark.

Nice find Dean, a genuine bargain!👏👍.

Just a tip, something that I've found useful.. try turning the chair around "back to front", (see photos below) and then sit astride the chair, like on horseback.

I find this helpful and more comfortable sometimes, particularly when viewing tight doubles, or teasing out faint details on planets etc..why? Because it's important to be comfortable in order to get the best out of your scope, and by sitting this way, you feel secure, you can lean into the chair back and hold onto it for support, rather than being tempted to grab the tripod and quite possibly knock it, cause vibrations and even lose your target from the field of view!

Try it, you might be pleasantly surprised!☺️

Dave

1 hour ago, Nik271 said:

I'm actually very thrilled by the success of the small Mak, it just keeps giving.

Excellent, Nik! 

You and your scope did really well👍. I've owned a couple of good Russian Maks in the past, and they could rival the best fracs on good nights..sounds like you have a good one!

Dave

7 hours ago, John said:

Nice report Dave - thanks for adding it to this thread

Glad you got some clear sky - it's been rather poor here for the past couple of nights.

 

Thanks, John.

It was a nice night last night, but just so cold for the end of April! I'm actually wondering.. could the "wobbling" I saw be as much to do with the day/night ground temperature variations lately, as much as the atmospheric conditions?

During April almost every night has been at or close to zero.. but in the daytime the sun is now pretty high up (only c 7 weeks until midsummer's day 😱😂), and we've had some really warm temperatures when it's out - up to 18 degrees. 

Whatever it is, the seeing definitely "came and went" last night and if I hadn't stuck at this one star for a good 20-25 minutes I might well have not been able to resolve eta draconis with real certainty - yet, when it was there, it was definitely there!

The whole experience reminded me of resolving Sirius and the Pup for the first time..

Hope that makes sense?

Dave

I went out tonight at 10.45pm specifically to try eta draconis..as John said it's well placed at this time and the two end stars of Ursa Minor (one of them is Kochab) point nicely to eta nearby, if like me you've not looked for it before.

I tried various combinations and thought I could see the faint companion intermittently at about 220x, (Carton 10.5mm with Baader 2.25x zoom barlow), but it was only when I added my WO nosepiece (1.6x) to the stack that I could be sure it was there. It was faint but unmistakable and seemed to be just outside the 2nd or 3rd diffraction ring (seeing was pretty good but there was a bit of intermittent oscillation of the rings - I had to wait for short stable periods of several seconds, during which the image settled).

I'm thinking this must have been getting on for 350x, but the higher mag, coupled with short steady periods did seem to make all the difference.

Just for comparison I then turned to Polaris with the same high magnification and as John said, the companion star just stood out like a beacon, despite being fainter than eta drac's companion..Polaris B seemed miles away from Polaris at this magnification!

I also looked at Polaris with my new-to-me Axiom LX 31mm beast. At just 33x in the FS128, Polaris B was plainly visible. I was also struck by the lovely star field in the surrounds of Polaris - at 82 degrees, the field was very immersive.

A short but very satisfying session and thanks to John for sharing his initial impressions of this interesting but far from easy double 👍😉.

Dave

So sorry to hear you are struggling, Wookie..but great to hear how helpful your son was and that you had a lovely session last night.

I know I often take my good health for granted and it's a timely reminder for me and perhaps others, that every day of our lives that are healthy and pain free should be embraced and made the most of.

I do hope your condition can improve and that you will have many more enjoyable sessions under the stars.

Thanks again for sharing this and many other previous sessions with all of us here on SGL 😊.

Dave

28 minutes ago, Jiggy 67 said:

Have to agree with everything you’ve said Dave. I was lucky as I used lockdown and the petrol money saved by working from home to buy one a month. I don’t know if I need the full range but after purchasing the 17.5 first followed by the 9mm I had to buy the rest

 

That's a lovely sight Jiggy!👍

Thanks for sharing. How do you find the 4.5 and 6.5, given what Baz felt..are they both comfortable?

If only they'd been able to make a 24mm and 30mm too...sadly, they reached the limit for this design at 17.5mm. Still, we do have plenty of good choices at those focal lengths with other brands..

The three that I've owned (9, 14 and 17.5) all barlowed really well, and with the 2.25x Hyperion Zoom Barlow which I have owned, gave additional effective focal lengths of approximately 4, 6.2 and 7.7mm respectively..😊

Dave

12 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

Sadly a lot of high cloud has come over. I can see the moon but don't think it's worth getting set up 

That's how it was here last night...cold, very cold, a lot of high cloud and few stars visible, so I didn't bother..

