F15Rules

I freely confess I have a real liking for certain older (vintage?) eyepieces, especially those made in Japan.

I recently bought what was claimed to be a mint, unused Meade 4000 UWA 8.8mm, complete with original box and bolt case.. I previously owned the 14mm from the same series, about 5 years ago, and I loved it - a real hand grenade and one of very few Meade products I have ever really liked, apart from their old and  excellent 3000 series, also made in Japan.

Sadly, the 14mm was sacrificed, along with some other fine eyepieces, on the altar of preparing to buy my Tak FS128, but I have read since that quite a few people rated the UWA 4000 range as the pinnacle of Meade's eyepiece offerings (perhaps not such surprising news given the unremarkable nature of so many other Meade product offerings IMHO!)..

Anyway, I'd also read that the 8.8mm and 14mm were/are the pick of the bunch, although the 4.7mm and 6.7mm seem also well thought of (there were just 4 sizes in the range).

So when this one came up, in such apparently mint condition, and fitting potentially well into my current line up, my resistance melted and I bought it.

The eyepiece arrived today, and I have to say it does look utterly like a new one! It was bought by the seller new from BC&F in 2007, and for various reasonss it never got used, and only taken out of the box twice, for checking over when purchased, and again when photographed recently for sale.

It's unusual in that it has both 2" and 1.25" barrel compatibility, although it's really a 1.25" eyepiece. But as my Nagler T2 12mm and Morpheus 17.5mm both have the same feature, it makes it handy to be able to use all 3 in both my 1.25" Baader prism diagonal, and my 2" Astro Tech mirror diagonal, without needing 2"-1.25" adapters.

It has an amazing (for its vintage) 84deg fov. Eye relief is fine for non specs wearers like me, but not I think if you do wear glasses. I prefer the eyecup upright Vs folded flat, as with it folded down you can get kidney beaning (although you can take in the field edges more easily)..but as I am happy to nestle my eye into the eyecup, that's my preference - and no kidney beaning.

Daylight views in my little Carton 60mm were very sharp, delivering a nice 81x. In my FS128 it will deliver 118x, and 236x when barlowed, and I very much look forward to checking out M42 and the Trap with this combination.

I attach some pics showing the Meade with my Carton 10.5mm, Nagler T2 12mm and Morpheus 17.5mm units.

Looking very much forward to first light👍.

Thanks for reading 😊

Dave

Thanks Ade, my mistake on the bolt sizes, I've corrected my previous post to the correct sizes..😁

Dave

Hi again all,

Just to share a happy ending to this mini saga...

I'm delighted to say that Ade (King) has really come up trumps for me..he has fabricated a new plate and drilled and tapped holes for the plate, as well as supplying the two 6mm bolts, one for each end of the plate.  It arrived this morning👍.

I found an 8mm hex bolt in my bits box for the central bolt where the "Tommy bar bolt" would have been. It all works perfectly, and I am really indebted to Ade for his kindness in doing this for me, with no charge, and he wouldn't even accept the cost of first class signed for postage! - a Top Man, thanks so much , Ade!.

I know that this plate might not strictly be essential, but I feel much happier knowing that the new plate, and having bolts on reach side of the polar axis will keep the latitude setting firm and no chance of slippage.

I'll probably just paint the plate in Hammerite black to finish it off.

I've attached a couple of pics showing Ade's handiwork😊👍

Dave

19 hours ago, aderyn said:

They sound like they might be cluster flies, and they are very difficult to deter once they have found somewhere they like. We had an infestation in a dorm room at my workplace, which was mostly unoccupied, esp through the winter, and they kept coming back year after year. They gathered in the windows and we tried washing down the woodwork  with bleach in case there was some sort of residual scent drawing them back. Citronella didn't work, either. The room/building was impossible to completely seal, unfortunately. Try googling 'cluster flies - there's lots of info on there, and no guaranteed solutions, it seems, but plenty of pest control firms who will happily take money to try.🙄

If they are cluster flies, try this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B010E2GZGQ/ref=pe_3187911_189395841_TE_3p_dp_1

We had an infestation of these really annoying black flies in one of our sash windows upstairs (we had only had it replaced 6 months before)...every morning there were more, despite us hoovering them up every day, usually between 10 and 30 flies, and all leaving their poo on the window too!

I did some research and this product seemed to get the best reviews, so I ordered a litre bottle (the minimum quantity I could find). It cost £14.95, so not that cheap, but one application, on the sills, sashes and sash lift rope holes, and within several days they were gone...we saw a couple of stragglers but within a week or less, no more cluster flies: and we haven't seen any since - that was March 2020 just around the time of  the first lockdown.  In our experience, this stuff really works!

