mikeDnight

I also became the owner of my friend Derek's Sky 90 for a time. It was a lovely scope but superfluous to my requirements, and so went to a new owner. Below, Derek with his pride and joy. ~2016. 0

It's amazing that we've got to page 17 and I haven't shown any of my Tak's. I must not have been paying attention, for several years! First Tak: FS128, 2003. FS128 on pier mounted Losmandy GM8 Next was my FS152. 2007. (The EQ6 wasn't able to carry this scope well!) My next Tak was some time in coming, and it was a FC100DC. 2015. My DC alongside paulastro's FC100DL. Then came my FC100DZ. 2020. And bringing things up to date, my second FS128. Oh the money I'd have saved had I never parted with my first FS128! 😢

Possibly, but not from every angle or under different lighting, not to mention varying backdrops.

It's still a very nice pic' and worth the effort.

How are you liking your Az 100 Steve?

Looks fantastic Steve. Just like a real astronomer! My heart is still skipping beats!!

I reckon that if you all crashed into one another at high speed, there's a chance you could make one good one! Of course there's nothing at all wrong with me!! 😉

As deep sky is your friends passion, may be he would appreciate a NP101 with a 35mm Panoptic under a dark sky, as it will show him views of deep sky he could never achieve with his big Dob.

But curiously not short enough to let your EM2 slip from your grasp Dave. Hmmm... could there possibly be a new pet in your sights?

I love the Skywatcher StarTravel 150. Its awesome on brighter deep sky, and can knock out a nice, bright, wide field at F5. It is a rich field scope by design, so not the best planetary scope.

Spot on! Nothing beats a refractor for sharpness of image. Other scopes with greater apertures may show more, but more often than not it's the refractor that gives the more aesthetically pleasing view, and I've never seen anything to change my mind about that. In 1980 when I first started out in this wonderful hobby, I was fortunate enough to befriend an older astronomer who told me "You cant beat a 4" refractor"! Of course back then I believed every word blindly, but today I know exactly what he meant. Other scopes - even larger refractors - may show more, but the humble 4" has a special place in the minds and hearts of many amateurs. Plus, sitting back in a garden chair and admiring the silhouette of a refractor set against a starry backdrop has an almost erotic appeal. No other scope design does that to me; perhaps I'm revealing too much about myself here!?

A 80mm F15 Vixen would be a scope to drool over to me. My 60mm Carton when first used with a binoviewer completely stunned me, (I think I bought the scope off you!?). I truly love it!! So an 80mm could be a lifetime scope. The sketch of Mars below was made using the 60mm Carton. No one will ever convince me that small apertures are just toys!

I think Dave has more than just the FS128 in his armoury, so I doubt he's going to be without a jewel to observe with.

I was thinking that may be you should buy it Stu. Imagine what an amazing binocular it would make when paired with yours. 😈

Great Sketches!

It might be worth trying a Tak prism in your Maksutov to see it it eradicates any hint of scatter. They are probably the cheapest accessory that Tak offer, but produce great, scatter free images through my refractors.

I'd suggest a cheap binoviewer and a couple of 18mm plossl's or orthoscopic's, and a 2X barlow fitted to the nose of the binoviewer. It will give you superb lunar and planetary views, and youll find it hard to believe you're only using an 80mm scope.

Back in 2001 my friends wife had arranged a Mars Party for her hubby and also invited a number of astronomers. She'd put on a mini banquet and even hung little Martians from the lights and picture frames to set the mood. As it happened we also had some clear skies, and several scopes were available to use. One chap called Ben, had brought a goto 4.5" SCT, while my friend Derek had his faithful Altaz StarTravel 102. As usual, I chose the wrong Que and impatiently waited behind Ben to get my first look through a computerised Tasco SCT. Meanwhile across the other end of the garden Derek was sweeping up one Messier object after another, and giving all around him a chance to look through the eyepiece. I on the other hand saw nothing at all, as after Ben finally got his junk pile to work, clouds started to roll in and ended the session. That was a great lesson that I never forgot! The StarTravel was the easy winner, with emphasis on "easy".

With my FC100DZ with an 800mm FL, I used a 1.6mm Vixen High Resolution eyepiece and a 2X Ultima SV barlow gives 1000X. The stars that were examined were Zeta Hercules showing a perfect little sun riding the first diffraction ring. 84 Virginis was widely separated but had beautifully contrasting colours, which became even more vivid at 400X. Izar was another stunning binary showing to my eye as a orange/red primary and a chalk blue secondary. Using a power of 1000X is not a normal practice for me, but it really was a wonderful thing to witness. The star images were so perfect that i repeatedly had to check i hadnt made some mistake with the magnification, as I would have expected the image to have broken down long before reaching such a power, but it didn't!

Sometimes I wonder if the relatively low price and familiarity of these Maksutov's has played a part in our losing sight of their incredible ability. I like to think of them as affordable modern day Questars.

That's a great comparison between two wonderful scopes. Thanks for taking the time to write up your thoughts and present your observations in a way that shows you have great affection for both. The only downside from my stand point is that I now want a Svbony 3-8 zoom!

That would depend on what the scope is looking at. With Jupiter I've found 180X is a generally good power that reveals lots of detail. With Saturn it can be 200X to 250X generally. With the Moon anything can go if the seeing allows it, but again 180X to 250X is generally good, but I've used much higher powers. With Mars I've used as high as 300X plus, but again 200X would be a usual power. Venus at 474X is a real party trick that's left some of my observing buddies in awe. When it comes to the stars, ive used as high as 1000X while observing double stars and the stars still remained sharp enough to present a perfect Airy disc and first diffraction ring. The seeing conditions are the real limiter, as it needs a good transparent and steady atmosphere to allow a scope to give of its best. With the FC100DC and its siblings, their ease of use means they are used often, and the more often they are under the stars the greater the chance of catching great seeing. My own view is that most nights have great seeing, but great seeing is often fleeting and you need to be at the eyepiece to witness and benefit from such moments.

For me, my favourite scope of all time and the one that's shown my more than any other, is the Takahashi FC100DC. I've observed with pretty much every major scope type and aperture upto 30" aperture, but because that little 4" F7.4 apo was so light and easy to use, and was all but unaffected by atmospheric seeing as larger apertures can be, it demanded I use it on every clear night. I suppose a smaller scope that you use a lot will always show you more than a big monster that's rarely used. The FC100DC gave some of the finest, most detailed views of Mars I've ever seen, despite the planet being extremely low in UK skies in 2016. Saturn and Jupiter have been equally beautiful and detailed, but it's the Moon that never fails to leave me in awe. With a binocular viewer the mountains appear to tower in 3D and although resolution is not affected, the use of both eyes certainly boosts definition giving the impression you're using a larger aperture, and hence fine detail becomes easier to see. Even on deep sky the 100mm refractor delivered some impressive views of star clusters and nebulae, as well as some brighter galaxies. Below is the FC100DC and a few sketches of Mars from 2016.

You should buy a binoviewer and a couple of pairs of good plossl or orthoscopic eyepieces in the 25mm and 18mm range. Attach the binoviewer to a 2× barlow to get approx 4x amplification, and you'll probably never want to look at the Moon or planets again with anything else. For me, the change to binoviewers has been the greatest game-changer to my observing that I've ever experienced.

This is easy for me. Whenever there's a "discussion" between a friend and his wife, I always take the side of the wife. I'd like to say its through wisdom to do so, but in reality its probably more to do with cowardice. 😁