mikeDnight

Looks very much like a clock driven 4" Unitron to me. Very nice! Very desirable! Way too expensive! Mike

Well that's a rum do! All these years I thought I knew what field curvature and pin cushion was. Never mind! The heights of the 14mm and 10mm XW bodies but not including the chrome barrel, and with the eyecup fully extended are 14mm = 3.2", 10mm = 3.6". Their widths are 2 3/8" which is slightly wider than the advertised width of 2.25". Mike

Nice graphs! I think however you've got the definition of field curvature and pin cushion the wrong way round. Field curvature causes a linear feature to appear curved and pin cushion leads stellar points to have a slightly different focus. Mike

Field curvature in the XWs has never been a problem for me at least. The 20 mm is an excellent eyepiece for dso's and star fields, having great contrast and purity, and is currently my lowest power eyepiece. I'd never part with it! The 31mm Nagler is far worse in respect to field curvature but even then FC only an issue when observing terrestrially. Mike

I had my first opportunity last night to try out my 14mm XW that I bought second hand over the summer. I noticed the Pleiades was on view and although it wasn't high, i set the scope up on its AZ4, inserted the 14mm XW and WOW! I wasn't dark adapted and the scope was warm yet the nebulosity was the first thing that struck me. It wasn't just visible around the brighter stars but the whole cluster was swaithed in a wraith like mesh which was easily visible. The Pentax XW's are a perfect match for my small refractor and although the 14mm has received mixed reviews, i found no fault with it. To get an idea of the real field I aimed the scope at M31. The nebulous arms of the galaxy extended beyond the field but the two companions were still well within the field and were very obvious. The double cluster was beautiful with its orange and red stars standing out against their glittering backdrop. The whole session lasted no more than 15 minutes but the memory of it will remain with me forever. Mike.

I love Pentax XW's and think the 3.5 and the 5mm to be some of the finest eyepieces available, having the purity of a quality orthoscopic but with much better field and eye relief. I also think the 10mm and 20mm are terrific on the deep sky giving a very comfortable field and offering superb contrast and definition. Over the summer i bought a second hand 14mm XW but havent had time to try it out yet. Though ive read mixed reviews about the 14mm im sure ill find good reason to fall in love with it despite any shortcomings. Congratulations on your acquisition of that wonderful 3.5mm. I think its one of the best if not the best high power eyepiece on the market, only beaten by using two eyes. Mike

What is it about a lens, particularly a fluorite lens, that makes me go weak at the knees? No other telescope makes me feel this way! Thanks for this one Tony! I was recovering nicely until I saw this! Mike

I blame modern technology for correcting my often incorrect spelling incorrectly! I wonder what Nicks excuse was? Probably the printers! Excusable Though, as Tak have been making dough from Flourite (Fluorite) for decades. Sorry! Mike

Just a further comment after Stu's clarification regarding the FC design; In the older FS fluorite refractors the fluorite element was at the front, and the lens was hard multicoated. The FS was a Fraunhofer refractor and for some reason could not be made in F ratios below F8, otherwise the colour correction would have suffered. The new FC however gives wonderfully colour free images at F7.4. Either scope is superb and you may find a second-hand FS quite reasonably priced on AB&S from time to time. Alternatively, you could always try plying Gavster with a large bottle of Glenmorangie and then get him to sign one of his beautiful FC's over to you. Not sure it would work though! Mike

That is SO Sexy!

Here's a pic of my baby all snuggled up in her new TENBA bed. Mike

Actually I agree! It wouldn't need to be a heavy mount for the FC either. I'll go for a lightweight EQ instead. Thanks Stu!

For sweeping the sky at low to medium power the AZ4 is an ideal lightweight but reasonably sturdy mount. Over the last few weeks however, while observing Mars, ive had to use my AZ4 to see the planet, as from the observatory it was too low until near the meridian. Slow motions would have been good for me rather than the awkwardness of push/pulling and over shooting the target. After all, wasn't it Bruce Lee who said "Dont concentrate on the Telescope/mount, or you will miss all that heavenly glory!"? Mike PS I think you may have cut yourself shaving Stu!

This version is available in the uk from 365Astronomy but looks like a similar mount i tried a few years ago which had terrible damping time. I think id prefer to hang on until the New Skywatcher AZ5 is set free on the astro community. Plus the SW AZ5 looks more compact and less industrial. Mike

I've often felt that the AZ4 could do with slow motion controls in both axes, and although every AZ4 I've owned has needed some fettling to get it to move smoothly, they are fairly solid little mounts. Well now SkyWatcher have developers the AZ5 which has slow motions in altitude and azimuth. It looks like a sturdy little mount ideally suited for a grab and go set up. The problem is that its not yet available and there's no indication of cost. I think my little Tak will be a perfect match for this mount! Mike

It looks like some serious foam tectonics has taken place in that box.

That's an illness not an eyepiece collection! Mike

I haven't tried it myself Jules, but I've heard that if you freeze the foam first it is much easier to cut. Mike

Here's a close-up ?

An observing buddy called round this evening to show me his new mount. When I heard he'd bought an AZ3 to mount his Takahashi Sky 90 on I was borderline horrified. However, after we attached the scope to the mount, I was pleasantly surprised how stable and secure it seemed to be. He's knocking on a bit now and wanted a lightweight mount with slow motions. We changed the flimsy tripod for a slightly better model with greater spread and it all works well. Mike

Thats a particularly nice looking Lunt Herschel Wedge gracing that equally nice looking telescope John. Mike

I can believe the Takahashi Alley section existed but I doubt its a good idea. Tak's don't shine against each other as they are all superb. The only way to see the difference in performance is to put them up against other scopes on a good night. Today though, the gap between high end refractors such as ED, fluorite doublets and ED triplets is getting narrower all the time. Not long ago an achromat would cost £100 per inch and an apochromat £1000 per inch. Now with the influx of excellent ED's from China, even price is no longer an indication of excellence. We're really spoiled for choice and should just use whatever we have to the full. (But id still rather have a Tak!) Mike

Floppy bear goes everywhere with us and is the best anniversary present I ever bought for my wife. You dont need to spend a fortune to please em! She got a cuddly £10 teddy and I got a cuddly £3,850.00 Tak Fluorite. Seems fair to me! Mike

Happy day at Huddersfield Asto Society. The photo was taken around 5.30am on June 8th 2004 awaiting the transit of Venus. my wife took the photo while my youngest son Daniel stuffs his face with an Apple and floppy bear sits guarding my FS 128 and Daniels 102mm StarTravel. Mike

Hi Brian, Being a refractorholic is the norm round here and you're to be commended for it. What is mildly worrying though is your shameless glove fetish. ? Mike