mikeDnight

No its a genuine Vixen pier Alan. It suddenly appeared earlier this year when my wife wasn't looking. I thought it would provide a more space saving option than a tripod in the house, as I tend to leave my Tak on a mount rather than putting it in a bag or case. The reasons for doing that are 1) It allow as any moisture on the tube after a night's observing to evaporate fully. 2) It gives me something to admire when its raining cat's and dog's, and 3) I'm inherently lazy, and found that if I do put my scope away in its protective bag, I often can't be bothered to mess around unzipping the bag to get my scope and then having to dry it off again before it goes back into the bag. Then finding somewhere to put the bag where its not in the way. With the scope already on an EQ in the house, I can grab the tube assembly in seconds and carry it out to the observatory. 😊

Here's my 72mm ED addition to the family on a Unitron Altazimuth mount. 😊

Thanks Dave. I think it was worth waiting until a worthy scope came along to sit atop of such a lovely classic mount. I would have liked a Unitron but beggars can't be choosers, and the 72mm is probably a better scope in reality. I'm happy you're happy that your mount has finally found a new lease of life. 😊

Your Telementor looks great on the Unitron mount Stu. It would look the part in the corner of a study. 😊

I never leave the the scope in the observatory. Observatories are the worst place to keep telescopes. I have two EQ mounts, one in the house on which the Tak stands, (something to admire when its raining), and the other permanently mounted on a pier in the obs. I just carry the DZ out when I want to play in the obs, or mount it on a Teegul/Lapides altazimuth when playing away. 😊

Ah but you did mention the possibility of needing to upgrade the focuser on one of the cheap achromats, which starts to add to the cost. I'm not sure I'd go for a triplet that's priced in the same range as the Starfield 102. Often a doublet ED is prefered as a visual only instrument. The image will be visually Apochromatic and it will be lighter and cool quicker than a triplet. And although low power wide fields are beautiful, its often when middle to higher powers are used that DSO's really become spectacular. I've owned and used numerous cheaper end rich field refractors around 4" aperture and haven't seen any that could compete with a modern F7 ish ED doublet. The only outstanding small aperture rft's have been high end, such as those by TeleVue, Takahashi Sky 90, and WO Megrez. Honestly, before you do buy a Startravel (the ST150 is spectacular but heavy), taking a look through a 4" F7 might dispel any doubts.

Imagine as a teenager finding that in your stocking on Christmas morning. Thanks for finding the image. 😊

Honestly, i would put my £300 budget in a safe place and keep adding to it, until finally i could afford one of those beautiful Starfield 102 ED's from FLO. You would not regret it, and its amazing how quickly budgets increase when we stop spending our loose change on take aways and other none essential stuff.

Wow! I'd have sold my granny for a 75mm Unitron back then, and I really loved my granny. I don't suppose you have any pic's of that scope floating about?

Some time back i bought an old Unitron Altazimuth mount from a splendid fellow on SGL. The mount has laid around for quite a while until the right scope came along that would complement it and bring it to life again. Then a couple of days ago i recieved a phone call from yet another splendid fellow on SGL, offering me first chance at a SW 72mm Evostar ED at a giveaway price. Last night was my first session using the Unitron mount and first light through the scope, and what a joy it was on both counts. The mount, which used sprung loaded tangent arms was as solid a can be, with no tremor what so ever. I'd mounted the Unitron head on a wooden Vixen tripod, which was donated to the cause by the same splendid SGL fellow who sold me the scope. I've never really rated tangent arms as a way of driving a telescope, but after last night I've changed my mind. There are numerous reviews on U-tube and elsewhere discussing the SW72ED as an imaging instrument, but little about it as a visual scope. The Moon last night was past full and high in the sky around midnight, so I carried the 72 with mount outside intending to look at the terminator. Orion caught my eye several degrees below the Moon, so before I completely destroyed my night vision looking at the Moon I aimed the scope at Orions sword. If i said the view was spectacular, you'd probably think I'm exaggerating just a tad, after all how spectacular can a puny 72mm scope be? Well to me the view was really quite spectacular, with the pin sharp star images and a field of view that swallowed the entire sword with M42 being the cherry on the cake. At the start I was using a 2" 26mm Hilux eyepiece, but the eyepiece that really brought the show to life was a 12.5mm Morpheus. I swept up to M45 but the sword was such a joy that I didn't want to stop admiring it, so I drifted back to it again and again after looking around the sky at various star fields. The experience rekindled the magic I felt when I first started out in the hobby over 40 years ago. Back then I'd set myself up with a 60mm refractor and a pair of 12X60mm binoculars with which I learned my way around the Messier objects and star fields. Looking at the Moon there was a small amount of CA around the limb but the view was crisp with razr sharp detail, and far better than my old 60mm Prinz Astrel 500, for which I paid a whopping £110 in 1980. The 72ED is a far more capable and serious scope, which in real terms probably doesn't cost any more than the 60mm 40 years ago. Anyone wanting a lightweight grab & go scope could do a lot worse than buying one of these mighty atoms. The thing I dislike about the 72mm is the screw on lens cap which has a very fine thread and is difficult to screw on in the dark without cross threading. Other than that the scope is a pure joy to use.

Try rotating your eyepiece. It could be dust particles on the field lens. As you rotate the eyepiece the black dots will rotate too. If you're using a refractor you could also check your diagonal mirror doesn't have dust on it.

I laughed when I read your post, but I honestly think that its not far from the truth for many of us.