Dave

57 minutes ago, Second Time Around said:

I've got a 28mm Maxvision in the for sale section.  This is the same as the 2 inch Explore Scientific 68 degree but in a bigger housing.  I'm selling it as it doesn't accept a Dioptrx unless it's de-cloaked.  Price is £65.

To be fair, I'll leave it to others to comment on its quality.  It's definitely not as good as the 30mm APM UFF, but then it's a lot less expensive.  If you can afford it I'd go for the APM - I'd have bought it myself if it took a Dioptrx.

Although the Maxvision and Explore Scientific ranges quoted are mostly optically the same, I believe the one exception to that is the 28mm size: in this case I understand the Maxvision version is significantly better than the ES version.

I owned the ES 24, 28 and 34mm versions and the 24mm and 34mm were very clearly better than the 28mm.. (the 24mm ES or Maxvision are 1.25" barrels and are very good optically).

The Maxvision 28mm referred to as being for sale above is a very good eyepiece at a very good price, IMO👍 .

I currently have the Aero 30mm which I'm happy with (but my scope is F8.1), it gives 68degrees in a 2" barrel.

Dave

2 hours ago, Sunshine said:

On the smaller end it measures 65mm across (outer to outer edge) on the wider side it measures 75mm across, i assume this would be for a 50mm, correct?

Yep, that's a 50mm Tak bracket. I have one on my FS 128 but had a Skywatcher 50mm RACI finder in it. I just find straight through finderscopes a pain in the neck... literally! But the bracket is excellent, and unlike the Skywatcher brackets, the Tak bracket holds the RACI finder really firmly and I don't often have to adjust its alignment.

Dave

25 minutes ago, Sunshine said:

Thank you! you have a beautiful focuser on that amazing scope, it looks to have a focal length of 1km, it must be a planet killer!

Thanks, sadly I don't have the scope now (she's called Andromeda 😊), but she is owned by another SGL member now and mounted better on a suitable heavy duty mount. Focal length is 1905mm, aperture 127mm and so there is almost zero chromatic aberration (she is an achromat, not an apochromat like our Taks). 

Would give my FS128 a very, very close run for its money, but of course the Tak is so much easier to handle and mount.

Dave

Sunshine, many Congratulations on your beautiful Tak!

You have a wonderful refractor mounted on a wonderful Vixen mount, a marriage made in heaven👍☺️.

I have had a couple of Moonlite focusers, and upgraded a big 5" F15 D&G USA scope with a polished aluminium one from Moonraker  about 5 years ago (see photo). They are great focusers but the bearings can wear and will be pricey to repair or replace if they do break down.

I do have to say I prefer the precision of a good rack and pinion, they don't tend to slip under load and just have "feel" that the Moonlites lack a bit, good though they are.

I've had my Tak FS128 for almost 4 years now and have never felt the need to change the original R&P focuser: I did buy a Tak MEF3 microfocuser to turn it into a dual speed unit, and  which gives me a 7x reduction for high power fine focusing, and it works very well. Not cheap new, but I found an excellent used one for £150. I'm not sure if this one would fit a TSA though, Jeremy would probably know, he has a good handle on these things..

I honestly think you're TSA looks just "complete" with its original focuser. Congratulations again, enjoy!

Dave 

EDIT:

Just checked FLO website, and the MEF3 microfocuser DOES fit the TSA102👍..see here:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/takahashi-other-accessories/tak_tka00733.html#about_this_product

2 hours ago, JeremyS said:

In the meantime, just keep posting photos. We can’t get enough of the TSA 102 👍

Just don't spoil it by fitting a handle!!

Dave

I use the Baader Hyperion zoom Barlow which  Craig refers to above. It is fully compatible with your zoom eyepiece (a good one, I used to have one of those as well), but can also be used with most 1.25" threaded eyepieces. 

It delivers 2.25x magnification normally, higher if you use it with binoviewers. 

The Q Turret Barlow John mentioned is also nice, just simpler in design and a fair bit cheaper than the Hyperion's Zoom Barlow..

I use the bottom two sections shown above joined together, with component A's thread screwed into the bottom of my chosen eyepiece. With your Baader zoom you would join the 3 components shown together, and then thread the assembly into the bottom of your zoom via the thread in part B above.

Highly recommended 👍😊

Dave

Hi Nidgey86, and welcome to SGL👍.

You are wise to get into the hobby with binoculars, and while your 30mm pair will show a lot of stars, a 10x50 pair will show you a whole lot more, and objects such as the Pleiades cluster will be much more impressive.

If you intend to invest in a new pair, then before buying, look up this website: www.binocularsky.com - the site is run by Steve Tonkin, a member here on SGL, and you will find a wealth of information on how to select the best pair of binoculars for your needs, with some valuable reviews, photos etc and loads of information about binoculars and how they work, different types, etc.

