F15Rules

...and all that is SO why I'm visual only!😂

Mind you, I still had my own problems two nights ago..

- Scope objective frosted over despite 8" long dewshield

- finder scope lens fogged up

- eyepieces fogged up

All the above happened at different times of the session..in the end I whipped out my wife's hairdryer from the house and in doing so I wrecked my night vision acclimatisation..

I then almost tripped over the extension lead I had to use to make the hairdryer reach the scope..

So a rather frustrating session overall - but at least I got to see some objects in Orion!👍😊

Dave

2 hours ago, JeremyS said:

But I thought you were a refractor man, Dave....

🙂

 

Hmm..

I've reflected on what you said Jeremy, and I think the lens said, the better!😋😜

41 minutes ago, Paz said:

I've think I've tried every keeping warm trick known to humanity except for active heating pads. I will give them a go.

Perhaps Jeremy will chip in, Chris? He's certainly an expert on hot air..

Thanks for sharing, Robert👍.. I think your session mirrored my own in many ways..

I did get out last night, 3rd time lucky actually, as the previous nights had looked promising but then clouded over, whereas last night was very misty early on and then slowly improved as the evening went on..by 10.50pm it had cleared quite a bit so I double layered up and went outside.

Boy, it was COLD last night! I had steaming up/freezing up of various lenses, eyepieces etc, but all at different times!

To be honest, in some ways it was a frustrating session, culminating with literally ice crystals beginning to form on the objective of the FS128! At that point I popped into the house and fetched out a hairdryer to gently clear the objective, and this did work.

So I spent probably 50 minutes just gazing at M42 (looked lovely through my new to me Aero 30mm, and superb contrast in the Morpheus 17.5mm), the Trap (Morpheus 17.5mm and Nagler T2 12mm), and then at Sirius (no Pup tonight) with T2 12mm and BGO 7mm. Finished off with the BGO 7mm on the Trap, E star glimpsed, but no F..

By midnight I was frozen, feet like ice, so time to pack up. Just looking up though, the sky had got better and better, (Orion's raised left arm stars were all very clear, as were Sirius's lower down Canis Major stars, and Lepus below Orion too).

It was just great to be out under a dark sky👍

Dave

I think if you are currently using the supplied stock eyepieces, the Stellamira 15mm Superview at £39 will give you nice, wide field views.. just don't expect the edges to be sharp like the centre of the field at this price.

With your scope being F5, 650mm focal length, it will give you c 43x magnification, and a 68 degree field (I believe this FOV has been verified by FLO), so more extended objects like the M42 Orion Nebula will be nicely framed and nice and sharp on axis. With such objects, the larger field can put the object into a nice context, even if the outer edges aren't pin sharp.

Dave

That must have been scary!

I don't have an obsy but went out to our recycling bin last night to out some cardboard in it..frozen solid, and almost ripped my fingernails trying to wrestle it open!

We'll have to start carrying cans of anti freeze around with us if this cold snap continues!

Dave

3 minutes ago, John said:

Sorry Dave - getting a bit "stir crazy" here 🤪

Yep, me too..- ask my wife!!😂😂

40 minutes ago, John said:

You need to get a grip on yourself Dave .......

Oh, please don't YOU start, John!!.. 😱🥵😭..

..you're supposed to be the sensible one!! 😂😄

4 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

Posh name for a handle?

I'll answer that question by quoting directly from a post I made on the Astro Lounge New Years Resolutions thread.  

"this year my list of Astro resolutions is short! -

- enjoy every session possible (and I now have a great little 60mm refractor for those short 20 minute "windows" of opportunity).

- avoid wherever possible the use of the word "handle" in any posts I make, however hard @Jeremy tries to tempt me!

Clear skies to everyone!

Dave"

I keep my resolutions..😇

Dave

4 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Nice eyepiece case Dave @F15Rules. But what’s that at the bottom of the pic, pray tell?

Er, it's an Assisted Case Moving Device (ACMD) Jeremy, all the rage these days, don't you know..

Dave

Most of my modest selection of eps are 1.25" barrels and quite small.

As I've recently acquired a couple of much larger eps in 2" barrels or have 1.25" barrel but a larger body I've had to overspill them into a 2nd case, with a few additional pieces I couldn't fit into my main case.

Back Row L-R 

Baader Genuine Ortho 7mm, Celestron Halloween plossl 17mm

Selection of 3 Carton Japan HM 0.965" eyepieces which came with my Carton Refractor. Although narrow of field, they are very sharp with high contrast.

Front Row L - R

Nagler T2 12mm 82 deg - an older ep but very good, a real mini hand grenade, quite heavy but comfortable to use.