It is most definitely the use of a binoviewer for lunar & planetary observing. It has been an eye opener and a real game changer for me. I've always had a keen eye for detecting fine planetary detail while using high quality eyepieces, but the binoviewer along with simple ortho's or plossl's outperforms everything I've used in mono without exception, and I've used some truly top class eyepieces. And my binoviewer, which I've owned since 2008, is only a cheap and chearful Revelation model, and my ortho's cheap Kson Abbe's and various pseudo Masuyama super plossl's. Perhapse strangely to some, but going from a 6" Tak to a 4" has been revolutionary, as although the 6" was superb it was also massive, and as a consequence I looked for reasons not to set it up and observe. Buying a Tak FC100DC and later a FC100DZ, I found my time at the eyepiece, and my enjoyment, increased dramatically. The FC100D refractors, like most 4" apo/ED refractors are an absolute joy to use.

Excellent pic's Paul, though I didn't expect your handsome face to suddenly appear as I scrolled down. It made me jump!

The finest view of the central rille running along the Alpine Valley that I've ever had, was viewed through a pair of 15mm LV's in a barlowed binoviewer. They are excellent eyepieces that are perhapse out of fashion due to their narrow apparent field. They are really nice for lunar & planetary.

Dont stop! The equipment is often just as much a part of the hobby as observing with it. And when its raining for months on end, having nice optics and gadgets to look at is like having a reassuring comfort blanket until the skies clear.

I think I've got everything I need, but perhaps not everything I want. May be I'm not alone on that last point? I have a 10" F6 Dob for those rare occasions when the sky is dark and transparent enough. Then my 100mm F8 apochromat, which is my prefered lunar & planetary scope. I also have a PST, but somehow it found its way on long term loan to a dear friend who is more solar inclined than myself. And now I've just acquired an SW 72mm ED which I intend to mount on an old Unitron altazimuth mount I've had lying around for a while. Should make a sweet grab & go. I don't have a dome but I do have a comfortable run off roof observatory paid for by my wife. Then also, after spending a literal fortune on eyepieces over the years, I've now found my personal comfort zone in simpler designs, and of course binoviewing.

Wonderful photo's Nicola. I really enjoyed looking at those amazing sketches. What an exciting time of discovery it must have been back in the 1880's, playing with such a powerful instrument. Thanks for posting! 😊

Baader Hyperion 68° eyepieces are pretty versatile, in that the field lens assembly can be removed giving a wide field option. Or, by using extension rings, they can increase their focal length. They are very nice eyepieces which don't cost the earth. I don't care much for zoom eyepieces, as the field narrows as the magnification reduces, when you really want the opposite to happen. The 24mm Hyperion is possibly my favourite, and is much more comfortable to use than the 24mm Panoptic, while being just as well corrected towards the edge of field in an F7 refractor. As for the use of Barlow lenses, I think they are great! Barlowing my 17.5mm Morpheus gives me an eyepiece that is superb for nebulae and galaxies at 8.75mm (~9mm) focal length.

Hi Adrian, Observing through a Velux loft window may not be the best place to judge your Tak from, or your eyepieces for that matter. I'm pretty certain you're going to have many wow moments with your DC, especially when the scope is working at optimum. Just wait until you catch a glimps of the high spring Moon. You'll probably need your jaw wiring shut! 😲

Some undercuts are deeper than others. It's a shame there isn't a standard depth followed by all, or that manufacturers would quit with their gimmicks and return to superior smooth barrels. The Tak prism is a beaut, and it might be worth unscrewing the locking ring and trimming a few millimetres off the plastic ring, but not too much. That may allow the prism to grip the eyepiece. Alternatively, you could roll a rubber O ring over the barrel until it butts firmly against the eyepiece body, which should allow the locking ring to contact the 1.25" surface of the barrel. Another way to overcome the problem caused by undercuts is to use par focal rings to the eyepiece barrel.

I seem to remember that the design changed, with at least some of the planetary ll's having fewer elements than than the original Burgess TMB Planetaries. Having said that, i have a 2.5mm ll version and its very good.

In our last house, I had a sheet metal worker weld an aluminium flashing. My design had no window, but instead had an aluminium lift off lid. Sadly i have no photo's, but it served me well for 11 years. The opening was 3 ft by 4 ft, and the height of the rim was 7". It never leaked despite often very stormy weather. The lid was held down by two chains. It sheltered me from the wind and cold, and placed me above the towering sodium lights. At the time, our house was directly opposite the M65 motorway, where any observatory is better than no observatory.

Fourty years ago I'd happily venture quite some distance in my quest to get away from town lights. Back then, the first twenty years or so, my interests lay mainly in comets and fuzzy hunting. I also had a small number of like minded observing buddies who would make venturing out a much more enjoyable experience than it would be if I were on my own. I was the youngest of the bunch, and today some of the team are sadly no longer with me. Now, the last twenty years, my interests drifted into lunar and planetary observing, for which I nolonger need to leave home. Observing from home means I don't need black skies, and can take advantage of creature comforts such as nipping in for a warm when needed. Now I'm lucky enough to have a comfortable observatory which makes the whole experience more enjoyable. I still enjoy comets and fuzzies and have a reasonably dark sky often with steady air, but I am softening as I age, and long for those milder spring Moonlight nights, as I observe from a comfy chair in my observatory. What a whimp!

Truly beautiful images Paul. Thanks for sharing! 😊