mikeDnight

A few days ago I contacted Nick Hudson at True Technology Ltd to enquire about the prices of refractors advertised. I had bought from Nick a number of times over the past twelve years and have always had a warm, friendly and rapid response to my enquiries. This time was no different! True Technology have been supplying Takahashi telescopes since the mid 90s and so have a great deal of knowledge about the instruments being offered. My enquiry included a question about the prices of certain scopes, which on the True Tech website seemed higher than some competitors. I received a rapid response from Nick and was given a revised price for the telescope I wanted, and I placed an immediate order for the scope. The telescope was in my hands less than 24hrs later. It just proves that its worth enquiring before making a final decision. It certainly paid off for me! I'd like to offer my sincere thanks to Nick Hudson f at True Tech for a great service and a very warm and understanding manner, as well as a super fast service. Mike

I forgot to mention the map was drawn on a cylindrical grid, allowing a quite accurate representation of features. Mike

The above pencil and wash sketch mapping the Martian surface, was made using a Takahashi FS 128 F8.1 Fluorite Apochromat, and compiled from twenty of the best eyepiece drawings chosen from those Id managed to make during that fine apparition. Mars was around 25 seconds of arc in diameter when at its best. No colour filters were used. Mike

FS128, X149, 2003 Mike

Mars through a TV NP 101. 10/01/08 @ X208 Mike

Hi John. The bino viewer is only a cheap one but it works great. I use a pair of cheap 16.8mm Kson orthoscopics which on their own don't really thrill me. They have poor edge correction. But in the bino viewer, which also has a X2 Barlow screwed to the nose piece, the orthos are superb. I truly love the XW's and I doubt I'd ever part with them, but for the moon and planets the bino viewer with its cheap orthoscopics delivers outstanding views. Mike

Mike

I used to go through foam like nobodies business, I think because of the heavy eyepieces. So, I decided to try several layers of exercise matting, which worked a treat and hold the eyepieces firmly in place. Mike.

If I was buying on a shoe string budget I'd like just three eyepieces and if I'm allowed I'd also buy a X2 Barlow lens. The eyepieces I'd most likely choose for myself would be Rank Kellners (RKE's), often called reverse Kellners, or Abbé orthoscopics, both produced by Edmund optical. The focal lengths of the eyepieces would be 28mm - the 28mm RKE is a superb low power eyepiece with good eye relief. Then I'd choose the 12mm and the 8mm RKE's or similar focal length Ortho's. These could then be barlowed to give me reasonable high powers while maintaining eye relief. I'd choose the RKE's over the orthos, as despite having a relatively narrow field of I think 40°, they give truly pure, crystal clear views. I doubt anyone could look through a 28mm RKE and not be impressed. Mike

Sorry! Not able to attach file for Mars map for the above post. Apparently its too large. Stupid machines! This is why I prefer using a pencil! Mike :-(

As stated in the opening post, sketching at the eyepiece trains the observer to see more. Back in 2003 I made over 30 sketches of Mars, each sketch brought to my attention detail that wasn't immediately obvious. This really emphasised to me the importance of sketching even when the conditions at first appear to be less than favourable. There is almost always much more on view than first meets the eye. Attached is a composite drawning / map of the martian albedo features as seen throughout that favourable apparition through a 5" refractor at X120. Bear in mind that Mars was around 25 seconds of arc at its best though the drawings were made throughout the entire apparition. 20 drawings were used in producing the map.