Morpheus 17.5mm - a truly superb mid -power eyepiece with fabulous 76 degree field.

Skywatcher Aero 30mm ED 68 deg - really nice low power, decent FOV, great finder or star cruising eyepiece.

..and my trusty Skywatcher night light torch👍.

Dave

Interesting Joe, thanks for your thoughts.

A good test for your new Tak if you get steady seeing would be Sirius B. John's recent thread "Time to get serious about Sirius" in the Observing section is a good read👍 .

I am sure that your Tak will hold it's resale value better than the ED103s - which to me just makes a used ED103s superb used value at around half of an equivalent Tak 100mm.

Look forward to your further thoughts Joe as you use your lovely new scope more.

Dave

19 minutes ago, Joe G said:

 

Thanks Dave & David for that & yes I’m enjoying it a lot during the last few days & nights of clear skies

Joe

That's good to hear Joe😊.

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on how the views in your new Tak compare with the Vixen ED103s you used to own? I've never done a direct comparison with a Tak 4" and a Vixen 4".

Dave

2 minutes ago, JamesF said:

I still have a full set.  Won't be getting rid of them any time soon

James

That's a shame, James😁😁

This little chap arrived today, in mint condition.

Some years ago I had almost a full set of these..I'd love to be able to rebuild the set but they don't come up for sale often these days.

Using my 1.6x, 2x and 2.25x Barlow's I can get respectively 238x, 297x and 334x in the FS128, a nice spread of high powers for splitting doubles, lunar and planetary👍. Or 148x used natively..🙂

Dave

I've used and owned Refractors, Maks, SCT (just one, an 8") and Newtonian ( a couple).

It's no coincidence that in order of preference, to me personally, they run in the same order..

I really love Refractors..I like the way they look, I love the sharp images and contrast they deliver, I like their ease of use, and their low maintenance requirements.

I really like Maksutovs (especially Russian ones), the good ones get very close to refractor performance, they hold collimation well, and I like their looks and compact size/low maintenance. I don't like their long cools down times.

I am not a big fan of Newtonians, but that's just me..I don't like viewing down into the side of the tube with my neck slanted. I don't like the thought of having to collimate them regularly, and I don't fancy lugging them about when they are 8" or bigger.

But I accept fully that they offer the best value for money, best aperture for deep sky, and, in specialist form such as those by Zambuto, excellent planetary performance. They are perhaps the ideal scope for a beginner to start with. I must just give an honourable mention to the diminutive TAL Alcor 3" reflector..built like a tank, superbly sharp optics and a mount you could probably put a 10" Newt on!

Finally, I really don't like SCTs (optically I freely admit based on one short and very unimpressive ownership).. the one I had (Celestron) felt cheaply built, and was very mushy in it's views. Maybe I got a dud, but it put me off for life, sorry.

There, that's what I think..

Shields Up, Mr Worf!! 😁😂

Dave

49 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Refractors: I farm a few of those as well 😊

No exaggerating there then Jeremy!!😂

Quick update:

I've now made a few small, but I think worthwhile, improvements to the Carton scope:

- I had a spare pair of good quality Takahashi aluminium focuser knobs. These are bigger and much more robust than the original ones - overkill, perhaps, but being larger they can make finer focus adjustments, which is useful at higher powers.

- I really like the original finder scope (6x30), it has probably the best crosshairs and sighting reticule I've seen on a scope..but I do prefer RACI finders for comfort, and as I already had a nice Skywatcher RACI 6x30, I thought I'd try it for fit. To my delight, it fits perfectly onto the original black finder scope bracket, see photos. I think it also matches the black SW finder quite well👍.

I've also fitted a 1.25" adapter so I can use modern eyepieces, but I also have a 0.965" adapter to allow the use of the scopes original eyepieces, which is nice.

I will of course also keep all the original parts safely.

Finally, the black solid metal collar you can see behind the objective on the white OTA is a great accessory..it is intended to counterbalance an SLR camera if used: but as it clips on to the tube and can be pushed along the tube to any location, it's really useful for balancing heavier eyepieces..for example, using the collar up where it is shown in the photos, and the tube pushed well up, I can use my Morpheus 17.5mm and Nagler T2 22mm eyepieces without the scope being unbalance or straining the mount head which is great.

Due to the recent lousy weather and the very bright moon until recently, I've had precious few chances to use the scope properly..but the scope is a great little performer from what I've seen so far, and I'm really looking forward to an extended session with it. And being able to switch easily between altaz and equatorial modes is the icing on the cake!

Thanks for reading😊.

Dave

I had a quick look at what I said this time last year..

"A new decade, 3rd of this century already !