Spend a few months learning the night skies and it will give you a great foundation on which to then build your search for a real astronomical telescope.

Good luck,

Dave

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

Has the observer gone up in smoke?

Focal ratio looks about @F15Rules, not that I’m pointing the finger at Dave 🙂

 

No, not me...I think whoever it was tried to pick up the scope and mount from the focuser end - without a handle...

Dave

1 hour ago, Dantooine said:

I’ve still to try a Morpheus and wonder if I’d like those. 

Very sensible to leave the best until last👍😁!

Dave

The only bit I understood was when he said (I think...) " Handle-San"???

Dave

11 minutes ago, Fedele said:

i have the Baader prism, as i have said, and yes i will buy the nose 2" for it. But i think there is sufficient backfocus, for my MAxbright II, why i need a corrector 1.6 x?

Fedele,

I can only speak about my FS128 as I have never used an FS102, but I believe they have the same 2.7" focuser, so they should both have similar focus travel, and both are F8 focal length.

I'm my scope, with my Revelation binoviewers I can just get a pair of Celestron Omni 32mm plossls to focus without an OCS or Barlow..I believe that the new Maxbright II's use up less back focus than the Revelation's, so you may well not need to use a corrector. 

Oh, and I've just realised that your scope is I think the NSV version, which I think means it is already optimised for binoviewing? If so, your should definitely be able to binoview without a corrector👍😊.

Dave

3 hours ago, dweller25 said:

What is that little white dot on the glass😱😱

🤣🤣🤣🤣

 

Oh, don't!!..you'll give the poor guy a heart attack!😱

That lens looks as good as anyone could hope for in a scope of that age👍😊

Dave

You make some interesting points Martin..

In my time I've bought and sold, at a guess, probably 50-75 telescopes., often owning 6-8 scopes at a time! 

Many of these were older refractors which I bought as I loved long, older achromats (I still do in many ways). But I've also owned a fair few Maks and the odd SCT or reflector too. 

But if I'm honest, one very good long achromat of 80mm -100mm performs very much the same as another of the same aperture and optical quality..they might look  a little different or have a crayford focuser instead of a rack & pinion, or vice versa, but what you see, at the same focal length, is very similar, probably 95% similar.

I suspect that the same is true for other scope types, like Maks and reflectors: I'd emphasise that I'm talking like for like here, apo vs apo, focal length vs focal length, and also assuming a minimum quality of optics.

I've come to realise, though, that other factors are every bit as important as the scope I'm using..for example, in no particular order: location, light pollution, atmospheric conditions, eyepieces, my age, diagonals, mounts, barlows, my mood, tiredness vs alertness, temperature, what's on tv vs what's on view in the sky, family, work, diet, state of health, what I did today, what I'm doing tomorrow...pause for breath!!

So now I permanently own two scopes, like you Martin, and I buy and sell a whole lot less "stuff" than I did 5-10 years ago. No longer am I searching for a "Holy Grail" scope or "Optical Nirvana".. yes, I'm fortunate to own one high end refractor, which I had to wait until I was in my 60s to acquire, but for the past 4 years I'm learning to be content with my equipment and to develop, (belatedly in my case) my observing skills, patience and making the most of every session to see or learn something new about our great pastime.

Reading your report, Martin, I sense that you have seen views through your Mak that prove to you that your scope can deliver probably as pleasing results in your location as you could hope to achieve with any other scope of comparable capabilities. You also have a very fine 80mm refractor for those all to common short, sharp sessions..

That being the case, I'd respectfully urge you to hang on to both of them and really get to know them inside out, so you can push both your scopes and your observing skills to the very limit. I'm finding that approach for myself surprisingly rewarding.

I look forward to reading more reports of your experiences with both your fine scopes 👍😊

Dave

6 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

looks like you need a 2" to 1.25" Tak back for your focuser ( shown below bottom left). Or you could buy a Baader 1.25" prism diagonal with a 2" nose piece which will fit your existing back

+1 for that..I use a 2" to T2 nosepiece with my Baader T2 prism (which is the same one as your prism)..this gives me the most back focus for binoviewing. I also use a good quality, 2" Astro Tech mirror diagonal which I can use with or without its 2" to 1.25" reducer. This also works well with single eyepieces but takes up more back focus. With some eyepieces I have to use an extension tube if I am barlowing them as well.

Dave

Some very good points made above in favour of both fixed length and zoom eyepieces.

I'm a refractor only user, so not really qualified to advise the owner of a large Dob.. but if you are a newcomer to the hobby, I do think that unless you have a large budget available to buy premium wide field eyepieces suited to large Dobs, it's worth considering a decent zoom eyepiece to compare with your fixed length units.

