mikeDnight

Hi Victor, One of the refractors I attached as a potential alternative did use FPL53 and a Lanthanum mating element. I know that waiting until November is disappointing for you, but don't rush into buying a scope based on mechanics. Optics are everything, and even if you aren't 100% happy with the mechanics, you can always add a better focuser at a later date when funds allow it. If you buy a lesser lens it will plague you for years to come. So I'd seriously suggest you either wait for the SW 100ED Pro, or buy the better optics out of the two other alternatives. You can put a turbo badge and go faster stripes on a Skoda but it will never make it a Subaru. Get the best optics you can afford and you'll never regret it, even if you're pushing your finances and need to wait before buying accessories. When I bought my Tak FS128 in 2003 it financially drained me and all I could afford was a single second hand 7mm Nagler. I can tell you that I didn't regret buying the best scope I could afford. I can also tell you that I probably got more out of that humble 7mm Nagler than anybody else on earth ever got from their 7mm Naglers, simply because I had no choice! Obviously you shouldn't let others determine your choices, but you can learn from their experiences. ☺

With the DZ there is a 2" to 1.25" adapter that has the Takahashi 1.25" locking ring screwed to it. If you remove the Tak 1.25" locking ring and put it aside, the extender Q screws directly to the female thread of the 2" male adapter. With my 1.25" Baader prism I use a 2" nose piece, so I can directly attach it to the DZ's 2" back. The inside female filter thread of the Baader prism screws directly onto the Extender-Q as shown below. If a 1.25" diagonal is used, simply attach the Tak locking mechanism, although depending on your focuser travel, you may need to remove one of the extender-Q's extension tubes. The Q itself is just the part that screws into the Tak 2" adapter. On my DZ, all the extensions can remain in place, even when using a binoviewer. Thise first image shows the extender-Q (top), the Tak 2" to 1.25" adapter and the 1.25" Baader Prism with 2" nose showing its inner female filter thread. Next are the components broken down, with only the lower row needing to be used. Below shows the Q screwed into the Tak adapter and the male Q thread screwed into the female filter thread of the diagonal, which attaches directly the the scopes 2" back just like any eyepiece etc. And finally the Q along with its Tak adapter, capped and ready for use. Hope this helps! ☺

I'm using a Baader Zeiss BBHS prism diagonal, which gives a right way up but mirror reversed image when looking directly down into it from above. The trouble is, I often tilt the diagonal to the side which confuses me and everybody else to high heaven at times. By "focus spot", are you referring to the Airy disk or the colour spread as shown in a ray trace? I imagine its the latter as the Airy disk size is determined by the aperture. I believe the extender-Q flattens the field and corrects chromatic and spherical aberration to an even higher level than they already are. With the FC100DZ there is no chromatic aberration and no visible spherical aberration at its native F8, so at F12. 8 with the Q I haven't noticed any improvement in an already perfect scope. I just enjoy the image scale the Q offers. I suppose if the Q tightens the already tightly controlled colour spread that's not detectable in the scope, then it can only add to the perfection. ☺

The extender Q can't increase resolution and I can't say I've noticed any change in the depth of focus, but there's definitely no light loss. In fact the views through the Q are about as transparent as transparent gets. Stars are pin points and just as textbook perfect as they are without the Q attached. It's a wonderful tool for someone who loves observing the planet's as you can use longer focal length eyepieces to reach high powers making observing more relaxing, and shorter focal lengths without any degradation to the image, when the seeing conditions allow. The best thing about the Extender-Q though comes when its combined with a barlow and binoviewer for lunar observation. I don't think there are any words that can accurately describe the view that meets the eye when observing the Moon in this way.

"What a rubbish night"! At least that's what I thought it would be as I glimpsed Mars barely visible through the clouds. Anyhow, I set the refractor up on its mount, aimed at the dim orange dot hidden in the depths of murk, and was greeted with a surprisingly steady and detailed view. So in my mind it wasn't worth looking at, but Mars had other ideas. As on most occasions I made a sketch. Initially the southern hemisphere looked a uniform grey, but as often happens during sketching, subtle detail began to reveal itself. There was no doubt right from the start that Syrtis Major and the giant impact crater Hellas were the main stars of the show, but Mars was trying to trick me. Because of the large disk and -18° tilt, detail that often looks subdued appeared more intense. In the sketch below you'll see Syrtis minor pretending its Margaretifer Sinus, and Mare Cemmerium pretending its Sinus Sabaeus with a dark triangular feature terminating the arm that for all the world looks like Sinus Meridiani. To confuse matters even more, there is a bright circular area above Syrtis minor that gives the illusion of being the impact crater Argyre. It's a lie! Those little green guy's are having a laugh! Argyre is the bright spot on the left upper limb with Sinus Sabaeus to the left of Syrtis Major, while Sinus Meridiani hasn't yet come into view. The orange orchar northern hemisphere was not uniform in intensity, and where the tonal boundaries meet there was an illusion of grey tails leading from the darker north/south divide and extending northward.

Excellent Rob! Very much like the visual appearance through a larger scope.

I've shown this refractor before, but not with an Extender-Q attached, turning it from F8 to F12.8.

