F15Rules

Just protecting the old girls' feelings Steve?.. Dave

That Brandon should be superb in Andromeda at F5, er, I mean F15.. Clear skies Steve, Dave

Steve...!! Have you been chopping Andromeda's tube?? Congratulations on the new Nagler?☺ Dave

So, you like Binoculars then, Steve? By comparison, I have this pair as recommended by your good self..Opticron Adventurer WPII and am very happy with them too☺ Dave

You're not missing anything Jock..I bought the same set, it's great value. The prism has 32mm clear aperture so shouldn't vignette any 1.25 eps. You can use 2" nosepiece/T2 as well (have done so before), and the prism build is certainly up to the weight of 2" eps - but vignetting is then likely (Although not actually too bad I found). A great bit of kit?☺. Dave

Nice old mount but not exactly cheap! It seems to me that ENS prices have been rising quite a bit in the past few years? "Proper" GPs often with electric drives come up for sale on here or the other site..☺ Dave

Cracking mount Mike, so smooth and well engineered. If you could source a good wooden tripod for it, it would be immensely stable (I'm sure it is already very good) - and the Tak will only have its own objective and sky conditions as it's limitations ☺. Dave

I bought the WO diagonal to compare to the Baader. I only used it once, so in fairness I'm not qualified to comment in depth on its performance. It looks pretty well made to me. The helical focus feature is nice, a little stiff perhaps, but it was new so might well free up with use. The one time I did compare briefly with the Baader I felt the Baader was a bit sharper and definitely had more contrast. The Baader costs around £40 more than the WO..I think that the Baader is worth the extra, for the better build and Optics, but the WO represents decent value at £59 plus shipping. I sold mine quicker than I planned, to help fund a new Morpheus 17.5mm, so watch out for a comparison of the M17.5 with my LVW22 before long☺. Dave

I use the Baader T2 (not Zeiss) 1.25" prism set with helical micro focuser. I love it. The Tak prism is nice but doesn't have the same solidity, nor the micro focusing.. Mike, for binoviewing the Baader prism does have a locking screw which would prevent the bv from rotating (though you would lose the micro focusing feature ☺). For mounting, the clamshell for me??.. Dave

..Gasping for breath sounds.."my - last - two - eps - ever"... If you say so, if you say so... Dave

My expected new old stock Parks Gold Series Pseudo Masuyama 3.8mm arrived from the USA today☺. Here's a pic of it next to my 7.5mm, which it dwarfs.. I've added more details on my Eyepiece forum thread "Going retro vintage Japanese glass".. Dave

If you look at Jeremy's link to Amazon, they do seem to do larger size versions which might be big enough for your Naglers?☺ Dave

Thanks Russ. Yes, spot on. I think these are very early Parks ones, maybe even dating from the 1980s.. Looking forward to a proper first light before long.. Dave

Hi Steve, Yes, I bought a pair from Robtics in Holland (£22 for a pair shipped!), and I was very fortunate to be gifted 3 very kindly by MikeDknight, one of which was large enough to fit on the 30mm, which is a lovely eyepiece . Just need to find one or two more now but at least I can swap them around if need be.. Dave

I've got an old small ali case which just happens to fit my newly acquired set of Parks Gold Japanese Pseudo-Masuyamas quite nicely.. I also have an incoming 3.8mm which should arrive any time now, so I'll have 7 of the possible 9 variants in this line: 3.8, 7.5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30mm Dave

So add it to your sig!! How do you like your 9mm? Are you tempted by the new 17.5mm? Dave

All said in good fun Steve☺.. Perhaps our Newt and Dob friends can come up with some names for fracs??

Oh, shush and behave. ...because????

Now about a few suggestions? Nellie the Newt? Freda the Funnel?? Dumbo the Dob??? I'll get my coat.. Dave

"Looking THROUGH them??" I thought Tak owners only looked AT them..at EVERY opportunity!!! Dave

A beautiful vintage achromatic Dave, should be great on Jupiter and a real double star splitter! Congratulations! Dave

Ha ha! "Touche", as the French would say?. Enjoy your new toy! Dave

Really? Your first proper scope since the age of 7?? Enjoy, it should perform really well. Dave

The scope looks to be in fine condition Jock.. If you have the RS focuser and get the 100r tube, I'm sure it would be possible to get an adapter made to join the two parts..in fact, you could have the tube shortened to allow the use of a binoviewer without needing a Barlow lens to get focus as well!?. Good luck, Dave