I never use weather prediction apps, they just aren't accurate often enough and so I find them frustrating.

I just watch the local TV weather at 6.45pm and then go outside later, and look up ...

Dave

Great thread, Baz, thanks for posting 👍. As a big fan of Morpheus I meant to reply earlier but "life" got in the way (don't let anyone tell you that retirement brings lots more free time!)😂.

My Morpheus "journey" began soon after their initial launch..I bought the 14mm new, when FLO had them on offer at £149, on the basis that I liked Baader stuff, (apart from the Hyperion range which I never took to): I've owned several Hyperion zooms which are excellent, and I still have a Hyperion Barlow 2.25x which is also excellent: I also had their Maxbright binoviewers in the past, with good results.

I was shocked to find that the 14mm Morpheus comprehensively beat the Pentax 14mmXW I owned at the time..shocked, because XWs are living legends in the eyepiece world (and I still believe the shorter focal lengths, especially the 7mm and 10mm, are superb). However, the 14mm and 20mm XWs do suffer significant field curvature, and the Morpheus 14mm (and Vixen LVW 22mm Vs the XW20mm) really showed this up. I ended up selling my 14 and 20 mm XWs, and bought the Morph 14 and LVW 22mm to replace them.. the Morpheus' extra 6 degrees fov was really noticeable, and the Morph edged the XW on contrast as well.

I would have liked the 12.5mm Morpheus too, but at the time all this was happening (2016), I was negotiating to buy my beloved Tak FS128 apo scope: this was a massive purchase for me, and necessitated my selling almost all my other equipment and scopes to fund the Tak..so I never did buy the 12.5mm then, even though I've always felt that the 12-12.5mm focal length is a sweet spot for eyepieces..nowadays, that slot is filled by a very nice Nagler T2 12mm 82deg unit. 

I eventually sold the Morph 14mm (and a 9mm I had bought later, it was excellent) on the altar of the Tak purchase (which process took fully 10 months to complete!), and for a while I was Morph-less while I waited for fully 3 years until the launch of the 17.5mm to finish the range.

The 17.5mm was worth waiting for! I bought one new, and later a second one I found used, in great condition, for Binoviewing.. they were superb in the BV, and I was able (just) to use them in the Tak natively, ie without a Barlow lens, giving just under 60x magnification. The 17.5mm are significantly smaller than other Morphs, and I believe one of the reasons for the long delay in their launch was Baaders' wish to have the 17.5mms optimised for use in their Maxbright BV's MK1, and looking ahead, for the MkII's which were launched just before Covid but which are virtually unobtainable at the moment.

I sold my BV's and one of my 17.5s as part of my plan to buy a pair of MKIIs late this year, but I kept one of the 17.5s for cyclops viewing, as I like it so much.

For me, the standout features of the Morpheus range are:

- Class leading contrast

- Wonderful coatings and transmission, the best I have seen

- Superb viewing comfort, and the winged eyeguards really do help cut stray light down, especially in a binoviewer

- work great in the 2.25x Hyperion Barlow. My 17.5mm reduces to an effective 7.77mm, giving 133x in the Tak: a very useful magnification for Jupiter for example

- I find the 76 Deg field a sweet spot between genuinely widefield views and longer eye relief than with most UWAs such as Nagler 82degs for example.

- no barrel undercuts, which I loathe..the safety kerfs feature really works but never snags on diagonals or compression rings.

Almost inevitably, I suppose, the price of the Morpheus has been edging up, to closer to the Pentax XW range. But I still think they offer good value for the performance they deliver, and if you can find a nice used one for c £130-£150, they are outstanding value👍.

Highly recommended 😊.

Dave

11 hours ago, Arneb said:

A Tak and Tele Vue tag team tonight (how's that for alliteration!). 

A totally tempting twin tube teaser!!

Dave😋

9 hours ago, Muc said:

120 achromat on SkyTee sporting a 70s Tupperware colour scheme. Chilling with the moon at almost f/20 using aperature mask. Gorgeous evening. Now for a cuppa, some tunes and then out again to hang with some Bootes

 

"Konus" branded Synta 120mm F8 achromat..or, "Evostar" as they are known today 😊👍. Also seen in older incarnations as "Helios"..

I haven't seen one of those for years! It would certainly stand out in the loft if put into storage!😂

At F20 you must have masked it down to c 50mm aperture..so you've turned your big achromat into a mini Apo 👍😊

Dave

Since my last post on this mount, I've started using it with my recently acquired Long Perng 80mm F6 widefield achromat.