Two nights ago, I had a session with my 5" Apo refractor for which I had prepared several optically excellent eyepieces, a Baader Genuine Ortho, a  Televue T2 Nagler, and a Baader Morpheus. I didn't expect to use any other eyepieces that night apart from a 30mm 68 degree widefield.

I'd decided to observe M42 and some double stars in Orion, my favourite constellation. However, within about 30 minutes, while observing Alnilam (the lowest star of Orion's Belt here in the UK, but the highest as seen from Oz) I became aware that something had changed in the seeing..a quite clear split of Alnilam and it's companion (which is a fairly close double star at 2.4" separation), had become much less clear within less than a minute. 

Looking up from the eyepiece I saw that a very fine misty haze had descended, but oddly, a breeze had got up, and the seeing had deteriorated. Then, a few minutes later, just as quickly, the sky cleared, the haziness disappeared, and the sky became very transparent - in fact the best seeing I've had in my location for some months!

At this point, I decided to get out my old Carton Japan zoom eyepiece, which adjusts from 7mm to 21mm focal length. Over the next hour or so, there were more variations in the seeing (I think we have a micro climate going on here, but that's another story). But while using the zoom, I was able to dial in adjustments instantly as the seeing came and went, much faster than if I'd been using only the fixed length eyepieces.

From about 11pm the seeing really settled down and I was able to go back to the fixed eyepieces, which do offer wider, and very slightly sharper views.. but the zoom enabled me to make the most of my couple of hours session, spending more time viewing and less time "faffing about" switching eyepieces in and out.

As I say, there is room for both types, and until you try both types you'll never know👍😊

Dave

2 hours ago, Fedele said:

is the lens ok in your opinion? pity it doesn't have its original finder and holder and the original fittings

I wouldn't worry about those small details..if you really want the original fittings, you can advertise for them on the used market, as John and Al advise above.. however, the Japanese observers only usually use "straight through" finderscopes..but here in the West we tend to use RACI (Right Angle Correct Image) finders more.. these have a 90 degree diagonal fixed into them, for more comfortable viewing, and show the image upright.

I have a lovely Tak FS128, and it came with the (very nice) original finder, a 7x50mm straight through model. But I find a RACI finder more comfortable, so I sold the Tak finder and bought a cheaper Skywatcher RACI 9x50 model, and put the extra funds towards a good quality eyepiece. I have used the RACI finder on the FS128 for over 3 years now, and have never regretted the change👍.

Whichever you decide to go for, may I encourage you not to worry about these accessories, but instead to celebrate what a lovely telescope you have found, in wonderful condition..after all, most of your viewing will be through the main FS102 scope, not its' finderscope!😊

Dave

Beautiful scope.. congratulations!

Dave

2 minutes ago, Pete Presland said:

We will have hopefully developed a cloud clearing device by then.

Well, let's hope FLO will have!😁

Dave

That's a great result, in contrast to the attitude of other councils, sadly.

Perhaps others with less helpful local authorities could be sent details of your case as a "role model" working example?

Dave

Lovely looking scope,but speaking personally, I'd far rather have a good rack and pinion focuser than a good crayford  - they just don't slip under heavy load when properly adjusted.

I'd keep the R&P and put the savings towards another Morpheus eyepiece..from FLO of course!😁

Dave

21 hours ago, Paz said:

Thanks, I think then they would be fine. I can get by with about 19mm from where my glasses rest.

It's impressive how they put something together with such long eyerelief, large afov, and that is so light. I notice the 17.5 Morpheus is  about 1/3rd lighter than the 17.3  Delos which adds to quite a weight saving when there's two of them.

Hi Chris,

The 17.5mm is the smallest physical size and weight of the Morpheus range. It was also the longest in development, taking some 3 years to launch after the other sizes which topped out at 14mm until the 17.5mm appeared.

I think Baader knew that if they could slim the outer dimensions down enough, they would have a binoviewing winning pair to offer to the market.

Having not been out under the stars for some weeks due to poor weather, I was really struck two nights ago by just how superb M42 looks in the Morpheus 17.5mm, just wonderful.

I do know someone who sadly found their IPD just a tad tight with these, but he readily acknowledged their optical excellence and was genuinely disappointed that he couldn't use a pair (I believe he still has a single).

At present I only have a single 17.5mm, but until quite recently I did have a pair of them and in my Revelation binoviewers the views of the moon were jaw dropping. I do plan before too long to acquire another Morpheus 17.5mm and also to upgrade to the new Maxbright II binoviewers, and would heartily recommend this lovely eyepiece pair.

Dave