F15Rules

7 hours ago, AlexK said:

"MAG" field is actually for the scope magnification, not for the planet's visual magnitude  

Thanks Alex, of course it is!😊👍

Don't laugh, but tonight, for the first time, I tried sketching while observing.

I have to confess that I am to Art what Attila the Hun was to World Peace, but for a while I've wanted to try to capture something of what I see through my scope.

So I bought myself a little observation book off Amazon, sharpened a pencil, and went outside to look at Mars tonight.

The sky wasn't too bad at all, varying during the hour and a bit that I was out from pretty good to fair seeing and back again, with a bit more cloud evident by the time I packed up at almost 12.30am. There is a lot of moisture in the atmosphere at the moment.

I spent the whole hour looking at Mars with my Tak FS128 and a Revelation binoviewer, loaded with a pair of Morpheus 17.5mms and also a pair of Celestron Halloween 26mm plossls. I also used a Baader 2.25x zoom Barlow for higher power, and the sketch on the right was made at lower power, and the one on the right at a bit higher power. Both pairs gave nice views in moments of steady seeing, with the Morpheus pair delivering a much bigger fov and larger image.

I have no idea what were the features I was looking at, apart from the southern polar cap of course, I will try to look online in the morning to see if anything was vaguely recognisable!

The dark land mass on the southern hemisphere of Mars was by far the most prominent feature while I was looking tonight, and it "came and went" with the varying shimmering of the atmosphere.

I found it very awkward at first, sitting on my Nadira observing chair, looking into the binoviewers (without glasses on), then scrabbling for the pad and pencil and then trying to put something on the page (with glasses on this time!) without dropping everything on the lawn! It really made me appreciate the skill of dedicated and experienced planetary observers like Mike (@MikeDnight)..

Hopefully as I gain a bit more practice it will begin to feel a bit more natural..

I did quite enjoy it though, and will try again on a better night of steady seeing 😊.

Dave

12 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Umm.........let me see 🤔

• 127mm f9.4 frac - handle
• 80mm f/10 frac - handle
• 100mm f/13 frac - handle
• 80mm f/15 frac - no handle
• 100mm f/15 Mak - handle
• 200mm f/12 Classical Cassegrain - handle
• 10” f/5 dob - no handle

 

 

Well, I have to hand it to you John, you certainly have a handle on what scopes you have, and most of them have handles on too!  And you must be quite handy with handles to have made them all much easier to handle..😊

Dave

On 30/09/2020 at 17:12, johninderby said:

Yes it’s my white light solar setup. 👍🏻

The StellaMira is not going anywhere. 😁

What's the scope count now John?😁

And do they all have handles??😂🤣

Dave

12 hours ago, RobertI said:

Nadira observing chair, delivered next day by Rother Valley Optics. 👍

Nice Robert. I have one, it's great for using with my fixed height wooden tripod😊👍

Dave

On 08/10/2020 at 21:21, JeremyS said:

Nice job, Victor. And just before your holidays too! Enjoy!

All it needs now is a nice handle😁👍

Dave

4 minutes ago, Alan White said:

Nice to read that you had a good view and enjoyed yourself Vin, I too was out and enjoyed similar views and conditions.

I was using my fine ED103s Vixen, which I highly rate, it’s a stinking scope and a bargain used.

Mars is truly giving this time round, not a dust storm in sight......thank goodness.

 

Yes, Alan, my "stinking" ED103s gave "stonking" views!😂🤣😂

Vin, the wooden tripod isn't a Vixen, it's a home built (not by me) affair which I've had about 10 years, fixed height and very robust - in fact, these days it carries the FS128 on a Tak EM2 mount. The fixed height isn't a problem as I use a variable height observing chair.

Your TeleVue scope sounds great, I'm sure it would probably match the ED103s in a head to head. I really like the Vixen oversized aluminium tubes though..they look impressive but are actually very lightweight.

Clear skies all!

Dave

Great report Vin👍😊.

Although a reasonably experienced general observer, I am a pretty much complete novice when it comes to Mars to be honest, so I found this thread very helpful, thank you.

It's really whetted my appetite for more prolonged and detailed studying of Mars...now I'm retired, and we have the best opposition of Mars for several years imminent, I just hope we get some really still, steady skies to make the most if it in coming weeks!

You have a great setup there, btw. I owned a couple of SP102Ms in the past, and really enjoyed them, and the Vixen equatorial mounts IMHO are still today far superior than the chinese clones.

I did "graduate" to a later Vixen ED103s (very similar to John's ED203SS, but operating at F7.7 rather than F6.5), and honestly, it was a revelation, a real step up from the SP102M in every way see below).. The later ones also come with a very good dual speed R&P focuser. When you think that these had a retail cost of c £1700, yet you can get a good used one for around £600-£700, they represent great value and willi last you a lifetime.

I was eventually lucky enough to acquire a Tak FS128, but the two ED103s scopes I owned were both superb, and incredibly potent when matched with a GP or GP/DX mount.

Thanks again for a great post 😊.