Apparently the Name Takahashi in Japan is as common as Smith is in the UK. So Takahashi telescopes may not be quite as exotic as they sound. I'm not sure I'd be as attached to a scope that was made by Smith. 😞

Sadly I couldn't mount both together and had to remove the 8" to mount the 3.9". Of course if I hadn't sold you my DX mount....! Does you wife know about that? I think you've touched on the real make or break issue, that of seeing. Although I consider myself very lucky to have a site that's often blessed with reasonably good seeing, it is of course only relative, and my preference for refractors may in part be due to their being less sensitive to my local conditions. As for Jupiter, the best view I've ever had of its incredible complexity was through your Takahashi FC100DL, while my best ever view of Saturn has to be through a Skywatcher 120ED Pro. I've only once seen a SCT give a good planetary view and that was an old 1980's Orange C8. On all occasions the planet's were high in the sky, unlike at present.

I almost didn't bother observing after seeing dense mist covering the Moon and brilliant Mars looking quite dim. However I though I'd take a quick look through the 200mm Orion Optics F6 Newt', as it was already in the observatory and thermally stable. The view of Mars in the 200mm was quite impressive and the basic forms of Syrtis Major, Hellas being immediately obvious. I decided to make a sketch through the 200mm as sketching always draws my attention to more subtle features not immediately obvious. I used a 5mm Ultrascopic eyepiece which gave X240. After being impressed with the view in the Newtonian, I though it would be a shame if I didn't make another sketch using my 100mm Tak, so I rushed into the house and brought out the FC100DZ, still warm to the touch. I set the 100mm up on the GP after removing the Newtonian, aimed at Mars using the same 5mm Ultrascopic eyepiece I'd used on the Newt', and saw, beautifully defined, all the same detail I saw through the 200mm only the magnification was much lower at only X160. The view through the refractor was noticeably sharper than the view in the Newtonian, but it was noticeably dimmer too. I decided to try and match as closely as possible the magnification in the 100mm as I used on the 200mm, so that meant using my Vixen HR's. I cautiously increased the power to X235 using the 3.4mm HR and the view remained sharp. The darks appeared darker and more sharply edged, while the lighter regions appeared whiter in the 100mm. I made another sketch using the 3.4mm HR, and just to ensure I wasn't missing anything I changed the 3.4mm for a 2.4mm HR giving X333. Still sharp but now considerably larger in the eyepiece, I confirmed the detail seen at the lower X235. A truly delightful nights observing that reaffirmed my love for the simplicity and ease of use of the smaller, sharper refractor. The Newtonian was very nice but its the refractor that pleased me more on this occasion. The sketches below show the view through the brighter but softer 200mm reflector vs the less bright but sharper 100mm Takahashi. The prism view in the refractor shows a mirror image!

How have I missed these amazing sketches until now? They are excellent and a real pleasure to study.

Yes! The scope has great light grasp making it good for deep sky viewing. It will show the dark lanes in the Andromeda galaxy and extreme complexity within the Orion nebula. Superb on the Moon too, but its not going to give you a wide field. They are very big and need a heavy-duty mount, so not an easy scope to set up in just a few minutes. They are also slow to cool, so planetary images might not be so good at times.

Thanks Robert! Yes, there was some thin cloud forming above me and its edge was just tickling Mars at times, so the seeing was wobbly. The 5mm, which usually gives a lovely view just lost it a bit, but when I used the barlowed binoviewer and 25mm Parks Gold the detail became noticeably sharper. Also, despite the magnification being lower, the planet looked larger. Not sure why!?

Quite a nice view of Mars from last night despite wobbly seeing.

Hi Victor. I think your worries about the focuser wil disappear once you see the scope in the flesh. There are grub screws on the focuser body that adjust the tension of the draw tube. I used a 31mm Nagler on a SW 120 ED Pro with no real issue. As well as the tension adjusting grub screws there's a locking screw that locks the draw tube if need be. I only needed to use it when looking near the zenith.

This is a really worthwhile project, especially as you decided to record your observations. I'm confident you'll see detail you've never seen before by taking your time with each object rather than trying to bag them all in one night. It would be nice if you made sketches of each too, as a picture speaks a thousand words, or so ive been led to believe. A simple pencil sketch can then be imaged on a phone or tablet and changed to negative to give a very realistic representation, and a great visual record of your astro adventures. ☺

Very impressive! I doubt I'd ever tire of looking at this image of the Squid, especially with all that diamond dust adding to the glorious spectacle.

Really nice images Paul, and very similar to the eyepiece view at the moment. Thanks for posting! ☺

That's a lovely looking scope. It will be nice to hear of its escapades over the coming months. ☺

Wonderful sketches, and quite a collection beautifully drawn. ☺

I'm glad you had a good view David. Nice sketch too! ☺

Fantastic sketches Chris. Im really glad you had good seeing and such a good view.

Excellent!

I bought mine from a European supplier but can't remember who. If its out of production, you could put a wanted add out for one. They also come under the brand names of Celestron Ultima, Orion Ultrascopic and Parks Gold. They are very light weight!

If you're not too bothered about wide field, a 35mm Baader Eudiascopic is a bit special, as the eye piece almost disappears leaving star fields suspended before your eye.