The mount sits on a nice old Unitron wooden tripod which I sanded down and treated with teak oil: it is lightweight and easy to move about. The mount is really overkill for a 2.5kg or so OTA, but the benefit is that is is just absolutely rock solid!👍

Another small change I've made is that the mount came to me with a white Skywatcher counterweight. It works fine of course, but the white colour jars a bit.. in the course of cleaning out my mancave I found a tin of Wilko light green paint, suitable for exterior use on metal, and although not an exact match it does look better, I feel.

That just leaves the white SW tripod mounting head to paint the same colour when I get a few minutes spare..😊

Dave

6 hours ago, Merlin said:

It says iOptron Rumak  150 at the bottom.

I can't see any image of the scope??

4 hours ago, JeremyS said:

“I see no real distractions”

 

😊

I like that scope, a) because it doesn't need a handle, and b) because that's a great caricature of you, Jeremy!😂

Yes, I've seen that thread.. I understand why people might do this, however I do quite like the Axiom as it is and my Tak focuser handles it fine.

Regarding the "ring of fire" effect, most UWA eps show this to some extent ( my Morpheus 17.5 does a little) - but only noticeably in daylight. At night I don't find it an issue on any of my eps including the Axiom.

Dave

Hi Ken,

I can see what you mean, the top of the ep is very flat..however, the helical adjustment did allow me to get a comfy viewing angle, I have it about 3-4mm above the "flat position" and this got rid for me of any kidney beaning..also, I wear a black eyepatch over my right eye and observe with my left, and didn't find any real distractions apart from the fact that the moon itself is now brightening the sky significantly..

Dave

You may have seen my post on the "what did the postman bring" at the weekend, in which I said I have sold my Aero ED30mm SWA and bought a Celestron Axiom LX UWA (82 deg) 31mm..

I mentioned that I'd read Stu Davis' interesting thread in which he posted a nice review of a session he'd just had with his TV Genesis and his new (to him) Nagler 31mm UWA "Terminagler"..

Stu raved about the low power, widefield views this combination gave him, and I was intrigued, having recently bought a short focus F6 80mm frac with a view to using it for summer sessions and as a grab and go for when we (hopefully) go to visit friends and relatives around the country over the next few months🙂.

This scope has a good quality 2" Crayford focuser, and I have had, in the short time I've owned it, a few nice low power sessions with my Aero ED30mm 68 degree eyepiece. I have in recent years become more attracted to wider fields, and my fairly recent acquisition of Nagler T2 12mm 82deg and Morpheus 17.5mm 76 deg eyepieces has only heightened this attraction.

Having read Stu's report, I came across a set of Axiom LX's for sale, including the 31mm behemoth, at a decent price. I did some research and was intrigued to find that the 31mm in particular is well regarded in the USA, with some direct comparisons rating the Axiom 31mm as being very close to the Nagler in performance: any slight negatives I have seen relate more to the sheer size and bulk of the unit..this is by some margin the largest ep I have ever seen in my life- it weighs 1.4kg!!! 

I have read good reviews of this range on CN..not to be confused with the Luminos range which replaced the Axioms..the Axioms were made by Jinghua (JOC) who now own Explore Scientific, and the Luminos were apparently launched in a hurry to look like the Axioms but with inferior innards and optics.

Anyway, having read some favourable comparisons with the TV 31mm "Terminagler", so I went for it.. I got a shortish first light last night in the FS128 and I tried the Axiom on Vega, M57, Epsilon Lyrae, the Double Cluster and the Moon. I moved the objects from the centre to the edges in all directions, and could detect no noticeable image breakdown until c 95% out from the centre of the FOV..(bear in mind an 82deg FOV..the Tak operates at F8.1). The moon was just excellent, sharp and no hint visually of any CA or EOFB.

Here's a pic of the "megabeast", and a shot of the moon through the Axiom at 33x. 

I think this one is a keeper!

Dave

That's sad to hear Mr Spock...may I ask what the scope is? 

Dave

This is a serious situation. Perhaps the most insidious point made in Jezza-San's original post is the plan to change the company brand name from Takahashi to Takahasi - all in the space of a couple of paragraphs! 

Mind games like this need careful handling: I don't believe that SGL Tak owners will allow their "precious" company to be just handled over to a hostile front company acting on behalf of Sauron-San. We must all lift our spirits, pick ourselves up and resolve that a suitable new MD (my vote goes to johninderby-san) will attach a handle, sorry, will attach suitable importance to thwarting these evil plans to "Tak the Mickey" out of the legions of loyal SGL Takahasi, sorry, TAKAHASHI, owners.

If you want to sign a petition against this takeover, (for handling in to No.10 in May), please go to www.handlesoffourTaks.com as soon as your schedule can handle it.