Dave

8 hours ago, bomberbaz said:

. First off when I put my eyepiece only in the mak and then compared with binoviewer/eyepiece I found that the binoviewer seems to have a 1.15 barlowing effect! I double checked this and got the same result, curious

Hi Steve,

Yes, I went through this learning process a couple of years ago...have a read of this old but interesting thread from the US (it may have also appeared on Cloudy Nights)...

http://www.astrosurf.com/sliop/bino/Binoviewer test.htm

The reviewer looked at a number of binoviewers, and late on in the review (it's quite long but an interesting read), he looked at the fact that his observations seemed to suggest that different models added a certain amount of extra magnification just by virtue of their own internal  optical path..at the time I found this review, I had just bought an old but excellent Celestron Baader German built set of 60 degree angled binoviewers, and these proved to add almost exactly 15% to the native magnification, with no Barlow added.

The other afternoon I was playing about with my current Revelation binoviewers, a pair of Morpheus 17.5mm's and both 1.6x and 2.25x Barlows. My findings were very similar to yours, except that my higher power Baader 2.25x Barlow seems to add over 4x to the magnification, more like 4.5x?

If my working is right, this means that in my scope (1040mm focal length), my binoviewed, barlowed Morpheus pair were giving me about 270x, a really nice high power magnification, with the excellent Morpheus 76degree field. (This is with the Barlow threaded into the front of the binoviewer, but behind the diagonal prism (Baader T2) ).

If the Barlow was threaded into the front of the prism diagonal, it would deliver even more magnification, probably too much, but I will try it at some point.

The rather poor images below give you an idea of what that x270 looked like on my daytime test object..our local village church tower and a pair of Jackdaws, (shown next to the tower lightening conductor rod), about 150metres from the scope..(note the image is poor as I handheld my mobile phone to the eyepiece and it was VERY difficult to get clear focus and correct alignment of the phone camera to the eyepiece through one barrel of the binoviewer!) It was also starting to rain..

All interesting stuff, thanks for posting Steve😊👍

Dave

On 29/09/2020 at 20:41, mikeDnight said:

 

Quote

 

I've shown this refractor before, but not with an Extender-Q attached, turning it from F8 to F12.8.

So, Mike, at F12.8 it shouldn't now show any CA??? 🤭😇

Looks superb👍

Dave

On 22/09/2020 at 08:22, johninderby said:

Agree with the above.

Most grandparents love doing things for their grandkids and would probably be pleased that you trust them to look after your telescope. That is if they have room for it of course.

I'd agree with this if you go for a refractor..with the Dob, though, they might confuse it with a smoke flue for their log burner?🤭😇

23 hours ago, Rob said:

I have not managed Mars yet due to injury and illness this past month. I'm now finally on the mend, and hope to be out by the weekend. Those that know me and how passionate I am about Mars will appreciate I've been going nuts that I can't get out there.

Some really nice pictures and reports coming in mind.. thanks all Rob

Sorry to hear that, Rob. I hope you're well on the mend now and can get some good skies and better health very soon so you can get some great views 😉.

My own frustration has been mainly rubbish skies...being close to the east coast has meant we have been under clouds at night for almost 3 weeks, whilst much of the rest of the country has enjoyed clear (if not always steady) skies. So I'm hoping it will be our turn soon!🙄😊.

On the plus side I've used the cloudy days to fit a microfocuser to my FS128 and cleaned my eyepieces & binoviewers to within an inch of their lives, so am ready when the sky finally does play ball!

Dave

Robert,

Did you source a Barlow yet?

If not, I can really recommend the Baader Hyperion zoom 2.25x unit as being excellent. It works well with my Morpheus (and other EPs), and in a 9mm Morph would offer a very useful 4mm high power option for those all too rare UK very good nights.

Dave

Hi Alan,

It won't come as a surprise to you but I didn't get on with the XW 14 and 20 due to the aforementioned FC, which really was noticeable to my 60+ eyes.

I've worn glasses for reading since I was 47. I've just had an extensive eye test and was told my distance vision is 20/20 but my close vision prescription has increased a little in my right eye, which I strongly suspected (hence my eye test). 

I don't need glasses for driving or observing.

I found the XWs at 10mm and less quite excellent, but for me the 14 and 20 were noticeably bested by the Morpheus 14mm and Vixen LVW 22 respectively (I know you loved the LVW 22mm too).

The Delos 14 gets great write ups but costs so much more than the Morpheus..I doubt my eyes could resolve any differences.

I don't know the APM range but they do seem to be gaining a good reputation with some well respected observers.

Your Vixen deserves top end eyepieces 😊👍.

Good luck with your choice..

Dave

Jeremy,

I have both a WO 1.6x nosepiece and Baader Hyperion zoom 2.25x Barlow..both thread perfectly into my Revelation binoviewer 1.25" nosepiece, so their threads must be the same?

Both work very well. The Baader gives much higher magnification than the usual 2.25x when in the BV, I'd estimate a bit over 3.5x (not scientific, but based on visual comparisons between high power short FL eyepieces and longer focal length pairings with Barlow 2.25x screwed  into the BV 1.25" nosepiece). Assuming I'm correct in this, you'd probably want a pair around the 12.5mm (eg BGO or Ultima 12.5s, or best of all a pair of Morpheus 12.5s) mark to give you the equivalent of your solo Vixen HR 3.4mm. And of course, a pair of 12.5s would give you more eye relief than the 8s..