I'm resolving to be a better human being, to appreciate my dear wife, family and friends better and to enjoy each day as if it were my last.

Astro resolutions are to make the most of as many good nights as I can: retirement should help that..

..and to be a good grandad for the first time (my sons' baby boy due March 3rd☺"

So, how did I do? Well, I certainly couldn't have foreseen what 2020 would bring...who of us could??

I certainly appreciated my wife and family more.. in my first year of retirement, I and my wife learned to be together far more of each day..we appreciated our 3 grown children and our friends more, as we saw them less due to Covid restrictions. And we did make more friends in our local village, which was good.

We took in my mother in law aged 87 from March til August, which was tough, so I can't honestly say I enjoyed each day as if it were my last! And this latter point prevented me from achieving my Astro goal of enjoying as many clear nights as possible..ironically, last April and May offered more clear nights in the fine extended spell of weather than I can ever remember, yet I couldn't use them due to our extensive caring duties. 

But we did have the joy of welcoming our grandson on March 13th (10 days late!), and that was a real day of joy for us all🤗.

So this year my list of Astro resolutions is short! -

- enjoy every session possible (and I now have a great little 60mm refractor for those short 20 minute "windows" of opportunity).

- avoid wherever possible the use of the word "handle" in any posts I make, however hard @Jeremy tries to tempt me!😂😂

Clear skies to everyone!👍

Dave

At the risk of sounding boring, I'd definitely add my recommendation to get the 17.5mm. I love mine and it also barlows well, so at 2x it gives you an 8.75mm option, or at 2.25x (as with my Baader Hyperion Zoom Barlow) it gives you 7.75mm for higher power again, both Barlow'd options maintaining great eye relief.

I've also owned the 14mm. Hollyhound  is correct that it does have some FC, but MUCH less than the Pentax XW14 which I compared the Morph 14 to - and sold the Pentax. I've hear that the 12.5mm is also excellent, with negligible FC, and you clearly like it..have you Barlow'd the 12.5mm Morph? - at 2x it effectively gives you a Morph 6.5mm as well👍. (I have a Nagler T2 12mm, otherwise I'd probably have the 12.5mm too.. I personally find the gap from 12 or 12.5 to 17.5 to be quite a useful one🙂.

Dave

1 hour ago, jock1958 said:

Great news Dave!  I've tried and failed on a number of occasions with my Tak FC-100DL, I shall persevere but I think my 100mm aperture and latitude is against me 😩

Thanks Iain😊..

Your Tak should be able to do it, my first ever view of the Pup was with my then Vixen ED103s, and it just happened that one very steady night..

Keep at it, I was looking long and hard for some time before I could be sure of my sighting the other night (and I should say I could only see it with my left eye, not my right, which has deteriorated in recent years).

Dave

Further to my post above on New Year's eve, I did manage to glimpse the Pup with my FS128 at last..I put the following post over on the Astro Lounge but copy it here just to "close off" my post above 😊..

"I had a nice end to the old year tonight..I managed to spot Sirius B (the Pup) with my Tak FS128 at c 10.35pm.

I used a Carton 10.5mm eyepiece barlowed with a Tal 2x Barlow to give approximately 200x. I also strongly suspected the Pup with a Nagler T2 12mm Barlow'd to 195x with a Baader Hyperion zoom Barlow 2.25x

The companion was at approximately 2 o'clock (refractor view with diagonal so right way up but E and W reversed.

Seeing was not as good as I'd hoped due to increasing wind from the flat calm during the day, but it wasn't too bad and it was a matter of using very fine focus adjustments and waiting for those short (very short) periods of relative steadiness.

Well chuffed with getting it! 👍

Dave"

18 hours ago, Joe G said:

Its just a standard CG4 mount which can be configured to be used as an alt/az

I never knew that, Joe!

I do like mounts that are dual purposed, ie can be used in both Altaz and Equatorial modes..I think in this day and age all proper EQ mounts should be convertible to Altaz..it's not engineering 🚀 science!😂👍

Enjoy your new Tak, and Happy New Year to you!

Dave

Hi Mark,

Welcome to SGL👍.

I'm from Coventry myself originally (Whitmore Park), although now live in Lincolnshire.

Good luck with your AP plans..I don't like hair shirts, so am visual and refractors only😊!

All the best,

Dave

On 01/01/2021 at 11:22, PeterCPC said:

Terrible here. I have had significant health issues that have stopped me getting out but the weather has been awful anyway. I am still recovering from another health issue that saw me in Hospital just before Xmas (not Covid) . Hopefully 2021 will be better.

Peter,

Sorry to hear of your health problems, and I do hope things really look up for you in 2021.

Best wishes,

Dave