Yours,

Dave 

Interim International Handling Agent

This purchase was inspired at short notice by @Stu's recent post in the scope forum, where he posted a lovely report on the amazing low power, wide field views he got with his TV Genesis and "TerminaNagler" 31mm beast of an eyepiece!😊 

Sadly, the TV Nagler 31mm is out of my reach, even used, but I saw some very positive reviews of this eyepiece as a seriously close rival to the Nagler in performance terms: the Celestron Axiom LX 31mm, 82 degree UWA..

Now, this is by some margin the biggest eyepiece I have seen in my entire life!! The photos below show it next to (from left to right) my Nagler T2 12mm, Morpheus 17.5mm and Aero 30mm. Honestly, the Axiom is MUCH bigger than any of these, and weighs in at 1.4 kilos😱🤣.

Perhaps a better idea of the scale difference between the Axiom and the others can be seen in the photo with the top eyecap in front of each eyepiece..the Axioms' top cap is bigger than many 80mm refractor objective lens caps!!

Apparently, some owners in the USA have "decloaked" their Axiom 31mm's, ie taken off the entire outer body, and this saves about 400gms in weight. I may try this myself...or I may just fit a handle (are you listening, Jeremy??)..

The Aero ED 30mm is a fine eyepiece, and I hadn't intended to sell it at all, until I saw the Axiom at a good price...truly an impulse buy. In the event the ED30mm sold within 15 minutes of posting it, and I'm pleased that it's going to @Ade King, a top SGL member👍.

The Axiom LX range is not the same as the similar looking Luminos range (that's a discussion for the eyepiece forum), but is widely accepted as being significantly better in performance.

The eyepiece in the flesh looks great, once you've stopped fearing it's sheer size..the build quality is excellent, the rotating eyecup is super smooth, and allows a very comfortable view. I had a short daytime view of our local church tower this afternoon, a real "Wow!" moment, using the Axiom in my FS128.

I could see the whole field quite easily, and, moving from one side of the field edge to the other, very slowly, with a wood pigeon extremely sharply displayed on one of the church tower's corners, I was delighted to see absolutely no deterioration in the sharpness of the view at all..the bird's image and plumage remained very sharp and well defined right to the edge. The Tak's focuser handled the weight no problem, but I do suspect that many smaller modern scopes focusers could struggle.

Early days yet, but I'm so looking forward to using this eyepiece in a proper session.

By the way, the Axiom 31mm delivers  about 33x in the Tak 128mm.

Dave

8 hours ago, John said:

Great pairing Stu

They are "meant to be together" I think 

 

Agreed, John..as a great rock band once said "Never turn your back on a friend"..😁. 

The "friend" in this case being the Nagler 31mm!

Lovely combination Stu, I look forward to never seeing this in the classified ads!!😂😂

Dave

The screws are M4 10mm metric, according to this post from Cloudy Nights:

"These screws imaged below are the ones you want for the Baader Q-Turret and Baader Q-Barlow. The M4x10mm Metric thumbscrews ordered off eBay. They fit absolutely perfect in lieu of the metal thumbscrews. They tighten really nice with nice flex to stay tight, unlike the stock metal thumbscrews without any flex, that can loosen and mar barrels even if only snug. I have no idea why Baader Planetarium don’t sell these on their Q-Turret as stock thumbscrews. Oh well...at least my barrels are completely safe."

HTH👍😊

Dave

5 hours ago, JeremyS said:

L to R

TSA 120, AZEQ 6, Planet

FC 100 DZ, AZ100, Uni 28

FC 76 DCU, ScopeTech Zero, Report 312

on table: FS 60Q

Berlebach Charon seat

... wonderful!..and best of all, not a handle in sight! (apart from on the Charon seat - still visible despite Jeremy's attempt to hide it in a side-on view!)😂🤣.

Dave

New (to me) Long Perng 80mm F6 achromat for grab n go widefield viewing. This was my second light session and I got some lovely views of Praesepe and the Perseus Double Cluster. I also got a nice last view of M42 in Orion as it sinks into the twilight.. I was able to resolve the Trap 4 main stars at c 50x and with my Aero 30mm 68 degree 2" ep, at 19x the view was just like looking through 19x80mm binoculars!

I've mounted the scope on my trusty Vixen GP head, shown here on a heavy duty Celestron tripod which is overkill..the second photo shows the scope and GP on an old Unitron wooden tripod I've just refurbished with sanding and two coats of Teak Oil.. might give it one more coat.

This rig is much lighter than the Celestron..looks better too I think?

Next job, to paint the white counterweight and mount hub in a more matching colour, green or black..

Dave