In my FS128 F8 (1040mm) such a combo would give me c 291x. In your TSA120  F7.5 the same combo would give c 252x, a pair of 10mms would give c x315 - both well within your scopes' comfort zone on decent nights..😊.

HTH

Dave

Hi Victor,

Firstly, many congratulations on your excellent English! I used to work for a Danish company (based on the mainland in Aabenraa), and was constantly impressed by how many Danes speak and write in perfect English.

I can't add much to the great advice  above..the standout phrase is "the best scope is the one you use most": I'm lucky enough to own a 5" (128mm) Takahashi, but before that my main scope for a good while was a 4"/103mm Vixen ED103s, and it really was a perfect combination of performance and portability..I often used it on a Porta II altaz mount, so easy to carry about, or on a Vixen GP equatorial, ideal for tracking planets at high power. It really was an ideal all round scope.

You mention an Evostar 100mm ED, and they really are very good performers at a very good price.

Then, at some time in the future and when funds permit, you might want to go the whole hog and get a 100mm Takahashi..what could be better for a Dane than a scope whose abbreviated nickname is the same as the Danish word for "Thanks" - "Tak!"

Good luck to you Victor👍😊

Dave

On 16/09/2020 at 13:45, JeremyS said:

Here's a John Inderby special from the supplier he cites above. Highly recommended. Never looked back since he suggested these handles:

..and you've never shut up about them either!! 😂😜🤪

Dave

1 hour ago, Deadlake said:

Going off topic, your Vixen Ports mounts slow mo controls. Would you say they are reliable quality? I've got this to look forward to getting out with my skywatcher slow-mo's, attached to a scope tech zero mount...

 

 

I found the Porta II slo mo's to be very handy. As with all manual slo motions I've ever used, I tighten them right down with pliers (with an old cloth wrapped around the slo motion metal gripper to avoid marking with the pliers), and they don't then loosen off themselves.

Dave

1 hour ago, Highburymark said:

Great job Dave. First time I fitted the MEF to an FC-100 it was a bit mushy - still worked well but there was a bit of backlash. Then I transferred the same unit to my Epsilon 130 Newtonian and it’s been spot on ever since.

Thanks Mark.. I'd read about some "sponginess" on these upgrades, but it seems often to be more about "fettling" the microfocuser and possibly also the main focuser adjustments as well - in very small increments?

I half expected to feel some partial resistance or sponginess when I first turned the small MEF knob..in fact, nothing happened at all, until I realised that I'd got the top locking knob of the main focuser locked down!

Once that was loosened off everything worked smoothly, even with a Revelation binoviewer loaded with a pair on Morpheus 17.5mm's on board.

I'm very happy so far😊👍..

Dave

2 hours ago, Deadlake said:

This looks the same as the vixen focuser conversion, even down to the instructions.... 

You could well be right, and no bad thing if it is.

I've owned 2 Vixen ED103s scopes, one of which had a dual speed focuser fitted.

The colour scheme was reversed, ie large knob on Vixen focuser was black, microfocuser small knob was silver, see photo.

The Vixen wasn't a retrofit, so didn't look the same underneath. The action felt quite similar to the Tak, as I recall.

Dave

Hi Steve,

Thanks for sharing your experiences..I've had night like that quite often too. Last night I got the frac out at about 11.15pm as the sky was pretty clear, with some scattered clouds and a noticeably cool breeze coming off the North sea, about 15 miles east of us. 

I'd fitted a new microfocuser to my Tak and was keen to try it out. Well, it worked just fine, and will really help with high magnification on good nights. And last night was not a good night here. Although the breeze was very noticeable, it was actually the sky seeing that was lousy and made for a very short session..for example I could see the Milky Way overhead, and all of the stars of Ursa Minor right round from Polaris to Kochab. But Mars was a (very bright) mush, with just the polar cap being obvious, and the double double epsilon Lyrae, which I can normally get a clean, steady split with at c100x, was very wobbly and indistinct.

So, transparency was not bad, but the seeing was right down at the low end of the scale.

I was only out for about 45 minutes and yes, it did start to feel cold, so I packed up at midnight and went to a warm bed!

So, don't despair Steve, better night's WILL come soon!

Dave

22 hours ago, Peter Drew said:

Best keep your clothes on then!        🙂

Please do, Jeremy, for all our sakes!! Or do I need to spell it out for you??🤭

Dave

All done! 😊 👍

Took me only 20 minutes yesterday afternoon thanks to the instructions kindly pointed out and sent by Jeremy, Mike and Nicos..

Tried it out last night as it was clear here..sadly the seeing was really poor, Mars was bright but mushy, and the double double in Lyra was very unsteady, but the microfocuser works perfectly, so I'm all ready for when the atmosphere plays nicely!

Thanks again, guys, and here are a couple of pics with the unit in place ☺️.

Dave

Dave

12 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Not sure why people would want to make light of such a serious topic, John. 

Perhaps it's just their way of handling it.

 

🙂